The Heart of Engagement : Leadership Development, Management Education, Retreat Facilitation & Executive Coaching : Mike Cook : AMJ Group

Heart of Engagement:The Small Business Forum

   Why This, Why Here, Why Now?

Benton Harbor, Michigan may be the last place you would look for a world class coffee shop and café.

If you know anything about the history of the Benton Harbor area you’d be familiar with the facts, extremely high unemployment, 17% by recent count, and median family income below $20,000. The local economy, currently ranked 347Th out of 366 US metropolitan areas, was devastated by the loss of six large manufacturing facilities in the 1980’s and hasn’t improved much since. But if you show up at 124 Water Street in Benton Harbor on any morning around 8:00AM you’ll be in for a treat; great coffee, service, music and possibly the best ham and cheese croissants on the planet among the other treats that are all made on the premises. So, why this, why here and why now?

Four years ago Elizabeth Frost, owner and muse of the Phoenix coffee shop, was in China following the path of family members from previous generations. If she had continued on her path she would have become the family’s third generation of Montessori teachers. She changed her path.

One afternoon while still in China Elizabeth met a man on his vacation who was starting a school in south western Michigan, a school with apparently similar commitments to the Montessori philosophy and the two clicked in terms of visionary paths. Before their meeting concluded Elizabeth had been offered a position at the new school and an opportunity to participate as a founding member of the faculty.

Fast forward to early 2009. The school thing hadn’t worked out for Elizabeth. The opportunity was not all that was promised. Elizabeth is not cocky but she doesn’t lack for confidence so she left the school and started to look around for what was next. Being stranded in southwest Michigan at this time in history would be daunting for most people but when you get to know Elizabeth you realize that she does not take her cues from the circumstances.She is guided by vision, the origin of authentic engagement.

She hung around Benton Harbor for a while, picked up whatever work she could and waited. Eventually she noticed a combination real estate office/coffee shop that didn’t seem to be doing well in either endeavor. Elizabeth approached the owner and found him willing to part with the coffee shop part of his business and all the associated equipment. She had never run a business and knew nothing about food service. However, a little thing like lack of knowledge and experience was not about to stop her, she had created a vision and that was now her guide.

In her own kitchen Elizabeth taught herself how to bake, she baked hundreds of croissants and gave them away to friends until she got the response she was looking for. She was ready for business! Eighteen months later the Phoenix is a social and commercial phenomenon in Benton Harbor. If you drop by Saturday morning between 9AM and Noon you better plan on take out because you’ll find all twenty or so tables filled with locals and folks who drive over from nearby St. Joseph not only for the croissants but incredible quiche options as well a daily special that by itself makes the trip worthwhile. The environment is very warm and inviting, no one gets rushed at The Phoenix.

According to Elizabeth it hasn’t been all “butterflies and sunshine” but the satisfaction comes from the tiny pleasures of service. I asked her about the choice to stay in the area when clearly she could have moved on. In her words, “There is something special going on in Benton Harbor now, there’s an opportunity to be part of the community’s rebirth, progress is easy to see, the cost of entry was very attractive and it is rare to be there at the beginning of anything.” That’s the power of  vision; saying there is opportunity when none is apparent. I can tell you not everyone would have seen Benton Harbor as Elizabeth has. But then not everyone had a plan to “take over the world one sandwich at a time.”   And she is not alone.

• So now take a look at your own business. Who has had the say about how things have gone, you or the circumstances? Who will have the say for the future?

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                             “The arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice…”

                                                  Martin Luther King, Jr.

                             “ …but it does not get there without a little help from its friends.”

                                                  Michael F. Cook

Today I will not be practical, this is a day for the philosophical and inspirational.

Are we really all that shocked when we hear stories of bad or seemingly unjust behavior in our places of work?

There are a couple of ways to interpret the allegations of gender bias filed recently against Citigroup by six current and former female employees. 1) This is a continuation of a pattern of gender bias as shown by previous admissions of guilt and don’t forget that Citigroup has been involved in the flashy case of Debrahlee Lorenzana, the “Too Hot Banker” in recent months as well. 2) The Citigroup situation, while lame on its surface is merely a placeholder for reality as it evolves. (We are not there yet, “there” being a world of workplaces designed for full engagement, in case you hadn’t noticed!)

I prefer the second interpretation. This is not to say that we should put up with the behavior Citigroup management has been accused of, far from it. I see the law suits as a positive sign that people, in this case women, are fully engaged and insisting on entirely new working relationships with employers. These battles must be fought, and they will be, by small groups of courageous individuals on behalf of the rest of us, and they will not always win.

