As a member of Conversations Among Masters (CAM), the premier coaching collaborative for master-level coaches, I have been asked to become an official partner of The World Business and Executive Coach Summit (WBECS). While this is not my typical blog post, there is value for anyone in the coaching profession working with business, executives and leaders. Also, coaching skills and orientation is extremely valuable for non-coaches who are seeking to support their colleagues and employees in increasing performance and satisfaction, and I’m confident that there is enough wisdom in this conference for you too!

As you may know, WBECS is the largest annual coaching event now — a global, online conference featuring the top 25 luminaries and thought leaders in the business coaching industry delivering sales-pitch-free, rich content to thousands of coaches that can interact with them live. I will be attending and invite you to join me if you want to learn from the best of the best. In fact, I’ve already sampled two of the pre-Summit sample sessions and I must tell you that were impeccable and valuable. In just 30 minutes I received real value, not just a teaser. And there’s still time to sign up for most of these free opportunities!

You can register here: http://www.wbecs.com/go/wbecs/dbdx

Check out the pre-Summit series, May 1-31, 2012, which offers those complimentary opportunities to sample the sessions of the full Summit before registering! The full Summit runs June 14-29, 2012. Again, I was already very impressed! Each taster session is 15-30 minutes long, and contains highly-targeted, world-class content — like an online version of a TED talk!

Last year, more than 7000 coaches from 129 countries participated in the first WBECS conference to hear the highest caliber coaches delivering amazing content WITHOUT ANY SALES PITCHES to live audiences that can interact with them via easy-to-use webinar technology. Does it get any better than that?

This year, WBECS continues to raise the bar for the whole coaching profession with more fantastic presenters including:

* Dr. Marshall Goldsmith – voted the world’s #1 leadership thinker by Harvard Business Review;

* Sir John Whitmore – the pre-eminent thinker in leadership and organizational change;

* Prof. Vijay Govindarajan – voted the world’s #1 strategic thinker by Harvard Business Review;

* Verne Harnish – named one of the “Top 10 Minds in Small Business” by Fortune magazine;

The full roster of speakers and presentations can be found through the link above.
I’ll be tuning in this year to learn about highly effective coaching, sales, integration of leadership and business development, global coaching business strategy, client retention, social media, authentic leadership and much more.

Want to join me? During the Summit, we can ask questions of these phenomenal presenters real-time and interact with other attendees. Members’ forums encourage networking while shared Google docs enable collaboration.

Registration for WBECS is open now. To register for the pre-Summit or the full Summit, click here: http://www.wbecs.com/go/wbecs/

I hope you can make it to WBECS this year. Let me know if you register so we can compare notes on our favorite presentations, speakers and other attendees that we meet!

Some days are not worth the effort

it not worth most people’s efforts.Typically those employees are tolerated or moved around if possible. Besides the loss of a productive opportunity, there’s another usually overlooked loss because it’s rarely just “a lone difficult employee.” That person is invariably connected to their own little grapevine, and whether cause or effect, the impact on the organization goes much deeper. When it gets to a point where the boss feels drastic action must be taken, despite the arduous road that entails, it’s a lose-lose situation. But what if this thorny task could be transformed into a breakthrough opportunity for the entire team? Rather than strive to get from bad to not bad, why not unlock potential and ignite a movement? Here’s an example of what that could look like:

• I ask my client how he perceives the challenging decision before him. He foresees a political necessity to try to integrate the employee into the newly forming team, and hopes he can stave off
  

  Too much work...

  his damaging behaviors (like speaking negatively outside of the group).

• I ask what actions he’s likely to take, given his assessment of the situation. He will talk to him 1:1 about why this is destructive to the whole organization, and be clear about what behavior is appropriate.

• I ask what the predictable outcome is. He’ll be angry and sullen. It will just fuel his anger. The attempt won’t help.

Mostly we don’t even bother to step back this far and try to be objective about the situation. Even then would, or could, my client do anything differently? Would you? Usually the answer is no, not because they can’t see the crash coming, but because it’s all they can see.

In this case I had given my a client an exercise to do regarding clarifying his core values. The intention was to use those as a guide when making decisions. The concept is simple, but it’s a more uncomfortable process for most people than they imagine.

What if you add your values to the equation?

