Turn Loose the Tweakers: There are Entrepreneurs Without Portfolio Roaming the Halls of Your Business

  By MikeCook | June 9, 2013 - 10:34 pm | Diversity, Engagement, Managing for Engagement, Philosophy in Action, Talent Management
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“The characteristic art form of our age may be the business plan.”                                                                                      

William

Deresiewicz

 

It is fascinating to me to witness the seeming differences in priorities between my youngest and oldest sons. It was strange enough having sixteen years separate them in age. I can recall getting requests like these within five minutes of each other; “Dad can I borrow the car?” vs. “Dad can you change my diaper?” But now that both are well on the path of meeting most of their own needs I find that gap in ages to be reflective of a very different set of perspectives on what constitutes a life worth living.

Just to be clear, I am not passing judgment here, rather noting the differences and observing how they lead to very different trajectories in both plans and actions. With my oldest son I’d say the priorities are closer to my own, somewhat driven by a tendency to keep score against some preset norms of having; job, family, house, neighborhood, etc. My youngest seems driven by a much less tangible vision, something much more qualitative in nature, seemingly aimed at satisfying a set of inner rather than external measures. I find the differences fascinating and a recent conversation with my youngest prompted me to pull out the following post from a couple of years back…

From November 14, 2011…I got around to reading an Op-Ed piece in the NY Times by William Deresiewicz titled ‘Generation Sell’ on Sunday morning from which I took the quote I opened with here. In this piece Deresiewicz takes us through his analysis of the millennial generation that seems to be so troubling to work with or even understand for many managers today. His central insight is that this is a generation of entrepreneurs…

 “Today’s ideal social form is not the commune or the movement or even the individual creator as such; it’s the small business. Every artistic or moral aspiration — music, food, good works, what have you — is expressed in those terms.”

In Deresiewicz’ view, the Millennials operate with…

“…a distrust of large organizations, including government, as well as the sense, a legacy of the last decade, that it’s every man for himself.”

 …so their entrepreneurial inclinations are driven as much from a self-preservation strategy as previous generations were driven by the desire for security.

While Millennials view the small business as the idealized social form of the current times. many of them continue to work in our mainstream organizations. They literally walk among us, having learned how to play the game by developing an ability to fit in rather than drop out and assume the risks of business ownership.

Given the continued premium we place on compliance it is likely that we have not tapped the entrepreneurial instincts of this generation and likely as not this is why they will eventually leave us. As managers we might do ourselves an enormous favor by asking not how we can get them to be like us but rather how can we give them reason to stay and invest themselves in our future.

The November 14th 2011 issue of the New Yorker magazine features a Malcolm Gladwell piece on Steve Jobs titled ‘The Tweaker’. In the article Gladwell identifies Jobs’ genius not so much as that of an inventor but truly more of a “tweaker.” By definition…

 “The visionary starts with a clean sheet of paper, and re-imagines the world. The tweaker inherits things as they are, and has to push and pull them toward some more nearly perfect solution. That is not a lesser task.”

As managers we might prefer a team of “tweakers” to a team of inventors since inventors are notorious for lacking commercial instincts and often times are satisfied with proving out rather than perfecting their ideas. Cases in point abound but suffice for now for me to remind us all of the boon Xerox research has been to the technology industry, if not necessarily to itself.

So if Deresiewicz is on to something, and from my knowledge of my own twenty- four year son I’d say he is, it is incumbent on us to find way for our Millennial employees to contribute by “being in charge” of something they view as important. This will have less to do with salary category or titles than it will be the idea of having a lot of say in something important to our business; maybe not the final say but certainly a lot leading up to it.

Turning our Millennial employees loose to “tweak” may seem like an invitation to chaos. It may just be a formula for the engagement and retention of our best and brightest.

  • What can you do to give your Millennial employees more of a say in the business and an invitation to make what is working even better than it is now?

 

 

 

Choosing to Be Ready

  By MikeCook | May 27, 2013 - 11:44 am | Engagement, Health,Wellness and Engagement, Managing for Engagement, Philosophy in Action, Talent Management
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I wrote this piece back in 2006 but looking at it yesterday gave me the idea that it probably still applies in many cases.

At least twice a month, I stand in front of groups of managers and supervisors and ask this question: “What is your personal economic disaster recovery plan?” The looks I get when asking about individual readiness range from glazed bemusement to knowing nods. Unfortunately, the knowing nods are most often in the minority, the glazed looks predominate. As the conversation continues, I might ask, “When was the last time you interviewed outside your company or even perused local classified advertisements or websites scanning for alternative employment opportunities?” Now the faces of the glazed and bemused take on a look of concern. It’s not unusual for someone to raise a hand at this point and say the conversation is uncomfortable.

