Go in the Right Direction

November 30, 2013

Onw Way SignI am writing a new book on trust. For some inexplicable reason, I do that every three years or so. One chapter is about change and why organizations feel compelled to change.

The quote at the start of the chapter is by Lao Tzu, “If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”

The quote tickled my funny bone enough to use it in the header for the chapter. Now, as I reflect on the issue of change and continuous improvement, I have an additional insight that may be helpful.

We do not need to worry about the myriad of decisions required to chart the future.

Rather, all we need to do is verify we are heading in the right direction.

That will free us from over-planning and allow our creativity to determine the exact pathway to our future.

The wonderful thing about a vision is that it pulls us along from one revelation to the next one. We simply need to remain true to the vision and verify that each decision is pointed the right direction. The rest will take care of itself.

Lou Holtz uses the word WIN, which stands for “What’s Important Now.” It allows him to focus on the vision and do the right thing at every step to take him in that direction. He does not worry or hope or fret about all the details, he simply asks if what we are doing right now is consistent with the vision. If it is, then the step is correct.

Continuous improvement is the same way. We do not need to psychoanalyze all possible avenues ahead of time. We can take actions immediately as long as we are pointed in the direction we wish to go, and we will eventually achieve our goals.

Some people will say, “Yes, but what if there is a better choice, then you might miss the opportunity to do that.” People who continually say “Yes, but…” can find themselves searching for the ultimate perfect path and die from analysis paralysis or starvation. Far better to step out on the right path and keep moving toward the goal than spend years searching for the perfect path.

In “Success is a Journey,” the great Brian Tracy recalls how, as a young man, he traveled from Vancouver all the way to South Africa with some friends. It took them over a year to do it. The most harrowing part of the journey was when he crossed the Sahara Desert.

For one 500 mile stretch called the Tanezrouft, the road was marked by oil barrels every 5 kilometers. It turns out that that is exactly the curvature of the Earth, so at any time he could see exactly two oil barrels: the one he just passed and the one directly in front of him.

As soon as he would pass one oil barrel, the one behind him would disappear and a new one would pop up on the horizon in front of him. So the way he crossed the most dangerous desert on the planet was by taking it one oil barrel at a time.

So it is with reaching any difficult goal. You can do it by simply making sure you are heading in the right direction and taking it one oil barrel at a time. I believe that is a good way to visualize continuous improvement and a great model for achieving your goals in life.

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Improving Leadership Transitions

November 23, 2013

Passing the batonIt should come as no surprise that organizations take on the personality of their leaders. After all, the leader sets the tone for everything that happens in an organization.

It depends on management style how much the culture evolves toward the style of the leader. In some cases, a particularly hands-off leader will allow a culture to define itself, but those situations are rare exceptions. This article gives two examples of how the culture shifts when a new manager takes over and provides some tips about how a new leader can efficiently define the culture after taking over from a predecessor.

Probably the most-watched transition of CEOs in decades was the transition at Apple from Steve Jobs to Tim Cook. Steve Jobs’ style was so different from Tim Cooks’ that the entire culture of the company had to adjust.

Jobs was abrasive, demanding, no comprise, micromanaging, and secretive. Cook is more methodical, thoughtful, consensus loving, and transparent.

The organization is still trying to adapt to the different leadership style while at the same time keeping up the blistering pace of innovation that was the hallmark during the Jobs era. By most counts, things have slowed down a bit.

The embarrassment of the Apple Maps fiasco was an unwelcome speed bump for the new CEO. (Note that Apple Maps was actually engineered during the Jobs era, but it was introduced as a product after his death). Things are settling out now, but few people believe the mature corporate giant will ever get back to the cocky, scrappy, bold innovation pioneer it was a decade ago.

Another famous transition occurred at GE in 2001 when Jeff Immelt took over from the powerful icon, Jack Welch.

Jeff’s style was more collaborative than the combative style of Welch. Jack liked to solve problems analytically by getting information and making very edgy choices.