The next question was about the executive’s own core values. This is what he shared:

• Learning.
• Integrity/selflessness (doing the right thing).
• Actualizing potential.

What behavior would be driven from those values, I asked? The first cut was that he would speak to him emphasizing more selflessness for the team’s success. Stress all the potential he has to help them all succeed.

I asked if that was as good as it got? It was authentic. But was it enough? Was he really connected to the aspirational nature of his core values? Was he being his best self, on purpose?

When really in touch with core values like learning and actualizing potential he might be curious about his employee’s own core values? How could he learn about that? By asking him about what it is that he’s so angry about. Really be curious and create a space for an honest answer. Then delve deeper with each answer, inquiring about why that was meaningful until you hit that place where that’s all there is.

"I just wanted a little fairness"

Then you’ve discovered, together, what is really important to that person, a core value worth losing a job over.

Ultimately what was paramount to the employee was pride in his work, recognition, and a sense of fairness. He’d spent a lot of time and effort creating processes and building his reputation. He felt that in one fell swoop this new boss destroyed all his good work. Even though the decision to alter this employee’s role came from above, no one had even taken the time for this level of conversation. Another client remarked to me how this level of conversation is just not normal for them. But it is for great leaders!

Didn't see that coming!

And now for the interesting twist, the “Twilight Zone moment.”In working through this process the executive noticed that he and this employee had a lot in common. He too felt he was being treated unfairly. The gossip mill was characterizing him as this bully, an outsider who came in and upset the cart without regard for the people. And he felt helpless to change that, despite his efforts. He now knew exactly how this employee felt! They had something to align around. And a relationship to build upon. Now a new story could wind it’s way through the grapevine and ignite positive change.

Go ahead and apply the steps above to a challenging decision you’re facing. See what difference it makes switching from your default mode to acting from your core values. Share your story, we’re sure it will be a good one!

Navy SEALS: Values driven!

What do values have to do with performance? Consider this three year study by Harvard business professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter. In examining 350 major corporations throughout the world she found that companies that embrace values have a unique competitive advantage. They act with more rapidity and creativity when true to purpose and values. Global giants like IBM, Banco Real, P&G, Cemex, Omron had the agility and innovative capacity of much smaller enterprises when acting consistent with purpose and values.

How can you awaken this power in your company? Here are some simple suggestions that have proven successful in other companies:

• 

  Explore your mountains & valleys

  Start by using the Mountains and Valley’s exercise. You’re essentially asking people to identify milestone events, whether positive or negative. It’s sometimes easier to ask them to think in terms of their careers. Keep it simple and choose two negative and two positive events.

• Ask: What values were present or honored that made it so satisfying? What values were absent or threatened that made it so unsatisfying?

• Listen carefully and focus on the event, listening for keywords (values) in the story being told. Ask if this is the value that fits. How you’re listening and what you say back to the person is what helps hone in on the values.

• Which of the values are core values (i.e. a value you would quit over!) Prioritize and define the top 1, 2 or 3.
  

  World Cafe Work Group

• Where this becomes really powerful is when you determine the core values of the group. In any group of individuals consensus is invariably an elusive beast. But aligning around core values is not, and this can coalesce and energize a group. Combine that with a clear sense of purpose that is mutual and you have an unstoppable team or “tribe” with vastly enhanced capacities.

•  With a small group combine the values and wordsmith them. What values are missing that need to be there that didn’t show up yet?

• 

  Working the World Cafe Process

  With a large group, do a “World Cafe”around the same process and see what they come up with as a team. Simply put, set up a number of tables with 6 people and a flip chart at each. After 15 minutes 5 ofthe 6 move to another table (1 remains as a note-taker) and repeat 3x. This will reveal an organization or tribe’s shared values.

After they’ve identified the core values of the organization, ask:

• Where in your organization do you have policies, procedures or systems that violate those core values (then realign them!).
• What projects could you create that are driven by core values?
• What projects need to be re-evaluated or dropped?

Doing this exercise with very large corporations, you may hear “we have our

The pieces will all fit together

values, they’re over there on the wall.” Ask “What about for your ‘tribe?’ How do the values fit?” The tribe needs to connect to values that are meaningful to them (hopefully resonant with the larger organization’s values). In doing strategic planning, that team’s resonant core values will be important (and more meaningful than the generic values).