Those with the look of concern often do know what is going on outside their companies. They have simply been choosing to ignore modern reality and hope that they are somehow immune to global forces simply because their company is “doing well.” That attitude needs to change. Allow me to offer some of my own perspective on the importance of individual readiness in today’s global economy.

Today, many Americans are experiencing what was once only the prospect of a future filled with economic and employment uncertainty. Most of these people hope things will change. That is a fruitless approach to the challenge.

We all, employers and employees alike, need to get clear on the truth; the global economy can indeed impact us directly and without notice with potentially negative economic consequences. This knowledge, while not happy, will be easier to adapt to if we choose a posture that places us in charge of the changes we need to make rather than be victimized by circumstances beyond our control. Having the sense of authorship that goes with this shift in attitude is more likely to foster personal confidence than any training program you may attend, podcast you might listen to or video you can download for free.

A few guidelines may prove helpful. They may not relieve your anxiety completely, but a little anxiety is probably healthy in that it keeps us awake.

  • Declare full responsibility for your own economic future.It’s time to give up the flawed belief that if you just do a good job everything will work out. That was never true. Only fluky global circumstances made it seem so.
  •  Get over the idea that you deserve anything. Americans have an unrealistic sense of entitlement about everything economic. Here’s what you deserve…whatever you have…now…that’s it!
  •  Commit to a personal financial plan that can carry you at least six months in the event of an unanticipated loss of employment. Yes, this means you are going to have to make some tough choices. You might have to switch from double lattes to a large drip at your local coffee shop or even make your own coffee at home and carry a thermos, remember those? You might have to stop eating out regularly and instead reserve restaurants for special occasions. Given the alternative, these seem small prices to pay. Many lengthy periods of economic stability in this country has given many of us permission to be financially irresponsible. It’s time to get responsible for living in an unpredictable world.
  •  Interview for alternative employment opportunities at least once a year if not every six months. The way the world is changing now it is impossible for either you or your employer to predict with any certainty just how stable your position is. Believe it or not, knowing your market value may make you a better employee as well. Once you are realistically confident that everything can work out for you, there is a greater chance that your engagement at work will increase. This suggestion makes employers queasy but c’mon, real is real!

Caution: This practice might also mean taking an unpopular course of action such as leaving your current employment or forcing tough conversations with your employer about workplace satisfaction and your roles and responsibilities.

  •  Know what you are like to work with. Interview those around you—managers, peers, direct reports if you have them. Find out if people are getting what they need from you. Find out what they count on you for. Find out whether you have habits that some find difficult to deal with and commit to making adjustments where it makes good sense.
  •  Understand your talents as well as your skills. Skills are transient in a world where new knowledge is being created daily. Talents are much more important in the long term than skills. It’s your talents that enable the level of skill you’ve attained.

This is by no means a complete list of actions you can take to develop a personal financial disaster plan. The most important takeaway is that you can choose to not be victimized by circumstances. This awareness alone will launch you onto a more secure path. Realizing that you can choose to be the author of your own future will make more difference than all the tips I can offer.

“Culture Builders Heed These Words…Givers Take All”

  By MikeCook | May 12, 2013 - 10:03 pm | Engagement, Health,Wellness and Engagement, Managing for Engagement, Philosophy in Action, Talent Management
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The May issue of the McKinsey and Company newsletter is one I’ll be holding onto for a while, it has at least four articles that I know I am going to read…I do wonder though how we’ll ever read everything we want to, especially now that so much of it just comes to us because we asked for it.

Anyway, as I was saying, good stuff from McKinsey this month and among it all one piece in particular has captured my attention.  ‘Givers Take All: The Hidden Dimension of Corporate Culture is by Adam Grant. He is author of the recently published ‘Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success’, a book that seems to be getting a lot of attention from a business community that continues to struggle for answers on how best the attract, develop and retain the millennial generation.

Before I get to far let me ask you this; “It is Better to Give than Receive” … when was the first time you heard this adage? Maybe bible study class, maybe catechism, maybe your grandmother said it first? Of course…when you read ‘All I Need to Know I learned in Kindergarten’ by Robert Fulghum right? I thought so, me too!

OK seriously, the idea of giving being inherently a better way to live than taking isn’t brand new by any means. So why, when a Wharton School PhD. writes about it does business leadership suddenly sit up and take notice? I imagine for the very simple reason that in the economically driven business world we live in things don’t really catch on until they have economic impact. At work where many of us spend most of our adult lives, it is apparently not obvious that helping others without expecting anything in return, something most of us do without a great deal of forethought in our personal lives, is a wise way to operate. Doing anything for its own sake simply does not compute and is not necessarily even encouraged.

