RESPECTING DIVERSITYNG DOESN'T MEAN BLAND

Thinking about  organizations during holiday times is what made me think of diversity. I spent many years helping to create organizational cultures that were healthfully diverse. Diversity equals health whether in your leaky gut or of the heart of your company. Differences are not the final touches or the window dressing of health. They are the embedded potential for change and adaptation and possibilities for the future.

OK! That's my stance and I just did my lecture. Now the practicality issues.
There seems to me to be only two choices that carry the least risk during these times of hair trigger sensitivity and litigation.  One is to mute all differences, to write policy that tries to smooth out differences and which comes terribly close to denial. 

OR to allow and promote all the wild differences that exist. Give it all expression of some kind. Write a policy of inclusion not exclusion in the name of fairness.
Hanukkah, Ramadan, Kwanzaa, Christmas, Festival of lights of India, The Water
 Festival of Thailand and any and all others.  

As a top leader, protect the right of differences to be expressed. Do it explicitly.
Moderate it. Of course, it is not the primary focus of your business. But people feeling safe to be who they are and seen as they are is fundamental to your work. It is in the stew, the melting pot, the mess of differences that the richness of talent, the surprise of skills and the x factor of commitment and engagement become real assets.

Don't settle for bland. Be bold. Stand for differences. Teach that expressions of difference are fundamentally valuable.

Happy Holiday---whatever that may be for you.

ASSUME GOODWILL

Assuming goodwill at work is a discipline, not a "good people approach" and not a test of your big heart.  It is a stance, an intention, an emotional discipline.  And it can work miracles. I've experienced it.

No organization is without its ugly moments and political alliances. We have structures of power and status in most companies. We haven't found the alternative yet. And so there is often both real and perceived threat to our own positions and influence and resources. 

I was involved in a quagmire that was going south fast. And I received lots of irate, insulting voice mail. (Always a bad way to communicate but a great way to dump anger).  I was dying to pick up the phone and retaliate either with  anger or the superiority of proving others wrong with facts.

I'm not sure what made me do it, but here's what I did. I called back and left a message saying, "Let's assume goodwill and talk when we have some which may not be today."  "Assume goodwill" became a phrase that was used often and sincerely and even with humor and undisguised difficulty. My reaction to hating organizational craziness and was a reset moment so the phrase caught on.  It saved face and bought time and allowed real reflection to occur.  

So in the spirit of the holidays and of the need for peace everywhere one looks, I offer the discipline of ASSUMING GOODWILL first. Talk second.

THOSE BEST SELLING BUSINESS BOOKS? MOST CEO'S DON'T READ THEM

Many of the best CEO's will tell you that they don't read much.
It's not just a matter of time.
It's more that they know that business books are the new business card.
It's like every candidate for the President in the US has to write a book for validity and gravitas.

The other issue is that there is usually only a concept or two in any book that are worth it and the gleaning takes time that could be used for action, for getting stuff done, for making money. 

But here's how and when a CEO should read:
(How)
—Scan books around a theme or issue you want to explore. Use the chapter summaries.  That's what they are for.  Only dig in where you are grabbed by you own curiosity
—Rarely sit down and read the book cover to cover because you feel you should 
—If you find a gem, test it with a colleague for usability
—Don't swallow a book whole. Integrate it with others and create your own language and point of view about what's valuable in it.  

(When)
—when you have a nagging problem 
—when you are about to spend a fortune on a consultant when if you read the book and shared it you could take action on your own
—when three colleagues say the book is worth reading
—when you have a six hour flight and no good mystery at hand

ONE OF THE HARDEST JOBS YOU'LL EVER HAVE TO DO

One of the reasons this job is one of the toughest for a CEO is because she or he will only do it once.  It makes it hard to get right or to learn from a mistake.
And it has huge ramifications for your organization. What is it?  Leaving!

Many CEO's don't get to choose when they leave a company. There is a sudden move on the Board's part or deterioration of power or a distancing from the ranks of the organization.  The choice is made for the CEO and the shift in power happens quickly and the organization adapts.  

Managing your own demise is a whole different animal. It demands the utmost
professional maturity and gracefulness.  I've seen it done seamlessly well and I've seen it done awkwardly awful. 

FACTORS?

—The organization senses when there is leadership change in the air. People talk and betray confidences, people observe,  people talk and surmise, the gossip  level picks up. Energy focuses inward rather than out to the consumer.

—Usually the CEO has given indicators of possible successors. They know it and everyone else knows it.  It's good to create a little competition and give challenges to see who steps up. It's bad to allow a 3-4 person slate last too long. People begin to align behind "candidates" to align their future career of in honest support. It becomes a silent but powerful campaign atmosphere not good for the business.

—Candidates get goofy when they smell the possibility of the top job. The get overly nice and politic.  They spend more time in private conversation with colleagues "plotting" strategy.  The two worst thing are that the possible successors get inauthentic and lose support or they become incredibly cautious and conservative in all arenas.  They are "on hold". Bad for the business.

—The CEO also gets goofy and deserves the right to be so. She or he has
been in a deep relationship with the organization for years. They are headed for a kind of free-fall of power. And so a CEO can get crabby and picky OR back off the role too soon and become a kind of good-will ambassador. Not great for the organization.