Living from your values has to become a practice. Over time you’ll learn to notice your own little peaks & valleys as they occur and be able to look beyond the reaction and connect to the values at play. Living guided by your core values makes ordinarily difficult decisions easy, energizes performance, and supports collaboration. Besides, it’s much more fulfilling!



If you’d like free information about any of the tools above, plus a bonus worksheet template for taking values-based actions, just contact us and ask.

No one gets out alive

A few blog posts ago I wrote about purpose and how it influences what we do and what we create. I included writing an obituary as a way of declaring the purpose you want to live into before you die. A way of creating a designed life.

I once heard poet David Whyte comment that the only thing worse than struggling to live your life is discovering that you’re living someone else’s life! How do we know if that’s the case? For most of us, unless we’ve returned to critically examine what made us who we are, the odds are high that there’s a

"I'm not gonna let that happen again!"

huge degree of autopilot going on, set by a seven year old version of us. So what has someone change what would appear to be a perfectly good life (or obituary), or as Peter Block once described change to me, incur a self-inflicted wound?

As obituaries (and lives) go, I’d say mine wasn’t bad. But the exercise itself gave me much pause to reflect. When I stepped back I had an epiphany. Like the realization that what got me here won’t get me there, I saw that after decades more of life I would still be where I was, just more so, and older. Is there anything wrong with that? Only the awareness that I was really having much less impact, and playing a much smaller game, than I thought I was: Epiphany Part One: Is this really all I’ve done in my “one wild and precious life” as poet Mary Oliver would say? 

I also realized that in order to play a bigger game and make the difference I yearned to see in the world (one of my core values) I couldn’t do it alone. And it couldn’t be about me. Epiphany Part Two: I can’t do this alone. It can’t be about me.

Some things you just can't do alone

This begged the question about why I would inflict this wound upon myself instead of sticking to familiar territory. I revisited what was driving me. My career has been built upon stimulating people to see new possibilities. It’s what would light me up – seeing them light up. But I started to see that wasn’t enough. It’s about what people do with that light.

My fantasy is living in a world where the workplace is a place where all people flourish. A place where people feel the vitality of being connected to their greatest potential and possibilities. I imagine a world where the person in customer service really feels good about serving. Where everywhere we go we’re both serving, and being served, by people who care. How awesome would that be?

They love their work at Zappos!

We would come home from work and it was a good day. Work had purpose and we fulfilled it. The dog stops getting kicked, the kids have parents with energy, and we have the space to look at the world differently. Epiphany Part Three: Connection to the bigger purpose.

In Tribal Leadership the authors talk about five phases of the epiphany that Tribal Leaders go through. I borrowed from them in describing my first three which led to my new obituary. I look forward to continuing the process, with a bit of ambivalence. It’s uncharted territory, but it honors my core values of learning, curiosity and making a difference.

Compare my two obituaries and see what you notice as different. The exercise has challenged me to grow, today, before I die.

I encourage you to write your own obituary. Then die and die again. Growth is always about what you give up.

David Brown 1955 – 2045

David Brown ended his career as an executive coach, consultant and artist, usually all three at once. In some ways he loved being an artist the most because artists never retire, and he felt that was the way to be at work, where it doesn’t feel like work. That passion showed in the difference he made in the lives of those he served. Whether it was being a psychotherapist, a life coach, executive coach or later what he simply called working in leadership development, it was always really the same. That can be summed up best by what he referred to as his noble cause: calling forth a world in which the workplace is a place where all people can flourish. A place where they feel the vitality of being connected to their greatest potential and possibilities.

Early in David’s career his focus was on working with individuals and families as a psychotherapist. You can see the difference he made in people’s lives by the number of former patients who found ways to stay in touch. When David discovered the coaching profession he knew that was his calling, with a focus on creating lives people loved instead of fixing problems. David was proud of being a part of people designing their lives on purpose. The testimonials from his clients reflect this shared joy.

But that was not enough for David. A lifelong learner, he was constantly reinventing himself. He shifted his focus to coaching leaders because he felt that made a greater impact in many more lives. He was most excited when that work created ripples that transformed workplaces into spaces where people could flourish and realize their potential. Staying true to his nature that led him to focus on the type of leadership and organizational culture change that we remember him most for today.