“A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”

           Margaret Mead as quoted by Pamela Slim

In the workplace of today the challenge for individuals to stay engaged goes well beyond merely finding the right work with the right people, though that is a big part of the story. Not seeing the Citibank scenario against the background of a larger context is no different than simply pouting when British Petroleum welshes on its promises to do right by the people and the environment of the Gulf Coast. (You can bet that individuals in small groups are already taking action to hold British Petroleum to account, and the fight will be long and full of setbacks.) Did Exxon immediately and completely live up to its word in the case of the Valdez catastrophe? Many people still do not think so, in fact the case against Exxon was only resolved by the US Supreme Court on June 25th, 2008. But someone carried the fight for twenty years after the events in Alaska’s Prince William Sound and many, many people were still not happy with the resolution. The list of similar events and disappointments goes on yet the fight is a good fight and it is ultimately a fight not against anyone other than ourselves, perhaps better said a mindset we share based in a belief that life’s benefits are scarce and "whoever dies with the most toys wins." As Pogo so rightly said so long ago in 1953, “we have met the enemy and he is us!”

There are always going to be people who will serve as placeholders for the existing reality, Kenneth Lay at Enron comes quickly to mind, but it is ultimately the mindset, the current version of reality, which is the real enemy. And what does this have to do with the commitment of many to developing engaged workplaces? Everything! If we move forward with programs and training and systems; we write books, conduct assessments, blog, hold conferences, blah, blah, blah…and do not address ourselves as the carriers of the beliefs that give rise to the actions we despise we will have missed the opportunity to take part in the true revolution/evolution of both the American culture and workplace.

Now go out there and sue somebody!

       …and while you are at is visit www.pachamama.org

       "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." 

                                          Wordsmost often attributed to Edmund Burke, Irish born member of 

                                British Parliament

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Earlier today I was shuffling around on Amazon and ran across a book title that caught my interest, ‘Self-Promotion for Introverts, The Quiet Guide to Getting Ahead’ by Nancy Ancowitz..  I have always considered myself to be an “introvert” so I decided to spend a little time with the information about the book.

 Within a few minutes I had been introduced to a world of similar titles I did not realize existed and they are all selling better than my book! Here are some examples:

 ‘The Introvert Advantage: How to Thrive in an Extrovert World’ by Marti Olsen Laney

 ‘Introvert Power: Why Your Inner Life is Your Hidden Strength’, by Laurie Helgoe

 ‘Networking for People Who Hate Networking: A Filed Guide for Introverts, the Overwhelmed and the Underconnected’ by Devora Zack

 ‘The Introverted Leader: Building on Your Quiet Strength’ by Jennifer B. Kahnweiler

 ‘Confessions of an Introvert: The Shy Girl’s Guide to Networking and Getting the Most Out of Life' by Meghan Wier

 ‘The Successful Introvert: How to Enhance Your Job Search and Advance Your Career’ by Wendy Gelberg

 And the list went on…

 As someone who considers themselves an introvert I was stunned to see how bold my people had become, especially in recent years. All these books have been published since 2002. By past standards of introversion this seems like almost an epidemic of coming out…I AM AN INTROVERT, HEAR ME ROAR!!!

 OK, then I pulled myself together and once more resumed my practical, pragmatic approach to life and I began thinking about managers and the challenge of having someone with an introverted nature working for you. Statistically speaking anywhere from 25-40% of a work force fits the introvert personality profile.

“Basically, an introvert is a person who is energized by being alone and whose energy is drained by being around other people.”

                                                                                Carol Bainbridge

The concept of Situational Leadership was developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard in the mid-1970’s. More likely than not if you have worked as a manager in any of the larger public corporations, the Fortune 1000, or even some larger private firms in the past 35 years, you have been exposed to some form of Situational Leadership training.

The basic theory as developed by Hersey-Blanchard calls upon a leader to assess the needs of either individuals or groups in relationship to the task they are faced with. The keys to success using this approach rest on a leader being able to accurately assess the maturity level of all parties involved and apply the most appropriate leadership style. The literature on this management model is abundant so I won’t take time with it here.

 While the staying power of this model stands as a testament to its value I think it is important to remember that it was developed well before the concept of knowledge work had been fully distinguished. As I read through the summaries of the books listed here it struck me that while there is still plenty of value left in a management model that is task-relevant we are also likely in need a  model, or at least some thinking about a model more person than task focused.

