A core competency of the nonprofit world is people, men and women who are committed to a cause who know how to get effective results. A virtue of effective nonprofits is their culture; it extends beyond a gathering of like-minded people who want to do good; it is a generative culture that focuses on learning.
Recently I asked Stephen Gill, a colleague and consultant who has worked a good part of his career with the nonprofit sector, three questions about the value of creating a learning culture. This is a topic that Steve has written about in his newest book, Developing a Learning Culture in Nonprofit Organizations.
Organizations are cutting resources and headcount. Why is it important for an organization to create a learning culture?
"It is precisely because they are cutting resources and headcount that organizations, nonprofit and for-profit, must find ways to be more efficient and effective with what they have... To maximize productivity they need to be continuously learning. They must learn what they should be doing, how they can do it better, and how they will know when they have achieved the results they want...This means making information feedback, reflection, and knowledge-sharing part of the way they function on a day-to-day basis... Doing more of the same, even if slightly better, is not the answer."
What can the for-profit world learn from the nonprofit world about establishing a learning culture?
"Nonprofits tend to be values-driven. They are concerned about the beliefs and motivations of their employees. This means that these organizations ask themselves questions such as: Are we doing what we ought to be doing in the way we ought to be doing it? What's the impact on our communities and is that the kind of impact we want? Are our actions aligned with our values? In a learning culture, these questions are asked constantly. For-profit organizations should be asking these questions more often. They would have greater employee satisfaction and engagement and they would be better corporate citizens."
What is a key take away from your book that has relevance to a manager seeking to navigate hard times?
"This is no time to do nothing about improvement. Even when the economy turns around, it is no time to be doing business as usual. Rapid change will continue and unless organizations are continuously learning they will not be able to sustain themselves. They need feedback and they need to reflect on that feedback and turn that learning into action. What better time than now? A no-growth mode gives managers the time and rationale to focus the organization on the collective discovery, sharing, and application of new knowledge. This is critical for emerging from hard times and managing the economic upturn that is inevitable."
Fundamental to a learning culture is measuring impact, something in which Gill specializes. He has spent a good part of his long career helping organizations assess their learning and measure the effectiveness of their training programs. One evaluation tool included in his book features three essential questions that would be useful for any executive to use when gauging the effectiveness of any project. The questions are: one, what issues do we still have; two, how can we strengthen our organization based on what we know; and three, what challenges lie ahead. Answers to such questions can lead to honest evaluation of progress.
Next generation organizations will continue to evolve in response to the dynamic nature of bringing people together to work. Central to future success will depend on how well the organization can adapt and innovate. Those competencies will depend on creating a learning culture.
While the problems entrepreneurs experience with vendors are different, there is a commonality. Many start-ups, and mature businesses too, are working with vendors who do not consider themselves to be collaborators; they are mere contractors. Collaborators feel ownership for their work; contractors just want to get the job done. The latter is not a problem for small projects, but when the contracted project is integral to the future of the enterprise, the contractor mentality will not do; the big project demands commitment.
Coaxing commitment from a contractor is not a straightforward proposition. The contractor is not part of your organization; you lack line authority over their employees. However, they are part of what many of us call the virtual organization and need to be treated as contributors. Otherwise, you are managing by checkbook rather than by commitment. Stirring commitment in any employee is a challenge but doing it for people who do not report or work for you is doubly difficult. But not impossible! Here are some suggestions for addressing the human equation in your supply chain.
Get people on board. When the contracted project is important, you want your employees to understand its impact on the organization. The same rule applies to your vendors. Communicate the significance of the project to the vendor principals, that is, those responsible for managing your project. Talk about what you hope to accomplish. Get their input into how to do it efficiently. Ask them how they want to be managed and how you can be a good client company for them. Dialogue lays the foundation for establishing trust.
Communicate for knowledge. Vendors need to keep their clients informed of progress. Establish regular communication points. For example, ask for an update via email every couple of days and a phone call once per week. Make a habit of meeting face to face occasionally. Clients might even want to spring for lunch or dinner. Doing so opens the door to open communication. Make it clear that you will not tolerate the withholding of bad news, but at the same time earn the trust of your supplier so they give you an honest appraisal of work to date.
Insist on accountability. Once the timeline is established, hold people to it. Correlate payments to project milestones. Easier said than done since many projects involving technical expertise are subject to slippage, not because the vendor did anything wrong but because the scope of the project changed. So a savvy manager will work with the vendor to incorporate the new parameters and pay them for work done to date and write a change order for new work. Open communication is essential; it is fundamental to keeping the project rolling forward.