Many of the companies that today represent the kind of workplaces which we all admire are an outgrowth of that work. Creating possibilities for people to live lives of joy and purpose meant stimulating greater consciousness, and that meant transforming the workplace as we knew it. David invited other thought leaders with different talents but resonant core values to help create a network of passionate change agents with a shared vision of what could be. This network of MasterCoaches went on to influence virtually every sector of our lives, from healthcare and conscious business to education, non-profits and the arts. As we look back today many of us can’t relate to the old notion of top down leadership and working in cubicles, but back in David’s day that was as ubiquitous as bulky laptop computers. Today we speak of workplaces as if they have a soul, where leadership is a shared responsibility. Work places have become life spaces, environments that nurture us and encourage community, growth, collaboration and innovation. While David would never take credit for these changes that we now see as commonplace, his passion for a more conscious, resonant and collaborative world ignited the hearts and minds of so many others that it would be remiss to not include him as a significant catalyst of these developments.

Discussing David’s contributions would be incomplete without including his work as an artist. His wife of 47 years, Jill Brown, was a fiber artist who re-introduced David to the artist within him. David saw art as a conduit for channeling and connecting the deepest parts of our humanity. He felt it was a tragedy for people to go to work, or school, and leave one of the best parts of themselves in the parking lot. He was a passionate advocate for integrating the arts back into the fabric of our lives, for more whole brain thinking and living. He felt that the lopsided over-emphasis on left brain thinking created a lobotomized version of our greatest potential. The almost seamless integration and appreciation of art, and the whole person, in business, education, and healthcare that we experience today has much to do with the LifeArt Foundation that David and Jill founded.

While these are the legacies that impacted our lives the most, the grounding center for David was his family and the opportunity to be a loving father and husband. He said his greatest privilege was contributing to the success of his children, Dylan and Logan, and helping in some way to make the world a better place for them and their children. He swelled with pride when talking about the accomplishments Dylan made in education and literature, and Logan in health and well-being.

In the end it could be said that David loved most the simple joys of life; making people laugh, enjoying nature, and creating sculptures designed to be provocative and engaging. He savored time hiking our national parks, walking the disc golf course with friends and evenings around his fire pit with friends and family. Although he received numerous accolades for his work and his art, David always felt that his greatest reward was simply knowing that he touched people in a way that revealed their own possibilities and the differences they could make for others. He just wanted to leave the world a better place than he found it. I believe we can all say he accomplished his mission.

Can the wrong bus ever take you to the right place?

I just read an article called the The Bright Side Of Wrong and it should not have surprised me that it was written by Kathryn Schultz, who I’m beginning to see has made the study of being wrong a focus of her work. This is the same Kathryn Schultz in one of our favorite TED videos On Being Wrong. What made this poignant for me today was also receiving an email from a client. I asked him to do a little exercise about learning how you are known. I have always found it to be revealing in many ways, usually unpredictably. I learned this exercise in the Tribal Leadership Intensives in which I am enrolled. It goes like this:

Interview with at least 2 individuals who you work with; or are in an organization with: to support you with determining how are you known.
Set Up: You are looking for feedback to better support your leadership growth and development
Ask these 4 questions:

• What can you count on me for?
• What can you not count on me for?
• What is the skill or talent that I’m crazy good at?
• If you could give me one piece of advice what would it be?

Your job is to listen and only speak to thank them or to clarify something.
At the end really thank them for what they contributed to you.

Here is what struck me about a response he shared. My client was described as “the most level person I have met. You show no peaks or valleys in your overall presentation to people. Kind of the Switzerland of human beings… You can be counted on as a friend that you know will always speak the truth. You can be counted on being there as a friend when needed to provide comfort and calm.”

Looking for more depth?

But later there was this about what he couldn’t be counted on: “I would say that the one area that you stay away from is the depth in a relationship. Your not one that is going to give a controversial opinion or offer some tough advise. I would say that after knowing you my entire life that I wouldn’t know what type of friendship we have… Everything stays simple, which again is fine, but to need someone to count on in times of need, that’s not you.”

