John Stufflebeem ~ Official Blog

Leadership ➝ Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (John Stufflebeem) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 14:29:00 +0000

I believe life is essentially about dealing with challenges and taking advantage of the opportunities that come from them. This is the third article on Leadership — how to create opportunity out of challenge. This is the most significant lesson I have learned in life.

In Leadership Part I, I offered observations on successful leadership highlighting the the goal of leadership is achievement, which is only measured by performance. In Leadership Part II, I observed the fuel for achievement is risk. Risk is unavoidable and must be managed so I offered the operational risk management model used by the military services as a good way to work through it. In this article, I want to offer what I believe is the secret to success in life—and that's creating opportunity out of challenge.

I have never been one who has to know the meaning of life. But I have always been intrigued about the struggles of people in life and certainly have experienced them myself. What I now know is that life is a fragile balance of many factors. In that balance comes tests that we take on knowingly or unconsciously. And it is through the trials of challenges where we actually experience growth. Said another way, we are all products and sometimes victims of our experiences.

“Experience is the teacher of all things.”

—Julius Caesar

Most of us tend to view challenges generally as positive or negative. When negative, we usually avoid or succumb to them. When positive, we usually embrace them or succeed. The realization I had was the compulsion to find positive outcomes in every challenge which became the hallmark of my success in life.

In reflection, my career as a football player and Naval Officer was a succession of challenges—obstacles to overcome and turn into opportunities. I actually looked forward to new challenges because they gave me new opportunities and with them, exhilaration, personal satisfaction and growth. For me, these define success. I discovered that I enjoyed challenging assignments because they offered variety and great sense of accomplishment when done well. This was the draw of being in the military besides the sheer excitement of flying premier jet fighters which was my office for more than twenty years from aircraft carriers around the world.

In time I came to appreciate that change was not good for its own sake but because change brought new challenges and I relished finding new opportunities in taking on a variety of different problems and finding solutions then moving on.

The What

In this struggle was the essence of being a leader—successfully getting things done. And in being a successful leader was the responsibility of having to deal with risk including taking it off the shoulders of those I was responsible for. But the secret of success was finding opportunities in new challenges. Most of it was admittedly mindset and having a positive emotional set point. If I dreaded the things that could and did go wrong I felt fear—fight or flight.

When I examined the issues and wondered where there was opportunity, not only did I enjoy the path to resolution but found that I grew as a professional and person and realized how much I gained, including happiness, as a result. Further, I used it as emotional contagion to get others to go along with me. I also learned it is important to acknowledge and learn to live with some fear of the uncertain which acts as a motivator. Some see it as is commonly noted in sports parlance—no pain, no gain. But I thought of it more from the perspective of worrying about those things I could control and not about those I couldn’t. As a result, I chose to think about things positively even when faced with incredible negativity, such as death, and I started to methodically inquire my way through challenge.

One of the methods that worked for me is found in the 21st Century Procter & Gamble selling model. I did not know it for what it was but it succinctly describes what I knew and works in any endeavor whether selling a solution, a product, yourself or an idea. In essence, it is:

40% of selling is TRUST – you have to establish yourself because people will not buy from anyone they do not trust
30% is understanding what your customers’ NEEDS are
20% is PRESENTATION of matching your product to your customers’ needs
10% is in NETWORKING for referrals to close; the most common way to expand business and success—ASK

A footnote to this is determination to close—the stick-to-it spirit and attitude that brings home opportunities.

The How

I learned how important trust is, especially in combat. So the first rule of thumb in turning challenge into opportunity is to trust in yourself. Turn self-doubt into inquiry and inquiry into confidence. As you exude confidence, being positive is infectious and draws others to view us as trustworthy.

The second important lesson for understanding needs is how to organize yourself to attain it. I found the best way for me to organize my day work was to think of it in thirds: that is, one-third of my day devoted to understanding what my boss(es) or clients needed from me by asking good questions; one-third understanding what my subordinates or colleagues needed to get the job done including guidance and/or resources, again, by asking good questions; and one-third for myself whether it was flying a combat mission, planning or doing critical thinking—you got it, by asking good questions of myself and examining alternatives. The simple question “what do you need” is a powerful and positive catalyst to understanding opportunity.

“Dialogue is the basic unit of work”

—Ram Charan

Thirdly, plan how you are going to communicate. Matching what you have to the needs of others — and vice versa — drives your presentation and it usually takes more than one way and more than one offering. Positive ways with positive messages that are inclusive, minimizing the “I” and maximizing the “you” or “we”, are good ways to begin dialogue and setting conditions for opportunity.

Fourth, networking. It works for finding employment. It also is important in building a team to get things done including change management or tackling a difficult challenge. As humans, nothing is as integral to success as personal contact with others, regardless the venue, because others often have something we do not—including opportunity openings.

I like this image for what it conveys and use it often in working with executives. When I asked some what they saw in it one answered he saw people pulling together in teamwork. A second offered he saw blistered hands and sore arms. A third noted she saw the other team face down in the mud. None of these were wrong. They were insights of individual experiences but also telling of what they saw as opportunity—the first one turned out to be what he needed in his environment; the second was recollection of the failure he did not want to repeat from his experience; and the third saw potential victory over a competitor through valiant effort.

BOTTOM LINE: Opportunity always exists in every challenge but one has to look for it, recognize it, and to be successful, capitalize on it. Look for the good that can come from the bad. Be positive in your outlook and planning when facing difficulty. Have a system to deal with challenges. And NEVER give up.

Leadership ➝ Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (John Stufflebeem) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 22:35:00 +0000

In Leadership Part 1, I offered my thoughts on successful leadership noting the goal of leadership is achievement, which is the only measure of performance of leadership. In this article, I observe that the fuel for achievement is risk.

Too many believe the best path in any endeavor is to eliminate or avoid risk. Zero risk, it is argued, is the best way to protect against loss. True enough but it is just not realistic. As Barry Farber, American conservative radio talk show host, author and language-learning enthusiast noted, “there is no reward in life without risk.” In my experience, I have seen this to be true.

More than that, my life has taught me that the greater the risk, usually the greater the reward. However, in this regard one has to have little fear of failure. So there must be a good working compromise between some and too much that works in business. There is. And it’s one that is elemental to good leadership.

World War II general and 34th US president Dwight Eisenhower — a great American leader — was fond of saying “the ideal leader is one who invariably acts kindly and with consideration and is still decisive and instinctively bold.” He knew that risk is the fuel of achievement.

One of the realities of being in any position of leadership is that you have to deal with risk—you cannot avoid it. Most of the time people try to avoid risk due to fear. Fear is usually manifested in our psyche as fight or flight reactions for self-protection which is totally natural. In business, it is usually the fear of failure or loss where the margins are tight and the differences between achievement and failure can be very close calls but the option to fight or flee is not available. So doing what is not natural is difficult but necessary and the best way I have found to deal with these fears is to face them and learn how to overcome them to be successful over the long haul. This gives weight to the notion one must have a way, a process, to deal with risk and use it to gain advantage.

One way I learned to manage risk successfully in the military that I find still works today is through a process known as Operational Risk Management, or ORM. We first used it to reduce our aircraft mishaps which were more prevalent than combat losses and extraordinarily expensive. We found it also worked in every other facet of military life including our off-duty hours such as recreation and even everyday driving.

There is a lot of information about ORM. Organizations have been using it for years and adapted four, five and even six-steps to process risk management. The one I found effective through my crisis management experiences is a four-step process with an ABCD mnemonic for easy use in a deliberate (preventive) or time-critical (crisis) way.

It is a cyclical procedure that begins with identifying hazards, then assessing them for risk to you or your project, developing controls and making decisions about how to deal with these risk hazards, implementing the controls to minimize the potential damage from risk, then evaluating the controls and watching for changes, e.g. supervising. The process then repeats for as long as the risks are present or you are in the endeavor. It goes like this:

A – ASSESS the situation — your potential for error could cause loss or failure — by identifying hazards and assessing their impact, you instinctively think how to mitigate them using your good judgment and experience;

B – BALANCE your resources — to prevent and trap errors — by assessing the hazards and making risk decisions to preserve what you can and cannot lose and bring assets to bear to limit their negative and/or maximize their positive impacts on you;

C – COMMUNICATE (risks and intentions) by making risk decisions and implementing controls to mitigate the hazards to you including ensuring that others know what they are;

D – DO AND DEBRIEF (take action and monitor for changes) by implementing controls and supervising, e.g. watching for changes, reinforcing what works and what does not then repeating the process to modify what does not.

Arguably the two hardest truths about being a leader are persuading those above you to let you do your job and allowing those below you do theirs. Sometimes these become showstoppers by themselves much less when added to the unanticipated events that come to you as a manager. It is really a matter of trust and it becomes one of the most common risks in business. For the manager, it is like walking a tightrope. Using ORM, let’s review a practical, simple scenario of a subordinate working on a critical project.

A – ASSESS. Your subordinate is not known to have experience in a particular project that is time sensitive. You know what to do, you have done it before. Identify the hazards:

1 – The project could fail or not be ready on time
2 – Your subordinate appears not to be equipped to do the project
3 – Inordinate amount of resources could be expended on this project
4 – You have to do it yourself which will distract you from other important work you are responsible for which ultimately also undermines your subordinate, de-motivates him or her, and fails to prepare that subordinate for more to follow

B – BALANCE. Ensure that your subordinate has the right resources to see to it that the project stays on track:

1 – Mentor your subordinate through the project until he or she shows the competence to complete it unaided—make sure there is enough guidance, unfettered access to you for questions, materials, etc. to complete the project
2 – The key to your leadership is persuasion—asking the right questions and offering judicious guidance preserves your valuable time; focus on the ‘what’ and delegate the ‘how’ to complete the project and develop your subordinate
3 – Ensure your subordinate knows what your views are regarding the the critical show-stoppers — the redlines — and to come to you when they pop
4 – Be willing to take responsibility for their actions with the limits you impose on how far they can go without more resources

C – COMMUNICATE. Make the risk decisions and implement controls:

1 – Be clear in your direction; don’t leave things to assumption or chance—tell the subordinate what not is to be assumed or crossed, e.g. when to come back for more guidance
2 – The difference between brilliant management and micro-management is not about the details—it is about the right details you know from your experience
3 – Play the “what if's” for what could go wrong and what you expect to be done about them
4 – Make the tough decisions on risk or take them above your level if they are that significant but don’t leave them for your subordinate

D – DO and DEBRIEF. Put orders in place and review steps with situational or time-driven decision points:

1 – Once you have communicated the controls for implementation, monitor the progress in stages with feedback to see how they are working
2 – Review the hazards to put them into context for their significance as conditions change, thread them together to find trends, use them as teaching points once they are mitigated or worked around
3 – Ensure others see how the hazards were navigated to develop skills, e.g. go back and review what did work and what did not
4 – Go back to assessing because the process follows the changes which can pop unanticipated new hazards or may have only temporarily suppressed them

The greatest benefits in teaming risk management are in achievement and your people. Risk is a part of everyday life. It is fuel for achievement and should be viewed as producing opportunities rather than just challenges, the topic we will address in the next article.