Sometimes it does become necessary to seek another vendor. The current vendor may not have the capability or the capacity to deliver on the agreed specifications. And so you must part ways. While this may incur some cost, it is not as difficult (at least emotionally) as terminating an employee. You are terminating a contract, not a person.
Working collaboratively with your vendor is becoming more essential in our downsized economy. Core competencies are retained but everything else is subject to outsourcing. This creates great opportunities based on excellence. That is, the company and vendor both focus on what each does best. Suppliers are free to hawk their services to a broader customer base and in the process grow their businesses. Paying attention the human equation in the supply chain is vital; ignoring it will only lead to missed deadlines, overblown budgets, and missed market opportunities.
I had been invited to give the group a leadership pep talk. Some were intent on leaving jobs voluntarily; others had left involuntarily through downsizing; and all wanted to remain in Michigan to begin a new career.
As ruthlessly as the recession has gutted the global economy, few places have been as hard hit as Michigan. My state has been in recession since 2000. In other words, the bust that broke the dotcom boom never left. And so making a decision to remain here is either madness or commitment.
Looking at the men and women gathered that evening, I saw no signs of delusion. I saw determination and a commitment to make things better. What I told them can be reduced to a handful of pithy quotes that I shared with them.
"Do not let what you cannot do, interfere with what you can do." The words are those of John Wooden, the legendary UCLA basketball coach. When attempting to do anything new, voices inside us will whisper "No, don't do it." Those who give up listen to such voices; those who persevere pay them no heed. When it comes to making big and bold changes, either in our lives or our careers, there will always be those around us telling us no; it is up to us to heed our own inner yes.
"Talk does not cook rice." As this Chinese proverb implies, you must do more than talk about what you want to do next; you have to take action to make it happen. As as author and management strategist Ram Charan teaches, large organizations fail not because of lack of good intention, but for lack of effective execution. The same applies to us. We fail to move from thinking and talking to acting.
"He who has no fire within himself cannot warm others." You need to have passion for what you do, as this Swiss-German proverb advises. Otherwise no one will follow you. This is critical for anyone seeking to build a business or start a new career. You need to radiate a passion about what you do so that others can feel and share it with you. Entrepreneurs need passion to attract capital; job seekers need passion to convince employers of their worthiness.
As I came to the conclusion of my short speech, I could sense the audience was with me. Eyes were focused, some were even leaning forward, and one or two even took notes. And so in closing, I paused to share a quote that I had discovered in preparation for this presentation.
"I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives," said Abraham Lincoln. "I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him." As I uttered Lincoln's words, a low sound of affirmation rose up from the group. These men and women sensed that Lincoln was speaking directly to them. Not only did they understand his intentions, they were living them. Each had made a commitment to their state, their locality to make it better; they hoped that their actions would make it a better place for their families, their communities, and themselves. That gave them pride. They were, as Lincoln said, seeking to make "the place be proud of" them.
That is the commitment that businesses in Michigan will need if they are to succeed. Judged by the guts and gumption of the men and women to whom I spoke, our state's chances for recovery seemed just a bit brighter. Where there is will, there can be hope.
In doing so, Obama is following in the tradition of a previous president, Franklin Roosevelt. At his best, Roosevelt, either on radio or to the press, took on the role of a trusted friend explaining things in simple terms so that anyone could understand them. For example, Roosevelt compared the U.S. program of Lend Lease to Britain in 1941 to a neighbor lending a garden hose to a neighbor trying to put out a house fire.
Explanation is a key attribute of leadership communications. Leaders know to inject their communications with verve and enthusiasm as a means of persuasion, but they also need to include an explanation for the excitement. What does it mean and why are we doing it are critical questions that every leader must answer with straightforward explanations. Here are three ways to become an effective explainer.
Define what it is. The purpose of an explanation is to describe the issue, the initiative, or the problem. For example, if you are pushing for cost reductions, explain why they are necessary and what they will entail. Put the cost reductions into the context of business operations. Be certain to explicate the benefits.
Define what it isn't. Here is where the leader moves into the "never assume mode." Be clear to define the exclusions. For example, returning to our cost reduction issue, if you are asking for reductions in costs, not people, be explicit. Otherwise employees will assume they are being axed. Leave no room for assumptions. This is not simply true for potential layoffs but for any business issue.
Define what you want people to do. This becomes an opportunity to issue the call for action. Establishing expectations is critical. Cost reductions mean employees will have to do more with less; explain what that will entail in clear and precise terms. Leaders can also use the expectations step as a challenge for people to think and do differently. Your explanation then takes on broader significance.
Good explainers need to be careful, however, not to overdo the details. In a town hall meeting format, the leader sketches the facts and supports them with data points. Dwelling too long on a single point, or points, risks not simply boring the audience but confusing them. Save detailed explanations, which are necessary, for written documentation or team meetings. The latter presents an opportunity for the next level of leaders to translate the communications into action steps.
