Why We Build Lighthouses

I got the idea of building a "lighthouse" from a great quote that some employees shared with me when I worked at my last "corporate" role.

The idea is to create a vision or an idea that clarifies things for people.
I had a colleague on LinkedIn ask the question the other day - What Do You Do? I responded that I build virtual "lighthouses". She followed up with a question saying "Do you mean you turn people's thinking on?" My answer is I hope so.

I believe that people are the most important resource that any organizations possesses and that the foundation of all relationships is trust. I know some people would say that love makes the world go around, but I can love somebody and not want to do business with them. If I can't trust them there is no basis for the relationship to continue.

I had a discussion with one of my proteges the other day about a relationship she was discouraged about. She was questioning whether or not her time with the organization had come to an end. She felt that she didn't trust her supervisor, her supervisor didn't trust her, and she wasn't sure that she trusted the Executive Team.
I told her I couldn't and wouldn't make the decision for her, but for me that was a sign of time to depart.

Building a lighthouse is about what Marcus Buckingham calls clarity. He says that clarity is the most important quality of a leader- to be able to answer the questions-

• What do we do?
• Why does it matter?
• How do I fit in?

I think he is right, that's what we want from our leaders- clarity. Clarity leads to trust.

It is interesting to see how uncomfortable we remain with the concept of trust and relationships. When you look at organizations that "specialize" in change management they talk a lot about processes, and technology, and ERP and stuff like that. They don't talk very much about trust and relationships.

I talked about the fact that a national study showed that 40% of new managers fail in their first 18 months in the new role. The biggest reason- failure to build relationships and trust. I'm not very good with technology so I guess that I will just keep trying to build lighthouses and relationships.

I'll leave you with another quote from Margaret Wheatly-

In organizations, real power and energy is generated through relationships. The patterns of relationships and the capacity to form them are more important than tasks, functions, roles, and positions.

The Essence of Whole People

I just discovered this quote by DH Lawrence and it speaks to the idea of Whole People and respecting the individuality of each of us. Do you agree with him on abandoning the "cult" of personality or is that too simplistic?

I want relations which are not purely personal, based on purely personal qualities; but relations based upon some unanimous accord in truth or belief, and a harmony of purpose, rather than of personality. I am weary of personality. Let us be easy and impersonal, not forever fingering over our own souls, and the souls of our acquaintances, but trying to create a new life, a new common life, a new complete tree of life from the roots that are within us.

D. H. Lawrence

This is the "new paradigm" that we are trying to help organizations embrace, the idea that organizations that focus on a common goal, but have room for each of us to pursue achievement of that goal for our own purposes creates the strongest bonds. What do you think?
MH

Why Aren't We Teaching This?

As an avid blog reader, writer, and teacher I see comments and questions about employee engagement, reducing turnover, keeping critical staff and reams about leadership. Whether leadership is born or taught, trying to define it, etc.
When you look at the syllabus of the typical MBA program that is very little in it about how to build and lead teams. There is plenty about finance, accounting, marketing, and even a little economics for texture, but very little about people.
Do we think the transition from doer to leader occurs by osmosis? Do we believe that it is "embedded" in the right candidates and it will emerge?
I read an article a while back that indicated that 40% of new managers fail within the first 18 months and the biggest reason they fail is that they don't know how to build and maintain effective relationships.
When I work with entrepreneurs one of the biggest obstacles they experience is moving from doer to leader and building successful transition and succession strategies.
Executive and personal coaching as businesses are booming. It has become the therapy of the new millennium. Why are companies and educational institutions not addressing this earlier on in peoples careers?
I know that there are books out there like Good to Great and the One Minute Manager, but as a recent B school grad asked- "So what is this bus that Jim Collins keeps talking about?"
At the end of the day everything boils down to effective relationships. Isn't about time we recognize and embrace that?

The "Phenomena" Of Engagement

The whole issue of "engagement" is an interesting area for me personally and professionally. It may be that I lack appropriate "balance" in my life, but a big part of who I am is deeply connected to what I do. With that being said, the idea of being engaged or committed to the core values of organizations that I work for and with is important to me.