Awareness of risk is often enough to help create success but when more substantial thought must be applied, a process such as ORM can be very helpful in assuring achievement. Building trust in your people to do their jobs builds competency for future projects as well as protecting and preserving your time for your other responsibilities, i.e. balancing resources. As an additional benefit, this develops your subordinates’ trust in you as a manager.

BOTTOM LINE: Get things done and develop your team to be better prepared for dealing with risk.

Leadership ➝ Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (John Stufflebeem) — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 16:12:00 +0000

Over my thirty-three year military career, I had to do three main things in the course of being a fighter pilot and head of organizations: (1) I had to provide leadership to get things done, (2) I had to manage risk in order to preserve lives and assets, and (3) I had to find opportunities when I was faced with challenges. I have since found it is the same in nearly every endeavor of life and certainly in business.

The difference for me as I look back was that in the military I was given comparatively more responsibility to get things done much earlier in life than many civilian counterparts experienced. As a result, I learned much about leadership early and built on it over time. In some cases, the risk was also much greater when considering lives were at stake as in going to war. Turning challenges into opportunities was probably the most difficult of the three but equally as important and became a skill I found most useful to this day.

This article is the first of three to go into some insights on leadership, risk and opportunity. In this first one, I will review some lessons I learned in leadership that may be helpful to others. In the second, I will describe how I learned not to avoid risk but to manage it to minimize loss and maximize results. And in the third, I will provide insights into the skill necessary to turn challenges into opportunities.

I experienced just about every aspect of leadership over my military career which ran from being a junior team member and subordinate follower as a teenager beginning as a Navy enlisted Sailor to being a pinnacle leader as a three star admiral in my fifties. Along the way I saw the good, the bad and the ugly in leaders and they were all useful in learning important lessons. Contrary to what can be read in some books, leadership must be taught. One must have instruction, guidance and inspiration. There are a rare few natural born leaders but in my experience they are exceptions.

For most of us, we have to learn how to lead. Much of learning about leadership in the military is taught formally and reinforced through mentors. The best way to learn is from a good leader who also mentors particularly when he or she remains available to you as a confidante as you work through your challenges. The next best way is to learn by observation particularly from the examples of others with both good and bad lessons to take to heart.

I have often been asked what is the most important thing about leadership. While there are many ways to describe what it is and its attributes the main thing about leadership is getting things done, e.g. achievement. Performance is the only measure of leadership while the key to it is persuasion. A leader is one who is responsible for making it happen. It applies to everything from leading development of a new product or service to responding to a world-class catastrophe like what was experienced in the Gulf of Mexico recently. Or, as was my experience, from leading a flight of two F-14 Tomcats from an aircraft carrier as a young pilot to a 25,000 man task force into war in Iraq as an admiral. Leadership is about accomplishing the mission or success of the enterprise and the leader is the one most responsible and held most accountable for delivering results.

I am sometimes asked to differentiate leadership from management. In the simplest forms, they are essentially the same. To some it is only terms or lexicon describing what is done in the military⎯leadership⎯and what is done in business⎯management. For sure the military places a premium on leadership skills principally because, I believe, service is the goal and peoples' lives are the price. In business, I observe profit is the goal and people are assets to help achieve it.

My experience causes me to differentiate it this way: leadership is about people and management is about tasks or projects with attendant resources. The goal of leadership is to get things done through and/or with people. The goal of management is to maximize value or return on investments.

It is important to learn from leaders by the examples they set. It is equally important to teach or develop it by example when in charge. So, what defines a good leader?

Sometimes the bad examples can be more instructive in defining what is good. For sure someone who gets things done is viewed as a good leader particularly by their seniors. But there are many ways to get things done. For example, one can be a tyrant who leads by fear and intimidation. I saw plenty of those in the military⎯they exist today. They are easy to spot. When things get tough or tougher, they become louder and meaner. For me, those kind became examples I learned from in how NOT to do things because in the process they often demoralize people around them and certainly do not contribute to others' development or long term success of an organization.

Others lead more by positive example and work to empower others to get the job done and are more widely successful. Former president, US Army general and extraordinary leader Dwight Eisenhower said "the ideal leader is one who invariably acts kindly and with consideration and is still decisive and instinctively bold."

I found the ones I admired most in getting things done were ones who exhibited more trust than others. I could tell that those who had little trust were often micro-managers and volatile. I observed that what we did ⎯ practicing the art of war from flying on and off aircraft carriers at sea, at night and under bad weather ⎯ was tough enough and did not need to be made more difficult by leaders who I came to believe were dishonest and could not be trusted. They were poor leaders and eventually most failed but sometimes not until later in life which is the unfair reality of it--some poor leaders do succeed in their careers.

I believe trust is the most important attribute that defines the best leaders. They are trusted by those who they work for, work with, and who work for them. They trust those around them which requires taking risk ⎯ a topic we will discuss in the next article. A common mistake leaders often make, I did once, is believing that with appointment to a position comes trust. I found that trust has to be earned and the best way to do that is to set and be a good example. The first lesson I learned in this aspect was to ensure my words were matched by my actions. The worst examples I saw [and catalogued] were those who lived by "do as I say not as I do", or, 'talk the talk but not walk the walk', or, believed that because they were higher in the organization they had different rules to live by than I did.

Another important lesson I learned was how to provide good leadership. The first thing in doing this was self-acknowledgment that I did not know it all. All the years of experience help prepare one for higher management positions but do not make anyone more knowledgeable about what all is going on around him or her. In fact, often the higher one is more insulated from the day-to-day reality he or she is. The second thing was to admit that to others. Others know you certainly do NOT know everything so in admitting it you empower them to help you especially when you ask for it and are receptive to it.

Making good decisions also highlights a good leader. The key to making good decisions is having enough data to analyze, make interpretations and use sound judgment. Of course, having experience helps as well. Furthermore, experience is often better than enthusiasm or prestige when selecting leaders. Experience often determines or guides judgment and learning to ask good questions determines whether you get enough of the right data. Almost always someone in your organization has the best way to do something, or the best idea to counter something, or even the best solution to a problem. The trick is how do you find them ⎯ how good are your questions ⎯ or how do they get to you ⎯ how accessible are you ⎯ and how receptive are you to listening to them ⎯ how open are you. Nothing frees up and empowers a good decision maker more than not caring who gets credit for the successes and accepting responsibility for failures.

How does a good leader sustain continuous success over time? Perseverance with the lessons above practiced continually. Admitting that you don't know it all and remaining receptive to support by relying on a team you've formed and trust. And staying humble.

In summary:

The most important thing about being a good leader is to be trustworthy ⎯ always believe that every word you utter and every action you take will be observed and judged by others regardless of where you or what you are doing.
The most important role of being a good leader is to deliver success ⎯ ensure those you trust have the resources they need to get their parts of the job done and that you accept responsibility and accountability for their actions.
The most important characteristics of being a good leader are asking good questions, being a good listener, and being receptive to others' ideas ⎯ being open is a good way to enable making good decisions.
The most important advice to being a good leader is to assemble a good team ⎯ rarely can anyone do anything of substance or consequence alone; it requires support which requires dependence on others.
The most important way to be a consistently good leader over time is to build a record of sustained success one task or job at a time with teamwork, developing others, making good decisions, being ethical and giving credit.

Being a leader when things are going well is easy if not almost superfluous. But it becomes paramount when faced with having to deal with risk in decision making. And the reality of life is that leaders are always tested with challenges. So the value of leadership is being able to manage risk and turn challenges into opportunities. More about these to follow.

Dealing With Uncertainty

noreply@blogger.com (John Stufflebeem) — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:04:00 +0000

I was recently asked what is the best way to deal with uncertainty. As I reflected before answering, it occurred to me that we all deal with uncertainty. All the time.

I certainly dealt with my share of it as a fighter pilot and admiral deployed overseas in hostile environs. It is a reality of having to deal with something that is new or when conditions change we are not used to or had not anticipated. It strikes a moment of fear due to risk of loss or failure.

At the moment of the question, my first thought was of the axiom 'don't worry about what we can't control' but I quickly discarded that because we have to deal with uncertainty--it's part of everyday living. There is also the reality that there are those who are risk-averse and choose just not to deal with it. You've seen it, not making a decision is in fact a decision. But that's really just the fear of losing a fight and running from it--flight.

Examples of uncertainty we face all the time

Do we invest in the stock market now?
Should I quit this job I don't like...but in this economy?
Do I chance making it to the next gas station?
Should I open myself up to this other person who I'm interested in?
Should I make this reinvestment in my company with the stakeholders' money?
Should I have this surgery?
Will my aircraft engines keep my jet climbing away from the water after a launch from the aircraft carrier (my favorite from my past career)?

In a very simple example, dealing with uncertainty is like the first time we ventured out on the ice of a frozen pond to ice skate we hadn't been on yet. We timidly stepped from solid footing onto the edge of the frozen water with one skate, most of our weight on the back skate until we felt a firm enough footing to transfer the weight forward. Then we moved gingerly from the edge out listening for the cracking sound of ice about to give way.

We quickly gained confidence as we explored all the area we dared to, then gave in to enjoying the experience of skating. Sometimes we saw others already out on the ice and had confidence from the get go. Sometimes we had doubts because the others were less than half our size or weight. But we cautiously took the risk in the beginning until our confidence grew.

Consciously or unconsciously we go through a mental routine of quick assessment before we launch into an endeavor with uncertainty. Our brains quickly scan memory for what we know about this situation--what is familiar, or, the knowns. Then, it hits what we don't know and compares them for similarities in other situations we've experienced or can recall-- the known unknowns.

What troubles us and introduces insecurity is either the fear of failure or not knowing what we don't know--the unknown unknowns. It's a natural response and at the primal core it's what protects us from injury or pain. But our brains can be programmed.

The process to deal with uncertainty is moving from what we know and feel comfortable with to the unknown and uncomfortable using a reach that can be recovered until we attain confidence we can reach further. Said another way it's a matter of taking some risk, seeking feedback, building confidence, then taking more risk.

Consider the uncertainty: NFL Players Case

Let's look at a real situation for its illustrations. Imagine yourself as a professional football player in today's environment.