In his article for McKinsey, Adam Grant introduces us to a range of research that demonstrates that individuals and teams that operate from a helping context bring measurable benefits to an organization’s effectiveness:

  • enabling employees to solve problems and get work done faster
  • enhancing team cohesion and coordination
  • ensuring that expertise is transferred from experienced to new employees
  • reducing variability in performance when some members are overloaded or distracted
  • establishing an environment in which customers and suppliers feel that their needs are the organization’s top priority

Unfortunately, as Grant says…

“… far too few companies enjoy these benefits. One major barrier is company culture—the norms and values in organizations often don’t support helping.”

And who does Grant say we have to thank for this tradition of taking rather than giving? In his words…

 “All too often, leaders create structures that get in the way… many organizations are essentially winner-take-all markets, dominated by zero-sum competitions for rewards and promotions. When leaders implement forced-ranking systems to reward individual performance, they stack the deck against giver cultures.”

So once again “we have met the enemy and he is us” and “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” These are lessons we continue to learn the hard way and yet that seems to be the way we like it.

Fortunately Grant doesn’t leave us hanging on the question of how to bring about change in a business culture that is less than giving….

 “Creating  such a culture (Givers) starts with expanding performance evaluations beyond results, to include their impact on other individuals and groups.”

He describes three methods of giver culture building that any organization should be able to implement…

  • facilitating help-seeking
  • recognizing and rewarding givers
  • and screening out takers.

Grant provides several examples for implementation as well as his own suggestions on how to take steps to revolutionize cultures with taking histories.

As I had hoped as he neared the end of his article Grant concluded with a word to leadership…

“When it comes to giver cultures, the role-modeling lesson here is a powerful one: if you want it, go and give it.”

Now go out there and give em one for the gipper!

Collaboration: Lessons Learned from a Five Year Old

  By MikeCook | April 30, 2013 - 11:40 pm | Engagement, Managing for Engagement, Philosophy in Action, Relationship
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This past Sunday afternoon I found myself in the midst of a standoff with my five year old grandson, Miles. A few minutes earlier his mother had suggested that maybe I’d like to give him some help with a jigsaw puzzle that was partially completed. Both he and I thought this was a grand idea so we set to it.

I immediately noticed that while he had successfully located many pieces he had failed to complete the border. It looked like he had been focusing on the mid section of the puzzle. Here was an opportunity for grandpa to help! I began sorting pieces, looking for those that had the one flat side of an outer edge. Everyone knows that with jigsaw puzzles the most efficient approach is to complete the border then work toward the middle which I helpfully pointed out to Miles. He wasn’t nearly as excited about this information as I thought he would be but “Oh well, we do what we can!”

Within a few minutes I had sorted through the edge pieces while he continued to work the middle. I passed these over to him and he made the proper connection, always returning to working the mid-section of the picture.

Using my method things moved swiftly. Shortly thereafter I handed him what looked to me like the final piece of the border. He looked at it, turned it around in his hand and then declared, “Grandpa, you know I am the Puzzle Master.” I thought this was cute and replied that I knew he was masterful and had been doing a fine job. He continued, “I am the Puzzle Master and this piece doesn’t fit.” This struck me as odd; it was obviously the correct piece, so I suggested that perhaps if he tried the piece even though it didn’t look right it might just fit.  He gave me the first of several “looks” that would follow. He put the piece in, the edge was completed and he said “See, it doesn’t fit! I am the Puzzle Master and I say it isn’t the right piece.” OK, I was confused, here I was providing plenty of help and he was balking.

I thought about it for a moment. Maybe as the grandpa he only sees a couple of times a year my say so doesn’t carry a lot of weight. I decided to invoke the opinion of the one authority he always responds to, his mother. So I said that we’d have his mother look and if she said the piece fit it would override the Puzzle Master. After all, right is right, time was wasting and we had a puzzle to complete! This suggestion brought about the second of “the looks” from my grandson.

I asked his mother to come over, she did, immediately verified that it was indeed to right piece and went back to what she was doing. “Good”, I thought, “Now we can get on with the business at hand.” My grandson placed the piece into the proper place, gave me the third “look” and plopped his chin in his hand and started playing absently with the remaining pieces.

Someone needed to keep the project on task so I set about sorting pieces myself. As I found other matches I slid them over to my grandson and suggested where they might fit. He weakly replied that he didn’t think they would work so I turned them into their proper perspective and made the connections.

At this point my grandson sat back with a sigh and said, “Grandpa, I want to take a break…and I want you to take a break too!” OK then, I thought we were doing great but obviously finishing the puzzle was a top priority after all.