As such, detailed explanations work well in face-to-face situations, or in team meetings. They become opportunities to elaborate on possibilities. More important, they also allow individuals to offer their feedback, something that typically cannot occur in large-scale town hall events. The explanation becomes an invitation for discussion, and skillful leaders use it to communicate not simply facts, but also to engage support for their ideas.
One final point. Explanations may include aspirations. On March 31, 1945, Franklin Roosevelt gave a briefing to Congress on his meeting with Churchill and Stalin at Yalta in which the future of post-War Europe was discussed.
During the course of his presentation to Congress, as H.W. Brands writes in a brilliant new biography of Roosevelt, Traitor to His Class, the President, only weeks from death, mused momentarily to talk about the need for enduring peace. "Twenty-five years ago, American fighting men [in reference to World War I] looked to the world to finish the work of peace for which they fought and suffered. We failed them then. We cannot fail them again."
FDR, like all good leaders, knew how to close a good explanation with an equally good challenge; it puts people on notice and gives them a reason for action.
]]>To its credit, CNN.com played the Johns story on its home page on and off for a day or so. Typically the victims don't get much coverage; only the killers. In the coming days and weeks we will still get our fill of information about the man who shot Mr. Johns, but it was heartening to see CNN go counter to this trend.
CNN's coverage also shows those of us who write and teach about leadership that while we cannot change the world overnight, we certainly can seek to change things within our own control. And so here's a suggestion for any leader who is wrestling with tough issues in these tough times: You should continue to address the impact of the financial crisis on your business, but you owe yourself and your people a break from the relentless progress of bad news.
Challenge yourself to find one good piece of good news every day, or every other day, and share it with your people. You will find these stories in the news at large but also in your company specifically. Share these stories with your colleagues. Going a step further, you might even consider making some good news, too. Here are some suggestions to spread some good cheer.
Spreading good cheer will not save your department from further cutbacks; it will not help your company be a more formidable competitor. It may not even save your job. But what it will do is get you in the habit of thinking more positively. That has its virtues. Not only will you brighten the lives of those with whom you work. You will also train yourself to approach your own job with a more optimistic attitude.
Long-time Michigan political observer, Jack Lessenberry, lauded GM's hiring of Whitacre as an example of the new leadership the company will require if it is to succeed.
But Whitacre is joining a company with a history of rejecting executives from the outside. H. Ross Perot and Jerry York, as a surrogate for investor Kirk Kerkorian, tried without success to shake things up at the board level. Another senior executive who failed to change G.M. was Elmer Johnson. According to the New York Times, Johnson was so frustrated he wrote a memo saying "Teamwork has been replaced by Balkanization. Our culture discourages open, frank debate among G.M. executives in the pursuit of problem resolution."
Hiring an executive from the outside for any company is always a gamble. According to a 2008 study conducted by the Institute for Executive Development (IED) and the Alexcel Group, thirty percent of executives hired from the outside fail to meet expectations within the first two years. One key reason that executives — not simply those from the outside — fail, is an inability to collaborate with others.
Negative trends aside, it is useful to consider those positive characteristics that will make the newcomer an asset to his new business.
Keen intelligence. Not only do you have to be a quick study, you have to be able to size up the gaps as well as the opportunities. Learning the business is the easy part; finding out what works and what doesn't requires not only experience but insight. Lou Gerstner, a former McKinsey partner, was particularly adept at determining corporate strengths and weaknesses. After trimming IBM to fighting weight, Gerstner pursued strategies that would capitalize on IBM's unique capabilities rather seeking to be all things to all customers.
People skills. It is common sense to value your people but it may be "so common" that it is often neglected. The outside leader needs to reach out to employees and treat them as colleagues. One technique that many executives employ and that I encourage newly promoted executives to adopt when meeting their direct reports for the first time is to ask: what can I do to help you? Such a question does two things: one, it establishes the direct reports as the experts; two, it positions the leader as one who wants his people to succeed.
Strong will. The hidebound mindset that made hiring someone from the outside necessary will seek to maintain the status quo. Some in senior management will feel slighted that one of their own is not running the show. While they do want the organization to succeed, they will want to protect their domains and their influence. A new leader must stand up to entrenched powers and their stale ideas. Therefore, he will have to fight hard to be heard, believed and eventually followed in his own organization.
One executive who has shown strong backbone in bending the culture of his new employer, Ford Motor Company, to a common purpose is former Boeing executive, Alan Mulally. As reported in Fortune, Mulally, as CEO, has instituted the One Ford approach, which seeks globally-derived vehicle platforms as well as a more collaborative approach to planning and execution. [Note: While Mulally was new to the auto industry when Ford hired him in 2006, he is an engineer with extensive background in product development and manufacturing.]