You've just finished your season and are watching those other lucky few who are now in the play-offs. But looming ahead is the specter of a lock-out for the 2011 season because of differences between the owners of the teams and the players on those teams over a number of issues that include working conditions, long term health care, and value or profit sharing. You want to play next season, you didn't foment these disagreements with the owners but they've been coming a long time, and the threat is being locked out of your locker room and not getting paid. Do you side with those in your profession or those who sign your paychecks? Forget about who's right or wrong or whether the issues have to be judged. Just think about the huge amount of uncertainty either way.

In siding with your fellow players, you risk losing your paycheck and not doing what you love--playing football. Further, if the negotiations between the mediators goes badly for your side, then you not only lose paychecks now but also future considerations for a lot more. The reality is that for a professional football player, regardless of the public perception, is long hours and physical punishment for gobs of money...which does not make for a high quality of life, individually or for family.

In siding with your employers, you risk a shorter career* due to a longer season, more time away from home due to increased work demands (already more than half a year), the potential of increased long term health issues related to multiple concussions or worse, and receive less than the current share, as a percentage, of the profits generated by you.

*When I was a professional football player back in the 1970s the average career length was four years. That was the reality due to younger, healthier players coming in all the time and four years at least qualified you for a co-paid pension after age 62. Now the average career is less than four years due to the already lengthened seasons from 12 to 16 games and with an impending eighteen game regular season the career average is expected is to drop to just over two years. That means on average a career is over while a person is in their early 20s with no future income until their 60s and no health coverage from this industry for these injuries in between.

This situation exposes a reality that hits every business and has come in vogue even in government--reduce overhead or inefficiencies, increase productivity, and maximize profits or service. In other words, "do more with less." In considering the value of these words there is nothing wrong with them but they do introduce uncertainty and while it has become a widely popular practice to do more with less it is really a penalty on workers due to poor management decisions of the past. In our illustrative case, it was the NFL (owners) signing a bad collective bargaining agreement in 2006 and subsequently walking away from and some individual team general managers side-stepping the pay caps by signing a few rookies to outrageous guaranteed contracts.

So how do you deal with these uncertainties?

First, you have to deal with the knowns and accentuate the positives.

The one thing you control is yourself...so start with that. You as a player are the reason for the profession, not the owners. You know what your worth is at a minimum. The game cannot go on without your talents or those like yours. You did not create the inequities the owners are arguing for.

Have confidence you have a value that is recognized by the fans. You want and are entitled to what is fair.
Second, you have to consider the known unknowns and look for the opportunities.

The owners have more money than the players collectively have so can they last longer without a season than you? Do the owners consider you only a commodity instead of a valued asset? What is your worth at the maximum? Is risking your health worth the money?

(*For many young people, the belief in invincibility is overpowering until reality sets in usually after harsh experience or with maturity.)
Third, there's the amorphous list of unknown unknowns so just accept something unexpected will arise eventually.

Don't be surprised that something pops up because it always does.
Fourth, trust in what you know already and use that confidence as the foundation to take some risk, e.g. step into the unknown.

- Stay objective and don't give in to emotions.

- Have alternative positions under your belt so you aren't stepping out onto the ice with an all or nothing proposition where the winner takes it all and the loser gets nothing.

- Break down large uncertainty [big problems] into smaller more easily defined and solvable ones. "The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time"--Anon.

- Find or develop ways to measure progress. Do analysis. Build confidence in small victories and work toward momentum for the larger uncertainties.

- Persevere. Learn to have patience. Hope for the best but plan for the worst by believing resolution will take time to come.

While the illustrations are about football, the lessons apply in any business or facet of life.

The best way to deal with uncertainty is to stay positive, project confidence, don't over-project (take as much risk as you can afford), take things in small bites or shorter time frames (e.g. one day at a time), and work with or as a team.

Remember "...the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack." --Rudyard Kipling, The Law of the Jungle

Seeing is NOT Always Believing

noreply@blogger.com (John Stufflebeem) — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 18:04:00 +0000

The recent sighting of a suspected missile launched off southern California created a brief news sensation and brings up an interesting crisis management point to examine—seeing is not always believing. On November 8, 2010 a Los Angeles based airborne helicopter news crew videotaped what appeared to be and was described as a missile plume and be object climbing in the late afternoon western sky.

Here's my initial reaction to it: http://video.foxnews.com/v/4411459/

But was it really a missile? This unusual visual imagery captured by this excited crew caused many to believe a large missile was being fired up into the sky. When organizations, particularly US government agencies, began to deny any responsibility, awareness or confirmation of the event as a missile the news media and some of the public were more than doubtful. Conspiracy theories began to build because “seeing is believing”—a natural human condition.

But as facts became known it was finally described as an optical illusion created by the atmospherics that day of a high flying aircraft though not specifically confirmed due to inability by anyone to exactly pinpoint the time and location to correlate it to known flights. But by process of elimination it could not have been anything else.

How does this happen? The human body has a set of senses critical to its central nervous system. This sensory system is normally made up of vision, hearing, taste, smell, feel [touch], balance & acceleration, temperature, pain, direction, kinesthetic sense, and other inner senses. For most of us, sight is often the strongest of these senses in sending messages to our brains that make us believe what we see. We know we can be tricked in other ways so we sometimes hold a healthy skeptical view of what we hear or even read but seeing real life events happen before our eyes – even on video – almost always gives us an overpowering sense of believing it must be real. But optical illusions can and do happen in everything.

As a pilot, I was taught to trust my instruments when flying jet aircraft because the sensations in my inner ear can convince my brain of something untrue as well as visual references that make me think I know which way up is or where the horizon is when they are visual illusions. When there is no horizon for a pilot, as when it’s pitch black or inside clouds, we’re taught to focus on with a practiced “scan” and accept the readings of our instruments as fact—a sophisticated form of fact checking by believing your instruments instead of what your eyes and other senses might have your brain believe. Sometimes it is a tough thing to do.

But this skill kept me alive many times over my years as an aviator. It also became evident to me that the same held true in much of life—you can’t always believe what you see. I now know this applies in business as well. Recognition of this phenomenon in business is equally important as situations develop rapidly and demand quick reactions. But it is imperative not to make snap judgments unless you believe in the “strategies of hope."

The object lesson is to realize, especially in stressful situations that arise in crises, one has to have a minimum of facts to verify what is seen to go beyond the ‘belief’ into the ‘actual.’ One has to take the time to get it right even if it means disregarding your strongest sense, sight. One of the things I learned many times as a senior military leader is the first report is invariably wrong—certainly not fully informed. Taking the time to verify even a few facts is critical to override the senses that tell the brain to believe what you see. Having enough data to base a decision is always important but one must be cognizant to demand facts before jumping to belief based only on sight.

Here are some tips that can help the manager faced with a case of “seeing is believing:”

1.    Intentionally under-react to a stressful situation – recognize the adrenaline rush under stress can cause snap judgment, e.g. “I saw it so it must be true.”

2.    Tell yourself that what you saw is just like the first report delivered from a subordinate – there must be more to the story than what met the eye.

3.    Ask good questions – even if you were the only one to have seen it [the event], somebody else knows something about it.

4.    Resist the natural temptation to jump on the conclusion your eyes [may have] tricked your brain into believing as fact.

Certainly initial impressions are important for an eye witness and should guide a line of questioning. One cannot dismiss the apparent obvious but it must be verified with enough data to ensure your senses do not lead you to a wrong conclusion, decision, or belief. Doing this will reduce the number of later regrets and make you a better manager, a better leader and a more successful executive.

What's the Message?

noreply@blogger.com (John Stufflebeem) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 21:23:00 +0000

So here we are at the USA’s midterm elections, those between the national elections of presidents. The fever gripping American citizens over these political elections is altogether fascinating and exhausting. Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Tea Partiers, Moderates, Activists…all are trying to capture the imagination of the electorate through popular issues. And due to the news cycles and marketing air time available, these messages are reduced to sound bites—reportedly just as we Americans like them. But what is the message?

I, for one, am having difficulty finding it, or recognizing it. Like others I can certainly see the various positions, e.g. government bigger or smaller, tax the rich or renew the tax breaks, universal health or not, pro-life/pro-choice, etc. But these are just issues and not a message that rings across the land or even overseas.

Who are we…what do we stand for?

I also hear and see a lot of the ‘what’ but not much of the ‘how.’ Assuming I represent the majority of Americans, e.g. not extreme in my views, I would love to hear how we are going to grow the economy, retire the debt and deficit, enable sustained job creation, and generally provide for the well being of our people. For sure we are witnessing and involved to some degree in the sausage making of democracy—we may not like watching it being made but we surely enjoy partaking in the product.

We the voters are being bombarded by a lot of stuff as incumbents and newcomers all vie to become everything to everyone. In NASCAR—“to finish first, first you have to finish.” In political parlance—you have to get elected before you can do any good. But what is missing from the discourse is the big message…what’s it all about?

Most in the political arena believe they are sworn to represent their constituents and do well by them. But I believe a bigger message is missed and the American people as a body are unsatisfied without it. Polls continue to measure our anger, frustrations, and anxieties about our elected officials are disconnected from us on the important things and that they are more responsive to party politics than to us. That is NOT a good message.

Regardless of the outcomes of our midterm Congressional and local elections, the one thing that is likely to be a given is we are not going to see that much change no matter who is elected. Some argue it’s likely because most Americans are centrists and, therefore, most politicians will govern generally towards that body whatever their party affiliation. Others argue our system of government itself is inherently designed to be obstructionist and extremes are checked in the process. Still others argue the seniority system within the halls of the Congress mandate only one way to get things done—“you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” Some even argue it’s not the system, it’s who is drawn to politics in the first place, e.g. moths drawn to the flame, and are predictable how they act once near the centers of power.

All of this is true to some degree. But the one thing missing is the strategic message that should be guiding us instead of the actors.

In this arena, I confess I do not have the answer but I do have a strategic communications perspective. My view of this is that there should be a strategic vision of what this country should look like from our politicians.

Then a series of planned steps to get from where we are today to that vision where actions and words are matched along the way. Then, metrics (measures of effectiveness and their subordinate measures of performance) should be developed and utilized to report on how it is going to the public.

Like in football, a player can’t make substantial gains on the field unless he knows where he is at relative to the goal line, has a strategy to get there, makes a series of plays to execute advancement of the ball, can adjust to stiff opposition, and never gives up. Oh yeah, and we usually like it when there’s not excessive endzone celebration after a touchdown (subliminal message to some politicians).

So, what’s the message?
What do we want our country to be?
How do we want to fit into the international community?
What are the most important principles in taking care of our people—all the people?
Where do we want this nation to be in years hence?

