The "Turtle" or the Hare

In hockey there is an interesting expression called "turtling". It generally means that a player curls up rather than fight when confronted by a member of the opposing team. It struck me that businesses are going to have to make some of those same decisions as we continue in this economy for what looks to be the foreseeable future.
There are some strategies that are available to businesses right now to "survive" this economy and in fact even position yourself.
I was reading an article about President Obama and it was commenting on leadership and strategy during "turn around" times that have some interesting implications for these times as well.

One of the first "weapons" you want to have in your arsenal in times like these is great leadership. I want to be clear about what represents great leadership in my mind and to me it comes down to a couple of key factors- the first being what Marcus Buckingham describes as clarity. Clarity is ensuring that everyone in the organization understands the mission and where they fit in. If you are the CEO or another C level person that is absolutely critical right now.
I believe this is also a time for executive courage that is demonstrated by being visible, available, and personally accountable. This is not a time to hunker down in your office or in a conference room with your executive team. That's turtling.

If you are a middle manager your role is to minimize ambiguity. As managers our primary role is to remove the complexity from situations and make it very clear what each employee's role is and how it contributes to the bigger picture. In times of stress that becomes even more important.

I believe this is an excellent opportunity for transparency. By transparency I don't mean an "open" book policy. especially if you haven't previously had one. What I do mean is showing people the respect they deserve by being honest with them about the situation and potential outcomes and actions. They are adults. They need to be led not parented.

I think this is a great opportunity for collaboration. Most of us like to believe that we hire and retain competent management staffs. If that is the case why do we exclude them from the decision making process? I can't tell you how many times I have been in situations where the executive team dictated the "solution" to an issue, without engaging the participation and input of the people managing the actual work processes.. I am not necessarily arguing for negotiation about targets, but I am proposing that you may dictate the "what", but give them an opportunity to participate in the how.

I am a great believer in cautious optimism. They need to believe that you believe that you will come though this a stronger organization. If you don't and you feel that the "end is near" then do the right thing and resign and leave the leadership to someone who is still committed!

I am also a believer in making the tough decisions. Many people don't like Jack Welch's tough performance matrixing model, but the reality is that everyone doesn't perform at the same level. High performing organizations know this and they evaluate their talent pool constantly. People who can't or won't perform at the expectations set by the organization are given an opportunity to find a better fit at another organization. Consistency is highly overrated in the absence of good performance management. Consistency means we treat everyone exactly the same, the problem with that is everyone doesn't perform the same way. Your processes should be consistent, the application should not be. There is nothing illegal about treating your best performers and your non-performers differently, or treating your best performers differently than your "average " performers. Before you do an "across the board pay cut" ask yourself if you have the right people in the life raft.

As you all know from my previous blogs, writings and rantings I am a big believer in engagement. I am going to go on record here and tell you that engaged organizations will not only weather the impact of this recession, they will emerge stronger!. You see they have their foundation of clarity, transparency, trust, and commitment already in place.

So in this case the hare is better. One of my favorite expressions is "when you are being run out of town get out front and make it look like a parade". Curling up and "turtling" is not going to get us through this recession, but the recession could cause us to take actions we have neglected and build a new foundation.

The Importance of Reflection

I read a lot. I guess I also think a lot and write a lot. I have found that time to be important to me and to the both the businesses I have worked for and those I supported as a consultant.

I am surprised sometimes when I talk with colleagues who spend almost no time in reflection, reading books or articles, and scoff at the idea of social networking sites like LinkedIn , FaceBook, or others and God forbid they would either write a blog or contribute to one. They bustle about "running the business". In many cases these are the same people who can't find time to coach and mentor their staff.

I read a couple of interesting articles this morning. One was on three leaders- Abraham Lincoln, Bill Gates, and Joe Paterno and how each made a commitment to reflection. Lincoln read Shakespeare and other classics, Gates scheduled a bi-annual trip to a cabin to read and think, and Paterno often coaches from the press box in order to get above the field and see things from a different perspective.

I read another article on leadership failures. It talked about some of the main reasons that leaders, especially new leaders fail. Some of the most consistent reasons were micro-management, and wanting to be the key decision maker in the majority if not all cases. They didn't trust their staff to make the "right" decision, they end up training staff not to make decisions at all.

My friend and colleague, Boom Daniel talked about the concept of a "bucket" as a fighter pilot and managing all the competing elements in your bucket. I think one way is to manage what you put in it.