As we drove home I reflected on the puzzle incident. I was not happy with the experience and it didn’t seem that my grandson was all that happy either. What could have gone wrong? He had already completed quite a bit of the puzzle before I arrived, how had he done that without starting with the edge? Then it dawned on me, he had showed me the picture on the box several times, he was looking at the image on the box and finding the pieces based on the color patterns. This was a much more complex approach than I was taking, based on an entirely different set of criteria than I had been using, and he had figured it out himself. Geez! I suddenly realized that my idea of help was to show him the “right way” to get the puzzle done without asking him what sort of help he wanted from me.

As a manager you may have had this experience yourself when working with someone who reports to you.

Thinking back I realized that his mother had not said “help get the puzzle done” she had said “help you get the puzzle done.” Oops! Nice going Grandpa, rather than ask what was needed from me I assumed the value of my wisdom and experience and then proceeded to impose my will on my now unfortunate grandson. Oh dear!

Before getting on the plane last night, my reflection complete, I called the Puzzle Master and thanked him for what he had taught me.  He seemed to be glad that I had called but much more interested in playing Angry Birds Star Wars with his brother. And so it goes!

Maybe Your Organization’s Biggest Problem is a Failure to Address Problems

  By MikeCook | April 14, 2013 - 11:10 pm | Engagement, Managing for Engagement, Philosophy in Action, Relationship
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Clever headline, wouldn’t you agree? Yes, it is clever but at the same time it may be a profound statement of truth. Think for a moment about your working environment. Do you think your organization addresses all serious problems in a timely manner? Rhetorical right? So read on and see if where I am going makes any sense for your organization.

Webster offers this as one definition of the word “problem”…

 …an unsettled matter demanding solution or decision and requiring usually considerable thought or skill for its proper solution or decision : an issue marked by usually considerable difficulty, uncertainty, or doubt with regard to its proper settlement : a perplexing or puzzling question.

By this definition doing business itself would be included among those things in life we consider problems. What to produce, how to price it, how to market what we produce, how to get it to market, etc., etc., etc. All problems commonly accepted, studied and addressed in most businesses. Notice in the definition offered above there is nothing said about problems being something we should not have. In fact we seek out problems to be solved in order to create businesses. But these are most often problems we expect to have or ones we understand in business or that go with the territory being covered. You would not expect to hear a business leaders complain about the necessity of finding methods to sell products. We’ll call this problem type “ours” or “challenges” because they arise logically, at least to us, due to actions we take or circumstances we choose to be involved with.

Change of direction now…there are also problems that present themselves which we do not logically look at like something resulting from our actions, at least according to us. We’ll call this type “not mys”, as in not my problem.

One issue that has always been around in the category of “not mys” but has only in recent years become defined as a problem by management is employee engagement. As a problem it has begun to get a lot of attention, though not enough to make any difference.  Recent statistics from credible sources tell us that employers are spending $720 million annually on employee engagement and that represents only 50% of the companies who say they have an interest in addressing the issue. And as we all know even with this level of investment according to other recent reports …

“…almost two thirds (63%) of U.S. workers are not fully engaged with their work and struggling to cope with work situations that do not provide sufficient support.”                        Towers Perrin

 Maybe…when it comes to engagement we are working on the wrong things!

How about this? Here’s a list of problems I see that I think managers either fail to acknowledge or explain away as “not mys” and they have a direct bearing on levels of employee engagement. Ironically these are problems for employees and they see them as “not mys” as well; they believe them to be management’s responsibility. For employees they are incidents of cognitive dissonance and their persistence has a downgrading effect on employee engagement and actually works to counteract other attempts to elevate engagement.

  • Executive compensation way out of line with what employees in general are earning and attuned strictly to shareholder interests
  • Incentive programs that favor the few (certain levels of management) over the many
  • Ten plus years of asking employees to do more with less
  • Employees everywhere are working more hours for no more compensation, taking less time off and experiencing higher levels of stress
  • Failure to address performance issues in a timely manner, allowing subpar performers to continue working because qualified candidates are hard to find
  • When the going gets tough laying off employees, especially front line rather than or along with cutting management compensation
  • Technology is escalating the pace of change and altering the nature and structure of work itself, but the work environment and experience aren’t keeping pace
  • Companies continuing to shift costs and risk to employees, especially in the U. S. with its high labor cost structures
  • Employees, even at entry levels, are showing more interest in security and express doubts about their future in terms of retirement preparedness, career growth, and the rewards available to them for their efforts on behalf of their employers
  • Management’s myopic focus on cost management, complaining about lack of innovation but unwilling to invest in the unproven

 Trust me, these are all problems affecting engagement and as meaningful as anything else management has its attention on. They are almost all on the back burner if even acknowledged. They are also all a drag on engagement because despite the rhetoric their persistence constantly reminds employees that they are disposable.