I believe Americans want to know what the message is. If we do not know what we want the future to be, how are we ever going to attain it? We want to have a vision for our kids and grandchildren, not to just make their lives better than ours but to deliver to them a world as an inheritance they can build on for future generations. Maybe the message should be given to politicians—and replayed back—something like this…

Desired End State

What we want our nation to be—a country that is always improving and leading the world in providing for life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
A government that continuously provides security conditions to enable the people to attain these sovereign rights.
And a people dedicated to the rights of individuals while guarantying the benefits to all.

Strategic Vision

How do we get there—that this state exists 10 years from now and forever more.
That those who govern are dedicated to the people over party loyalties and naturally want and work to accomplish through compromise.
That we become a nation that does what should be done instead of waiting until we are forced to do it.

A Plan

Steps from today to the desired tomorrow—citizens must continue to build depth of knowledge and passion as we are beginning to see now and raise the level of feedback to our officials.
We need to get our neighbors involved through peer pressure in voting so the entirety of our citizenry votes.
We need to be heard instead of our politicians so they respond to our needs and wants instead of money and votes.

I don’t believe there should be bi-partisan agreement on major issues but struggle that always results in compromise—just as our founding fathers intended. I also don’t care about the nature of politics, I care that those who govern deliver accomplishments for the benefit of us. We also need to grow beyond appearing to be satisfied with casting our votes for the best of the worst available which, if modern history is indicative or predictive, is really the worst of the best.

Measurement

How we learn where we are in the progress of attaining our future.
We demand to be kept informed how the country is moving toward that goal through measurable effects with policies, laws, reports, and the press.
We need to know just as business leaders in minding their companies do, where the country is, is it on track in meeting goals, and what are the obstacles to be dealt with.

Adapt and Overcome

We take responsibility for our happiness and not allow ourselves to be beholden to others for it.
As I head to the poll to pull the lever underwhelmed as to what I see, I am hearing a lot of stuff from politicians.
But I am not hearing the message and I want to hear it from them.

This is what I will be calling for as we head from this exercise in democracy into 2012...

“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It wastes, exhausts, and murders itself.
There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”

— John Adams

Adapt and Overcome - Take This With You

noreply@blogger.com (John Stufflebeem) — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 16:29:00 +0000

The recent rescue and continuing story of the Chilean miners buried for more than two months is inspiring and instructive. It's hard to imagine the difficulties thirty three people experienced trapped in a cramped space thousands of feet deep, stifling hot and humid, unsure of their futures, and still arrive at the surface in apparent good health, mentally and physically.

One still can't discount the potential for some to develop post traumatic stress disorder (mental health experts note about one in five do fall prey statistically with the onset often delayed) but these individuals adapted to a hostile environment and uncertain future and overcame all local problems to not only survive but thrive.

Watching this drama unfold I observed some familiar things. In the years since the attacks of 9/11, we have witnessed increased numbers of our military youth struggle with severe physical and mental injuries from the war zones. Their experiences may have been harrowing and their recoveries may be daunting but their abilities to adapt and overcome are not just by chance and are worth examining for lessons to be learned and absorbed into skills.

It was in the military that I found these skills. In every discipline, we were taught to adapt to changes and overcome the obstacles to achieving success. The training imparted to everyone who wears the uniform, the cloth of our nation, embodies the blood stained lessons learned from those who went before us. Often our training contained scenarios that were not winnable in order to instill the resilience to never give up while searching for and sometime innovating solutions under extreme stress. Most certainly the more salient and cogent lessons are gleaned from life and death experiences and we often learned from the examples others gave us in their deaths.

For sure these skills are not unique to the military. Nearly every walk of life has every bit as much challenge and opportunity witnessed by cancer survivors, accidents of all kinds, and personal as well as professional hardships. But in the military comes, for most people, the most concentrated and valuable training anywhere in dealing with all kind of issues.

Some say the difference between survival and loss is only a matter of attitude or will. There is obviously a strong element of that but there is more.

I have seen and lived that...

A. Human beings are at their best under extreme adversity

B. Management, leadership and organization are important concepts in every facet of life including overcoming adversity

C. Embracing emotions help humans adapt to extreme conditions

D. And being part of a group enhances survival

These observations are at the foundation of skills to adapt and overcome and are embedded in the lessons I have previously noted.

To help get you started thinking about how to adapt and overcome when hit with adversity, here's my list of practical tips:

#1. TRUST you can prevail and come out of it stronger.

When in the midst of a maelstrom it may feel more like blind faith than trust in what you can't see but it is true; your best will come out when under pressure. In my darkest hour, when I was personally attacked by an unknown person, or persons, who held falsely against me and I lost a job and a career I loved, I trusted I would be able to find my way out of the ordeal in good stead.

As a result of that will, I have a new career with more rewards than I anticipated and have real contentment in my life particularly with the variety of challenges I find exhilarating. It all started with trusting I would prevail and used the stress of the moment to find salient solutions to tough issues. Some noted I made my own good luck.

#2. FOCUS on what you want the outcome to look like.

You can't roll back any clock or go back to how it was before but you can visualize where you want to be at the end of the crisis. Make that your goal or objective. That way you won't be susceptible to the panic that causes us to over-react to a situation.

As I flew in to Islamabad, Pakistan in 2005 to deal with the devastating earthquake in the Himalayan Mountains with few resources and very little guidance, I had to focus on how the Pakistani people and leadership viewed our outside assistance. This was not easy as we were instantly viewed with great suspicion about our wanting to use the cover of a natural disaster to go after terrorists.

With the help of a small team, we created a focus in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief for less than 3,000 engineers and medical people from eight different countries that aided nearly 267,000 locals in distress. We wanted our forces to leave Pakistan with those people willing to ask us back if need be. As a result, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was not only asked to come back but invited to establish a permanent office in Pakistan.

#3. BUILD -- lead or manage -- an organization, a team, you can identify with.

For it can help to plan your way ahead with concrete steps to bring action to the effects you need to develop in meeting your objective.

When I worked in the Pentagon at 9/11 and 200 of my friends and colleagues were lost instantly to the hijacked airliner hitting the building I was initially overcome with grief, rage, and panic. I had to visualize what I wanted my world to look like especially since hundreds of subordinates were looking to me for guidance.

I developed in my mind a picture of my group heads down and urgently finding an appropriate response, set of responses really, to what Usama bin Ladin had done to us regardless of the terrible destruction and fire that was around us. In a matter of two days our team was there with determined purpose, sharp focus and concrete ideas that went up to our national leadership.

#4. CONTROL your emotions in that you will experience some or all of the stages of grief in crisis.

Learn to embrace the feelings that turn chaos into order, anxiety into purpose, and recognize feelings are our warning and guidance systems. Start by under-reacting to situations.

As a pilot, I lost a number of friends and colleagues to horrific aircraft accidents around aircraft carriers over the years. If I had not been able to compartmentalize my emotions to keep them under wraps and bring them out when I could deal with them, I could not have brought myself or led others back into our cockpits within hours to carry on our missions. We would have been non-functional. It's not about suppressing or hiding your emotions, it's about keeping them under control and dealing with them in the right place and time to be able to continue functioning.

#5. TAKE CHARGE of yourself and others.

Social collectives where everyone has a voice are inherently problematic. No one is going to fix your problem for you -- unless you hire someone specifically to do it -- so just do it.

In the military, one sign of a good leader is recognition when to take charge and when to support and follow others when they are in charge. Group meetings are good for sharing ideas but not making decisions; management by committee does not work. When I have been in group field exercises, like senior leadership seminars or survival school when I was a Naval Officer, I realized if I did not take charge or support one who did, we did not get the objectives accomplished. Somebody has to stand up and manage a problem to get a solution--"if not me, then who..?"

Regardless of the circumstances we are faced with, we can adapt to almost anything thrown at us IF we trust that we have the abilities, focus on an outcome, realize and admit we can't do it alone, and keep our heads. We can overcome just about any obstacle IF we create and see an intended endstate and engineer steps to get from where we are to where we want to be.

If young Soldiers can walk and ride bikes again after having their legs blown off and miners can be rescued after extraordinary time of being buried alive, then we can adapt and overcome our adversity too.

Take this with you and keep hold of it in case you need it one day...

Strategies of Hope

noreply@blogger.com (John Stufflebeem) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 14:20:00 +0000

"However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results."
--Winston Churchill

Challenges can be wonderful opportunities for growth and success. They can also be catalysts of impending failure. On the road to one or the other, people often act or react in ways given to emotion or discipline when faced with personal or professional difficulties.

A common human condition is to hope for the best. I would not suggest that is not good. But hoping for the best without planning for the worst is usually flawed. As is often and correctly said in many circles, hope is not a strategy. Yet in many crises there is no apparent planning for the worst case scenario. Too many boards, corporation or company executives, business owners, or even line managers rely on strategies of hope to see them through, e.g. I hope that does not happen to me, I hope we find our way out of this, I hope the government bails us out...you get the idea. In my experience, this mode of thinking is a recipe for failure.

As a career military man for more than thirty years, I grew up with modern western acceptance of the Latin adage Si vis pacem, para bellum ... "If you wish for peace, prepare for war." This notion has guided our Nation in its national security direction for years both as a prescription for deterrence and as a solution for results our Presidents have applied many times. As a fighter pilot, I had to plan for the worst and be prepared at all times for catastrophe like my aircraft catches fire, my plane loses an engine, I have a total electrical failure, I've lost control of the aircraft, I've been hit--I have had all of these and more in the air. And yet I not only survived but thrived.

This did not happen by accident or even extraordinary skill on my part but because of a mindset, training and set of rules that got me through those challenges.

In aviation, we built a culture of managing risk. There is no doubt flying jet fighters on and off aircraft carriers at sea in all conditions or going into battle is risky business. We even adopted a formal system for addressing this known as Operational Risk Management, or ORM, with principles that also apply in business. But even in a risk managed environment things still go wrong.

As a military pilot, Naval Aviator, I participated in my share of investigating aircraft mishaps to determine what went wrong and made recommendations to prevent future like occurrences. In every case, and those of many others, we found a chain of events that led up to the a mishap that if had been broken in almost any link of that chain would have prevented the accident. But few can recognize one of those links without prior planning, practice and recognition--training.

The same thinking applies to everything in life I have found. Whether a business decision, a crisis, a risky opportunity, personal or professional issue, even a drive to the store, the mindset is the same. That is:

1. Acknowledge [the risk]
2. Think [how to avoid]
3. Plan [for the unexpected, e.g. don't ever be surprised]
4. Practice [even if only thinking it through for muscle memory]
5. Recognize [the indicators that tell you something could or is about to happen].

It works. I used it as a military professional, in my personal life, and now in business. To get to this mindset, concrete steps have to be taken.