Organizations bear responsibility for the high washout rate. The IED/Alexcel study also demonstrated that on-boarding programs and mentoring programs are valuable. Executive coaching, too, can help. In other words, don't let the executive fend for himself; provide him assistance.
For the sake of us taxpayers who have a stake in General Motors, I hope the company provides Whitacre — as well as any other outsiders he may bring with him — with more than a tutorial on the automotive business. He, like all outside executives, needs the support of management so that he can earn its trust and help the company succeed in very trying times.
A description that accompanied the stone read "blue quartz is a healing stone that helps develop intuition, enhances creativity, refines communications skills, eases tension, and strengthens the immune system. It signifies power, success, idealism, increased perceptions and healing, spirituality, wisdom, psychic awareness and strong protective energies."
While I cannot attest to the transformative powers of blue quartz, I can say that its description, aside from strengthening one's immune system, pretty much describes what and how leaders need to be doing for themselves and their followers. And with the stone as "our guide" let's explore this idea further.
Intuition and perception. Managers need to tune into what is going on with their people, especially in tough times. It is not enough to monitor progress toward goals; managers need to find out how people are doing it. For example, are they logging excessive overtime to meet a deadline? Or are they sitting around finding make work projects? How are people feeling about what they are doing? Tense, anxious and nervous? Or unfocused and apathetic? Some managers can sense the mood intuitively but good managers make a habit of talking to their people frequently. You respect personal boundaries, but you can ask questions about how people feel about their jobs.
Creativity. As entrepreneur and Harvard Press author, Scott Anthony, has been teaching us, there is no time like the present to encourage creative expression. Creativity begins by stimulating the thought process. Managers who put people into positions where they have some time to think may benefit. For example, give people an hour a week to think about their job and how they might do it differently. You might also arrange for a field trip to an art museum, science exhibit, or even a sporting event.[ Yes, I know you are not in sixth grade but breaking the routine can stimulate creative thinking]
Power. Leadership rests on authority, that is, the power to make things happen. Responsibility dictates that such power will be used to effect positive outcomes. That does not mean that everyone will be happy with the application of power. Organizational leadership requires hard decisions that will not satisfy every need but are intended to ensure organizational success.
And while I did make an exception for the immune system, on second thought I could be overlooking something. Perhaps good leaders do improve immunity, maybe not physically but certainly organizationally. Effective leadership protects the organization from the kind of internal strife that tears so many organizations apart. Good leaders will not tolerate behaviors that denigrate individuals. Such leaders are those who seek to lead by example and thus hold themselves accountable for ensuring that people do right by one another. This is no protection against recession certainly, but it does ensure greater levels of harmony (immunity perhaps) that helps an organization function more effectively by cooperating.
Certainly if a little blue stone promises us so much, we as human beings can do our part by acting on those expectations. We can lead our teams more effectively and achieve our goals in ways that enrich lives as they add value to the organization.
While the speech went into some detail about how the President seeks rapprochement with the Muslim world, this single paragraph laid bare a root cause of the conflict. Neither side trusts the other; those who seek to exploit the distrust emerge as the beneficiaries rather than the populace at large. Not only does that statement provide good insight into U.S.-Islamic world relations, it gives any student of leadership an insight into conflict in the workplace.
Too often opponents take more comfort in the disagreement than in solution because they derive power and influence from discord. Such conflict not only threatens productivity, it creates a terrible work environment that contributes to poor morale, absenteeism and even lower rates of employee retention. Managers cannot allow disagreements to erode into discord. Here are some suggestions for seeking common purpose.
Diagnose the root cause. Find out why co-workers are in conflict with one another. Often the roots of the discord lie in things that occurred long ago. One person may feel slighted because his ideas were rejected by his boss whereas those of a coworker were accepted. Another might feel that he is not receiving his fair share of time and resources to complete a project. Still another may feel overlooked when she did not receive an expected promotion. Such issues when not addressed promptly can fester over time and can breed hostility.
Stay high and dry. If a boss is responsible for problems, he should acknowledge them and apologize. Look for ways to improve the situation through further discussion and dialogue. However, if the roots of discord occurred before you were manager, acknowledge the hurt feelings but do not take sides. In other words, don't swim in the water under the bridge; walk over the bridge. Failure to do so simply allows individuals to wallow in their misery.
Defuse the conflict. Make it clear that cooperation is mandatory. Managers who allow employees to act on grudges are giving the aggrieved more reasons to be disagreeable. Establish a no-tolerance policy for disagreements over people and personalities. Hold everyone accountable, including yourself, to that standard.