How many of us spend thirty hours a week running from one meeting to another? In many of those meetings we don't even contribute directly. We are there as a function of CYA or "supporting the team". Is that always a good use of our time? I wonder sometimes.

I also feel that our society has come to really prize activity and the "hero" syndrome. The person who dashes about "solving" problems is the person we value and idolize. What about the person who thinks through the issue and doesn't let it become a crisis? Or the person who develops a team capable of making good decisions so they don't need to constantly step in with the "right" answer.

The first question I like to ask is "Why"? Why are we doing this? Why are we doing it this way? Do we have the right people involved? Does this decision need to be made at this level?

I don't know. Maybe I have too much time to "reflect", but I think that if we looked at the how and what of situations and the motivation we created maybe we would be more inclined to make better decisions.

What do you think?

Imagination

In my dream the angel shrugged and said ...this time if we fail, it will be a failure of imagination and then she gently placed the world in the palm of my hand.

Brian Anderson



I have to admit that this particular quote is one of my all time favorites. It has been an interesting week, we are halfway through the first month of 2009. The economy is still very rocky, but I saw some interesting things as well.



Earlier this week a pilot skillfully landed an aircraft in a frozen river and 155 people walked away. There were no casualties. Listening to the stories from the survivors it was uplifting to hear not only about the captain, but about passengers helping each other and the courage and action of the ferry crews and others.



A friend shared a sad story about a hate crime that occurred over 20 years ago because of anger and ignorance and fear generated from tough economic circumstances and a desire to blame it on others because of their nationality. I hope we are past that.



Another colleague talked about how we let people like Madoff becomes heroes or "rock stars" and who is responsible for changing it and how long will it take. I responded that we have to address it individually and role model the appropriate behavior for ourselves, each other and our families.



Dr. King gave his "I have a dream" speech over 45 years ago. On Tuesday we will inaugurate an African American president. The energy around that inauguration is a palpable force. The "audacity of hope" and opportunity for change energy he brings seem to have captured not just the imagination of the United States, but the world. I had an opportunity to watch some of the inaugural festivities today. I have to tell you that whether you voted for him or not the energy that this president brings is something to behold. At the Democratic convention former President Clinton indicated that the United States is at our best when we demonstrate the power of our example rather than the example of our power. I felt proud of the example I saw today.



As many of you know I am deeply committed to the spirit of engagement, that asking your employees, your customers, and your community to "join up" with you in supporting a common vision built on a foundation of trust is a profoundly better way to lead organizations. I have decided to make it my commitment to try to spread that concept and model to as many organizations as I can through my consulting, my writing, and my speaking. One of the people who read my book was kind enough to accurately synthesize my intent in writing it in her review. It is not a how to manual, it is a journal of my experiences and a model of a system and a path I have committed myself to. I don't get it right all the time and I am not setting myself up as an example, rather I am attempting to share my experience.



So I have decided that I am going to accept President Obama's invitation to join him in the audacity of hope. I am going to take responsibility for my actions and my journey and also to try to create environments of engagement and commitment rather than compliance and fear wherever I can.



Where will your imagination take you over the course of this year?

Lessons From Interesting Places

Some of you already know that I have found some of my greatest insights about engagement and working with people from some very interesting places. One of my favorites is the work of Monty Roberts, the original "horse whisperer". Monty's model of encouraging horses to "join up" with you rather than forcing them into a particular behavior was very seminal to me in creating my Compliance to Commitment(TM) model.

Today I was reading some tips from Cesar Millan, the "dog whisperer", and he offered some great insights that bear repeating.