Here's what works:

1. Acknowledge crisis management as a cultural facet of life; incorporate it into your organization--make everyone believe in it and not just relegated to a few

2. Pick a team and team leader to be the instant response force--the first responders; don't leave it to your PR or legal experts

3. Have cogent steps -- certainly the initial steps -- ingrained in the team to take action, e.g. ORM is one method and I have detailed others - see 3 Steps to Handling Adversity.
Note - ORM is best suited to pre-crisis planning and training than after the problem has hit

4. Practice the team in responding to various worst case scenarios; apply lessons learned from the sessions to pre-planned response and improved tactics

Strategies of hope are known losers.

Some argue luck has an element that has to be accounted for as well. That constantly reminds me of the well-told tale of Gary Player, the professional golfer, at a tournament. Once heckled by someone in the gallery "lucky shot Gary!" he reportedly said to his caddie "yeah, the more I practice the luckier I get."

Crisis management must be part of your culture and organizations. If not, well, just look at the huge number of examples around us where it isn't and luck did not fall in favor of hope; then ask yourself would you ever want to be where he, she, or they are?

The fix -- hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

Social Media - Curse, Cause or Blessing?

noreply@blogger.com (John Stufflebeem) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 16:02:00 +0000

Last week I provided media training to a professional football team. These are high-end athletes and coaches, many champions, who deal with high pressure situations both professional and personal on a regular basis. But it is interesting to note that most operate off the field at the same level as the rest of us and some either forget or disregard their celebrity status which makes them vulnerable to media exploitation, particularly via social media. Their celebrated issues are instructive to all of us.

What I have found common to almost everyone whether professional athletes, business people, or just plain folk trying to enjoy the pursuits of happiness, is that we now have to indulge the new world of social media. It is also interesting to note the differences of how social media is viewed by the different generations and how each seem to be dealing with it. In my world today are the Greatest Generation, the Silents, the Boomers (including me), the Gen Xers, the Millennials, and now Gen Z. For me the most fascinating are the Z-ers…those born into the world of the internet who, as psychologists are describing it, will almost be totally driven by the internet and its applications.

This brings me to my main point: like it or not we have to get in tune with social media because even if we don’t use it, those around us do and increasingly will. It is now commonplace to see cell phones with terrific audio and video capabilities being held up at almost any event. Moreover, there is no way to yet control how or where this type of media is used or its product delivered. Days were when some of us could count on having control or knowing the controls for what got on television. No more.

With the advent of YouTube and a slew of others anyone can post a video, with sound, that captures whatever a person’s agenda wants it to be that can — and often does — go viral on the internet and some of it even make it to mainstream media. Furthermore, with this technology comes a group of people with more anonymity, less empathy and a posture of being critically judgmental of others. It’s no longer about who has an axe to grind but more about ‘how can I embarrass someone else.’

The effect of all this is how it impacts our reputations. Irrespective of the legal issues of any situation, there is now the ever-present ‘perception’ of what someone else thinks of us…and much of it lies beyond our control. This is a new element of crisis management—reputation management.

Note—there is enough concern about this new phenomenon that some states are or have put laws into effect that make it illegal to record policemen in the official performance of their duties. But for the rest of us whether professional athletes giving post-game/practice press availabilities, company managers meeting with employees, by-standers to a startling event, or an individual with a painful or embarrassing problem...

...we are vulnerable to exploitation by people you may not know much less their motivation to “expose you.”

So, what to do about it? Here are 4 Key Points:

#1 - It’s better to understand it than fight it, ignore it, or complain about it.

The best way to understand it is to use it. New applications and websites are popping up all the time. Even some news bureaus are mining the internet for posted individual stories or videos that become news sources or leads. Common ones today include YouTube, Flickr, Twitter or Facebook. While much is being debated in terms of “net neutrality” and “internet privacy” little is being done about it. So until those landmark lawsuits put limits on it, YOU have to figure it out. Too old or technically challenged? Don’t worry, get one of your young kids or grandkids to show you; they’re experts at it already.

#2 - Always assume someone is recording you regardless of where you are or what you are doing.

I tell clients whether they are executives or athletes that someone is always watching them. Some of them are measuring words or actions and deciding whether they agree or like it or not. Some of them are recording all of it. Even when you don’t see any kind of device that doesn’t mean your voice isn’t being recorded on someone’s PDA or cell phone out of sight. Forget the legality of it. How many gaffs have we witnessed on the internet and news of people, including prominent figures, who thought they were “off mic” or out of view?

#3 - I was once counseled that I could think anything I wanted but I would be held accountable for every word I uttered.

What is most important about talking aloud, regardless the audience or instrument, e.g. the phone, is that it’s more important than ever to recognize and believe that your words can be used against you later. The greatest temptation we routinely give in to is one or more of our emotions—like anger or revenge. Speaking one’s mind used to be thought of as a strength. But now it’s harder to find where that really does any of us any good. The important lesson to be used is to think through what you’re going to say before you say it and apply the ‘headline litmus test’—that is, can you stand to read it as a headline of a newspaper, or banner of a TV news story or subject of a viral internet audio/video piece? If the answer is ‘no’ then don’t say it. Easy to say, hard to do. But if you don’t heed it, well, good luck with the regret.

#4 - If you say something you regret or have audio/video posted you did not release, or wanted released, in most cases you have to respond.

In a few cases, staying out of sight and not talking works well. But regardless the legal aspects, you have a small window to respond and shape public perception of YOU. Once you wait too long — usually hoping the issue blows over — the public perception is usually set and you have a long, hard uphill fight to change it. The court of public opinion is quick to judge, less tolerant or forgiving than a court of law, and expects people to defend themselves or “they must be guilty.”

Bottom Line: Social media is here to stay.

A new generation is arriving knowing only a world with the internet and it likely will be the center of their lives. I use it now for business and expect to be using more of it including giving lectures to younger folks in bite size parcels they will view on their handheld devices and prefer that to going to a lecture hall or even joining a video conference or web based seminar.

For some, social media is a curse. For others it’s a cause unto itself. And for others still, it’s a blessing for reasons including the avoidance of personal contact.

So...where are YOU on this scale?

What's Going On?

noreply@blogger.com (John Stufflebeem) — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:09:00 +0000

It’s happened again. Another successful large corporation lost its CEO.

We recently witnessed British Petroleum’s CEO stepping down in the aftermath of the tragic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Now, we hear the CEO of Hewlett Packard is stepping down even after initial allegations were disproved. What’s going on?

A better question executives need to ask themselves is “what’s not going on?” In both these cases, it appears the C-suite and controlling boards were not prepared for a major problem, took prompt [if not rash] re-action, and are now being second guessed as to whether they were right.

The reportings in the media are predictable, they “follow the news.” Almost uniformly now we also note when asked for comment, these affected corporations decline to do so. As the fabled Walter Cronkite used to say, “that’s the way it is.” For those reporting the news I think I agree. But for those making the news I observe otherwise.

CBS News gave a subjective report of BP’s removal of Tony Hayward and Bloomberg News gave an initial breaking news account of HP’s Mark Hurd leaving and a business perspective of the fallout. What they did not report was any strategic message put out from either company. In my research this was likely because none was put out. Missed opportunities.

What is also not apparent yet in either of these successful companies is a strategic view of how to deal with crises. Note in this CBS report there is no mention from anyone in BP of “what happens next.” Similarly, in this Bloomberg story...nada from HP.

What should have happened in both cases — and applies in nearly all situations — is the one most responsible should determine what an endstate of the crisis should look like. Take for example, BP. Would it not have been better that the company leadership determined it wanted BP to be the most publically respected oil company on the planet coming out of this spill crisis? That simple goal would likely have changed many public appearances, responses and releases that are now almost only viewed negatively by the public not to mention a ruined career and sullied corporate reputation.

There are always at least two audiences to placate when things go wrong:

#1 - The throng of attorneys concerning themselves with attendant legal issues.

AND

#2 - The public where reputations are maintained or lost by actions and messages or lack thereof.

In HP’s case, Bloomberg did a good job noting the fallout of the stepdown affecting shareholders, investors and value and alluding to complications for the new acquisition. Missing was any strategic message from the company to allay fears and calm investors, employees and the markets. It would also have been better for the Board’s decision to have been couched for the intention of strengthening HP’s position by upgrading its leadership where no perceived misconduct would be tolerated. The objective, to make good—better.

I have to ask ’what’s going on?’ when I do not see responsible leaders anticipating there will be a significant crisis coming, seeing opportunity from the challenge, linking key messages to actions to be taken. I assume there is no process in work to reverse engineer steps to get from this low point to the objective—the desired endstate. People are always looking for credible, cogent messages and the actions that go with them. Note - they have to be matched. So why not give it to them? This comes only, in my experience, from crisis planning and simultaneous execution or, crisis management.

I believe the reasons for not seeing this today are several:

Today’s senior executives are younger with less experience than predecessors.
Part of this also has to be the paradox of power, e.g. that which got people into their positions of power is not what they rely on to use power.
Another reason has to be the [over?] reliance on lawyers and concerns of potential legal issues.
But the biggest, in my view, is the lack of crisis experience and/or belief that “waiting it out” to some degree will make it better instead of proactively being prepared with a methodology for crises.

The last point requires a planning capability that usually does not come from a crisis communications plan on the shelf or legal advice from the firm you hired. As fast as news travels today determines how quickly one gets behind with little chance of catching up—just ask Tony Hayward or Mark Hurd. The new norm is ‘crisis of the day’ and not the exceptions.

Here are several take-aways worth leaving you with:

# 1 - Bad news does not get better with time—crisis demands immediate response

# 2 - Something bad is going to happen to you, your company, or one of your principals—you just don’t get to pick the ‘what' or ’when’

#3 - “Hope” is not a valid strategy—crisis management is a must

#4 - You cannot hide from the media, of any kind—so use it to help turn challenges into opportunities

#5 - You have a very small window of opportunity for reputation management which can suffer long before legal entanglements take hold—practice how to deal with crisis in everything you do

#6 - If you are not an expert in dealing with crises you had better have one at your elbow—in any event, be ready for the inevitable

It Can Happen to You

noreply@blogger.com (John Stufflebeem) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:55:00 +0000

Shortly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 I was thrust in front of the Pentagon press pool reluctantly giving briefings of what was happening in Afghanistan. When I left my job in 2002 for another assignment I told myself “no more interviews.” That was changed as we went to war in Iraq in 2003.

I have since realized that finding oneself in crisis situations or dealing with the media (sometimes the same thing), now including the ubiquitous social media, is not only becoming more prevalent it is actually the new norm in the post-9/11 world. The data is just too great to ignore.

