Letting go of what works...

One of the aspects of the consulting business I really appreciate is the downtime I am afforded over the holiday's. Most of our clients take the time between Christmas and New Years as a break so we follow suit, taking advantage of the time to reflect on the year, take stock in what we've learned and ultimately, determine how we will approach the coming years challenges and opportunities. As I have been in this mode over the last few days, one of the larger epiphanies for me has been around the notion of, "if you keep doing what you've done, you'll always get what you've got!" This quote (source unknown) has always been a favorite of mine, having used it numerous times in my consulting and coaching work and found this occasion to turn it on our business, with one slight twist. You see, this quote has been used in context with helping identify what is not working for us that we continue to blindly continue with. My revelation has been this typical use is the low hanging fruit - that the real opportunities come at examining what is working for us. Let me explain.
Forcing this examination, I asked, "what is working for us, achieving acceptable results?" What I found in this self-reflection was allowing acceptable results to suffice, as opposed to striving for exceptional results. This then caused us to define how we differentiate between between acceptable and exceptional in the key areas of managing the business. The quick list was as follows:
Financial management
Acceptable - meeting expenses, maintaining cash flow cushion, jumping on investments when cash flow allowed
Exceptional - setting explicit budget targets, guidelines, capex targets/projects & investment plan
Business development
Acceptable - following up on referrals, being opportunistic & building the business & clientele as it comes
Exceptional - continuing to set & achieve/exceed growth & development goals, leveraging all the channels of promoting brand, familiarity, staying in touch with inactive clients, developing new IP to promote
Professional development
Acceptable - Drop in attendance with trade associations, special events, occasional get togethers with peers & colleagues, occasional reading
Exceptional - Annual attendance of consulting/coaching conferences, mutual accountability via Mastermind group meeting monthly, coach the coach development, regular reading

As I dig in, I could probably identify a number of other areas however I am big on keeping it simple, focusing on the few key areas at the top of the performance pyramid so to speak. What became readily apparent to me is as I completed this list and identified the differences for my business between acceptable and exceptional results, I found that I was too often accepting the acceptable. A roundabout way of saying mediocre. Ouch! As bitter as this pill is to swallow, the truth was too evident to rationalize away. I had allowed myself to be satisfied with what is working as opposed to striving for what could be. Thus, my focus for the balance of this week among other things, is to set aside what is working and identify what needs to be in order to allow for what can be.

I look forward to sharing the results. Stay tuned & have a safe and happy New Year!

The Lines are Blurring

Check out this recent TED interview (link below) with Pranav Mistry of SixthSese technology. While it's easy to get lost in the wizardry of technology, it did get me thinking about open sourcing and the whole philosophy and ethos behind it. What I thought was interesting in the video was the reaction when he mentioned open source. Listen to it.
I believe this has huge implications on leadership that many current leaders are not getting. Frankly, I'm not sure I'm even getting it! Yet, I'm sensing something big here and want to pull the thread. Though it lacks creativity, for now let's call it open source leadership.  Would love for this to be a dialogue of sorts however. I'll post on LinkedIn and Facebook and let's see what kind of dust we can kick up with this baby.

NAPMW Seminar - Thriving in Turbulent Times

June 2, 2009 OEC Speaker Showcase - Links

The Power of Purpose in action!!


Catherine Rohr - Prison Entrepreneurship Program





Geoffrey Canada - The Harlem Children's Zone

Projecting confidence during adversity: Meaningful or meaningless?

I recently contributed to a discussion regarding confidence as a leadership virtue. Specifically, when and how should leaders express confidence to rally the troops in adverse times? When is confidence perceived as over confidence? What should the leader be paying attention to?
The first thing to understand is the formula (quick sidebar here...the notion of a formula is for framing purposes only! I tend to think in terms of formulas and algorithms since that appeases my engineering DNA...:) for this has changed dramatically from just 18 months ago given the economic challenges as it has deflated the bubbles of many a leader that became reliant on successes from an overheated economic cycle. That said, the formula is based simply on the three E’s:

I. Experience...is everything right now. Projecting a confident posture when anchored in the experiences of prior challenges and lessons learned will give lend the credibility for employees to believe it. Without experience, confidence is interpreted as bravado which just doesn’t sell these days. Tell the story about the prior challenges and obstacles that were overcome:

1. when the team encountered the obstacle
   
2. how they overcame it
   
3. what they learned from it
   
4. how it serves us now in the current situation

The team needs to hear how you/they have been through this before in some way. Ground them in the team's ability to overcome the obstacles.

II. Empathy...is a must. Even for the experienced, battle hardened leader with the scar tissue to show for it, you must be able to connect at the front line level and view the landscape from their eyes. Genuine empathy is not hard to demonstrate yet for many leaders is beyond them because is requires something that many are unwilling to give – time. It is also here where leaders make the fatal mistake of projecting their agenda as opposed to just being present and listening. Most people just want to be listened to, not pumped up. Confidence is too often viewed as a tool, like a hammer looking for a nail. This is when confidence fails.