 Is there any hope? There is always hope but hope usually proves to be the least effective means of dealing with problems. But at least it is free.

Are You Scuffling for Talent? Welcome to Geezer World!

  By MikeCook | April 1, 2013 - 2:39 pm | Diversity, Engagement, Managing for Engagement, Philosophy in Action, Talent Management
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I have heard that recently a lot of companies are having trouble finding the talent they need . I would love to help them solve their problem but they seem to have a problem with me. I am 66 years old and am not looking for full time employment!

These days most mornings I am usually up between 7 and 8 unless it is the weekend and then I’ll sleep in until 9. I get up, head downstairs, feed the first cat, heat the water for coffee, uncover the parrot and scratch his head. Gotta scratch his head or he starts yelling!

Once the water gets hot I make a cup of coffee for myself and a cup of decaf for my wife, go out to the garage to bring in the other cat, (he has night terrors!) and get his breakfast then take the decaf upstairs to my wife where she has usually started her work day on her laptop while still in bed.

Back downstairs I check the morning news ~ usually three or four websites each day and maybe a favorite blog or two. Being on the west coast gives me the advantage of knowing that both business and politics are well underway by the time I get going so there is almost always something to entertain me at the start of the day.

By about 9 AM I’ve had a second cup of coffee and have begun the process of sorting through the email that has arrived by now. Usually there are about 25 new entries, most from various professional sites that I subscribe to, Inc., Fast Company, Forbes, Chief Learning Officer and others. I scan the subject lines quickly deleting the majority and saving the ones I’ll spend time with for later in the day. I handle the various notes from clients asking for meetings and sometimes I get inquiries to see if I am able to accept any new clients.

I understand there are more and more people spending their days like I do. The statistics I found on the internet stated that beginning in 2010 we were entering a ten year period where 70 million US workers were going to retire and only 40 million new workers are going to enter the workforce. I know we’ve been experiencing somewhat higher than usual unemployment but I expect that simply this shift in demographics will impact the unemployment statistic in a positive way. Of course that assumes that those of us who’ve been leaving the workforce are being replaced by people with equal talent and skills. The newer folks won’t have as much experience of course but eventually they’ll catch on, don’t ya just hope!

I still like a good professional challenge, but honestly I am not interested in full time work or showing up anyplace from 8 AM-5 PM five to six days a week. I don’t have to earn what I once did but I would like to be paid a respectful amount, something that reflects the value I can bring to a workplace. Often times I wonder whether an employer might be interested in having me as part of their team. I’ve asked around but find that more often than not employers are more interested in control of my time than they are in my productivity, even though I could probably produce in three days a week what some of their new people produce in a week.

I don’t need a job, I’d just like to do some interesting work and that’s a problem for most companies, I don’t fit. I told an HR manager recently that I thought I be interested in working in some capacity for at least the next five years. She wanted to know how she would sell me to her CEO if I was only going to be around for five years. I said, “Ask your CEO, him or her, how long they are going to be around!”

Look, I know the idea of hiring a bunch of people my age has its challenges, but you know what? … so does hiring people at any age. Be honest with yourself, is your company strapped for talent these days? And I mean talent, not just filling your vacancies. If the answer is “yes” you might want to consider the non-traditional workforce all around you.

I know I am not alone, the pool of people like me is growing daily and the opportunity is there for the companies with vision. The advantages should be obvious. The folks in my age group, call them geezers if you will, are likely not looking for full time employment, most don’t need benefits, we probably don’t need to be managed, we’ll do what we say we’ll do it when it needs to be done, we have organizational savvy and skills and respect is probably more important to us than money so we’ll be less expensive in the long run. Oh, yes, and we don’t have the ego needs of the younger people either.

Your job is to figure out how to utilize our talents when we don’t give a hoot about your pay grades, vacation policies or work hours. If you can deal with that, we might be able to strike a deal, and I am betting you would be the winner in the end.

To Listen Authentically, You Must Be Willing to Be Changed by What You Hear

  By MikeCook | March 24, 2013 - 9:58 pm | Engagement, Managing for Engagement, Philosophy in Action, Relationship
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A story appeared in the national news recently that for me had truly wide ranging implications. I suppose it depends on what you consider significant but when a prominent figure from one of our two main political parties changes a long and strongly held position on a subject that is controversial, I think it warrants some analysis not only on its own merits but for what the process offers in terms of transferable learning.