—Strategy can get stalled. Who owns it?  Who should create it?  The leaving CEO won't be there to support it and the 'candidates' won't seize the moment for fear of over-stepping.  Not great for the business.

—Timing is tricky. When to announce the CEO retirement or leaving?  How close to tie it to announcing a successor?  When is the change the easiest on the organization?  When does one know the choice is right?

—Who else will leave and what does that mean for the business? Planning for who you might lose is as important as choosing the successor.

See what I mean----the hardest job CEO's ever have to do and only one chance to do it right.

I'M JUST A CEO— WHAT CAN I DO?

Just a CEO!!!  Most of the people who work for you would be surprised to hear that sentence.  In fact, I wish they knew how powerless you sometimes feel and how very human you are.

Still, all of us need to be as powerful as we can be in the ability to influence people—in a good way.

I think work matters tremendously to people. Not just jobs or roles, but using personal energy to do something that matters.

You, as a top leader have the ability/ power to:
—Create jobs
—Model fairness in power for people who may not ever have experienced it
—Give people voice 
—Allow people influence over decisions that impact them
—Make work meaningful by including everyone in every way
—Create a system where people know how to work with and respect differences
—Inspire people to be the best self they can be

Yes, I'm thinking of Paris.  JUST a CEO?

HOW TO SPOT A FUTURE CEO

I've been involved with finding and growing talent for more than 25 years.
I'm seen quite a few of people I've helped hire and develop grow into the CEO position.  By quite a few, I mean twelve or so.
(Not everyone gets to be CEO)

Here's what I saw in them when they were still very much only on their way.
No scientific research.  Just--for what it's worth.

All "my" CEO's had this in common:

-- They all assumed they could do the job as well or better than anyone else.
It was a kind of "Why not me?" attitude. Not arrogant, but excited by the idea of leading from the top role.  

--They had a presence that stood out in a room of people from the time they were interviewed and along the path to the CEO role.  Some were charismatic.
Some were quite quiet. But what they said or didn't say weighed more than others.

--They connected with all levels in the company from their first day on the job.
There was an ability to adjust the nuances of interaction so that they could connect with everyone.  They were not putting on an act--just adjusting their communication to be effective

--How to describe this?  There was a brightness that was part being smart and quick and part just high vitality. To me, CEO talent, shone in some way.  I could 
see it and smell it, but maybe not describe it to you. But I would have bet on it.

--There was a restlessness in future CEO's to get things going, create movement, make 'it' happen. It was a kind of nervous energy waiting to be fully used. (With some future CEO's, this impatience caused them trouble and they had to learn to modulate) 

--I'd say the CEO's that I helped develop were stubborn. In a good way.  They would fight for an idea, take action without permission, and be sure they were right (even if they were not).  Maybe they were tenacious, not stubborn.  

--They were likable. Fun to go to dinner with, good company. Maybe there are effective CEO's that are not likable and use a lot of fear and distance as their power base.  Not my experience. 

--They seized the moment, grabbed the opportunity, took  the microphone and dominated center stage in meetings or whatever moment presented itself. They were opportunistic without being self-centered or selfish. They liked the limelight in order to get done what they wanted to get done.

Just a few thoughts for you to use when looking at the new talent in your company.  These are not the formal assessment traits, but they helped me choose the right person!

THE POWER OF JOY IN YOUR JOB

Living in the United States, I can't help but be aware of the presidential candidates. I'm not thrilled with any of them. But, I have noticed that I have a positive reaction to one characteristic regardless of politics. I like to see someone enjoy what they are doing. I like to see real smiles and pleasure in the process of those who are enjoying their campaign. 

I hope, that as a top executive or CEO, that you love your job and that you let people know it. It is contagious and models exactly what you want--people who enjoy their work. It creates confidence even during very tough times. "If we have to struggle, then let's enjoy a good fight".  

Joy does not mean foolishly happy.  I 'enjoyed' many tough moments that gave me pride and joy such as running a high integrity, highly supportive elimination of jobs (and the people in them--you never eliminate just jobs) or a fair and square fight about strategic direction.  I loved my job as EVP of Organizational Development and it showed.  

Joy in a job is a magnet for all kinds of good things--energy, talent, resilience in down times, optimism and more enjoyment for others in their roles.  If your joy in your job as a top executive is low, do something about it.  Joylessness in the workplace is lethal

DESIGN YOUR VERY TAILOR MADE CONNECTIONS.

CEO's are often viewed as privileged doing only what they want to do and the truth is often the opposite.  Much of a CEO's time can become full of obligations that are energy sapping and lacking in substance and deadly dull.

This is one area where I encourage CEO's to be ruthlessly selfish.
Do not give your time away to anything that does not help you run your business. Really helps.  I am talking about meetings, steering committees, Boards, blah, blah blah.

I KNOW YOU ARE OBLIGATED TO SOME 'have to do's'
But where and how and with who is an areas of self-care for you as CEO.

Try thinking about it this way--

--What connections do you need to keep you and your company going?

--Who do you WANT to talk to?

--How often do you want to connect with your constituents (I'm avoiding the word associate)

--What places do you WANT to go to make connections for your business?

--What people best keep you in touch with the business?  How do you WANT to connect with them

--Do you connect best one on one or in a group?