I had to wonder how much of that is related to a fear of being wrong, or creating conflict? While Kathryn talks extensively about the cost of our perceptions of being wrong in such areas as healthcare and aviation, what about these little more personal examples, the little tears in the fabric of our everyday lives? I think of the difficulty having serious conversations with my 21 year old son, who hates being wrong, and the limits that places on our relationship. I think of areas in my life where I might hold back and what might be the cost. I should add that in reflecting on this, it has opened up new possibilities for me in a project I am considering. Being wrong or making mistakes has lost its grip, and the learning and possibilities available far outshine the risks in this new light!

Where in YOUR life is your relationship with being wrong a limiting factor?

Are you willing to alter your relationship with being wrong so that you too can find it’s bright side, and open up new possibilities? Let us know how this unfolds in your life. Try the exercise I shared. You can’t go wrong!

THAT is the question!

Can you tell when someone is “on purpose?” Does it really matter what they stand for? Think of an insincere apology. Most of us know when we are on the receiving end of one, regardless of what is actually said. Similarly when we do business, we can tell immediately if the employees walk the talk. One of my more poignant examples was when I made the shift from a PC to a Mac. I don’t mean to be one of those Apple snobs, but I recall many a horrifying experience speaking to “customer service” at Dell and Microsoft. When I switched to Apple it felt like a year-long low grade fever was suddenly gone. The employees seemed to actually care about addressing my needs and providing real service. They even seemed to care about their work. Whatever it was, it was palpable. I discovered that this extended to their products.

So what is it about purpose? Simon Sinek has dedicated his life to this discourse, which he describes as the why we do what we do. In this TED video http://mastercoaches.com/favorite-videos/ he breaks down this quality as it pertains to innovators like Apple. In Tribal Leadership, a NY Times best seller about the impact organizational culture has on the entire organization, they speak about core values and a noble cause. They look at core values as fuel, and a noble cause as the direction. In companies, and individuals, where these pieces are clear the outcomes are measurably different, be they subjective like satisfaction or objective like productivity or profit.

What do you stand for?

A sense of purpose really does make a difference. Stephen Covey says it lets you know when you are on or off the beam. It guides our decision-making in complex situations. Ultimately it’s a source of our satisfaction and fulfillment. In the game of life, no one gets out alive. All you have is your experience day to day, and the legacy you leave behind. In The Answer To How Is Yes by Peter Block he points out that when you are clear on what you are committed to you don’t get bogged down with all those how questions. Your resounding “Yes!” guides your way.

What will fill Your space?

One interesting way to get closer to what it is that you stand for is to write your own obituary. It reveals the legacy that you want to leave, and can inform your life now. I encourage you to take a shot at writing your own obituary. Like a good inquiry, it will work on you as much as you work on it. Below is a draft of one I wrote for myself. Please share yours or what you discovered by writing it.

OBITUARY:

David Brown was an executive coach, consultant and artist, usually all three at once. Formally trained as a psychotherapist, he transitioned into life coaching as soon as the profession emerged, sensing that was his true calling. Whereas therapy was about healing, coaching was about creating possibilities, and that really lit David up. Creating possibilities meant creating greater consciousness, and initially that meant changing the world one person at a time. Being impatient, David started to focus on coaching leaders, as that seemed to be a better way to leverage his time. He saw his clients grow professionally and personally, and soon realized that if he was to have the greatest impact it meant transforming the workplace as well. After all, this was where we spend most of our waking hours. This was not an easy transition for David, as he had spent the least amount of his own working life as a corporate employee, avoiding it for a more entrepreneurial freedom. Feeling compelled to walk his own talk, David created collaborations with other like-minded individuals and built a network of passionate change agents with complementary skill sets. He called it MasterCoaches. These MasterCoaches had a noble cause to create a world where all people showed up consciously, in resonance, and on purpose, and their medium was the workplace. Their legacy continues to make a difference for countless individuals around the globe.

David served for many years on the Board of The Daily Bread, which fed the homeless, and he said the greatest gift he received there was one of gratitude. While that gratitude, in its deepest sense, was for life itself, he was also grateful for the kindred spirits whom he could support and who supported him, in his quest to make the world a better place. He was most grateful for his family and the opportunity to be a loving father and husband, which he deemed to be the most important roles in his life. He was also an artist, both within the work he did and the sculptures he created, which, like his work, were designed to be provocative and engaging.