• Live a balanced life. Milan comments that dogs do best when they have an opportunity to get exercise, have structure, and receive affection every day. I don't know about you, but that sounds remarkably like an environment of engagement to me.
• Trust your instincts. He points out that animals don't "speak" English. As a result they pay close attention to body language, energy levels and other non verbal cues for guidance. Sounds like pretty good advice to me.
• Be direct and consistent in your communications. This one is huge. How many times are we oblique or unclear or inconsistent in our communications? This causes confusion and frustration. I firmly believe that 99% of the people in the world show up every day wanting to do the right work and do it well. Poor communications, inconsistency or other human errors get in the way.
• Learn to be a great listener. Animals are great listeners. They never interrupt you and they never give you unwanted advice. They also never take ownership for your problem or allow you to shift responsibility for solving your issue, they just listen.
• Let go of baggage. Cesar mentions how in dog packs there are no grudges. Issues are resolved and you move on. Think about our organizational environments if we could follow that credo.
• Live with a purpose. Millan points out that when dogs don't have a purpose they can develop bad habits ranging from anxiety to aggression. Sound familiar? Our role as leaders and managers is to create clarity and purpose for our employees, to remove the ambiguity. Think about it. When employees understand the purpose of the organization and where their contributions fit in they spend little time being agitated or anxious. If they cannot buy into the purpose perhaps they are in the wrong "pack". The point remains however that the leader defines the purpose, it is not left to individual "pack" members to figure it out or to determine their role.
• Celebrate every day. For dogs and other animals each day is fresh and without comparison. For me this translates into looking at each project and assignment as a new opportunity to contribute. I tell young people that your career to a great extent is something you look back on. Don't be so concerned about your "career" that you forget or don't take the opportunity to enjoy each job or role you have a chance to participate in. I have had positions or assignments that I didn't enjoy as much as others, but I have tried to train myself to look forward not backward.

There is no "rocket science" or particular wisdom here, but 2009 looks like it will present most of us with some challenges as well as opportunities. We will choose how we react to them. I don't know about you, but I find some of Cesar's tips pretty valuable. My dogs don't seem nearly as anxious about 2009 as I am. Maybe they know something I don't......

Plans for 2009- Engage Your Workforce!

So we have completed our first full week of 2009. What do you think? I see 2009 from a mixed viewpoint. On one hand we are facing some of the most difficult financial cirumstances in almost 100 years. On the other hand we have a newly elected President and perhaps a catalyst for action that we have needed for a long time.

I have had the "opportunity" to have many titles and roles to this point in my career. Perhaps the most accurate one has been that of change agent. I recognized a while back that maintaining the status quo doesn't play to my strenghts very well. Organizations seem to value my particular skills and contributions when they want to do something different. My experience has also taught me that change rarely comes without some kind of a significant catalyzing event- positive or negative.

I would like to think that if nothing else 2008 has left us with a clear indication that many of the things in the current "system" aren't working. I think in many cases we already knew that, there just wasn't enough of a compelling reason to change, so we didn't and our markets failed.

I see and hear a lot about hanging on to employees who may be concerned about job security and company stability and from employers saing this may be an opportunity to "upgrade" their current workforce because of the unemployment situation. I hear employers talk about their frustration with the "entitlement" mentality of some employees and employees complaining about management "spin". What that tells me is that before our bubble burst we were operating in a kind of mutual codependency- we didn't trust our employers all that much, but we weren't willing to push too hard. Employers really didn't want to spend the time "engaging" their workforce because it is hard work and you probably have to make some fundamental changes. How did that model work for us?

I am recommending to my clients that we use the current environment as a foundation for creating a new relationship with their employees, their customers, and their communities. Maybe now would be a really good time to examine that "engagement" thing. To build a relationship based on mutual trust, respect, and all that other "soft" stuff.

You might say that sounds pretty Pollyanna- OK, what's plan B? Why not now? The first elements of my compliance to commitment model are respect, responsibility, and information. You should notice something interesting about them- none of them involve parties, lavish budgets, or other "expensive solutions".

I read an article recently that said that we are losing $200 billion per annum in the U.S. to "presenteeism". Presenteeism is where employees show up, but are operating at half or three quarter throttle because of personal issues, health concerns, poor morale or ineffective management. Yes, that number was $200 billion. At that rate we are peeing away the equivalent of the financial bail out three times every decade.

I guess since we seem to have the health care crisis, and unemployment, and world hunger and other stuff under control we really don't need that money.

You might recall that in some of my previous posts I have talked about the upside of engagement like increased productivity, reduced attrition, and increased customer satisfaction, think about the upside potential of recapturing 25 or 50% of those lost "opportunity" costs and putting it back to work.

I will tell you it won't be easy. I don't have a magic pill or a perfect solution. Plan B is to have the government "fix" it. So far I think we have spent one third of the bail out funds and we seem to have forgotten to get a receipt! Don't get me wrong, our situation is bad enough there is room for a new paradigm where corporations, government, communities, and individuals all participate.

So my plans are to try to do this this engagement thing- one client, one company, one community at a time. What are your plans?