--What connections energize and excite you about your work?

--What connections do you want to 'create, keep or kill'?

--How do you connect with yourself--by talking, by reading, by quiet, by driving

--What connections actually hold the company together?  Kill all others.

You deserve and the company needs for you to spend your time on what benefits the company AND you.  See if these questions help you think about connections as something different from obligatory meetings.  YOUR CALENDAR SHOULD BE 2/3 full of things you look forward to for the good of the business.  

THINKING ABOUT IDEAS

Ideas motivate me.  I don't work well without a kind of guiding idea that intrigues me and that seems to me to be just right for the situation.

For me, an idea is not a vision, not a solution, not a plan, not a strategy.
It's a concept that keeps me going.  It spurs me to action to test the idea.
It's not grandiose, nor mundane.  

I see companies that are straining to get lean with no purpose but leaness.
I see companies trying to pump up everyday work with too grand an effort.
I see companies with no overall idea of what they want to do or be.

Creativity research shows that the same idea comes to people who are geographically and culturally different.  It happens in science research all the time.  Don't be blind to the idea that your company wants to have happen.
How?
-Notice repetition of issues
-Be quiet and listen
-Don't bat away "foolish" ideas
-Drive by yourself for an hour or so
-Visit where your work hits customers. Do this in depth for one week.
-Scan whether Internet or books or magazines for headlines only. Notice what catches your interest

You'll catch trends (design is in by the way) but that is not the purpose.
The point is to fill your brain so that your business instincts and intuition
have something to work with.

One I have in my mind is "simplify the business don't multiply products that need solutions for complexity".  There is a point where individuation of services and products leads only to fragmentation and chaos.  Just an idea. 'Just'?????

THE ART OF LETTING GO

I'm thinking of how the ability to 'let go' matters immensely to the top team or person. Much organizational pain has been caused by hanging on too long to all kinds of things, such as:

*the strategy that looked so good and was so exciting in its conception that just is not going to deliver

*the person who was your close colleague in the past but who now reports to you and is not competent (enough) in his or her role

*the grudge you carry against someone who seemed to be a dirty player and who now you see has some good qualities 

*the stereotype you have about certain functions that prevents you seeing their contribution accurately

*past mistakes, your own or others that stops a fresh start dead in its tracks

*a wonderful tradition or ritual that has become stale

*the fantasy budget, the stretch goals that are a joke to the organization

*pride in past success and methods that keeps you stuck in repetition

*the reality that the day will come for you to leave ready or not

The art of letting go involves intuition, receptivity to input, flexibility and an awareness that you too will have to let go and go when the dance is over

FALL BEAUTY TRUMPS BLOG

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!!

CEO'S LIVE IN PARADOX LAND--IF THEY WANT TO BE EFFECTIVE

Effective CEO's need a broad range in behaviors.
They have to be flexible on a continuum of opposites i.e. paradox.

Here are some to think about in terms of your own flexibility on qualities that differentiate CEO's from other leaders as studied by Russell Reynolds Associates:

—strong bias toward execution BUT not impulsive

—tough skinned BUT not insensitive to others

—urgent BUT patient in timing of action

—inclusive in decision making BUT pragmatic in owning the ultimate call

—expressive of emotions, BUT disciplined in sharing them

—seeks different perspectives, BUT does not over analyze

And some of mine:

—warm BUT not intimate

—open BUT private

—optimistic BUT healthfuily paranoid

—dominant BUT collaborative

—innovative BUT prudent

The skill is to be fluid along the continuum, able to move easily toward one end or the other, never stuck. This is why being CEO demands such self-awareness and maturity and character and judgment. Now you see why there are not enough great CEO's 

WHAT DOES GOOD COACHING LOOK LIKE??

I am occasionally bothered when I hear clients talk about previous coaching experiences.  A quote from Andre Agassi got me started on this today. He uses the word "student".  I substitute the word "client".

From the October HBR:
—Coaching is not what you know. It's what the 'client' learns.  
And for the client to learn, you have to 'learn' him or her.  The greats spend a lot of time understanding where the client is. The day the coach stops learning is the day he or she should stop teaching/coaching—

From me:

Good solid coaching:

—is not provocative or confronting as a common practice 

—does offer a challenge or experiment with each meeting

—helps you see your own actions and values more clearly

—creates curiosity about trying something different

—allows you to choose the work you want to do and are ready to do

—does not create dependency

—is creative in helping you generate new options of all kinds

—is very practical and realistic about the world you work in, but not limited by it

—should not be something you dread or makes you feel wrong or guilty.  

—should be enjoyable and creative which doesn't mean easy

—brings about insight that allows new behavior, satisfaction and a truer you 


There, my two cents.

RELISHING THE ROLE OF CEO MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE!

People want the CEO role for all kinds of reasons. Many have strained for years to finally get the top job. They want to "win" the role of CEO. Others are brought  to the role from outside from a company where they didn't "win" the role.
Not as satisfying as it might look. Others "accept" the role with a kind of gentle 
humility (whether false or true) and often don't "grab the role by the horns".
Some CEO's like the power and have a kind of mafia swagger to the top position. Most enjoy the perks and the money.  

