CAN YOU LOVE A COMPANY?

I'll define 'love' so that you don't think I'm nuts. Love is a "deep feeling of affection". 
In strictly business terms it might be called goodwill. I care about the brand's non tangible assets--ie. its history, its stated and acted upon values, and its products that I like and trust automatically.

I have two in mind today and others to come. 
(Hannaford Bros is my BCFF. I grew up professionally there. Lucky me.)

One is LL Bean. I loved it when I lived in the Midwest and got its catalogues and requested Christmas gifts from it. When we moved to Maine with five school age kids who were to start school three days after arriving. I  called the school and asked, "What do kids love in your school for the first day of school this year. We just moved here." I did as told and  went directly to Beans to get Bean Boots. Five pair!! Later my adult kids came for holidays and did midnight excursions to LL Bean. I remember their chamois shirts and ragg sweaters. Even later, when I was a Hannaford executive I was lucky to have know Leon Gorman from various dinners where we sat together. And now I am so proud to have worked with the present CEO, Steve Smith. Both Steve and LL Bean are lucky. It is about as good a fit as you get. Steve is honest, frank, innovative, trusting in employee talent, progressive and a long time outdoor guy. Beans has had some unusual problems with a new system that has frustrated customers with unexpected behavior from 
a company that could be almost taken for granted for stellar customer service. This is where goodwill comes in. I so trust LL Bean, that I know they are (and I mean 'they") killing themselves to get this new system, corrected and up and going. I am on their side. This is what you call customer loyalty. I'll be patient. It's a way to repay an honest company of good quality goods and exceptional customer service for years of being good to me.

While I'm declaring my love for certain companies, let me include Delhaize Belgium. This company is celebrating 150 years of continuous business. I respect its history, its passion for all things food, its constant learning as the market changes and its values stated at the beginning of the company. Like most other companies, it has had challenges and hard decisions to make. What I know and respect is that any choices that color that history or its values are extremely painful for its leadership. And that is a good thing. It means the values are alive and active.
Once again, I was lucky to work with its present CEO--Denis Knoops. He is innovative, progressive, smart about the business and cares about the integrity of the company.  Here are some of the written 'commandments' written by the founding fathers of the company:

—Do your work well
—Persevere in everything you undertake
—You will inspire confidence if you trust yourself
—Never make a commitment you cannot honor
—See to the welfare of those who work with you. You have the care of their souls
—Do not tolerate any relaxation from anyone (This one is apt for crazy retailers everywhere--action rules) 

There are more guidelines  and I am touched as I read them. They instill honor with every word and assume that  integrity and hard work are what makes a business thrive.

As I said, I have a deep feeling of affection for these two companies that goes beyond pride and respect.

Love.

COMMON GROUND

Getting your entire organization to run as one is where extraordary power sleeps.
Call it alignment or synchronization or  organizational effectiveness or plain ol' coordination.
There are many analogies used. I like thinking of the CEO as a great orchestra conductor
interpreting a laid out plan (the score) and creating something great out of what could be very disparate sounds. I know of a CEO who took his team to hear and study and discuss a famous orchestra.

BUT--that does engender dependence on one leader with each section knowing in detail only the part they play. Alignment is working with surface parts and how to streamline and smooth out the bumps. It is really coordinated action--often mistaken for collaboration. Deep collaboration is very important but involves people being together to do it. Often with time and distance and other work, the product of collaboration dissipates. A modern leader has to go deeper to steep the company in common direction and identity.

l. Do you rely only on company goals to guide organizational action?

2.Is project management a primary tool for keeping action on track?

3.Do 'projects' rule the major momentum of your company? How do you tie it in to the everyday work of the organization?

4. Do you tell people what and how, model it, co-create it, teach it?

5. Do you personally spot test your company for understanding organizational direction and why it matters?  And how their individual work can and does contribute.

6. Do you evaluate your direct reports on the deep understanding of the business of their direct reports and functions?

I am talking aout the need for everyone in your company to have the DNA of the direction of your company in their bones. It is not about organizing the surface of the work--the action guided by strategy and goals and the leaders. It is about dipping so deep into the organization and into the work that after inculcating people, they could be self managed most of the time.