He would berate leaders in public if they did not measure up to his standards. Jeff was more approachable and liked to work out issues by getting everyone involved. Welch created a combative atmosphere where the winners survived and the losers were out. Immelt tried to bring the best in everyone to the workplace every day.

Both leaders were successful in their time and both struggled with situations as they worked through the inevitable challenges of running a huge multinational organization.

These two examples are from mega corporations, but the same phenomenon takes place in smaller organizations, not-for-profits, government, and even volunteer organizations.

Whenever a new leader replaces an incumbent, you will see a rapid change in the culture that is reflective of the change in styles between the two leaders.

The transition from old to new is fascinating to watch, and there are ways to do it well. There are also potential major mistakes that will hurt the chances for the new administration.
When a new leader takes over an organization, what happens in the first few days, or even the first few hours is important to do with great care. A weak opening gets the new culture off to a waffling start, yet parachuting in with combat boots can lead to fear and rejection. Here are five tips for a new leader to consider during the critical first few days on a new assignment.
1. Introduce yourself consciously
Do not make the mistake of thinking that people will get to know the “real you” in due time. Be more proactive, and set up a meeting where you can share your values, style, expectations, biases, and idiosyncrasies.

Make sure to set the stage where people feel encouraged to ask questions and take the time to answer every question thoughtfully. Be as engaging as possible without being insincere or condescending. Let people get to know the best side of you first. If time allows, these meetings are better if done in small family groups than a mega Town Hall format.
Walk around a lot during the first few days and shake people’s hands. Act and truly be interested in their personal lives. Try to find one common bond with each person you meet, so you can ask her about her sick dog or new house at a later date. Specifically focus on remembering names.
2. Listen a lot at the start
Unless you are taking over for a field commander who has just been killed (or the equivalent), it is a good idea to understand how the current organization works before barking out orders on how you expect to run the place.

It is so tempting to impress your ideas on the group as a leader right from the start, but you will pay a heavy price if you are too overbearing. Some experts recommend an immediate “take charge” approach for a new leader. I admit there are some circumstances when that urgency of command is called for, but in most cases I favor a more metered approach.
A wise move is to heed the words of Stephen R. Covey in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People when he wrote “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” By establishing yourself as a good listener first, you will gain much more cooperation, trust, and respect.

3. Refrain from talking about your prior organization
New leaders often make the mistake of referring to the great things done in their prior organization too often. Too much emphasis on a past success will turn people off when a new leader takes over. If you keep saying, “Well, in the XYZ organization, we used to have a daily briefing to keep people on board,” people will eventually roll their eyes when you walk into the room.
When I would promote or move a manager, I would ask him or her to refer to the prior job only one time in public. Once that chit was played, I suggested the new leader refrain from other references for at least 2 months.

This gave the new leader the opportunity to appreciate the good things that were being done in the new area before giving a lot of suggestions for them to be more like his old area. The people never knew the difference; they just seemed to like the new leader quite a lot.
4. Ask for feedback and advice
A wise leader has the Emotional Intelligence to ask for frequent feedback, especially at the start of his tenure. Asking how things are going and how people are reacting during the first several days signals a kind of humility that is cherished by people who report to the leader.

In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins and his team found two common denominators for what they called level five leaders (the best). They were, 1) passion for the organization, mission, and vision, and 2) humility. The reason being a bit humble at the start is that you will be approachable and coachable, so you have the highest potential for trust to kindle.
If the advice you get is not what you wanted to hear, be sure to be truly grateful for it anyway. Often constructive comments on how things could be done better are the most helpful. When you reinforce people who tell you what they really think, you go a long way toward building trusting relationships.
5. Suppress your ego

You have been given an opportunity to start with a new group. Do not get a swelled head over it.

Make sure people view you as grateful for the opportunity to join their team instead of inheriting all of them onto your team. The ability to establish a helpful mindset before exercising command will put people on your side, and the benefits will accrue throughout your tenure. If you establish yourself as a narcissist from day one, you will never fully win the hearts of those who report to you.
These five tips may seem like common sense, but I see them violated quite frequently by leaders taking over a new situation. If you follow these ideas, you will be off to a great start that will pay big dividends for your organization and ensure you will be viewed as an elite leader by everyone.