There is, however, another profile for the CEO that can almost be sensed viscerally. There is the CEO who loves the literal job, loves the business, can't think of another career or work they would be happy doing and continue to be eager to do the job long after hired. This CEO relishes the day to day challenge and feels more alive facing them. Is their ego involved? Of course. Is the winning and money important. Yep. But the truth is that they are the CEO wherever they go. (Ask their spouses!) They will lead. They will create. They will push the envelope. They won't be satisfied. They will fill a room with their presence. They will irritate. You will know they have been in the room.  They will make a difference. Oddly some natural CEO's are not so great at other roles as they move up in an organization. They do best owning the whole ball of wax.

I write this in honor of a colleague  and friend who just became CEO of THE FRESH MARKET and of several others friends/clients in CEO roles now who RELISH the role. They love the good and the bad, the every dayness of it, the cup of coffee of it, the tough Board meeting of it, the fire hose of it. This is the "Duck to Water" CEO. Wanting the job is a huge part of doing it well. Good luck to all the ducks out there.

CHANGE HURTS

There are so many platitudes about change and mistakes that go with them.

'Change is hard but change is good'.
Riiiiight---if you are the changer,not the changee!

'Change is the only constant'.
Doesn't have to be if you hold on to loyalty and values and common culture.

Oh Bah.  Here's the truth.  My truth, my charter for change:

If need for change is created together and the future has some possibility for good and people can hang on to their history (good and bad) and the act of change does not destroy trust in leadership, then it still hurts, BUT it is worth the pain and can be exhilarating and draw people into a powerful unity.

If the above is not true, then change can be seen as:
—abusive
—aggressive
—survival threatening
—victimizing
—nonsensical
—hopeless
—exhausting

Now, go send your people out to do excellent customer service feeling distracted, scared, confused, not understanding what's going on and hopeless.

HIRE AN ANTHROPOLOGIST!!

We do live in incredibly deep and well-defined cultures.

And we don't know them well.  We think we do. 

And organizations are very very very powerful cultures.

The more powerful the culture, the more blind spots exist.

This column-(chapter of some book, some time -there I've admitted it--this is not a blog) is meant to point to the blind spots that happen in the culture of the CEO or top level leaders.  It's based on my experience being an EVP and my observations. Not one bit scientific or pure.

A new business book is out addressing the silos that are created in organizations--THE SILO EFFECT by Gillian Tett-- and the blind spots this creates. This book would have been of deep interest in the late 70's but now seems dated and the solutions are common practice in many companies. (If I am wrong, then I worked for a much more progressive company than I realized.) Her direct data gathering is shallow. 

BUT, two things stick with me:

l. Hire an anthropologist to deeply observe your company at all levels and where the customer meets the business. Not a consultant. Get yourself a field study of your company.

2. Realize that your thinking is probably very limited when it comes to new ideas about structure.  Find a way to play with possibilities.  Using DeBono's method on lateral thinking is a good beginning.  

We are in a time when most organizing structures are not suited for the world as it is today. We need:
—Fluidity 
—The ability to join and leave and join and leave
—Deep understanding of context and strategy for freedom of action without chaos
—A core culture that doesn't rely on a buliding or org chart
—Trust that people don't need to be over-attached to be loyal
—Movement that is not restricted by too many check-lists or reports 
—Talent and initiative not tight accountability efforts to compensate for lack of both

Food for play.

ALL COMPANIES NEED SOOTHING SOMETIME

If that title makes you cringe in its wrongness or softness, you probably are blind to your leadership need for soothing and, in turn, your company's need for soothing as well.  Soothing means "gently calming or reducing pain and discomfort".  Sound better?

As THE top leader or a top leader, you can get so accustomed to the tension and discomfort you carry that you don't see the need for getting things calmed down and reducing organizational pain.

Today's work force is often scared, tired, cranky, and tired of being whipped around by changing strategies, sudden new leadership and profound lack of alignment in their work. And, unbelievably, most just want to do good work without the craziness.  I bet it's true for you too.

What seems to work to soothe when you can't change the dynamics at play?

It is so easy we don't do it. DEEP LISTENING to understand the frustration.
ACKNOWLEDGING the reality of your associates in every way you can.  You don't have to do a huge change to soothe.  You have to 'GET IT'.
You have to EXPLAIN THE PAIN so that people KNOW WHY it is worth living through. It helps if you KNOW YOUR OWN DISCOMFORT so that it doesn't trigger impulse reaction like anger and so you don't begin to disconnect from your people to avoid pain.  

Organizations are a collection of people.  Of course, it creates group emotion or tone.  And so many companies are in pain.  I would call "soothing" a leadership skill.

THE ULTIMATE BUSINESS DILEMMA

Which will it be?
People or productivity?
Command and control or coaching and development?
There are a thousand ways to word that choice and as many instruments to measure it.

The Amazon news of being a harsh culture brings this to the fore again.
When will we give up the dichotomy?

High demand can be exhilarating and exciting or tiring and not sustainable.
Competing with co-workers can be fun and motivating or lethally divisive.
Pushing for improvement every moment can be satisfying or ridiculous
Talking straight can be enlightening and supportive or brutal and defeating
Constant challenge with no pause to reflect or learn can become boringly heavy
Living in fear can motivate, but it is survival behavior kills the x factor of team.