As I described in earlier posts, I decided I wanted to add value for others as I was aided during my military service. I now consult in this arena of crisis management which includes strategic problem solving and dealing with the media. And for me personally, I am still being called upon for what I advise on.

Case in point, I was recently asked by a producer to give an interview for a Canadian television pilot—North of 49, A Guide to the Rest of Your Life. The show’s title is a play on words given it refers to the geographic reality that most of Canada lies north of the 49th parallel of latitude, the targeted age of the show’s subjects and audience is 50 or over (that captures me), and segments involving the second halves of peoples’ lives, in my case, my new career after being retired from the military. The show is about the 5 W’s—Who, What, Where, When, Why—of transitioning in mid-life that includes health, finance, career changes, and more.

I used all of my experience in agreeing to do this interview including negotiating my participation, describing the limits I would operate within, talk only about what I knew…you know, the stuff I wrote about previously. When it came time for shooting the interview I worked hard to stay in my lane, avoid unnecessary controversy, and describe things I knew rather than opine or deal in conjecture. In other words, I tried not to be a poor subject.

I also noted the show’s producer used significantly less material that what I observed being shot. But the result is a segment called Person of the Week that both the producer and I am happy with. And, as is the reality of the post-9/11 world where social media supplements and sometimes supplants the news cycle and television schedule, this interview is on YouTube.

This really is another object lesson in practicing what is preached because it happened to me (again) and it can happen to you…and someday will.

So the lesson as a question is, are YOU ready?

On or Off the Record?

noreply@blogger.com (John Stufflebeem) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:52:00 +0000

There are several ways to do interviews with a reporter or reporters: you can be “on the record” where your name is attributed and usually quotes or first person audio/video are used; you can provide a “backgrounder” that is usually requested by media for more detailed information than they would use in a time sensitive story and is on the record

OR

you can be an “unnamed source” which reporters would prefer not to use but do given the value of the information they get; and you can be “off the record” wherein whatever you say cannot be attributed back to you.

But are you really safe in going “off the record” and is it a good idea?

Sometimes a potential interview subject will want to talk only “off the record” or during an interview declare “this is off the record” (believing that it cannot be used) to skirt touchy issues. In my experience this is usually when an individual wants to get something off his or her chest but is not willing to allow his or her name to be used due to concern for privacy, job security, discipline, violating policy, or just wants anonymity for personal reasons, e.g. avoidance of confrontation, fearful, etc. Regardless of the reason, the premise is the information you have can not be attributed back to you.

I submit that this is bad practice and should be avoided by almost everyone for a couple of reasons...

The reporter wants you on the record because it adds credibility to his or her story to have an attributed—and verifiable—source; being “off the record” or an “unidentified source” does not guarantee you any real protection. The reporter may not want to burn sources for their own reputation or potential future work with you but if the information is important enough to the story, you will get burned. And if you want to be off the record or “cannot use my name” because of your worry of being an attributed source, then simply do not do the interview.

But it is notable that more unnamed and off the record interviews are happening. I am willing to bet that most on the bus with General Stan McCrystal and the Rolling Stone magazine reporter believed they were “off the record.” Many are also turning to social media to vent their issues and concerns because it is so easy to remain anonymous. Or are you?

Many believe they are shielded from being named by just saying “off the record” or remain anonymous by using a ficticious name in social media. Until better legal safeguards are put in place and enforced, I believe we are more vulnerable than ever. Evidence of this includes the likes of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation or “SLAPPs”, the Computer and Internet Protocol Address Verifier or “CIPAV”, and the un-empathetic tech savvy geeks (not used in the pejorative sense here) posting anonymous viral outings that are becoming commonplace, much less the criminal minds.

So, unless you have good legal advice always at hand I recommend doing two SIMPLE (emphasis added) things:

#1 - Be careful in the words you choose to use.

“It’s so simple to be wise—just think of something stupid to say and say the opposite.”

- Sam Levenson

#2 - Stay “on the record” and just do not talk about things you do not wanted attributed to you.

“Never pass up an opportunity to keep your mouth shut.”
- Winston Churchill

Going “off the record” is tantamount to ‘going off the ranch.’ You just do not want to do it because once you are ‘off’ you really do not know where you are. For sure you will not like it if “it” gets back as being from you.

Takeaway: It is NOT a good idea and it is NOT safe to be “off the record.”

How to Negotiate with the Media

noreply@blogger.com (John Stufflebeem) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:42:00 +0000

The recent furor surrounding the Rolling Stone magazine profile of the Afghanistan war U.S. military commander and subsequent change of leaders by the President is instructive on many levels. However, this post is not about the merits of whether the interview should have been granted, or whether it was a good reason for leadership change, or even if the article exposed valid concerns regarding the war. This post is about the imperative for anyone to negotiate the terms and limits of an interview with the media prior to granting it.

Believe me, I speak from experience, if you give an interview that is not previously negotiated for terms or limits you will NOT be in control—the reporter will—and you may be very unhappy with its outcome.

To be clear, this is also not advice about giving a media availability or press conference but participating in an interview that is usually one-on-one though many of the steps can be germane.

Below is my simple 5 Step Process for How to Negotiate with the Media:

Step #1 – You may have friends who are reporters but a reporter interviewing you is not your friend.

Reporters have jobs to do and are often assigned by editors or producers to stories, sometimes ones they would prefer not to do. Reporters have specific things they are expected to get including information and/or imagery and they are under tight timelines, especially television and radio reporters. They do not have time to waste; they have to get their story, have them edited and approved, and make deadlines.

Reporters are most often pleasant people, even friendly, because they know in dealing with people, defenses will be up when they call and they need your help. But they are not your friends regardless of how they come across to you. They must get their story and you may or may not be part of that or the subject of it—in any case, you are a means to an end for them.

Whether acknowledged or not, every interview is taken with an agenda by the reporter. Sometimes it is “to get at the truth” or “find out the other side [of an issue]” and sometimes it is even nefarious. But it is never open ended or objective because human beings by nature want closure and are subjective. Any individual, company or organization must believe this before giving an interview.

This is not to say that if one does not submit to an interview everything will work out fine or the story will be dropped. The issue is how important to the story is YOUR input. You need to find this out.

There is a common misperception that reporters will not negotiate any kind of terms or limits on anything regarding their interviews. I have heard responsible people relate “they are going to write what they want anyway so why should I get caught up in it.” This is a mistake because while true for some reporters, most professionals will negotiate with you as it is important for them in getting the story and negotiating makes it easier for you both. The ones that will not negotiate do not get interviews with me. Most of the time it will be important for you to contribute to the story by granting an interview but do not believe the reporter is your friend during this process regardless of how pleasant he or she is.

Step #2 – You need to know what the story is going to be about and what your role in it is expected to be.

While reporters will rarely, if ever, give you their questions in advance they will almost always tell you what they are working on. You need to know this because you do not want to be part of any story that is not something you are intimately familiar with or work around. “Stay in your lane” is what all bosses want, as should you.

Going on the record about something out of your lane is courting disaster including potential of dismissal or lawsuit. Therefore, you must find out what the story is about and what the reporter wants from you. The only way to do this is to find out in advance of agreeing to grant the interview.

Step #3 – You must dictate the terms and limits of the interview.

If you do not state up front what you will and will not talk about or allow — e.g. define the limits — then the reporter is free to do so. I believe this was the case in the Rolling Stone interview. This is not the reporter’s fault or devious ploy, it is a business rule.

And, you must dictate the time limit or else it could go on for days as it did for General McChrystal and his aides with this reporter on board a bus. You should always allow only a short time for an interview if only for the reason to keep yourself from going on.

Get to your points as fast as you can in as few words as possible once being interviewed. But set the limits in advance.

Step #4 – Always assume you are being recorded even when negotiating.

I was told early that if I can see a camera it can see me. If ever you see a pen and pad, a camera, microphone, recorder, or you are on the telephone, irrespective of what anyone says, you must assume that you are being recorded.

There are plenty of “off camera” gaffs on YouTube which attest to that. The little red lights on the front of cameras do not mean a thing to you; they can be turned off while the camera rolls. Even if the camera is not on you it will still pick up your voice. And though you must give your permission or be warned for a phone conversation to be recorded that does not mean it still will not be when you are called. Reporters need accurate notes and small digital pocket size recorders are just too convenient to do without.

Step #5 – Always treat reporters with respect.

Being a “tough guy” with a reporter or trying to put one in his or her place may feel emotionally satisfying at the time but usually backfires. How do you like being talked down to in any environment or situation?

Reporters are people too and have an important role in our society—getting us information—whether we appreciate it or not. So, if not acknowledging this, treating every reporter with respect at least puts you on the best possible footing for a better outcome than acting otherwise. Reporters certainly know how to treat you unfairly if they want to—do not give them an undue reason. Instead, think of what you want readers or viewers to think of your responses and not the reporter’s questions. If ever you do meet a particularly nasty reporter or one who is asking particularly nasty questions you can always, politely, end the interview. Always treat them with respect.

So, how does one negotiate with a reporter? Simple…just take or return their phone call and ask the questions noted above. Then assert what you will and will not talk about. Include what is off limits and put a time limit on the interview. It is a reality that reporters will inevitably ask what they want even if it violates the limits you put down. But it is also within your power to answer only what you agreed to beforehand or should. That keeps you in control and a good reporter will respect you for it. When you negotiate this in advance, neither of you will be surprised.

Sooner or later you will find yourself being asked to grant an interview. Most of the time it will not be for a ‘feel good’ piece. The reporter found you because of a lead, your position or known expertise, or awareness inside the story being developed for the news. You must decide whether to grant the interview or not but dismissing the opportunity without knowing the reason for the story could end up with a poor, or worse, story than if you had. When you find out what the story is in advance and what your part in it is, you are now empowered to make an informed decision.

So, your mindset should always be “maybe” but not before you negotiate with the reporter. This puts YOU in control and not the reporter.

There are a few more things to consider in negotiating with a reporter for an interview but these are the main ones, the most important 5 steps, from my experience. And, for the sake of simplicity, I like to do things that do not exceed the number of fingers on a hand.

*BOTTOM LINE: Never agree to grant an interview with a reporter without negotiating the terms and limits of what you will do.

A Differentiator

noreply@blogger.com (John Stufflebeem) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 17:17:00 +0000

When faced with crises, one of the first and most prevalent questions
executives ask themselves is “what should I do?”

Many crisis communications professionals have a stock bank of answers including the crisis communications pre-plan, emergency meeting of managers, checklists, public relations firm on standby, etc. Often companies or their executives turn to prominent law firms that have a multitude of resident or contract expertise.