David loved the simple joys of life, including making people laugh and enjoying what nature had to offer. Whether hiking in our national parks, walking the disc golf course with friends, or an evening around his fire pit with friends and family, that’s all he needed. Although he received numerous accolades for his work and his art, David always felt that his greatest reward was simply knowing that he touched people in a way that opened up something special in their own lives.

Rest In Purpose: He made us laugh & feel alive.

What is your purpose? What do YOU stand for?

A week later at the award ceremony, I was elated to win first place! My hard work had paid off. When I got home, however, the phone rang again. It was my teacher, calling to congratulate me. Then she told me how she had voted for me and convinced the other judges to vote for me, too. I couldn’t believe it! I would never know if I truly earned the award. And all because I sacrificed my integrity by going along with something I knew didn’t feel right.  I’ve never forgotten that lesson.

I’ve since come to appreciate that our values, especially our core values, are non-negotiable. They represent what we deem most important in life. They are the guiding  principles that make impossibly complex decisions easy. They determine our standards of behavior. And we pay a consequence when we betray them, as I did.

Integrity, Honesty, Learning, Adventure, Connection, Self-expression 

These are the core values of MasterCoaches.

We invite you to tell a story that illustrates what you most value. It’s a story worth telling.

A gift from your friends Eddie Marmol & David Brown at MasterCoaches

• What do values have to do with running a business?
  

  Another day at the office

• We did that already at an offsite and it was fun while it lasted, but eventually we went back to work and were back to business as usual.
• Why bother, no one pays attention after a few weeks anyway.

The list goes on; I’m sure you’re familiar with the conversation. Recently, however, a client’s experience (a Chief Financial Officer) really encapsulated the whole point.

A few months ago his company’s senior leadership team did an offsite with a trainer from another company. They came up with “the company values” among other things like a vision and various goals and objectives. The values were: Integrity, Innovation, Respect, Candor, Employee Development, and High Performance.Overall, they felt it was a fruitful experience. The team got

Team Building

energized and individually started working earnestly on their goals. It sounded like a typical offsite experience and it did seem to get these executives thinking differently, and more intentionally, about their company.

Although I had introduced my client earlier to the Tribal Leadership methodology, he felt at the time that the group wasn’t ready yet for such a departure from the norm. In fact, he was a pleasantly surprised that they even chose to do the offsite. Satisfied that was a good first step, he went forward with renewed energy.

Then something out of the blue happened. His comptroller resigned. The comptroller cited his longstanding feeling that the firm had neglected him in several ways, including compensation and a lack of regard for his professional

Values? We have values?

development. Clearly at odds with Integrity, Innovation, Respect, Candor, Employee Development, and High Performance introduced months earlier, this was a stunning indictment of that values exercise. And it wasn’t simply because the “roll out” of these values occurred after much of the damage to this employee had been done. It had continued afterwards, reflected in neglecting to fully remediate the concerns even after the resignation was submitted.

Damage control by the CFO kept the comptroller on, although the long-term trajectory remains to be seen. But the fact that they hadn’t been walking their talk became painfully clear.  The truth is that if the above had been CORE values, none of these behaviors subsequent to the offsite would’ve occurred. In cultures aligned with core values, the core values direct decisions and actions naturally, almost literally a no-brainer (thinking not required – it’s at your core).

This brings us to the critical distinctions between non-core values and core values, as well as weaker statements like beliefs and attitudes. Examples and definitions:

Values Distinctions (courtesy of CultureSynch)

Belief (statement of opinion): “We believe great customer service is the key to our success.”

Attitude (predisposition to act in a certain way): “We rise to every challenge.”

Non-Core Value (a principle that is important): “We value people’s work-life balance.”

• Core Values:
  • “Principles that will cause you pain, but that if you don’t implement, will erode your integrity.”  (Jerry Porras, co-author of Built to Last, in an interview in 2007.)
  • “Principles without which, life isn’t worth living.” (Research conclusion published in Tribal Leadership.)
  • “Guiding principles that make impossibly complex decisions easy.”  (Gordon Binder, former CEO of Amgen, in an interview in 2007.)           courtesy of CultureSynch

On one hand, core values are really at the core of who we are. We have visceral reactions when we don’t act in alignment with them. In some ways we don’t even notice our core values because they are just so much a part of who we are. When that transparency is interrupted by a violation, it hits us in the gut and is hard to ignore.