Tough challenges take support of people facing them.
Heavy pressure needs the relief of lightness and humor
Long hours calls for balance of renewal time
Rating people has to involve fairness and, yes, a process. No popularity contest.

Do not even pose the question of which matters most--people or results.
Ask, How can people thrive in a high demand challenging environment?
Then answer that question.
It can be answered.

CEO DROPPINGS

I do hope that you are not blind to the fact that when you travel around and wander about your organization, you always leave something behind that tells who and what you are. So be conscious of what you CHOOSE to leave.

--Inspiration or hopeless burden

--Desire to do better work or a sense that nothing is ever good enough

--Understanding of the big picture for the company or details to drown in

--A sense of "can-do" power or a message of "watch-out"?

--A sense of purpose and hardiness of a kind of flabby "keep at it" vagueness

--Sincere appreciation or fake thank-you's

--Anxiety/fear or energy to take on more 

--Real leading or sham leadership

You are never not leaving behind a trail.

CROSS LEARNING BETWEEN FAMILY AND COMPANY

I used to do a workshop on applying principles of a healthy business to families and the principles of a healthy family to business.  

Having just had a family reunion week of sixteen people, five under seven years  old I am reminded of a few of those cross-principles.

l. Teams, tribes, companies and families need to stop all at the same time every once in a while.  Being under one roof is not enough for connection. We stopped every night before dinner to literally hold hands for 10 seconds in silence and then plan the next day. The kids would remind the adults of "hold still" time. It killed the quality of "a chicken with its head cut off "that makes both work and play frantic.
I think we have lots of frantic organizations. What is a ritual that could make yours hold still for one minute at the same time?  Think virtual.

2. Watch what you start, you may have to do it again and again. This is mostly good. 
Four years ago with the same family group I set up my basement as a game room. It was a rainy week in Maine. I am talking about a cellar with stone walls.  Well, wouldn't you know that this year each grandchild wanted a day with me in the game room rather than at the beach?  So during one of the most beautiful summer weeks in Maine, I was in a dark basement surrounded by laundry and camping equipment playing Shoots and Ladders. 
AND, happy to do it for the ritual of it.

Continuity matters. Building on something that worked once creates good DNA. Don't question why.  Don't change it. Use it. Think about this during mergers.
What odd organizational habit or ritual can provide continuity and comfort?

3. Stories matter mightily. They highlight history and learning and resilience,
special values and qualities. They help us remember why we are willing to gather and stay connected and give extra effort to belonging. (I think this is the very definition of "engagement".) Company stories generate loyalty and grit and pride and laughter. Not a video. No podium. Beer not needed. Ask questions that generate stories.  One that worked for me is, "What was your first day of work like at The Delhaize Group?"  It was meant to be a warm-up and it became a morning activity. Created more unity than the rest of the leadership retreat.

4.  Make up your agenda. Design carefully. And be willing to let it all go if the right thing begins to happen. My family planned all kinds of stuff we didn't do  and fell into magic that emerged--as in when all sixteen people had bubble wands at once and we created a bubble storm. Memorable, spontaneous and not planned.

Watch what works for your family.  Apply to work. Both are people systems.

OPTIMISM, HOPE, ENJOYMENT, HUMOR, LOVING PEOPLE, PLAYFUL, LAUGHING AT LIFE

Don't you feel better just reading those words?
People want these qualities in a leader.
Yes, you need all the skills of leading--strategic thinking, communication, delegation, innovation, blah-blah-blah. You know these.
But people also want all of the above personal qualities in the person who is their leader.

Our workplaces and world has become grim. Positive words from a leader are often a fake marketing facade. Reality is tough. Leading has become about pulling, tugging, scaring, forcing, people. Energy lags. There is a chronic hopelessness. 
Try some warmth and nurture and a metaphorical hug for your company:
Positive, grateful, human: 
Optimism
Hope
Enjoyment
Humor
Loving people
Playful
Laughing at life

This is where energy comes from to be directed for results that then invigorate a company.

SIMPLE CUSTOMER CENTRIC ASSESSMENT MODEL—FOR CEO'S

So, picture a string that goes from you, the CEO, to your prized customer
You want it lightly taut. No strain but highly sensitive. You tug it and the customer feels it. The customer tugs it and you know it right away.

Now, picture the string between you and your best customer and think about your organization:

-- Who or what pulls down on the string so that the impact of a customer tug doesn't get to you?
.
--Where is the string so loose and long that the connection to you loses its strength? 

--Who or what feels the tug but redirects it with strings they have added? 

-- Where is your string about to break? 

-- Where do you keep your end of the string?  Do you ask someone else to hold it?  Do you forget where you keep it? 

--Who or what function does the tugging for the customer thinking the customer is too dumb to know what they want, need or feel?

--Is your string too short and tight so that everyone responds to the tug all of the time or too long and loose so that no ones "feels" the customer

Know your customers are out there tugging and tugging and tugging.
Check your connection with the string model and adjust. Tighten, loosen, cut, lengthen, strengthen, untangle!!

THE BOYS IN THE BOAT

Reading The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown is a nice way to refresh your leadership idealism about what 'team' can be like. As the cover says it's about "Nine Americans and their epic quest for gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics". 