This kind of deep dip will be needed for 20/20 as the workplace continues to become less and less geographically and physically connected. People who work at home need the DNA. People who work on different continents and countries need the invisible connective tissue. And people who connect only through technology will need it too. 

The analogy of healthy parenting is similar. Instill the disciplines of daily living. Instill the rich
personal connections of family connections. Build common understanding of who this particular family is--history, pride, common events. Articulate and model the values that make this unique family work.

Sounds good. But. But. But.  It  depends on how hard you want to work and when.
You either put in time consuming hard work at the beginning of a culture shift or new organizational effort or you put it in later, monitoring and correcting and speechifying all the time.
You either engage in creating deep motivation or you spend a fortune on engagement efforts 
and cosmetic and constant make-overs. 

I have seen DNA be developed by a CEO who over the first year of his tenure took the time
to co-create with his top 150 people using innovative methods that were risky at the time.
It wasn't just the time, it was the methodology that dug deep. Guided imagery, creative expressions of new thoughts, detailed and deep conversations within and across functions leading to the what and how of the future, all absorbed and reflected back by the CEO. It took a year.
These 'town meetings' were made up of 350 people. Twelve were held. They continued as they cascaded down and across the organization. No outside facilitation. Leaders were trained to do the support work. This charged the battery of the company for about five years with occasional re-charging which, to follow the family analogy, were like family reunions. It takes extraordinary effort and time but reaps power thrust, deep motivation and
clarity of company direction that can become self-driven and still be on point with strategy. So tempting not to do it, or do it poorly without, you the CEO being committed. It will be essential for you to do in the twenties.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

Easy to say, hard to do when so many things tie for first place.

This choice actually was easy.  Hard to implement but easy to choose.

Will be gone without computer to visit my former mother-in-law with my daughter and hers.

Four generations that need to connect.

Talk next week.

C-SUITE COLLABORATION

I know that collaboration is a touted skill for leaders heading to the year 2020. I'm not sure that we know what we are talking about yet. 

I've known CEO's who are mistaken for being collaborative because they are actually egalitarian. They hang out easily with all levels of the company. They are nice. They care. They 'look' collaborative.   
Many other CEO's honestly, with no arrogance, are sure they know what is needed from strategy to execution. They don't collaborate. They create ' buy-in' and are very skilled (if not manipulative) at getting it. OK, I guess, if their percentage of 'right' is right. The hardest thing to watch is a 'command and control' leader trying to be collaborative because she knows it is the right thing to do and it fits with her values as well. But habit wins again and again and the organization gets whipped going from loose to tight to landing in chaos.

I'm not sure we are using the right word when we say' collaborative'. It's less trendy to say,  but I think we may be talking about  coordination. That's what the literature looks like--synchronizing, aligning, helping relationships to work better--that sort of thing. 

Let's see about you as a top leader:

l. Do you structure your Board Meetings to be a think tank or an approval for plans already made?

2.How many groups inside and out of your company do you "think with" about common issues?

3.Do you dread meetings without a tight control or focus?

4.Would you trust your team (not an individual leader0 to run the company without your guidance?

5.Are you in touch enough to know when to step in and reorient a team or project or initiative?

6.Does not knowing make you tighten up or open up?

7.Does your team hit one another hard with ideas and opinions and leave the conversation laughing??

I think you can see my bias. 
Collaboration is thinking together to create and move a project to a just right resolution.  And here is the kicker.  Collaboration without losing the power of the individual is the key at the C-Suite level. 
I designed and ran a Leadership College for high-potential talent, from different companies and culture
They had to produce and meet a mandate over a set period of time. The EC was their customer.
The participants learned much about working at top executive level. One surprising by-product was how the leaders gave up their individual power in order to collaborate. They gave in on decisions.They avoided conflict. They settled for a not so great product. They lost their leadership footing and voice. 
This is how collaboration gets a bad name. It tends to be cosmetic or weak.
Thanks to the demand for high performance and some good coaching, the group grew into full power. They fought well. They met deadlines. They challenged one another for a quality product.
They defined their individual contribution. They gave up and gave in for the sake of the project, not out of coercion or protecting their career. 

What is needed is high level collaboration by C-Suite peers who do not dumb down in order
work together. That is collaboration. That is power. 