Find common ground. People in conflict have no difficulty identifying differences; those differences are what fuel their disagreements. The challenge for a manager is to get the conflicting parties to put aside their differences. So, identify common values. For example, both parties will want the company to succeed; that is a common purpose. Make it clear that their discord is destroying that value proposition and insist that they stop it.
Follow through. Just because you have gotten people to stop shouting at each other does not mean they are working together. Continue to monitor the situation. Watch for warning signs among former combatants such as angry expressions, avoided eye contact, and the silent treatment. Affirm individuals' contributions but at the same time, make it clear that cooperation is required.Those who fail to treat co-workers with respect will be removed from the team.
Let me make it clear that discord is different from dissent. Discord is disruptive because it harms individuals and productivity. Dissent can be positive when it causes people to re-examine an idea or an issue; it promotes dialogue. Sometimes dissent will change minds; other times it can re-affirm an intended course of action.
Defining oneself by differences is a zero-sum game; it breeds few winners and mostly losers. Defining an organization by its common purpose leads to trust and ultimately a foundation for achieving sustainable results.
- Managers will talk strategy but act tactically.
- Initiatives from on high will falter on the shoals of poor execution.
- Companies will say that people are their most important resource, but profits will dictate decisions about headcount.
- Bosses who make the numbers will be rewarded more than bosses who "make" people, e.g. develop them.
- Connections to the top will trump competency when it comes to getting promoted.
- People with no interpersonal skills will be promoted into management.
- Your boss will not listen to you.
No doubt as you can tell, none of these are future trends. They are a collection of actions and behaviors that we see every day in the workplace. They are the things that Scott Adams has used to great effect in his Dilbert strip as well as the creators of The Office have used in their series. Readers can certainly add many more. The challenge is what to do about it?
To me it comes down to a simple proposition: exert your ownership. If your boss is not giving you feedback, ask for it. If your teammates are driving you crazy, talk to them. If you are struggling with an impossible workload, find ways to lighten it. Proceeding as you are is inefficient; failing to address the problem may be even worse. Bottom line, you have a responsibility to do the job for which you are paid. Do it.
Part of the ownership proposition demands that you continue to learn. Once upon a time, hierarchies made decisions for people; they told you what to do and how to do it. In return, you were compensated and developed. That social contract began to erode at least a generation ago with the rise of emerging global competitors; downsizing became a way of life. Smart employees realized that they must fend for themselves, or at least develop their own skills. Whether you work for a small company or a large one, you are responsible for your career development. Insist on it.
All of the factors listed above are with us. We are human after all, and humans continue to do silly and stupid things. But there is an advantage we humans have over other sentient beings. We can think and we can decide. Look inside yourself first. Are you part of the problem? Are you doing what you can be doing to improve the situation? If not, then consider making a change. Nothing will ever improve unless you make a decision to act.
Sometimes what you do can make a difference in how a company thinks and acts. You can exert a positive influence on your peers and your boss. And if the frustration becomes too much, consider other options. You may be happier working in another part of the company, or for another company, or even for yourself.
A teleprompter is a computer-aided instrument that allows words to be projected onto a screen that can be read by the presenter as he looks to the audience. Since becoming President, Barack Obama has made frequent use of it, even for press conference openers and town hall-style gatherings. As a result, the President has drawn criticism and snickers from both sides of the aisle.
The real issue is not that Obama is scripted; it is the appearance of being scripted, which the use of prompter highlights, that raises concern. After all, most senior leaders have key messages scripted for them. It makes good sense to think about what you are going to say, write it out, and deliver it. But the decision to put those remarks into teleprompter — which accents artificiality — makes one of the most gifted orators of our time seem less spontaneous, less connected, and less genuine.
Politics aside, a teleprompter does have its benefits. I have recommended its usage for many speakers many times. The challenge is to learn when, why and how to use it. Here are a few pointers.
When? For big occasions. If you are an executive delivering a keynote event at a conference or trade show, or speaking in front of franchises, you should radiate confidence, that is, look as if you know what you are talking about. Therefore, it is desirable to appear to be looking at your audience as you speak without the hassle of memorizing your words. This is where prompter is useful. Also, if you want to stroll the stage, you can use strategically placed monitors on the floor and back of the room that allow you to view your speech from multiple angles.
Why? For key messages. When a CEO is delivering an important address to shareholders, analysts or the media, the message should be carefully prepared and scripted. Putting it into prompter allows the speaker to appear more in command of the message. It imparts a sense of authority as well as control. It enables the speaker to look more statesmanlike.