Returning to my client’s situation, beyond not having drilled down enough to get to core values, there was another pitfall that came to light. Core values are not something leaders hand down from the mountain. The tribe or culture of a company consists of people who already have core values. The opportunity is to elicit the

We know what We're about!

core values that already exist, bring them out into the open, and integrate them with the purpose of the enterprise. Instead, many leaders focus on “getting buy-in” which feels like you’re being sold to. Ownership is forced, whereas coalescing the core values that are present in the culture is akin to working with ownership that already exists. Core values are pre-sold! When integrated with a compelling meaningful vision for the business, you have a powerful self-sustaining foundation for a whole different level of innovation, productivity and satisfaction.

Admittedly the CFO’s intuition was correct. His firm was not yet ready to have that conversation. As in all things you must begin where you are, at whatever cultural stage your organization is at. There are ways to assess that and concrete steps and strategies to upgrade the culture to the point where factors like core values are operating in alignment with the company’s mission and vision for their future. That’s a conversation we’re starting to have with my client’s company. It usually takes breakdowns to reveal where the breakthroughs can be had.

My hope is that this story will inspire you to start an inquiry into where you see your organization now and what it can aspire to be.

or

Contact us for a complimentary conversation around this topic. 

Holiday stress

In business-speak we just entered the fourth quarter (Q4) of the year. It’s the holiday season in America, with Halloween rolling into Thanksgiving and colliding with Christmas. The marketing onslaught starts working people into a frenzy with people bemoaning that “the holidays seem to be coming sooner every year.” People get crazy for many reasons in Q4.

A recent conference call with Dave Logan, co-author of Tribal Leadership, took a positive spin on how to make Q4 a success in completing the year and being primed for the next. His proactive approach is an antidote for the stress and competition usually seen in companies this time of year. Below are Dave’s tips for a fruitful Q4. 

How's Q4 at your company?

While it helps if you are already familiar with Tribal Leadership, the concepts behind these suggestions are fundamental. Besides, if you are reading this because you recognize the stressors that occur around Q4 and want to minimize them, understanding the culture you have will go a long way in eliminating stress all year round! Having a more productive culture where it’s fun to work and people naturally do the right things is even better! If that’s of interest I encourage you to explore www.triballeadership.net and review our prior posts on Tribal Leadership.  

From Turnaround to Yearnaround: People get stressed as the holidays approach. This means that, for whatever stage your company or “tribe” is at, there will be a pull towards regressing to a lower stage. The first step is to make sure your tribe is at least stable at stage 3. That means people are engaged and working and not in the “life sucks” mode! For a list of action steps to elevate cultures click here  The antidote to Q4 stress:

1.  Encourage triading. At its simplest, a triad is a 3-person relationship where each person “has the back” of the other two. If you’re not familiar with Tribal Leadership look at this as shifting the focus beyond “all about me” to a more fruitful and collaborative direction, where the whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts. 

Encourage Triadsfruitful direction. There are three types of triads:

1. Relational triad: each person (leg of the structure) is responsible for the quality of the relationship between the other two parts, based solely on shared values. This does not tie back to a project or to pain points.
2. Structural triad: each person (leg of the structure) is responsible for the quality of the relationship between the other two parts, based solely on a shared project and associated pain points that the project is addressing. The focus is on how you can each help each other, like in a networking group.
3. Power triads: Combines the qualities of relational and structural triads. The relationships are connected by both shared values and helping each other on projects of mutual concern.

In stage 3 cultures Structural Triads are the ones most tolerated. In stage 4 cultures the values piece is the one that usually leaves the Power Triad, so reinstate it.

Making Holiday Cards With Meaning

2.  Express your personal or corporate values with holiday cards. Instead of the standard holiday fare, walk the talk. This is one example from a branding/consulting firm with a core value of “bringing people together.” Their holiday card featured a dialogue box with various religious symbols, and at the bottom it said “Hoping the next year is one where we all have one conversation.” 

1. Be creative. Invite employees to help create the card and other holiday themed decorations with messages aligned with core values. Resurface core values. And if core values has yet to be an open conversation, the holiday season is a perfect time to segue into it!

2.  Forget the neck ties and focus on weak ties. In business you want to be connected to massive amounts of people. You need to do something at least once a year to reach out to all the people in “your world.” 