I also believe perhaps incorrectly that many others out there share my feelings, especially Gen X and the "millenial" generation. They seek or even demand meaning.

I have read blog posts (including response to my own) that say that expecting engagement is unreasonable and that there is not necessarily a correlation between engagement and productivity.

I struggle with both those positions. Is it unreasonable to ask employees to share the values of your organization assuming they are clearly articulated and behavior is consistent with your stated values?

Do engaged employees perform at a higher level or not?

I don't expect anyone to commit to an organization in perpetuity, but is it not acceptable to say that while you are here give me your best effort and adhere to the value and behavioral code of the organization?

Is engagement a management "myth"? Where does responsibility for engagement reside; in human resources, in the executive suite, or perhaps at the level of individual manager to individual employee, or perhaps all three?

I of course have my opinions. I have created a system called moving from Compliance to Commitment(TM), but I am looking for your thoughts, not just blind validation.

Certification- Is it Really Value Added?

It seems certification of one kind of another has become a growth industry. My question and thought; is it really improving the quality of practitioner and services to clients? I look at it particularly in two arenas I feel somewhat comfortable in talking about- Coaching and Human Resources.
Both of these fields have much to do with interpersonal interactions and effectiveness. In particular the human resources field has disciplines and dimensions that are quite technical and compliance oriented. These areas require training and skills development.
I look at other areas and say that the ability to pass an examination does not guarantee the ability to communicate and build effective relationships.
I would say the same for "coaching". I think there are tools and processes and techniques to identify certain styles and development needs of people and organizations, but is that the complete picture?
Does a law degree and being admitted to the bar make you an effective counselor or litigator? Does an MBA really prepare you to lead an organization?
We write and study and discuss effective management and "leadership" ad nauseum. Does certification teach those skills or attributes?
I believe you can certify "competency" the achievement of completing a course of study, but that is not the same as effectiveness. What do you think? Should we use "certification" as a screen in non licensed professions?

Coaching- What Is It All About?

“Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear
and no concept of the odds against them”
~Robert Jarvik


Robert Jarvik, surgeon and inventor of the Jarvik artificial heart, made the above comment about leaders, but I think it’s just as relevant and applicable to the entrepreneurial spirit.
Similar to any career, entrepreneurial endeavors are a journey; you really measure their success or failure at the end, not at the milestones. Like corporate leadership, entrepreneurs can also pursue a very lonely path. I want to explore a concept that has held some cachet in corporate America, but hasn’t gained significant visibility or traction in small business – the concept of executive coaching.
Annika Sorestram, Tiger Woods, Venus Williams; besides being world class athletes, what do they all have in common? They all have a coach. If world class athletes have coaches, why wouldn’t it be appropriate for those in the business world to avail ourselves of coaching?
The issue of coaching is interesting and especially valuable in the context of business. My premise is simple: coaching, properly defined and applied, is a competitive if not essential advantage, especially for those in the small business environment.
The first key differentiation is between “executive” and “personal” or “life” coaches.
A personal or life coach’s role is to help focus on life goals and ambitions, creating appropriate “balance” in your personal life and all related factors. This type of coach serves as an external “conscience,” holding the entrepreneur accountable to execute those things standing between him or her and self-actualization, realizing full potential as a person.
An executive coach’s role is focused on helping to develop or increase skills that make the person more effective in a given job. This includes balancing and integrating personal and professional attributes and considerations, but the focus is to help the client thrive in professional life and maximize effectiveness in the workplace (everything from internal meetings to partner negotiations).
I’m not putting a value judgment on one coach or the other. In fact, there are clearly dimensions that overlap. My focus in this article is on the merits of executive coaching.

The most common reasons organizations hire executive coaches is to strengthen an executive or manager’s skills in one or more of these four areas:
· Handling or managing change
· Working well within a team environment
· Interpersonal relationships
· Developing or enhancing “executive” presence (speaking ability, communications, etc).
You can see in the above target skills determine selecting the right resource and specific coaching plan.