III. Engagement. The leader must invite the organization into a conversation of what the future can be in spite of the current realities. This is how confidence becomes mutually owned as opposed to solely a position statement or monologue from the leader. Using an appreciative approach for engaging the organization in the conversation of what can be in the face of anxiety and uncertainty in today's business climate has been proven to be very effective. The resources on the internet are numerous around the topic of "appreciative inquiry." Ultimately, the last is the most important E of the three E's, hence your outcome will in direct proportion to the effort you put into designing an effective process with the team. Of course, you are always welcome to contact us should you feel the need for assistance with the design.

In any approach however, the perspective that challenges the notion of confidence as a transaction will ultimately be the most effective. Virtues are not transactional, they are however transformational especially in the context of facing adversity.

Recovery is coming. Business as usual? I don’t think so...

No one is untouched by the current downturn in the economy. While some may have been saved from the layoffs or downsizings, all are affected. Whether it is the key supplier that has gone out of business, the business park owner that has left the new buildings in the park half finished or the bank that has changed the rules of the game, we are all affected to one degree or another. Amongst our client base and those of my peers, I have observed three general categories of conditions in the economy:
Category 1 - Businesses in day to day survival mode
Category 2 - Businesses who have been impacted with the downturn but have re-sized, are retrenching and have or are working on a recovery plan
Category 3 - Businesses who have been fortunate enough to be relatively unscathed (yes, they are out there, they just don’t make the headlines. Good news really doesn't sell...)
While categories 1 & 3 represent the outer ends of the bell curve and relatively small segments of the economy, the bulk of us are in category 2 and land in the middle. For the sake of keeping this straight forward, I’m not going to slice this any more than I have other than recognizing that this illustration may be an over simplification for many. Just hang with me on this and see if the bigger message does apply to your situation in some way.
If you are in category 1, fighting to keep the doors open for even just the next day, then this post may be of little help and I can only offer my sincere hopes for you and your company to make it through. If however you find yourself in category 2, then listen up: I am hearing an abundance of street talk around, “when business comes back,” or “when things recover.” While I am no economist, I am confident in saying that when our economy begins to return to some state of normalcy and equilibrium, it will be dramatically different. A strategic error that many are making is to view the recovery through the lens of the prosperity over the last several years. The old saying, “what got us here isn’t going to get us there,” screams loudly in this vein.
Simply put, success in the future will depend on the ability to envision ways to do business that challenge the status quo. Category 3 businesses take heed. If you have escaped the current crisis and are not using this opportunity to leverage more out of the organization then you are in for a rude awakening. Having the luxury to choose between difficult change and the status quo is not necessarily a position of strength and can lull even the most capable organizations into a sense of complacency. The category 2 (and the few 1’s that survive) businesses that emerge will be leaner and meaner than ever. No doubt the leveraged financials will be a barrier to recovery however any business with a raison d’être tempered in the crucible of a recession is an awesome force to contend with.
So let’s get to it, where and how do we dive into this discussion? While I cannot capture the entirety of this subject I’ll outline what I consider the foundation of it and interestingly enough, where many leaders just will not go:
1. What wasn’t working anyway?
The truth of it for most organizations is even in the height of success, there are a multitude of sins that are glossed over. “Everything is good because we’re making money, right?” Let’s get real then. What did we already know was not working, even when we’re making money? Get the team together over a brown bag lunch and have an open-ended discussion. Keep it at the identification stage and avoid at all costs the temptation to dive into problem solving. In fact, designate a facilitator to keep the group out of the problem solving stage. There will be plenty of time for that later. While your job is to invite the discussion, it is primarily to listen and observe with one eye keenly looking for the identification of what is traditionally called the “soft stuff,” such as expectations, behaviors, violations of values, etc. If these are not being identified at some point then it is your job to add them to the mix. Better yet, in the request for the meeting and giving the team a heads up of what it is about, if there is one member in particular who is tuned in to this aspect of the team’s performance, pull them aside ahead of time and encourage them to contribute.
2. Deal with behaviors first
This next part is where your leadership really needs to kick in. The temptation will be to focus on the “technical” issues such as systems, procedures, policy, etc. While it is most beneficial for the team to collaboratively prioritize what issues get unpacked first, if the behavioral issues do not get priority then you need to exercise your authority and get the team to address these elements first before they dive into the systems. It doesn’t mean that the issues need to be completely resolved however there does need to be a grounding in the expectations, alignment of behaviors and an understanding of what proof of performance looks like before the systems issues are tackled, otherwise you will be condemned to Groundhog’s day (if you haven’t seen Bill Murray in this classic, then I highly suggest you view the movie!) which is also the definition of insanity - continuing to do the same thing over and over, expecting a different result.
3. Focus, focus, focus (and it starts at the top!)
I am a huge believer in Occam’s Razor or otherwise attributed as the “law of economy.” In other words, keep it simple! Most change efforts, especially those dealing with behaviors and beliefs (otherwise known as culture) stall for a few reasons, a) there is no integrity in the process because you are not setting the example, b) it’s been made it too complex to execute, and lastly c) there is no accountability in the process. Keep it simple, focus on execution and remember always, you are setting the tone, guiding the pace, and for the newer teams you will need to set the expectations until they are mature enough to operate at that level amongst themselves.
While the challenges of the economy are difficult, there is nothing more clarifying than downright survival mode at times for determining where we need to be sharpening our saw so to speak. Take this as an opportunity to start sharpening. The work you do now will pay multiples of dividends not only in the near term, but exponentially so when we do see the “recovery.” In doing so we all will be prepared to compete in the future. Rest assured, more than a few complacent category 3’s or deer-in-the-headlight’s category 2’s will be caught unaware by your work.