The book has many themes and plot lines but what struck me was the description of the teamwork needed for "rowing" an eight person boat.
There is an x factor talked about that emerges that carries the boat and crew (and an organization) to a new and sustainable extra-ordinary performance. I've been lucky enough to experience it for seven years out of a 25 year career.  (The rest of the years were good but not with the "swing" of those particular seven.)  Read below for some quotes from this compelling book and a description of 'swing':

     When the critical moment in a close race comes upon you, you had to know something 
      your opponent did not know—that down in your core you had something in reserve, something 
      you had not yet shown that would make your opponent doubt himself, make him falter when
      it counted most.  Like so much in life, crew was partly about confidence, partly about knowing
      your own heart. The boys in the boat were good-hearted.

      Eventually if the crew team was to become Olympic contenders, they had to develop that
      rare balance between ego and humility

      No other sport demands and rewards the complete abandonment of the self the way that 
      rowing does.The team effort, the perfectly synchronized whole beautiful symphony that a crew
      in motion becomes is all that matters. Not the individual, not the self.

      One of the first admonitions of a good rowing coach is "pull you own weight". The boat goes
      better when you do.

      Always be "in the boat".  You must row with head power as well as hand power.  From the first 
      stroke all thought of the other crew must be blocked out. Your thoughts must be directed to 
      you and our own boat, always positive, never negative.

      When you get the rhythm or the 'swing, it's not hard work. The synchronization of heart, mind 
      and body creates a fourth dimension where the 'run' (the work) is uncanny and the work of 
      propelling the shell a delight

I'll stop before I re-write the whole book. Read it and think about your company and your team.  

AREN'T WE LUCKY??

I have a dear friend who I see regularly.  We share our ups and downs.
But lately we've been sharing mostly downs.
And then we feel guilty because we have darned good lives.
I mean, we are not Afghan women.

So, when we are in the middle of a good complaint session, one of us
will laugh and say, "Aren't we lucky".  And then we laugh.  It's both sarcastic and a course corrector.  Then we will list why we are lucky and it gets hysterically funny and then shifts into giving it perspective.

For example, she called when she had two feet of water in her basement
which she found when she returned home at 11 at night. She roused the plumber and he unhappily came. BUT he wouldn't go into the water til the electricity was turned off and that was in the basement under water. So she called the fire department that came blaring and were hesitant to go in til it was drained. It was a burst pipe so the water was continuing to rise. She asked for a pair of boots to go in herself.  I don't remember the resolution.  I do remember her phone call of distress and that I listened and the said, "Aren't we lucky?"

—Aren't we lucky that there is such a thing as a plumber that got out of bed?
Aren't we lucky that the firemen were cute?  Aren't we lucky that ruined stuff clears out clutter? Aren't we lucky that sleep doesn't matter? —

Anyway, you get the idea.
AREN'T WE LUCKY?????????????

LYING FALLOW IS AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF PRODUCTIVITY

Funny.  No one uses the word 'productivity' much anymore.  We change the business vocabulary to freshen the concept (and to sell books). Execution,
results focused, KPI achievement, the business babble continues. Soon it will be back to 'productivity'.  They all translate to 'more, more more'.

Is 'more' sustainable? (Another word of the day) The demand for more will not work if it is a linear, constant, harsh demand for profit. It eventually wears out  the organism/organization.  

And so, the importance of building in time to lie fallow, to rest and restore and return (land) to health and productivity. I have often wondered what would happen if a company as a whole took a big break at the same time. I worked with a bank that had to have everyone take a weeks vacation at the same time to check for possible theft in the system. It was like a celebration when everyone returned. Renewal at the whole system level. 

This is my way to say have a great vacation this Summer.  Naps are the penultimate way to lie fallow. Let your mind take a break. Try living with no push in evolved.  Great things do not happen with effort alone.

DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE OTHERS DO UNTO OTHERS

Let that thought sink in and then walk around your organization— virtually or real body, real time.  This is what you have created. You are the ultimate role model for your company as CEO.  Of course, there are other forces at play, but---- don't minimize your impact.

The real issue (and why I write every week) is about how you can actually "see" your company and your culture and your impact on it when your top position keeps you blind.

l. The toughest and easiest way to begin to know your impact is to ask–at least 5 direct reports.  Performance review or developmental conversation time is the most normal, non-dramatic time.  Three questions: A. What should I do more of?  B. What should I do less of?  C. What is an impact I make that I'm not aware of?

2. Look for symptoms. Start with your regular meetings?  Are they dull beyond  belief?  Rote?  Do you model "Don't surprise me"?  Are your meetings tense but quiet?  Do you model "Cross me and I'll shun you?"  Are your meetings comfortable and loose and non-productive?  Do you model "Let's keep it fun with no conflict?" This is your highest impact environment and the most likely to model behavior to others.  Examine it.

3. What do people tease you about?  Can they tease you?  What gets a big laugh that you don't understand?  These are hints about impact. One CEO I worked with didn't show much anger. He would get quieter and quieter. Someone once said, "Oh, oh we're in the calm before the storm". That sort of thing. Later the CEO admitted to me that the comment hurt her feelings and she "got it".

4. What makes you go back to someone in order to course correct?  Is it a funny but caustic remark?  Is it an angry response to disagreement?  Is it not having a 
reasoned response?  Is it leaving an issue unresolved that now has to be faced?
What is your "go back and fix"  pattern that emerges looking back?  (I do hope you "go back" when it is needed. I assumed it.)