Senator Rob Portman of Ohio recently announced a reversal of a strongly held position on same sex marriage. In case you’ve been living in a cave, he was an opponent of same sex couples being able to call or having their civil unions recognized as “marriage.” His historical positions, in his own words, were largely faith-based…

“…my position on marriage for same-sex couples was rooted in my faith tradition that marriage is a sacred bond between a man and a woman.”

Rob Portman is 57 years old. That means for quite a long time he has held strongly to beliefs that were not subject to modification and which held firm in the presence of what has no doubt been considerable social pressure to alter his views. And then something changed…

 “Two years ago, my son Will, then a college freshman, told my wife, Jane, and me that he is gay. He said he’d known for some time, and that his sexual orientation wasn’t something he chose; it was simply a part of who he is.”

I know it is tough to create enough distance from some issues to be able to subject them to objective analysis much less extrapolate from the process and apply the lessons in other settings but bear with me please. Unless we are able to do so, it is hard to imagine much of anything new coming into our lives much less into our businesses and that is where I want to go with this dialogue.

For the largest portion of his life Rob Portman held to a belief that worked for him inside a chosen field of endeavor. For years his position had been reinforced by external sources allowing him to continue to hold to this particular set of beliefs without objective analysis; this despite growing evidence of a change in the marketplace of ideas. He had suffered no personal or professional consequences for failing to modify what for him had been a winning strategy.

In the days and weeks following his son’s revelation he Portman to struggling to reconcile his faith and this new truth that could potentially threaten their relationship. This might seem like one of those classic situations where both the baby and the bathwater were up for grabs, an either/or if you will. Rob Portman found a way through to a both/and position and no doubt his life and that of his son will be better for it. Now he states that his support for gay marriage is grounded in his conservative roots not in spite of them.

“We conservatives believe in personal liberty and minimal government interference in people’s lives. We also consider the family unit to be the fundamental building block of society. We should encourage people to make long-term commitments to each other and build families, so as to foster strong, stable communities and promote personal responsibility.”

Now see if you can make this jump with me. The central question I am winding my way towards is a parallel to what I see many business leaders facing today …what is so sacred in your beliefs about business, your business; the way things should be, etc., that you’ve not been willing to consider alternatives offered by non-traditional (for you) sources?

How would you feel if you found out that your failure to consider new ideas or information was the reason employees were not engaged in your workplace? Hopefully this thought is pretty compelling.

What if having your employees as committed, creative, energetic, passionate and accountable as you’ve always wanted them to be doesn’t have much at all to do with the pizza parties you throw each quarter or the atta boy/atta girl that comes with your fancy recognition program. What if it comes down to your willingness to consider their ideas thoroughly even when they seem to contradict what you have held to be true.

If you knew that it is some of your beliefs that stand in the way of the business environment you’ve always wanted to create, would you be willing to change your mind? Could you change your mind or do your beliefs mean more to you than what you say you’ve always wanted? Do you even know what matters to you most? Rob Portman found out first hand what mattered most in his life.

 

 

Is Struggle a Dirty Word? If You Plan to Lead You Best Make the Most of It

  By MikeCook | March 17, 2013 - 9:49 am | Engagement, Health,Wellness and Engagement, Managing for Engagement, Philosophy in Action, Wellness and Engagement
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Life in general and certainly in business has its dark side. If we are in the game we are most certainly at risk to some extent. But we are told that’s where the learning is and to learn is to embrace the failure and the struggle associated with both our wins and losses…but who wants to fail much less talk about it. And the opportunity to struggle doesn’t exactly sound like an invitation to many of us. Do you know anybody who made the cover of Forbes simply because they put up a good fight?

So now we have a new book about the benefits of struggle and and it suggest no less than that there is an art associated with it. As it turns out it makes for pretty solid reading. What follows here is a short guest post written by Molly Page inspired by Steven Snyder’s new book  ‘Leadership and the Art of Struggle’  which was just formally launched the week of March 11th. I am half way through the book now and plan to make this a regular part of my coaching curriculum…

…Is struggle a dirty word?

We live in a culture dominated by positive psychology. Struggle has become something that most leaders want to avoid at all costs. Its perceived negative connotation is off-putting and even occasionally frightening.

Who really wants to struggle?

In his book “Leadership and the Art of Struggle,” Steven Snyder suggests that we all should.

Snyder believes struggle has gotten a bum rap. He suggests we have lost sight of its benefits and unintentionally placed roadblocks in our own paths. Our purely negative view of struggle is the result of a misinterpretation of popular positive psychology and also an inaccurate understanding of struggle itself. Snyder calls this the paradox of the positive.