Why Entrepreneurs Need Coaching
Whoever coined the phrase “It’s lonely at the top” must have had the entrepreneur in mind. It doesn’t get any lonelier. Entrepreneurs, as individuals, are the business in many cases. They have direct reports, family, maybe even a board; but there is no “organization” to hire a coach if they need additional resources, or even to require or suggest benefits from coaching. They face the same issue as the “corporate” CEO; however, the entrepreneur often doesn’t have access to the same resources.
I have found most the successful entrepreneurs that I have worked with to have a number of characteristics in common; they are visionary, driven to the point of obsession, have a high need for control, and in business dealings these entrepreneurs may tend to be more loners. They have built the business from the ground up, they made the decisions and founded the key relationships – often alone.
Skills like delegation, collaboration, and process management don’t come naturally to entrepreneurs. They will seek advice from technical advisors such as accountants, attorneys, but many of the business skills learned in corporate America aren’t part of an entrepreneur’s experiential base.
I have seen them struggle with issues such as delegation, staff selection, succession planning, and team or collaborative-based decision-making. Bluntly, many of the “technical” advisors have limited experience outside of their core competency areas. The relationship between entrepreneurs and their clients grows from trust and time, not always broad expertise. I find that their advice tends to be biased from their specific expertise.
I will freely admit my “core competency” is in the management of people. I have designed hundreds of human resource management systems with the elements of hiring, selection, training, performance management, and related skills.

As an entrepreneur and C-level executive, I was also required to broaden my skill set to include other functional skills including marketing, finance, and sales. Given my corporate experience, I’m comfortable reaching out to – and collaborating with – those areas of expertise. This makes me a bit of an anomaly as an entrepreneur and it’s also an attribute. In my capacity as a COO, I orchestrated the disciplines of marketing, finance, IT, and HR into an effective symphony.
As businesses move forward and evolve, an entrepreneur will find that it’s critical to do several things:
· Recognize and link “human” processes and business results.
· Develop and strengthen relationships with the “team”, including succession planning for oneself and other key staff.
· Be able to clearly articulate personal mission and vision, especially as the business grows and becomes less “personal”.
· Create feedback opportunities for staff to discuss their needs and opportunities for development (i.e. their investment in business growth and success).
· Delegate portions of responsibilities to allow a clear view of the “30,000-foot” level and a sharp focus on the long-term success of the business, not the day-to-day.
I also believe that in smaller or closely-held businesses, some of the issues targeted by executive coaches are even more critical. In the small organization every hire is a key hire, every decision is a key decision. A significant erroneous business decision doesn’t mean I don’t get my “bonus,” it means I might lose my life savings and my home. I have found from personal experience the “golden parachute” I have from my business seems a little more like it was constructed from that liner in chewing gum wrappers.
A few significant statistics support the value of coaching:
· A return-on-investment study from Fortune 1000 companies showed an average of a 600% return on the dollars they invested in executive coaching. They saw specific improvements in productivity, quality, organizational strength, and customer satisfaction.
· Another study showed a 529% ROI directly attributable to coaching and other intangible benefits. When they included the savings from decreased turnover the number was 788%.
I don’t know about you, but those are the kind of numbers that get my attention, and that of my bankers and my accountants!
In conclusion, I think the case for executive coaching is pretty clear, as is the issue for hiring the right coach for the individual and the situation. I won’t presume to define the “right” coach, but here are helpful tips:

First, two effective questions entrepreneurs should ask prospective coaches:
· What kinds of clients do you work with effectively?
· What kinds of clients do you not work with effectively?
The second tip I have for entrepreneurs (with apologies to the various entities out there that are “certifying” coaches) is what I and others believe are essential competencies in an effective executive coach:
· They must be competent at coaching and influencing others.
· They must be self-aware, empathetic, excellent listeners, and have the ability and willingness to give candid, balanced feedback in a nonjudgmental or confrontational way.
· They must be trustworthy. An entrepreneur will need to be able to trust the coach with intimate, sensitive information about the business.
· They must have at least a baseline understanding of the business sector and business in general. A coach with no experience in business practices, organizational dynamics, and other business disciplines won’t have a solid foundation from which to work.
· They must have the integrity and strength of character to stand up to a strong-willed entrepreneur, even if it means losing that person’s business.