How? With practice. Using a teleprompter is not a matter of reading, it is a matter of delivering. There is a difference. When you read, you are processing for understanding. When you deliver, you are imparting meaning. You need to know the rhythm and flow of your remarks. Rehearsal with the prompter operator who matches the flow of the text with the speaker's cadence is critical.
Appearances matter, especially for senior leaders. If the use of prompter detracts from a leader's ability to connect effectively with her audience, she should not use it. Better to read the script and look up at the audience periodically than appear stiff and stilted by reading words on the teleprompter. The issue is not in scripting remarks — that's a good thing. The problem is looking scripted with poor delivery — that's a bad thing.
As the President's example indicates, speakers may rely on teleprompters too much. Doing so may deprive them of radiating authenticity. So reserve teleprompter usage for the big moments when precise wording, impact and occasion deserve the statesmanlike address. For other occasions, deliver from a script or notes. Your audience will love you for it.
O'Neal's experience reminds me of what thought leader Jim Collins did a few years ago. In addition to being a best-selling author and much sought after consultant, Collins is a climber, and has been since his teen years. But sometime in his early 40s, as he writes in the Epilogue of Upward Bound, he knew that if he wanted to get better he would have to relearn his climbing technique. And so he put himself under the training of two climbing coaches. "The most important lessons..." as Collins explains, "lay not in what I needed to learn, but in what I first needed to unlearn." It was arduous and awkward at first, but Collins persisted and made progress. In honor of turning fifty, Collins scaled the 3,000-foot vertical face of Yosemite's famed El Capitan in just 19 hours, a feat that takes most experienced climbers at least 24 hours.
There are lessons for managers in what O'Neal and Collins have done. O'Neal honed his basketball skills through practice and coaching; Collins holds an MBA from Stanford and is an accomplished teacher. Each has learned how to learn in one field and has been able to transfer that skill to another field. That transference discipline is essential to continued self-development.
Peter Drucker advised in his famous Harvard Business Review essay, "Managing Oneself," that it is critical to realize how you learn. For example, Drucker writes that Churchill, a poor student, "learn[ed] by writing." Beethoven wrote in his sketchbooks but did not refer to them when he composed; ideas and melodies had been committed to his subconscious. Speaking personally, before I teach something I feel more comfortable when I write out my ideas first. Recognizing your learning method is important because it defines the way you absorb information and process it as knowledge. As children we are force-fed in classrooms (and not always well either); as adults we need to use our intelligence to discover how we master what we learn.
Most often you cannot receive more schooling, especially when dealing with critical issues that are fast-breaking and in which there is no body of formalized instruction. You will need to figure things out for yourself. For most leaders figuring things out is second nature; it is way they have arrived in positions of leadership. But the best leaders are those that are never afraid to ask questions. Rather than a question being a sign of ignorance; it is admission ticket to learning as well as a good way to build rapport and trust with colleagues.
Neither O'Neal nor Collins let their egos interfere with their desire to learn. That is a good lesson for the rest of us. There is little to gain by allowing your ego to supersede your desire to learn. Too often we may feel too embarrassed go back to the classroom, or even to ask questions, for fear of looking stupid. Actually the stupid thing to do is to fake it. The smart thing is to apply your learning skills.
Unlike most of Toyota's product line, the full-size pick up was plagued with problems that forced Toyota to issue recall notices. As Maynard notes, what Toyoda was practicing was a time-honored tradition in the Toyota Production System, called "genchi genbutsu," translated as "go to the spot." That is, find out where the trouble is through first-hand observation.
Genchi genbutsu, or trouble shooting, is a practice prescribed in "lean thinking" — an approach to productivity that marries two complementary concepts: improvement and learning. The part of lean that involves trouble-shooting is something that every manager can put into practice as a means of not simply delivering continuous improvement, but of finding out what's working and what's not.
Recessions are a prime time to practice trouble shooting for two reasons. One, managers are challenged to do more with less; two, managers may have more time due to the economic slowdown. Most especially, trouble shooting can be essential to optimizing execution and so for that reason it makes good sense. To implement your own form of trouble shooting, consider three questions:
What is the real problem? Dysfunction is often apparent. For example, a product does not perform to specification. Or a process fails to deliver a consistent outcome. Diagnosing the problem requires the discipline to find the root cause. A product failure could be because of a faulty part; a process failure could result from a missed step. You do not know until you take time to investigate.
How do we fix it? Sometimes, as with product recalls, the fix can be costly. Other times it can be solved by a simple product or process redesign. Judging what it required takes an experienced hand with strong diagnostic skills, but also savvy to understand how to make the most effective solution and do it expeditiously.