I would not discount any of these but in my experience I discovered that usually one individual was most helpful in the midst of a crushing problem. In my case, it was the use of a mentor that was provided for me by my parent organization—a third party not in my company but with vast experience in dealing with similar kinds of issues having been there before and done that. In nearly every major challenge I faced, I found great value in having someone to bounce ideas off of and get cogent advice. It was exactly what I needed to get unfrozen and moving in the right direction fast. This person — and there were more than one as I dealt with a number of challenges — became a differentiator, someone I could confide in, who maintained my confidentialty, and who made a positive difference.

At first it was hard to accept this third party since I was the executive in charge—the person responsible and accountable for what happened and what came next. I did not want others to see I was using some outsider to help figure out the solution to our problem. Besides, how could an outsider know more about my business and my problem than me or one of my colleagues? And being in charge meant I was the one who was expected to come up with the answers. The potential jealousies were an unfounded concern I later learned.

I subsequently learned what a ‘Kitchen Cabinet’ meant for former presidents and had even observed this in practice. What I also learned was how practical it was to have a differentiator available when things got really tough. The number of challenges I faced as a senior military commander and the value added of this individual made me feel that I would like to give back this gained expertise if given the chance.

Added to this experience I gained was also the processes in dealing with crises that make the difference between success and failure or getting out in front of the problem or chasing it—just look at the recent oil spill fiasco. Since retiring from the military and taking stock of my passions, my interests and seeing opportunity, I have turned to making this my life’s work. I want to give back some of the good that I benefited from. It is extremely rewarding and goes far beyond what I would expect to have and do in the corporate structure.

The real challenge in this field is two-fold:

1) When does an executive realize he needs a differentiator and how does he find one that works for him or her—call it the right chemistry; and...

2) How does someone with this skill set network exposure to those in need?

I have come to a conclusion that, as in most everything in life, networking among people is key but I also appreciate and admire the firms that put ‘A-Teams’ together for a client’s use. One-stop shopping for legal, public relations, advocacy (lobbying), and crisis management advisors is a superb resource worthy for any company, corporation or executive facing undaunting and time-sensitive crises. Having a team with this array of expertise will often differentiate outcomes by any metric be they financial, reputation, or even survival.

I appreciated having access to a differentiator—someone who had been there and done it before and possessed the experience and processes to create opportunity out of challenges—to create success out of crisis.

Reflections in the Mirror: Check Your Ego

noreply@blogger.com (John Stufflebeem) — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 17:58:00 +0000

When faced with crisis, many of us are initially seized with emotions including denial, anger, humiliation…or, in other words bruised egos. It is exceedingly hard, but natural, not to take this most difficult problem as anything but personal. But the reality is we often have excessive need for admiration and affirmation and when things go wrong, as they inevitably will, our bruised egos can get in the way of driving solutions.

We all have egos and even need them for a sense of self-worth; the I, me, self cognizance. But excess is false ego which get us into trouble from time to time by being arrogant, sarcastic, and self praising in search of acceptance by others. This must be dealt with early and quickly by looking into the mirror.

Tips I have found helpful in “getting over it” and moving on to the more important “what to do about it” rather than mire in the “why is this happening to me” include the following:

#1. Raise your level of humility

Accept responsibility for mistakes or problems, give positive credit to others, and gracefully offer apologies. I realize and acknowledge that, at times, legal counsel may not allow apologies especially when lawsuits or charges are pending. But it is often the case that an apology can prevent a lawsuit.

#2. Get rid of the false pretense of ego

Initiate constructive dialogue for restoring goodwill. Do not wait for another to that the first step and do not be detered if rebuffed at first. During crisis, the whole conversation needs to be development-oriented and not confrontation-oriented displaying ego.

#3. Do not get carried away by praise

Be gracious and modest in accepting it but understand neither success nor failure are permanent. To use an analogy, the higher you allow yourself to be hoisted up the pole, the further will come the fall. Keep yourself in balance to prevent from being overjoyed in success to depressed in difficulty by raising your consciousness to maintain your self-confidence and not arrogance.

#4. Check your thoughts

Most of us have a neutral emotional set point, neither overly positive or negative. Some have the extremes or at least many of us experience the extremes at times....

...but it is important to actively force positive thoughts for a number of reasons.

FACT: It makes you feel better.
FACT: Positive, constructive and helpful thoughts restrict ego.

Think about where you want to be or the outcome you want rather than be stuck in the mess where you are. When others see a positive and realistic outer person, you will also get reinforcement that you are that person on the inside.

#5. Treat everyone with respect

Regardless of someone's position, responsibility, culpability, or point of view...respect is paramount. It is also critical to be cognizant of your body language during times of stress. Facial expressions, hand gestures, even posture sends messages. The time for reflection and holding accountability will come later after solutions are taking hold.

#6. Shut up and listen

If you never listened before now is the time you have to. Recognize that those who are in constant transmit, especially in crisis, are trying to reinforce their sense of ego to impress participants. It is unproductive.

One of the ways that always helped me in this situtation was to purposely under-react instead of over-reacting. It is not only calming but allows listening to happen. Another way to check your ego to enhance listening is to only ask questions instead of issuing statements.

When challenges mount and seem to overwhelm you,

take a look in the mirror and check YOUR ego.

First Step is the Hardest

noreply@blogger.com (John Stufflebeem) — Tue, 25 May 2010 00:30:00 +0000

When first faced with a significant challenge - be it a crisis, bad news, the worst thing that could happen [you get the gist] - extreme difficulty, the normal response is to freeze.

These moments can be paralyzing and our thinking capacity seems to only run in survival mode, that is ‘fight’ or ‘flight’ - erupt in an outburst or flee the scene. It has happened to me, plenty of times. From airborne emergencies when I was a Navy fighter pilot, to being shot at in combat, to having overwhelming events take me over such as the attack on the Pentagon at 9/11 where I was posted.

In any scenario, it is our central nervous system that kicks in flooding the brain and body with chemicals, such as adrenaline, that makes coherent conscious thought a virtual impossibility. This emotional distress response instinctively causes us to flinch or put up our fists, literally or figuratively, until our brain overpowers it. The hardest thing to do is to get over that initial overwhelming feeling that paralyzes us and start making good decisions towards solving the problem...taking the ever important first step.

After years of experience in just this environment here are a few things I have learned that work the best:

1. Condition your mind with steps.

As a fighter pilot, I learned that under extreme stress our minds revert to what they have been trained for. In many cases, the first – almost instinctive – reaction is what the mind was last practiced to do. As an F-14 Tomcat pilot for more than twenty years, I spent many calm moments in solitude thinking of my hand-to-eye movements in an emergency, beforehand:

Aviate – get control of and fly my aircraft…if I could not, I had to bail out and that decision had to be made before I ever took off;

Navigate – figure out where I was and where I needed to go…if I was upside down or pointed straight at the ground I needed to right the aircraft, pull out of the dive and then turn towards the closest suitable landing strip—in combat that meant getting back to friendly lines or my aircraft carrier at sea;

Communicate – someone needed to know what happened to me, what assistance I needed, and what information other(s) would need to prepare for my recovery, including bailout.

For professional athletes, developing instinctive reactions is often known as muscle-memory. Football players keep running or pushing until the whistle blows. Basketball players shoot the ball anytime a foul whistle sounds. In the case of emotional distress it is mental-muscle-memory. Your brain will do what it is conditioned – or last practiced – to do.

This kind of behavior is applicable to anyone who finds themselves in a stressful situation but I want to focus it here on business. Whether a professional or personal shock, and I have had both, the initial emotional response is the same and has to be dealt with quickly.

To translate my military flyer training above into the business realm, the initial reaction has to be forcing aside the panic. “STAY CALM!” Talking yourself ‘down’ by saying it or thinking it can actually stave off the adrenaline rush. We do it all the time in many situations like when our kids get hurt and we have to take charge of the situation until we get help—we stay calm for them.

But you have to practice thinking and saying this to yourself in calm solitude before that unplanned shock occurs—it is what your brain will subconsciously remember. AVIATE.

2. Under-react, especially in front of others.

Second, as you fight with your fears for control try to under-react especially in front of others. Force yourself to examine your demeanor, “do I appear calm and in control in front of others?” Now jump to the next step.

For most any situation, it is to ask questions of others about the report you just received. Is this a first report? How do we know it is accurate? How much do we know? What else do we need to get the whole picture?

I guarantee you that almost always you will not have enough or even the right information and it will take time to get it. In any case, this will be a step in internalizing what you know and what you do not know, both of which are important. But, what you immediately begin to form is a context for the situation that gives way to which direction to take next. NAVIGATE.

3. Externalize and ask 'who knows?'

Third, you must externalize by asking ‘who knows?’ and ‘who needs to know?’ By communicating, even what you do not know, you are taking ownership of the problem and a solution until relieved by someone else or have the situation under control.

Think about the ‘who’ in terms of internal and external audiences. In today’s world of instant communications including the ever-present personal social media, no news withheld gets better with age. Recall the many good and bad examples we all have witnessed when it comes to dealing with difficulty—in every case good communications always made the best of any situation while poor to no communications made things worse. In today’s world one thing is for certain...whatever you are dealing with will not be kept a secret for long. COMMUNICATE.

Remember, from the initial stage of your challenge take a finite amount of time—between 15-60 minutes—to go over pertinent questions and write down answers, in solitude, before going to or forming your team. Get yourself collected and as ready as you can before leading others. This solitude, as is critical for training your brain, is what will separate you form other managers in dealing with extreme adversity where the first step is the hardest.

John Stufflebeem on How Adversity = Opportunity

noreply@blogger.com (John Stufflebeem) — Tue, 18 May 2010 19:22:00 +0000

Adversity = opportunity. I know this firsthand as fact.

There are many techniques taught in a variety of media to deal with crises whether they are through leadership training, public relations, or self improvement seminars, books, what have you. But I learned simple techniques that worked even when I was in the most inhospitable reaches of the world with no apparent ways out.

In my experience, the most effective technique to deal with a significant challenge is an effects-based methodology known as Effects-Based Thinking. To help you attain an outcome vision (team build), create a series of steps including the matching messages that go with them to get you from where you are to where you want to be (plan), and then measure the progress of yourself and your team with as many metrics as you can validate obtaining quick wins along the way to build momentum (execute)...YOU WILL SUCCEED. The process actually repeats itself constantly even if only in review to develop resilience—a required skill of successful managers.

Effects-Based Thinking can be summarized in the following three steps:

1) OBJECTIVES

2) EFFECTS

3) ACTIONS

"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." - Albert Einstein

These 3 steps are set into motion through a series of questions and responses. Even in a brief amount of time, one can understand and build a plan to turn challenges into opportunities by examining a set of issues—the ‘whats’ and ‘hows’—that help lead to the right solutions and success.

1) OBJECTIVES

Important questions to consider in this first step...