 In the world as it is constituted today the highest value is knowledge as it is being created and therefore the source of knowledge, the individual becomes the focus of developmental concern. I will even go so far as to say that the truest role of managers, especially mid-level managers is to use the production of results they are accountable for as the venue for development of the human capital they have been assigned.

 If you can accept this possibility it then becomes imperative that those of us responsible for management development begin to frame an idea of the individual employee as “the situation” and the tasks at hand and results to be produced become the means to address “the situation.” For most managers this will turn their world on its head. And yet, if we are to effectively develop managers who can reliably identify, develop and retain human capital for our organizations does anything else really make sense?

•  Where in your management development education process place is there an emphasis on having mid-level managers develop in-depth knowledge of a variety of “types” of personalities?
• Would you consider offering one of the resources named above to a direct report as a possible developmental tool?

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I am sure that as manager/leaders we’d all like to know or be able to guarantee to those reporting to us that fully engaging with our work, with all our passion and creativity, will result in big dividends and an awesome payout for the efforts made. Yet we know that the journey itself must be the reward because nothing in this life can be guaranteed except that it will end. But sometimes, not always, we witness a big payoff and it offers inspiration for many. I’d like to share a case in point with you now.

 It seems like I have known Marty Mucci for most of my career in organizational development. Looking back I found that I first met him in a client capacity in 1992; when he was not even 35. Back then Marty was a manager, already developing a reputation for strong analytical skills and already a member of the local telephone company’s emerging leaders’ team.

We didn’t necessarily hit it off right away, him and me. However,over a period of three to four years we began to recognize that our differences were mainly in approach but our desired destinations were virtually the same. He was and is analytical, I am intuitive. He was guided by traditional values, hard work, integrity, ethical behavior, perseverance ~ the high level values we have all been taught. I have always tended to take a pragmatic approach to most situations e.g. whatever works at the time to get the job done. As it turned out, hard work, integrity, ethics etc. were usually what worked.

I think Marty may have referred to me as a “loose cannon” a time or two and while I may have refrained from the use of such colorful terms in public when referring to him, I know the thoughts crossed my mind at least a couple of times. We have worked together on and off over 18 years in the space of the mutual respect we developed, not necessarily our mutual agreement.

By 2000 Marty had progressed, he was named CEO of Frontier Telephone of Rochester and President of Telephone Operations for Frontier Communications. That was amazing progress from 1992 to 2000 by any measure, but Marty had great mentors and he worked well with a diverse set of constituencies and personalities. He was ready for this, and, along with his continued reliance on keen analytical skills, he developed himself as a participatory leader and strong proponent of programs and practices that foster high levels of employee engagement. He had reached the final reward early and was looking forward to many years in his hard-won leadership role. And then, in 2001, Frontier Communications was purchased by a national service provider who did not share his views on employee engagement.

So what is a man of character and values to do? Marty stood his ground and within a few short months he was informed that his services were no longer needed.

If that is the way things ended for Marty you can be pretty sure I wouldn’t be writing about him today.

Within a few months, Marty’s availability came to the attention of Tom Golisano, founder of Paychex, Inc. To Tom’s credit, he interviewed Marty in mid 2002 and offered him a position that had not previously existed …senior vice president of operations. A few months after he started Marty engaged us at Vitalwork to assist him in ways similar to what he had experienced in his previous position. He felt he had been granted a second opportunity to build a culture of engagement and he was eager to get started.  Last week, just eight years after joining Paychex, Marty was named president and CEO of the company, becoming only the third person to hold the position since the company was founded by Tom Golisano in 1971.

In announcing Marty’s appointment Golisano emphasized the traits I have known in Marty for the past 18 years. In his words:

“Marty Mucci has earned the opportunity to be the CEO of this company, based on his character, his level of accomplishment and his ability to be an inspiring leader,”

Neither Marty nor I have as much hair as we used to. Otherwise we are pretty much the same people and will no doubt challenge each other on the same topics and bicker over strategy like always when we get together. One thing is for certain, back in 2001 when the handwriting was on the wall, Marty could have caved to a philosophy he didn’t agree with to save himself from an otherwise certain outcome. He didn’t, and there was no guarantee his story would turn out like it has. That day in 2001 when has was asked not to return to his office the only thing he knew for certain was that his career with Frontier wwas done. When I reached him by phone late that same afternoon I expressed my view that no matter how things went in his future, it is better that he had stuck to his principles rather than lose his integrity and had his spirit die long before his body.

It has been a privilege to know Marty Mucci these past eighteen years. The shareholders, employees and clients of Paychex are now in the extremely capable and dedicated hands of an honorable, honest and insightful man.

For Marty…I know the race has just begun. 

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