Who is best suited to fix it? Putting the right people on the job is essential. Not everyone is a born problem-solver. You want to have people who like asking questions but more importantly have the facility to analyze and implement solutions. You also want people with a degree of tenacity, those who are willing to stick with it until they find a solution.
An important part of implementing trouble shooting is that it puts the manager into closer contact with people doing the work. As all experienced managers know, nothing good can happen without the input and buy-in of people doing the work. And for all the emphasis that companies put on execution, too frequently they omit the human aspect of bringing initiatives to life. By talking and listening to people on the line, or in the cubicles, managers find out what is going well and what requires improvement.
Trouble shooting by itself will not generate value but without its practice, organizations will find themselves repeating mistakes and worse failing to capitalize on lessons learned. And in times of turbulence that is something that cannot be overlooked.
At least that is what we may infer from a new survey of seventy executive coaches conducted by WJM Associates, an executive coaching firm located in New York City. As the survey states, "the change [in coaching priorities] seems to reflect the trend of executive coaching being used by organizations to address specific business issues, rather than for individual, general 'self-improvement'."
This makes good business sense. 1999 was a good year. It was a time of the new economy when e commerce was transforming the way people and business interact and operate. Top five coaching objectives 1999 were for "self-awareness, personal goal setting, work/life balance, stress management [and] improve quality of life." 2009 is a very different. We are mired in the deepest economic downturn since World War II. Analyzing today's coaching priorities which are specifically requested by client and their employers gives us a handle on how businesses are coping with the huge upheaval.
Build/Align/Motivate Team. Organizations need executives who know how to get people to follow their lead, especially in challenging times. It takes a leader who knows how to assemble the right people and put them in the right places so they can do the right work. Motivating them comes from providing them with the right resources and right opportunities. This is not always easy when resources are scarce so the leader needs to be seen as doing what she can to help her team succeed.
Executive presence. Leaders need to demonstrate their earned authority. Presence is the manifestation of earned authority that comes from knowing how to do things as well as having earned the respect of others. Another critical aspect of presence is composure. Leaders need to keep it together when everything else around them is falling apart. Leaders demonstrate their mettle during crisis.
Effective communications. If you want to lead others, connect with them. Yes, it is imperative to articulate the message, the goal, and the outcome. But you also need to invest yourself. That comes from listening to others as well as allowing others to give you honest feedback. Learning from what you listen is critical to moving the organization forward. Use the down time to learn more about the capabilities of your people.
Interpersonal savvy. As Harvard author and psychologist, Daniel Goleman, has taught us, leaders must be able to get along with others. The ability to relate to others as a fellow human being is essential to gaining buy in for a leadership objective. Sure you can tell people what to do, but if you do not earn their trust you will get compliance, not commitment. Being everyone's pal is not necessary, but treating others with respect is essential gaining trust, an attribute that is essential to holding teams together in trying times.
Strategic thinking. So often we coaches hear the need for managers to think and act more strategically. A reason more managers do not do so is because their bosses keep them occupied with tactics so they do not have time to think let alone act strategically. Therefore, senior leaders must give their direct reports room to breathe, reflect and consider alternatives that will affect not just a department but also the enterprise. Now is a great time to map out new strategies that may help your company find ways to make the best of bad times.
Of these five, only "executive presence" is focused on the individual; the other four are focus on relationships with others or in the case of "strategic thinking" what executives can do for the business. That said, we cannot forget the individual, as my friend and fellow Harvard blogger, Stew Friedman, demonstrates with approach to Total Leadership, individuals must be tuned into their inner selves and satisfy those specific needs if they are to be truly effective, especially over the long term.
Executive coaches are business professionals; like all consultants who succeed they have learned to adapt to changing business conditions and respond to evolving developmental needs. And that may be a hidden benefit of the executive coaching process. Since most coaches work for a number of different businesses, good ones have experience working not only with different executives, but different cultures and disciplines. That provides coaches with a long view of how organizations respond to change and how those changes affect employees. That insight, over and above the coaching process helps individual executives gain perspective that they can apply to help their organizations manage tough times as well as good ones.
Many of these smaller dealerships are family enterprises; three and even four generations old. Their longevity is a testament less to Detroit's products and more to their smart and sharp business practices. And now that some of their competitors are closing they may do even better. Let's consider what business leaders can learn from these small-town auto dealers.
Know your customers. Small-town auto dealers know what vehicles their customers prefer. This comes from having long-lasting ties to individual families, selling new cars and trucks to grandparents and parents, and putting the children into affordably priced used cars. Part of knowing your customers means considering their changing tastes. Decades ago many of smaller dealers signed franchise agreements with Asian and European manufacturers like Honda, Nissan, Toyota and VW to provide their customers with even more makes and models from which to choose.