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Like Salesforce.com’s managers and employees, businesspeople today are working more collaboratively than ever before, not just inside companies but also with suppliers, customers, governments, and universities. Global virtual teams are the norm, not the exception. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, videoconferencing, and a host of other technologies have put connectivity on steroids and enabled new forms of collaboration that would have been impossible a short while ago.

joining and leaving over and over again

Research has consistently shown that diverse teams produce better results, provided they are well led. The ability to bring together people from different backgrounds, disciplines, cultures, and generations and leverage all they have to offer, therefore, is a must-have for leaders

Part of the problem is that many leadership teams, composed of the CEO and his or her direct reports, actually don’t operate as teams. Each member runs his or her own region, function, or product or service category, without much responsibility—or incentive—for aligning the organization’s various projects and operations into a coherent whole.

Part of the problem is that many leadership teams, composed of the CEO and his or her direct reports, actually don’t operate as teams. Each member runs his or her own region, function, or product or service category, without much responsibility—or incentive—for aligning the organization’s various projects and operations into a coherent whole.

The organization of the different elements of       to enable them to work together effectively  cooperative efforts that creat effective relationships    the ability to use different parts of an entity smoothly and effectively

CAN YOU DANCE? CAN YOU IMPROVISE?

I am putting together a book of the algorithms of leadership for 20/20.
It is like translating art into systemic action.
It is based on my very up close work with CEO's and the development of CEO's to be.
It will have 52 short entries--yep, one for every week
Short because CEO's don't have time to read--even the bookworms among them.
52 because top leaders need a little nudge every week to improve their artistry (and I do believe extraordinary CEO's are artist/leaders.

The topic of improvisation as an algorithm for leaders 20/20 deserves a book--that CEO's won't read so here is the essence.

The world is nuts now and will be more so in 20/20. It will take the art of 'flow' to maneuver through the obstacles and the possibilities embedded in them for you business..  Flow means flexibility to move, staying in readiness for movement (like the back line in tennis) joining rather than resisting, being present and real, staying relaxed while not knowing the next step, and being in tune and ready to dance with others. 

l. Do you think you have had a good week when you commit to and follow-up on every item in your calendar?

2. Do you table good ideas or hot issues if they come up at a meeting but are not on the agenda?

3. Do you sigh with resignation or bristle when someone suggests a major change to a project that is half way through and over budget?

4. Do you accept that your strategy is only an indicator for the direction of you company or do you hold it as sacred?

5. Are your meetings all about the past (reporting what happened) or the future (fixing problems or planning) with no looking at the present (lack of energy, irritation with others, dullness,
a feeling of faking)?

6 .Can you have very tough conversations while staying relaxed and open to being wrong?

Check out these behaviors for improvisation in comedy, dance and jazz and see what you can apply to your leadership:

—Always start with 'yes' joining the person or project. Don't leave your partner stranded with 'no' 
  after they have made a start. Join, then redirect. Say 'yes' AND----

—Make a clear statement in response to give your partner.  Give the person and the project something to work with? Do not be muddy or nebulous. Allow a reaction to occur. Add a clear solution or idea. Top leader opinions do not weigh too much if they are helpful and not personal.

—In improvisation work, there can be no mistakes.  You are in the moment  dancing, playing jazz, comedy) and you have to continue while on the spot and so you work together until it becomes right, resolved, finished. 

—Improvisation removes habitual patterns by changing something in the moment. I'm thinking of a meeting with dead energy where I had every keep moving around the table as we talked, reversing direction whenever I felt like it. This led to many stand-up meetings. Meetings are the most calcified tool used today. 20/20 will demand different

—There is exciting energy in a moment of improvisation. I never rehearsed an interview of the CEO' I worked with
for presentations. You can't be fake or overly formal in a spontaneous moment. This is the authenticity moment that can galvanize an organization. Authentic does not mean sharing thoughts about your mother-in-law (positive or negative).

—Be accessible. You have to recognize and be open to an opportunity for connection when it crosses your path.You have to go out into your world and company and bump into your customers, your associates, other ideas, and the irritations of the world. This gives you fodder to play with later. Or an opportunity to dance right there in the here and now where opportunity lives.