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Response When People Thank You

November 16, 2013

Food and BeverageMy wife and I were out to dinner a while ago and ran into a very personable young waiter named Kyle.

This young man was still in college, and he was working to earn money and looking for his future.

I really liked this waiter because he made great eye contact, and he was polite but not intrusive. He had one annoying habit that was a distraction from an otherwise stellar impression that he created.

Every time he would do something, like refresh my water, I would say “Thank you,” and he would reply “No problem.” For a while I just let it pass and did not think about it, but eventually I recognized that his response habit was hurting the impression he was making of himself.

The statement “No problem” is really not a bad thing to say, but it does represent a missed opportunity to build trust with the other person. Reason: the statement does not represent a proactive positive response to gratitude.

Instead, it reflects a kind of throw-away line that I, the customer, really did not matter much to him. The effect is very subtle, so the negative impression is not severe, but a more upbeat response or at least some variety of response would work much better.

A simple “You’re welcome” would be better than “No problem,” but there could be hundreds of more creative and memorable statements the young man could have used that would further entrench the good impression we had of him. Remember, he has plenty of time to prepare creative comebacks because he pours water for people every day.

For example, in response to “Thank you” after he poured the water, he might have said, “We double-filter all of our water before we serve it to our guests.” He could have blown me away with a statement like, “We never serve water that is warmer than 47 degrees.”

Another response might be “I view your glass as bottomless.” How about, “I’ll be watching to be sure you never run out.” Another tack might be to demonstrate respect by responding, “I am honored,” or “It is my pleasure.”

The young waiter, had to realize that he was serving expensive food to people who could afford it, so every night he was making impressions on people who could potentially influence his life. I took the time to compliment Kyle on his demeanor and also give him some coaching on his habitual response to gratitude. He got the message and was truly thankful for it because he had never given the matter any thought. It was just something he was used to saying.

The response to a “Thank you” should be thought of as a great way to differentiate yourself from the pack if you are in a customer service occupation. Don’t waste the opportunity with a throw-away line like, “No problem.”

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Top Leader’s Role in Building Trust

November 9, 2013

CEO croppedI have never met a CEO, or other top executive, who does not desire higher trust within his or her organization. Perhaps there is one out there, but I have never found that person.

The enigma is that while the quest for higher trust is nearly universal, often the senior leader does not recognize that the power to accomplish it is within herself.

I have written about this phenomenon several times, as I believe that once we can accomplish wider recognition of the role of the senior leader in creating higher trust, we will have “cracked the code” that will enable the attainment in a significantly higher percentage of cases.

In my consulting work, I am often called in by senior executives (CEO, COO, or VPHR) to help them improve trust within the organization.

The conversation usually starts out with some form of description of a dysfunctional organization at the shop floor level or with the sales force or customer service, etc.. Often the lower level managers and supervisors are singled out as the culprits, and the top officers are asking me to come in and “fix them.”

This is a dilemma for me because if I say something like, “Have you considered what your contribution is to the problem?” I find myself out in the street on my butt.

If I do take the challenge to go in and “fix” the lower ranks, it is inevitable that these lower managers will tell me the main source of the problem is the senior leaders. I want to offer some ideas on the cause of this disconnect, because I believe it contains the seeds of a cure.

The CEO is ultimately responsible for everything that happens in an organization, but there is often great frustration because, while the top leader has set out a vision and tries to communicate it often, the rank and file keep accusing him of not communicating well.

Several studies have revealed that employees most often state “lack of communication” as either the number one or number two reason for employee dissatisfaction (Wiedmer, 2009).

This is extremely frustrating to many top leaders, because they are sincerely working hard to communicate every day. Given a choice between their own inadequate “mouth,” and the employees’ defective “ears,” most leaders would rather focus blame on the employees.

In most cases, the root cause of the frustration is neither defective outgoing communication nor listening prowess. It is a lack of trust. There is a cultural schism between organizational levels that is based more on fear than on lack of communication. Workers do not often verbalize the fear because, well, they are afraid. So the issues get reported as communication problems.