To resolve the paradox leaders must first reexamine our understanding of positive psychology. We must understand that it has never suggested we ignore life’s challenges. Nor has it ever advocated a denial of struggle. That would be naïve and dangerous. Positive psychology is not a call for tunnel vision concentrated only on the good. Instead, it simply suggests we spend as much time focusing on our strengths as we do on our weaknesses. It is a call for equal attention but is often misconstrued as an elevation of one over the other. And it’s this misunderstanding, Snyder believes, that leads us to see struggle as undesirable and something to be avoided.

And that brings us to Snyder’s second step in resolving the paradox of the positive, a new understanding of struggle itself. It is time for struggle to be reconsidered and redefined. What if instead of avoiding struggle, leaders welcomed it as a necessary part of the journey?  What if we move away from stereotypical thinking and embrace the positive aspects of struggle? Snyder argues that struggle must no longer be seen as a symptom of failure but rather a path toward success. Snyder explains, “Instead of denying struggle, or feeling some degree of shame, savvy leaders embrace struggle as an opportunity for growth and learning, as an art to be mastered.”

Surviving struggle is a badge of honor. If navigated well, struggle can shape and grow us. It can be a teacher. A leader that emerges from a difficult challenge can be stronger, wiser and better prepared for the next trial. Snyder suggests, “Teaming the courage to confront conflict with openness to new learning and the energy of positive thinking can turn struggle into transformation, paving the way for accelerated growth and development.”

Snyder believes great leaders grow through challenge and adversity. He argues that open, honest discussion of these struggles will unlock leader’s greatest potential. In his new book Leadership and the Art of Struggle, Snyder shares strategies to resolve the paradox of positive. He challenges readers to embrace struggle and then recommends numerous tools and practical ways that leaders can implement his suggestions…

…Thanks Molly, so that’s the official line, must read, ground breaking and so forth, from the publisher of course. From me, this is a really solid effort, a worthwhile read and a book that should become a gift for developing leaders wherever you meet them.

 

“A Coach, a Coach, My Kingdom for a Coach!” : Coaches May Be Old News but Coaching is Forever

  By MikeCook | March 5, 2013 - 11:45 am | Engagement, Managing for Engagement, Philosophy in Action, Talent Management
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With apologies to William Shakespeare and Richard III…. Is it just me or has it been raining coaches in the business world for about the past fifteen years…and they come with certifications in case you need one, from all sorts of sources:

  • Coach U
  • Coach Inc.
  • Center for Executive Coaching
  • International Coach Academy
  • Etc.

Some of these programs are several months in duration, some offer ongoing support, some are available on-line and some even offer certification in as little as 16 hours! I guess the familiar saying, “Let the Buyer Beware” pertains no matter what the offering.

Coaches are now available on nearly every street corner and make up a large portion of the attendees at any local SHRM meeting or networking group. The rise of the coaches seems to be coincident with the proliferation of large-scale downsizing that swept through the country in the late-1990’s following the first wave of re-engineering initiatives, also known as “right sizing” our organizations. It has provided individuals a low-cost avenue to get into their own business, does provides a valuable service, can be tailored to support just about any lifestyle and it is a rewarding profession.

While I am concerned for the proliferation of coaches and the quality of their training I am more concerned for the continued absence of demand for coaching in general, most dramatically among many who ought to be involved in employee development, namely mid-level managers. And of course the coaches all want to work with executives assuming that’s where the big $$$’s are, and for the most part they are correct.

There are limits to everything in this world, why lessen the chances for accomplishment by trying to approach tough challenges without support? For business leaders…why let your primary employee developers struggle with the limits of their natural abilities?

As Americans I am afraid it is an affliction of our heritage. We have actually bought hook-line-and-sinker into the mythology of the self-made person or the ‘rugged individual.’ Asking for help, especially in the highly competitive environments of many of our commercial organizations has been/is often seen as a sign of weakness or insufficiency. These American myths persist despite the fact that any close examination of what might be interpreted as individual success can readily be understood as the talents or vision of any famous business figure being heavily complimented and supplemented by others around them far less visible but nonetheless critical to the success realized. As the English poet John Donne so rightly said several centuries ago “…no man is an island, entire of itself…”

It is easy to establish that there are plenty of coaches available and quality issues notwithstanding there are a goodly number of high-caliber coaches. However, this is a case of supply waiting for demand to catch up. There are undoubtedly numerous factors to account for the lag in demand  but I’ll venture that among them the foremost is the willingness to be coached, an openness to outside perspective and a recognition that anything truly remarkable or worth attaining will likely result from embracing the principle of inter-dependency.

For those among you that are up to something and might be ready to take the plunge into a coaching relationship I recommend a baby step to get started. There are today many fine coaches writing and making their insights, experience and wisdom available free of charge in the form of their regular blogs. A quick review of “leadership blogs” on the web will yield an array of possible thinking that might appeal to you. It may be that you are more of a humanist or perhaps more a rational bottom line thinker. A review like I am suggesting will quickly give you an idea of who thinks along lines that might be in parallel with your own perspectives.