When leadership really matters

I was packing up some boxes recently, getting ready to move my home office from the guest room to the newly finished office space in recent home remodel (13 years in the making!) when I came across an old notebook. Flipping through the pages to decide whether to toss or not I found some notes from a meeting I had with a mentor of mine a number of years ago. Scrawled across the top was written “DO NOT THROW AWAY,” in bold caps. Written just below the blaring warning was a hastily written title, “Leading when leadership really matters.” Too tempting not to read further, I settled into my chair to read on, replaying the meeting in my memory.
John was a retired CEO from the manufacturing industry and had been serving as a mentor for new executives in organizations in his retirement. We were discussing qualities of leadership and what it is that he has observed from an outsiders perspective on what effective leadership is and when it is really needed.
“It comes down to dealing with ambiguity Rick,” he said plainly, “This is the crux of it, especially when the company is challenged with difficult circumstances. Everyone from the boardroom to the front line is looking to you to tell them how you are going to pull the company through the difficult times.”
“Here lays the leadership challenge, leading when leadership really matters, and it starts with the three pillars of leading – Purpose, Persistence and Pace. Here’s how these work,” John explained.
“Leaders will face all kinds of challenges that change the rules of the game. They will be continually faced with situations where the same old routines just don’t work anymore. Leadership is dynamic. We cannot continue to be content being the hammer looking for the same old nail every time. This can be incredibly frustrating and unravel even the most levelheaded leader. Thus the continual challenge of leadership is not for the feint of heart and to get us through the toughest of times when we just don’t know what to do or where to turn, we must have a clear purpose, a transcendent cause for what we do to ground us.”
John was on a roll now and I was taking notes furiously, barely keeping up with him.” Hardly stopping to take a breath, John proceeded, “This is the first pillar of leadership. A purpose answers the why of what we do. As Nietzsche said, ‘he who has a why to live for can endure almost any how.’ And believe me, the aspiring leader will undoubtedly face many how’s that will test their resolve!”
John paused for a moment, sipped from his latte and continued. “The second pillar of leading is persistence. There are no two ways about it. Persistence is the dogged determination to see through the how and cannot be substituted with any amount of knowledge or intellectual mastery. The pursuits of many a leader have been dashed when they were literally on the threshold of success, caving in to the pressures against them and not seeing the effort through.”
Continuing to scribble madly in my notebook, I noticed he had stopped talking and looked up to see him gazing quietly at what I was writing. Silently determining that I was keeping pace, he continued. “The last pillar, and perhaps the most unheralded is pace. Most leaders either stall at the starting line due to inaction, fearful of making the wrong decision or fire off like a shot out of a cannon only to see their well intended efforts fizzle out shortly into their tenure. The leader who recognizes the leadership journey is a truly marathon will pace themselves for the long haul, choosing their moves carefully with an eye toward the long term.”
I put my pen down and kneaded the cramp out of my writing hand. “Is it really this simple John?” I asked reflectively.
“Don’t kid yourself,” he said flatly. “It’s rarely as simple as it seems, yet never as complicated as we make it.”
I laughed out loud as I pondered his Zen-like wisdom. He proceeded calmly, unfazed by my outburst, “The truth of leading when it really matters is it is rarely about heroics, but rather a consistent adherence to the three pillars. Whether good times or bad, the leader is always served by the discipline of purpose, persistence and pace. That is what leads to success in the long run.”
Looking back on that conversation now, it seems incredibly prophetic. John was absolutely right. Is it too late to adopt the principals of the three pillars? Only you can determine however the real question should be, “can I afford not to?”
Clearly, given the events unfolding before us in the economy the future of our organizations hang on the quality of the choices we make now, in the moment, when leadership really matters.
May we all choose wisely!