Top leaders are frustrated because they understand their own objectives clearly and are fully justified in their own mind for every action they take. Reason: it is next to impossible for a sane person to take an action different from what he or she believes is the best one at the moment.

If there was a better choice, that would be the one selected. So the CEO is doing the “right” thing in all cases in his or her own opinion.

If people interpret the CEOs actions as inconsistent with the values, then they must be wrong. Here is where we crack the code. It is the inability of leaders to make workers feel good when they verbalize the inconsistencies that blocks the building of trust.

If top leaders can understand that last point, things can change rather quickly, and higher trust can be developed in nearly every organization. The top leaders really do hold the key, yet they often do not recognize it. In the song “Already Gone,” The Eagles had a great lyric that applies here:

“Well I know it wasn’t you who held me down
Heaven knows it wasn’t you who set me free
So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains
And we never even know we have the key”

Cracking the code for the development of higher trust in any organization means enlightening the leaders that they hold the key. It is as simple and as profound as that. Let me clarify what that key is again and associate it with a phrase: “reinforcing candor.”

The key is for leaders to make people feel glad when they bring up what appear to be inconsistencies. People may think an accounting practice is too near the ethical edge, they may think that a decision is not consistent with stated values, or they may believe a leader is shading the truth to get out of a tight spot.

These are just a few examples of the countless apparent inconsistencies people see happening every day at the senior levels yet are afraid to voice.

Top leaders need to reinforce employees when they have the courage to be candid about what seem to be wrong actions.

By reinforcing candor, leaders enable people to voice their concerns openly and know they will be rewarded, not punished. This practice forms a kind of mirror surface where the leader can actually see himself through the eyes of the people who work for him. What an amazing blessing that is! Imagine actually being able to see yourself the way others do.

Having the mirror to see one’s own actions accurately prevents leaders from getting on a slippery slope that ultimately leads to lower trust.

In most cases unethical or otherwise wrong behavior occurs because of a slow erosion of standards. The top leaders allow a slight timing adjustment in inventory valuation that is perfectly legal and it helps performance look better.

There is nothing wrong with this, except if we can do it this month we can do that plus just a bit more the next month and still feel right about it. Before too many months go by, we have walked ourselves into believing that unethical actions are okay.

That is how Enron and so many other organizations got in trouble.

When people are reinforced for their candor, if you have 100 employees, you have 100 people who will call you if the decisions are not really right. That keeps you from getting on the slippery slope, and trust is built on a consistent basis.

Cracking the code of helping top leaders build higher trust involves getting them to see that they have the key in their hand every day. The key is to foster an environment where people know it is safe to bring up scary stuff and know that will be rewarded rather than punished.

For a great compendium of articles on trust see “Trust Inc.: Strategies for Building Your Company’s Most Valuable Asset,” by Barbara Brooks Kimmel of Trust Across America: Trust Around the World.

Reference:
Wiedmer, Stacey M. (2009). “An examination of Factors Affecting Employee Satisfaction.” Missouri Western State University

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Triple Crown Leadership

November 6, 2013

Triple Crown Leadership036Bob Vanourek is a friend and author in the area of leadership and trust. He and his son Gregg have written an outstanding book on leadership that I had the pleasure of reading recently.

As a leadership and trust author myself, I have the opportunity to review scores of books each year as part of my research and to give testimonials for the true gems. Bob and Gregg have produced a classic!

If you are interested in a pragmatic “how to” book for becoming an elite leader, you owe it to yourself to invest in a copy of Triple Crown Leadership. Bob and Gregg draw on decades of experience in the leadership trenches and the boardrooms of business.

They have seen and done it all, and have enumerated the triple crown concepts of how to build an organization that is Excellent, Ethical, and Enduring.

The book uses the analogy of Triple Crown Horseracing to signify the top of the racing profession and equate the relevant principles to the business world. It is a fascinating and captivating metaphor.