- What is/are the potential opportunities I want from this crisis* ?

- What do I want the outcome to be or look like and how long do I think it will take to make it happen?

- What can I do in the next few minutes or hours to make a start towards that outcome?

- What are the steps we should build and what process or processes should we use or adopt to create a plan of action to guide us through to the desired outcome?

- What are the assumptions that must be examined now and re-examined later?

* Opportunities are what you make of them and can include: a better position in the marketplace, a better advantage for your customer, correctly dealing with a product recall, avoiding impending financial disaster, a stronger company or division from adversity, and more. The point is to look for what doors are opened from a challenge—they are always there but how do you or your team members see them?

2) EFFECTS

Noteworthy questions for this second step...

- What steps or actions can I take to create a positive effect?

- How can I position myself to be more effective in generating positive effects?

- What positive effects can I create for those around me?

- How can I mobilize those on my team to get them into action?

- What is the plan of action that will create the effects I need?

- How should I communicate my plan and who should receive it?

3) ACTIONS

Key questions for our third and final step...

- What are the factors that I can control and what are those that I cannot?

- What aspects of this situation can I directly influence to change the course of events?

- What would a manager or leader I admire do in this situation?

- Who on my team can help and what is the best way to get that person (or persons) on my team?

- How do I figure out or assume the specific causes of the situation and contain them?

- What do I do to reduce the downside of the situation, even by a few percent, and what do I do to maximize the upside, even by a few percent?

- How can I get quick wins to build confidence and foster more to the tip-over point?

- What are the resources and strengths I – and my team – need to have or develop to address this situation?

- What are the things I can do – and my team collectively – to minimize the damage and turn this challenge into opportunity?

SOME ALONE TIME IS GOOD

In the initial stage of your challenge take a finite amount of time—between 15-60 minutes, but limit it in any event—to go over these questions and write down answers. Do it in solitude and have your team members do the same; the best creative thoughts come from individuals, not from groups.

Ever notice that you normally come up with your best ideas in the shower, or driving to/from work, before tweeting or spending time on Facebook or during a workout? Later, get the team together and share answers to build the outline of a plan of actions. In my experience, you save vastly more time doing it this way than trying to build a plan from group-think.

While advocates for strategic communications and crisis management argue for pre-planned responses and checklists [some will even sell you theirs] my experience from the world over is that human nature will cause managers to hope for the best in advance and deal with the worst when it happens. Some have never dealt with real challenge in their meteoric rise to their elevated positions and others have been bailed out by supervisors who took ownership of the problems.

But the best I have seen, those who are truly extraordinary take on challenges as opportunities and revel in it. They grow faster and in ways they have not imagined and they have trained themselves or build a resilience to be better prepared for the next one. From my experiences and by the example of others, I have come to look forward to adversity for just those reasons...I get smarter, more confident, and actually find exhilaration in turning tough challenges into success.

For me, there is tremendous personal and professional satisfaction and reward in crisis management and strategic communications. It can be this way for you too but until you achieve that level of confidence, this is a simple, logical way to focus your energies and turn challenges into opportunities.

3 Steps to Handling Adversity - by John Stufflebeem

noreply@blogger.com (John Stufflebeem) — Mon, 03 May 2010 16:48:00 +0000

One of the most difficult things in life to deal with is adversity, especially when it comes as a crisis.

Whether personal or professional, it always seems to take a very personal toll and the initial response almost always is fear, panic, or a loss at how to get started fixing it. But anyone can learn how to deal with adversity that assures a positive outcome from dealing with the media to overcoming personal attack. In my years as a military officer, I had to deal with adversity constantly and learned how to prevail.

When adversity strikes, the most natural human response is emotional and like grief, there are early moments of denial, e.g. “this can’t be happening to me”…or…"why is this happening to me”…or…”it’s not my fault”…or…”who did this to me?” This is often followed by self-examination, e.g. “what do I do?”…”how do I get out of this?”… which often quickly results in self doubt or even mental paralysis. These are natural responses but what happens next is most important.

One quickly has to gain composure, especially in front of others, establish calm and begin a process that is logical, focused, and effective. To be in charge, you have to look like you are in charge even if you do not know what to do yet. Here are some steps that I found worked very well when I was faced with extreme adversity.

Step 1 – Take a deep breath, hold it, and then exhale.

Force the initial panic and self-doubt to the back of your mind. Everything is going to be OK but it might just take a little time. Think about other bad times you have been through and how, with time, most everything worked out. While hard to wait, especially at first, the facts of a crisis and solution always become evident once a little time has passed and context is gained.

At the beginning of a crisis, every problem looks as overwhelming as trying to eat an elephant whole. But the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. So, at the beginning of a crisis, affirm to yourself that you will get to figure out a way ahead but you must allow the time necessary to get there even when it appears that there is no time. In a crunch-time environment, there is a phenomenon of speed of decision which is another topic for another day worth understanding.

Step 2 – Under-react.

Crisis brings out panic and some individuals who are there want others to be there too. Do not go there. When you get the initial reports of bad news realize that first reports are often wrong, or at least not wholly correct or complete, and under-react. It has an immediate calming affect not only on you but on others as well and when you appear to be in control, it instills confidence in nearly everyone.

I once told some excited subordinates, who brought me bad news, and in their panic pushed me to give them a solution. But I had no facts I could use so I told them “I did not know yet what we should do but I will soon” and started by asking questions which they had to go research and report back on. It worked.

Step 3 – Decide where you want to be when this crisis is over.

Take a strategic view of how you want this to look like once out the end of the adversity. Focus on a desired outcome. You must get to and keep the big picture of what the end-state should be as everyone around you – senior, peer, and subordinate – starts diving for tactical details in earnest but inefficient effort. For a company or individual you should think in terms of ‘stronger’, ‘better positioned,' and ‘wiser’ as attributes to go along with an outcome.

Turning Adversity into Opportunity

Doing just these three things gets you started in turning the challenge of adversity into opportunity as well as becoming a better leader and manager, having a stronger company or team, or at least preventing the worst to come true in say a lawsuit, collapse, or failure. And, in going through a trial such as this, you build resiliency for when something bad happens again in the future.

Now come the details of a process in moving calmly, with confidence, which leads you from where you are to where you want to be with the caveat that you or someone responsible must stay at the strategic level and not get bogged down in the operational and tactical details. I will give you that process in my next article.

John Stufflebeem: Who Am I and Why Am I Here?

noreply@blogger.com (John Stufflebeem) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 19:29:00 +0000

Answer to Question #1 - I am John Stufflebeem, a retired military officer with a lifetime of military experience in successfully dealing with adversity, both personal and professional, that I want to share with others.

Answer to Question #2 - I have learned from some smart people that nearly everyone is communicating today more prevalently via social media so I am giving it a try (on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter). I would enjoy your feedback, as well as your questions, after you have read this or anything I write on this blog in the future.

Opportunity Through Adversity

Through dealing with and conquering adversity, I have learned that instead of viewing challenges as setbacks and difficulties, they are doors to opportunity. While adversity raises fear, doubts, anxiety and in the worst condition—panic, they do in fact make us stronger as we work towards solutions. In my experiences, which included life and death while going into combat, the reality of the aphorism “what does not kill me, makes me stronger” [-Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols, 1888] is accurate.

Now that I am retired from the military and am a business consultant, I also know what I learned from these experiences are equally as applicable in business and life as they are in combat. So, I am now in the blogosphere to offer insights into what I have learned with the intent that these lessons can help others achieve success...even in the worst of professional or personal challenges.

The first thing to know is that adversity can be turned into opportunity—I know this firsthand as fact. As a career fighter pilot flying F-14 Tomcats on and off aircraft carriers, I was able to turn the first flight of Operation Deny Flight over the Balkans in 1993 into a positive example for my squadron pilots to carry on in combat during horrendous weather. My flight was the first of the combat operation launching into the night, in bad weather, which became our sanctuary. But coming back to land hours later with a hurt bird, having severe vertigo due to lack of visual references, and a carrier pitching in heavy seas under a a large thunderstorm system almost ended in tragedy for me—it did for another crew that was lost attempting to land.

But I overcame the panic and fear of this environment and proved to my leadership and my subordinates that we could fly and execute the United Nations mandate over Bosnia Herzegovina—we turned foul weather nights into our sanctuary to prevail over hostile forces.

I saw this again following the attacks of 9/11 when I was a planner on the Joint Staff in the Pentagon. After we were hit, we ran around the clock planning what became known as Operation Enduring Freedom. During the early days of this operation in 2001, I became the reluctant operations briefer at the Pentagon to a hungry press corps and without any forewarning, training or preparation. Seven months later I left this post to return to operations as a commander but having been a spokesman to the world telling part of the story of what was happening in Afghanistan.

From this difficult experience I became a confident and competent leader able to address the most senior of managers, international media, and large audiences on the most difficult topics and be convincing, forthright and accepted. It is a skill I excel in today.

In 2003, I was the commander of Task Force 60, a combined force of two aircraft carrier strike groups plus the largest assembly of ships in the Mediterranean Sea since World War II. From our perch in the northeastern end of the Mediterranean, we launched sorties to Baghdad in the kick off of Operation Iraqi Freedom. But more importantly, we quickly developed our support to less than 2,000 Special Forces to take on more than 80,000 Iraqi forces north of Baghdad where WE WON without losing a single soldier. This was an immense operation that was developed and executed in just days. Talk about a confidence builder!

Again in 2005, when I was a commander in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, I was sent to Islamabad, Pakistan in the fall following a devastating earthquake in the Himalayan Mountains. With only a team of five, I had to develop plans to bring in medical and engineering support to assist more than 267,000 people at a distance NATO had never operated beyond and in an environment NATO had never operated in before. I had to deliver humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to a suspicious Muslim populace, among Taliban opponents, and leave the area with a good reputation for NATO. We did it.

In 2006 I was sent to assist the evacuation of thousands of Americans stranded in Lebanon under the surprise fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli Defense Forces plus reinforce the American Embassy—the same one bombed in 1983—and if overrun, get all the personnel out safely (under fire). We succeeded.

In 2007, I was sent to West-Central Africa to nations that had only land armies and no navies or coast guards, to develop schemes of maritime security and safety. These waters were lawless where illegal oil bunkering, human trafficking, immigration, elements of terrorism and piracy was effecting Europe and portended to affect security of the U.S. [much of transshipped containers enter U.S. ports from developing African ports in this part of the world].

From these experiences and years worth more, I have learned how to deal with crises with little to no advance notice, little guidance, few resources, and...DELIVERED because I was required to-successful outcomes.

I turned challenges into opportunities and I know how to do it for others which I will detail in forthcoming articles. Stay tuned, my friends...