5. As it is at home, so at work. When I do formal instrumented assessments, leaders often will say, "My spouse would agree with this, or my brother or my kids or my best friend. Sorry, but they are a good source of information about your impact. Translate it to leadership impact.

6. Excellent leadership development can help you know your impact.  Good ones are hard to find. Look for  "real life" combined with "real feedback" in an atmosphere of a disciplined design for learning.  

And as this title suggests; what you do, others do and others do and others do.
"What is within, does indeed, surround you".

HOW FEW WORDS CAN A TOP EXECUTIVE USE?

Every executive should think about and get input on whether he or she uses too many words or too few.

I'm away this week.  Back on June 29th.  
So I'm taking a word break.

Ask someone!  "Should I use more word or less words"?

Answer that for my writing.
More words or less words?

YOUR EARS MUST BURN ALL THE TIME!

In case you don't know the phrase in the title, it means that when people are talking about you, your ears burn!!
No wonder you, as a top leader, develop blind spots. If not, how could you
stand the scrutiny.  This week I'm reminded of how much you are talked about, gossiped about and studied.

Why on earth did she do that?  Doesn't she get it? Doesn't she know what people will say?

What do you think he's like at home. Have you ever met his wife? No wonder he hates conflict?  

Watch her in the meeting. She'll fawn all over the Chair of the Board and ignore her own direct reports. She only manages up even as our CEO.   

You know how you'll know when he's irritated. Watch him. He'll start to clear his throat. That's the time to shut-up and wait for the next meeting

Her favorite is absolutely 'X'. That's who she confides in. If you want to influence her, get in good with 'X'.  He makes her feel good and just tells her what she wants to hear.

You get the idea. And once upon a time it probably hurt your feelings when you got wind of the 'gossip'. In a top role, it's harder to capture the informal chat--especially about you.  So you toughen up and dumb down. The hard part is staying soft enough to want to hear the small percent that matters and ignore
the bulk of the gossip that power at the top generates. Remember that it exists and there is a lot of it.

ARE YOU WILLING TO BE A HEROINE/ HERO AT WORK?

It is the trend to be a humble leader, a servant, a steward. The big ego is out of date. (At least in public) The leadership template is under revision. I'm talking about heroism.  The hero is more than a leader. Are you willing to take the Heroes' Journey for the good of your company?  Do you say 'yes' or 'no' to the following:

I will heed the call. I will discern the true nature of the task I must do. I will say 'yes' to the challenge, the real challenge.  

I will step forward into this task without a clear map or path.  I will find my way taking one true step at a time.

I am willing to face my own demons--the dragons and monsters of my ego and my blindness to my self.

I will be on the look-out for an unexpected guide to help me in tough moments.
I will know I can't  conquer without help.

I will tackle obstacles in my path until I transform the situation and win.

I will bring back the prize, the learning, the reward to others

I will be chivalrous to all keeping my word and my honor intact.

I am willing to be profoundly changed by the challenge I face and to end the journey as a different person

The only answer is "yes" to all of the above if you want the Hero's Journey.  It is not for every leader.

If intrigued, read Joseph Campbell's THE HERO'S JOURNEY for a more detailed description of the path of the hero.

THE WORDS "PERFORMANCE RANKING" RANKLES ME!!

Oh how I hate this topic. So Deloitte has radically reinvented Performance Rankings!  Did you read this in the April HBR? I did. Yawn and yawn and yawn.

I think it's the concepts behind most talent management that drives me nuts.
Deloitte really did improve --how to do an antiquated system better.

What bugs me?

--Ranking people against one another rather than against each person's 
collaboratively decided upon contribution.  What if there was room for all the talent to contribute according to individual capacity. (Hiring would be what it should be--the holy grail for performance)

--Tying performance to individual goals rather than to the company's overall performance. What if their were no individual goals. I know, I know. (Back to hiring well) 

--What if promotion was not the best way to make more money?  What if money stayed constant but a change in position was for learning and development only?

--What if everyone self-evaluated and you believed him or her?

--What if you gave up the idea of the bell curve that hovers over all ratings?  What if you led well enough that most would be very big contributors? As the top dog, your pay would dip if most did not perform above and beyond.

-- What if compensation was as idiosyncratic as  a person's contribution for each year? What if there were a base salary established for each role and then lots of room to enhance compensation based on extraordinary contribution?

--What if each person decided on the amount of "stretch" they wanted to reach for each year?

--What if compensation was fair to each person and but not equal across the company?

--What if people had a performance discussion and feedback absolutely any time they asked for it from anyone they wanted to ask?

I get excited about new possibilities for learning and blowing the lid off 
what a company can do.  I do know that  our assumptions and models to support this are off kilter.  

What if we gave up Victorian classroom management as a model for performance management?

What if tight definitions of "performance"  and tight measurements do nothing but limit what can be done?

What if we quit performing and just did good work day after day after day.

TALK TO ME!  Am I just an OD/HR grump?


   

YOUR ROLE IN PEACE MAKING

It's Memorial Day in The United States--a day to honor the military who died while serving.
Most turn it into a day-off picnic.
That's OK. There many ways to celebrate and honor people.