Service matters. Dealers will tell you they make more servicing cars than selling them. Manufacturers pay for warranty repairs but good dealers, particularly those in small towns, will keep their customers returning after the warranty expires because they provide reliable servicing. They also have a reputation for honesty, a word that is not often associated with automotive retailing. Local dealers have no alternative to treating their customers right; they live in the community, and word gets around.
Invest in the community. In many areas, car dealers are the soft touch for youth sports teams as well as school musicals and church raffles. True, it is good visibility to have your store's name on scores of soccer uniforms and and church bulletins, but something more is at work. Car dealers are part of the life of these towns; their philanthropy supports causes and activities that add texture to the community.
Maximize opportunity. Dealers are entrepreneurs. Those who are not closed will get aggressive. As reported in the Wall Street Journal, surviving dealers will buy up inventory at a good price, add salespeople (some from former competitors), and expand their sales reach. One Dodge dealer in Jackson, Michigan — right in the heart of "downturn valley" — said, "I'm going to buy every car I can find with every dollar I have until I run out of money." While that attitude may have led investment bankers to run Wall Street into the ground, hearing it from a dealer sounds more optimistic. He has faith in himself, his business, and his community.
Not every dealer is worthy of imitation. Just as there are poor businessmen in every field, there are less-than-reliable automotive retailers, especially ones who cheated their customers, not to mention their own employees. But these smaller, successful dealerships can teach us a lesson or two that may help us grow our own businesses.
As a youngster I recall the dealer showroom windows that were papered over every September in anticipation of the sparkling new models that would soon be introduced. I still remember drooling along with my chums at the brand-new 1963 Corvette parked at the corner of Carl Schmidt's Chevrolet in Perrysburg, Ohio. We ran our fingers over the radical new lines of the first Stingray. No salesman shooed us away; our ogling and awing was a kind of third-party endorsement.
Maybe that's another lesson; let the kids touch the merchandise and one day, he'll tell his friends about you.
]]>The world is a very different place from when you entered your program two years ago. In September 2007, the capital markets were holding steady, companies were hiring, and prospects for continued growth seemed limitless. What a difference a year or two makes. Today the capital markets have lost 40 percent of their value, companies are shedding tens of thousands of employees, and a sense of doom hangs in the air.
Every generation finds its challenges. Yours may be greater than those in recent memory, but they are challenges that ambitious and savvy business graduates will find ways to overcome. Consider what you learned in the classroom not as a foundation, but rather as a spring board that will help you bounce higher and achieve more. So let me offer a few words of wisdom, things I learned from my mentors.
Celebrate your accomplishment. You just spent two years in graduate school and shelled out a small fortune for higher education. Now you have an MBA. Take pride in that accomplishment. Be proud of what you have learned. Hold tight to that warm feeling of accomplishment and keep it close to your soul. When times get tough, you are going to need to draw a little heat from the flame of this achievement.
Check your ego. You may think you are smarter than your boss. And you just might be, but don't show it. Your MBA indicates you have book smarts; now it's time to show that you have job smarts. That comes with putting your time in, listening and asking questions. Resist the temptation to play one-upmanship. You might be right, but instead of showing people up, show them how. Humbly.
Honor integrity. You need no schooling from me about what can happen when senior executives forgo sound business practices. You will discover newer, faster and more efficient ways to do things, save in one area: ethics. In ethics, there are no shortcuts. Remember that.
Break the mold. Keep your organization fiscally sound but creatively risky. That is, manage to the fundamentals but be open to what comes next. Find ways to invigorate your thinking by exposing yourself and your team to new ideas, new people and new cultures. You may not be a groundbreaker yourself, but you need to find the people with the shovels and pickaxes who are.
Respect your employees. Ever notice how some executives act as if the world owes them a living? They ignore administrative assistants, act rudely to security guards, and ask employees to run errands for them. Well, if you think you are going to get anywhere — or get anyone to follow your lead — by thinking and acting as if you are better than anyone else, forget it. Besides, it is the admins and security guards and front-line employees who know what's really going on in companies; they spend their days meeting and greeting people. Pay attention to them.
Look for life in the "white spaces." As diligent students of business, you have been exposed to hundreds of graphic models that illustrate the flow of information from one process to another. What you don't see in those models are the people to people connections that make those business processses work. Those connections occur in the "white spaces," the undefined areas between the interconnected arrows and boxes. How well you manage those connections with colleagues and bosses will determine how high you climb, either in someone else's company or your own!
So as you enter the business world, go with a stout heart, strong stomach and a big appetite for adventure. Do not tread the same steps as we did; look to create your own tracks.
Good luck and good fortune!