Reading this book will give you a jockey’s view of five key practices that describe how to excel in leadership at the highest levels. The five practices are:

1. Head and Heart – How to combine brilliant strategy with the human touch.

2. The Colors – How to always race on a track with a firm foundation of values, vision, and purpose.

3. Steel and Velvet – Gaining that rare combination of firmness when needed coupled with deep care for people.

4. Stewards – How to empower others to lead.

5. Alignment – Creating a culture where all individuals are going in the same direction on the track.

The book is rich with dozens of real examples unearthed by years of research where Bob and Gregg interviewed leaders in 61 organizations in 11 countries.

This book has it all, and the writing is easy to digest and absorb.

If you are a leader and aspire to the pinnacle of the profession, I highly recommend this book. It belongs in the stable of every serious leader’s books.

In my five-star review on Amazon, I share my opinion that this is “The best leadership book since Good to Great.”

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Dreaming of Future Communication Technology

November 2, 2013

Beautiful cyber woman with computer mouse isolated on white bacSmart phones are ubiquitous these days. If you walk around any campus, you will be hard pressed to find a single student who is not using one. Most of them are texting or chatting while they walk, drive, eat, go to the bathroom, and I suppose, make love.

I have no idea where this trend is going to lead our society, but it is interesting to speculate. As students graduate and move into the workforce, it is going to mean interesting shifts in technology used on the job.

Generation Y, also called the millennial generation, is the fastest growing demographic in the workforce and will make up 75% of the working population by 2025.

The next generation is going to be digital almost from birth, as over 80% of individuals born today have some form of digital footprint by the time they reach age 2.

What really astounds me is that the millennial generation is moving away from voice communication in the direction of more texting. I thought we would be relying less and less on the juxtaposition of letters typed in from a keyboard layout that was invented by Christopher Sholes over 150 years ago.

Imagine, as I am typing this article, I am placing one letter next to another with occasional spaces in order to form words. The words combine into sentences, and that is how we get meaning.

Inevitably, we will move away from letters and use images and audio, or just thoughts, to communicate ideas. It will be a huge relief not to have a keyboard anymore.

There are already many voice recognition programs that allow one to speak and get the message typed out, but that is embryonic because it ultimately still involves the juxtaposition of letters.

With the proliferation of visual devices, there will be more images and fewer letters in the future. The devices will not have to be held in one’s own hand, and kids will not have over-developed thumb muscles.

Imagine the logical progression where the information is projected into the inside surface of one’s glasses so there is no need to hold a device at all. It could be semi-transparent so the user could see where he or she is going but still “chat” with others.

Computer-screen glasses are already available from Google Glass and thought to be only a few years from the mass market.

Eventually there would be no need to text or type anything because a chip in the temples of the glasses would interface with brain waves so the tiny micro computer could know and transmit what a person is thinking, but only if the person wants to have that information go out. Imagine the fun hackers would have with that feature!

There would be no battery as we know it required to power the device. It would be powered by solar batteries or in cloudy areas by tiny nano-turbine generators powered by alcohol. To recharge the device, you would simply put a single drop of alcohol in a port every 3-4 days, and you would never run out of “juice.”

Improved technology will ultimately lead to a kind of “wordless” communication where thoughts are coupled directly into one person’s brain from another person’s brain.

That trend would eliminate the need for any kind of screen.

Where images are wanted, the molecules in the air a short distance in front of a person could be made to vibrate in such a way as to form a 3-dimension color image, sort of like a hologram.

Each person could decide whether he or she wanted others to be allowed to view the image or if it was for private viewing only. That decision would be communicated by “thinking” the distribution.

These dreams may seem unrealistic, but the convergence of video technology and nano-technology is enabling many devices that already approximate the pieces of the system I have described here.

I do not think it will take more than about a decade to put all the pieces together into an actual system. For example, we already have technology that allows individuals who have severed limbs to “think” a prosthesis to move, and it does.

Nano-generators are already invented and are being used in devices today.

The future of communication is going to be a wild ride; even with the most recent gadgets, we are really in the “cave man” phase of what is possible. Stay tuned and be flexible!

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