Reaching Out

1. It could be a small gift or note of appreciation; something personal to maintain the relationship. It need not take a lot of time. 
2. Reach out to all of these weak ties and touch each one.This sets the stage for stronger more productive relationships including possible triading in the new year.

2.  Shake non-performing assets (persons, skills, connections, relationships, budgets, etc.). 

1. Find every asset and see if you can make it do something. Assets tend to go away if you don’t shake them every once in a while.
2. Look at what assets you have that you’re not using. This could be using a skill you have or finding someone in your network and reaching out to see what could happen. Think of this as freshening up or clearing a space for a great new year. It’s certainly a more productive way to engage in Q4 than the usual frenzy.

3.  Do a micro strategy (“Outcomes – Assets – Behaviors”) for the first quarter of 2012 (this won’t start until 1/1/12).

Stretch Beyond

See this link for a quick primer on Tribal Leadership strategy.

1. Take your outcomes & really stretch them (i.e. triple them or shorten time frames). That will trip a “no” on the first test question: “do you have enough assets to produce your outcomes?” For you to accomplish something extraordinary in 2012 you will need to stretch by taking actions such as: 

2. Touch your weak ties

3. Shake your assets

                                                     4. Build power assets 

You don’t want this to feel like the obligatory “New Year’s Resolutions” yet you also want to be proactive about the end of year stresses. No one likes the stress and revved-up competition to survive the home stretch. So use your triading and networking skills to galvanize the group to have fun and set the stage for a positive glide into the new year. 

 We’d love to hear from you about how you made Q4 better this year than in the past!

Here's to The Crazy Ones

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

What does this tell us about leadership? Are great leaders necessarily rebels?

By coincidence I was reading another article about Steve Jobs written just 13 days before his passing: “What Steve Jobs Taught Me About Growth” One gets the sense of a creative visionary

Steve Jobs Visionary

rebel who’s charisma and stubborn passion moves people to reach higher. Moves them not so much as a pull but a push. Less about eliciting the collective wisdom than inviting those who can contribute to his vision to come on board, and pushing the rest off the boat.

There are many styles of leadership and some would say that each has it’s place in the context of the organization and it’s needs. But if leadership is about taking the lead, moving into the unknown future, then perhaps it isn’t a menu of different styles for different needs? Maybe that’s an excuse to reconcile the fact that only a very small percentage of our leaders are as visionary as Steve Jobs was? Or as bold?

uncharted territory

What stands out for me in reading the quote and article above is this. Leadership that makes a difference in the world is focused on a future distinct from the past. It’s based on a conversation about possibilities that can only be imagined, since there is no map to follow. One might say it involves risk, but I don’t think so, if you’re that leader. From that perspective it’s about commitment. What others call risk the leader calls learning. It’s just what unfolds when you do anything the first time.

Think of some of your own first times. I recall trying to install an over-the-range

First Times

microwave oven. I even had my map – a set of instructions. As I followed them and proceeded to yank the old unit from the wall I was certain that I was on the verge of taking down the drywall. I called a friend who knew the territory. He came over and yanked at that same unit the same way. But where I stopped out of fear of certain damage, he yanked harder and the unit came off. That’s just how hard you needed to do it. Now I know. Was I concerned about the risk to my wall? Or was I not committed enough? Where do we draw that line?

What if I had no one to call, because this was really new territory? What does that take?

I followed my friend’s lead because he had been there before. But what of leaders like Steve Jobs? You don’t follow them because they’ve been there. There’s no there yet. So why do we follow them? Maybe it’s because they see a future that taps into something we connect to but we get stuck on the how, whereas they blaze a pathway purely out of commitment? Maybe it’s that bold confidence that transforms uncertainty into a natural part of movement? Maybe it’s an authentic unselfish yearning for something bigger and greater that taps into the deepest part of being human that makes following a Steve Jobs irresistible, despite the stubborn perfectionism?

Stepping Into The Future

I’d like to finish this with the appropriate bullet points providing a roadmap for aspiring leaders. But if Steve Jobs taught us anything, it’s that roadmaps can only take us where we’ve already been. So instead I leave you at the crossroads that Steve Jobs took us to. What does it take to create a future distinct from the past?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.