I'm thinking about you as a top leader and your  role in teaching peace.
Wondering:

--Do you think high performance demands high conflict?

--What if you modeled bringing peaceful resolution to your company conflicts?
   There are plenty of them.  Corporate vs Retail.  Sales vs Marketing.
   Executive Committee vs everybody else!  (Yep) High Potentials vying for fewer
   and few top positions.

--What if every time you left the room, you left an atmosphere of graceful
   respect and readiness for cooperation

--What if you saw your role to include soothing troubled waters of your organization

--What if you regularly brought any conflict to your office for gentle conversation  
   and resolution?

--What if you taught that challenge creates higher level collaboration not, fight 
  or flight.  

--What if the world has to learn to give up killing to resolve conflict and you
   could consciously teach your associates that a peace laden, gentle 
   organization can out-perform, out- produce others and prosper.

--Do you think this is impossible or too Kumbaya for you?

Just a thought on a day that remembers that good people die due to conflict
that can't be resolved.

"GO FOR THE GUSTO"

"Go For The Gusto" was an advertising phrase for Schlitz Beer quit a while ago.
Must have stuck because it came to mind today.

I was thinking about how many businesses today are straining, straining, straining to survive and grow.
Something feels wrong about it to me.  Straining over the long run is non-productive, non-sustainable, and sure not motivating.  Strain can be good for that last burst of effort, that one moment that makes a huge difference, but constant strain doesn't give progress. At best it holds your place against an equal but opposite force i.e. the competition.

The word "gusto" came to mind as in, "Where has all the gusto gone in so many businesses"?  Gusto is a combination of joy and rigor.  Isn't that  perfect for what you want for your company?  "Joy and rigor?"  

Where does real joy come from for a business?
--Serving a customer really really well
--Being proud of the product of the company
--Enjoying working with good colleagues
--Being glad to follow the top leaders

Where does rigor come from for a business?
--Watching how hard colleagues work to please a customer
--Standards that are inhaled from the behavior of respected leaders
--The intrinsic satisfaction of work well done
--Reward for doing the difficult

Now run your efforts through those simple factors of "gusto" and see if they align well.
Next-- stop all the foolishness that doesn't.  It's the foolishness that creates the strain, that kills the joy, that reduces the vigor and keeps your company 
in the death spiral.

TOO BUSY WITH SUCCESSION PLANNING TO WRITE TODAY

That means I am babysitting for my two year old grandchild:

+ giving her independence while keeping my eye on her

+ guiding her to do the right thing while giving her choices

+ making her take a break when she has lost control

+ noticing what she does well and supporting it

+ seeing her as a unique individual

+ remembering that my role is to help her grow to be an ethical, grown-up
   doing what she does well to contribute to her area of influence

See what I mean?  Very busy with succession planning!

STRATEGY DEFLATION

I wonder:
—if you're strategic planning has become listless, has no energy, is a rote exercise demanded by the calendar
—if you strategy is too constrained and defined by specific actions
—the back lash against vision (especially 'statements') has killed the drive for doing something radical and unique that only you and your company can do
—if you believe that you and your company are special
—if your strategy would fit any company in your industry
—cost-cutting supports your strategy or IS the strategy (a critical difference)
—if you've dumbed down the strategy to meet the competence of your company
   instead of bumping up the competence
—if you have mixed up strategy with goals
—if you as top leader can taste and feel what needs to happen and if you sell 
   and tell it well enough that no overt strategy document is needed.

Just wondering on a Monday morning.

SWIMMING IN ANXIETY

I have to admit that writing about anxiety make me a little anxious--in a good way.  If I were anxious in a bad way, I wouldn't be able to write at all. If I had no anxiety, I'd just keep reading the Sunday paper.  

You, as a top level leader swim in anxiety everyday. It's a given. And so managing your anxiety and that of your company is a skill you have to have.
Sorry it is so.  I wish it were all about only urgency and creative tension but your company exists on an accelerated change trajectory that changes direction without warning! That is an automatic  anxiety creating machine.

The first thing you can do, is know it.  Accept it.  
Anxiety is you. Gulp. And it is not all bad.

The second thing you can do is know when you are crazy anxious, good anxious or in wonderful blind denial.  Crazy anxious makes you volatile, unable to concentrate, fearful about real connection with people, and  having to gear up in an exaggerated way for the day.  Not anxious enough usually shows up in tuning out, minimizing any bad news that comes your way and low energy for action.
Good anxiety gives you just enough edge to want to get things done, create needed change, and a sense of excitement and emotional energy.  

This is another of the modern leadership factors that exists on a continuum that you have to manage. It is a sliding scale that you need to master.  You own the anxiety level of your organization. Now what? 

Is your company asleep? Do you need to up the anxiety or discomfort level?  Or is your company a jangle of nerves and uncertainty with people focused on their own survival and not on your customers? Do you need to slide toward the low anxiety level with perhaps slowing down change or providing more grounding and assurance. And what can you do to position yourself and your company in the sweet spot of discomfort/anxiety so that there is optimism and "can do" energy?

I have raised more questions than I have answered.  Good anxiety or bad?
Living with unanswered questions and not being "stuck" is another of the
modern leadership factors!  I may have struck a theme. Good Monday!!