THE PLAY DILEMMA

I am a fun fanatic. It is the joy in my life. Laughing is my absolute favorite activity.
The best thing about fun is that it can't be orchestrated. It can be encouraged.
And I take play seriously!!! Play for kids is earned rehearsal for 'life' in the best sense of living.
Exploration, mastery, persistance, winning and losing, pretending as a way to try on roles are all satisfying to the learner.

I stumble onto this topic without knowing what I wanted to say. I think it's this.
Our organizations tend to be grim oldsters or day care centers. Why?  
What does play and fun stand for?  

Old Grim                                       New Daycare
not serious                                    essential 
wasted time                                   supports work
disrespect for the work                   often is the work
foolish                                           serious about play                                       
done after work not during              committed to fun
embarassing                                  proud of fun culture
orderly                                          chaotic

What is the blind spot for leaders?
Easy. Learn from one another
Neither is right or wrong
What supports a culture that gets the work done and keeps people committed?
AND wanting to do more for the fun of it.

THE ART OF PROMOTION

Promotions are an important tool for CEO's and top executives. They have impact galore, good and bad, but certainly on more than the person being promoted.  Promotions at the right time can be a booster shot for a company. New blood, new ideas, new people give new energy and focus to an organization. And a message is sent every single time for every single promotion.
"This is what matters. This is what kind of person we want. We want more of this."
Don't be blind to the power of promotion in your company.

l. Are you proud of every single promotion that occurs in your company.

2. Would you be OK if the discussion about the promotion and its standards were made public to the company?

3. Are you ever coerced into a promotion due to the person telling you of a possible job offer from your competition?

4. Do you take into consideration the character of the person being promoted?

5. Who do you confer with about promotions?  Do you look for contrary evidence of readiness

6. Do you make overt to the company as a whole why you are promoting this person?

7.  How often do you regret a promotion due to being surprised in some way about what you didn't  realize about the person and their work?

I think three important issues that can be forgotten in making a promotion. Seems impossible but it's true.  They are implied but could be more powerful if made overt.  Is this the kind of person that you want to have a lot more of in your company? How and why?  How did this person add specific value to the company and what are the hopes for what this person will do in the new role. These issues should be discussed in detail before the promotion. 

Discussing these issues with as many people as you can tolerate (yes large groups can make important decisions if facilitated with some skill) will give your culture a powerful coherence and can make the acceptance of the person into the new role easier. There are tough discussions. I have seen people promoted for darned good work but who were problems personally. Mass murderers? No, but profound lack of judgment about personal and professional boundaries meaning too flirtatious, too punitive to direct reports, hiding behavior behind the freedom allowed in the job, or out and out dishonesty. Not everybody sees this at the same time but it is a blow to company energy when the smoke of these kind of issues are not checked for fire. Ignoring these signals for the sake of achievement only reduces respect to the CEO team and makes an idealistic culture a joke.

I hate to say it but hard work and loyalty play a small part in promotions. It does say a lot about the character of a person and should be highly valued. But you want the promotion to say "this person moved the needle". They added value to the enterprise and here is how.
And a promotion is not recognition for a job done as much as an indicator of new higher expectations in the new role. "Here is why you have this new accountability and what we want to see done."  

A well written announcement can be powerful, showing fairness  the choice related to the work done and to be done. And it can teach people. " Here is what you do to get ahead."  "Here is the kind of person that gets promoted. Each promotion teaches the boundaries of what is OK and not OK in your company.

Another aspect of promotion that works for you or against you is the timing. Do not let people dangle waiting for a promotion that is not coming. Do not insinuate a coming promotion because you never know what might happen. A person who is left waiting too long kind of rots on the vine--loses commitment and energy and often leaves after being promoted. What you think is positive can be seen as an insult and boy will you be mad when it happens. I see more damage from promoting late than from promoting early. I've experienced both and I was motivated over the moon by having trust put in me a little early.  Provide support and let the talent learn.  

Promotions are a big yes and a big no to people. And they involve personal fondness if it is a direct report of your own. And you can be blinded by sucking up as they say. But don't avoid the 'no' because it also avoids the 'yes'.  And yes is what makes the company go round.