In addition to blogs simply reading a variety of leading thinkers can stimulate you to realize what it is you are looking for. I can’t tell you how many times I had an itch but didn’t know where to scratch until I started searching. Just the simple act of looking helps you get out of your inertia and develop new vantage points.

If you think you can handle or benefit from coaching or if you like variety in your messaging try the “buffet” that goes by the name Human Capital League. Once you get an idea of the type or coach you are looking for it is likely that there is someone close to home that can adequately provide the service you are looking for.

  • Can you identify your reluctance to asking for help or seeking a personal advocate to keep you at the top of your game? It will be something simple, look for it first as an emotion, then as a statement of fact, a rule you have adopted about what it would mean if you needed help, something you have come to by reaction without reflection.

 

Seeing the Miraculous in the Everyday World May Change Your Experience of Work

  By MikeCook | February 19, 2013 - 10:45 am | Engagement, Managing for Engagement, Philosophy in Action, Talent Management
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Maybe you’ve heard this story before. I heard it for the first time today.

A hunter walks into a field one autumn morning. Alongside him is his newly acquired full pedigree retrieving dog. This is their first hunt together.

Within minutes they arrive at the duck blind and the hunter takes his position. Soon a small flock appears. The hunter rises up and quickly dispatches a single duck. His retriever leaps from the blind and bounds across the surface of the water and returns with the fallen duck. The hunter, not believing his eyes, shakes his head and decides that he was just seeing incorrectly in the early morning haze. Again he takes his position in the blind and within minutes another flock approaches. The hunter fires his gun and his aim is once more true. The young hound leaps from the blind and again dashes across the water’s surface to retrieve the fallen fowl.

Now in complete amazement the hunter calls over a comrade from a nearby blind and asks him to watch with him as yet another flock approaches. Again he fires and again his aim is true. Yet again the young dog dashes across the water’s surface to retrieve the fallen duck. The hunter turns to his friend and asks him to explain what they have now both just seen. “Well”, the other hunter replies, “Too bad it looks like your new dog doesn’t know how to swim!”

Each day we arrive at our places of work and each and every day our colleagues dance across the water’s surface and we fail to see the miraculous in their actions as well as our own.

Webster’s has this to offer as one definition of the term “miracle”

“…an accomplishment or occurrence so outstanding or unusual as to seem beyond any capability …”

A few years back one of my employees asked why I always said “Thank you” when she turned over an assignment as requested. In return, I asked her why she thought it was so unusual. She said that in her working experience the only time she was used to hearing a ‘Thank you” was when she did something unusual and here I was thanking her for doing her job as expected. How sad I thought.

My response surprised her because she, like many in our places of work, was used to walking on water and having it be taken for granted. “First off” I asked, “Do you like hearing the thank you?” She said that indeed she did and each time she heard it she was reminded that I was counting on her to get done what had been asked of her. “I do depend on you”, I said, “And I never take for granted that you get done what has been asked of you. You have commitments to more than just me; you balance those commitments and manage your time so that everyone gets what has been promised as it has been promised. In my view that’s a big deal and worth noting.” She asked whether that wasn’t what she was being paid for so why the added expression of gratitude?

That was an interesting question and I had to think for a moment. “Your salary is for the results you produce and I am thanking you for what it takes for you to deliver those results. I know you are not a machine. From the time you say yes to something I have asked for to the time it gets delivered, you have no control over what else will take place that you’ll have to deal with. Honestly I am amazed that you make it to work virtually everyday, on time, without regard for the weather or whatever else you may have to deal with between the time  you leave here each evening until you return in the morning. If I step back for a moment and consider that same equation for everyone else that works here in our small company, I’d say that what goes on everyday is miraculous, a daily miracle, and mostly we act like it is normal. I say it is anything but normal.”

Statistics complied by Bloomberg BNA for the year 2011 for employers employing nearly 750,000 people showed an average daily absenteeism running between .6% and 1.0% for the twelve month period. You might say, “Well what would you expect in such an economy, I’m surprised it was that high?” Or, like me, you can stand in amazement at the accomplishment of those nearly 750,000 people managing the complexity of their lives and being over 99.4% successful at delivering themselves to their places of work everyday for an entire year. And then there’s everything else they do once they arrive!

I wonder if you said ‘Thank you” more often if you’d need that fancy szmancy, high tech, expensive recognition system you’re considering installing?

“There are only two ways to live your life.  One is as if nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is a miracle. I prefer the later.

Albert Einstein