Sandy Schwan at Evolving Strategies, LLC

"To Get What You Want Don't Go With Your Gut." Wait...What?!

"Where there is shouting, there is no true knowledge."

Leonardo Da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, architect, and engineer whose genius epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal, 1452 - 1519

When a person shouts at you, your gut reaction may be to yell right back. This is one situation when following your gut may not be such a good idea, and may result in a damaged relationship. Instead, try responding to the desired outcome.

NO: Event - Reaction - Outcome

YES: Event - Outcome - Reaction

Action

When an unsettling event occurs:

1. Pause.
2. Ask yourself

: what is the outcome I want? Instead of reacting to the event, act in alignment with your desired outcome.

Consider the person who yelled at you: do you want an improved relationship with her, or do you want to make her feel as bad as you do?

(If it's the latter, go ahead and yell back.) If it's the former, empathize with his anger and respond to the underlying issue in a calm manner.

Enjoy this great article by Peter Bregman.

Boost Performance By Doing Good

"Devising and maintaining an atmosphere in which others can put a dent in the universe is the leader's creative act." --Warren Bennis

Can doing good keep employees engaged and grow your business? You bet it can.

Ramping up altruism may well be the killer app in 2009 and early 2010 — a time when companies need their top talent to be firing on all cylinders to spur growth and renewal, but where conventional rewards such as pay raises and bonuses are hard to come by, according to Sylvia Ann Hewitt in her forthcoming book Top Talent: Keeping Performance Up When Business Is Down.

Hewitt is an economist, member of the World Economic Forum Council on the Gender Gap, and founding president of the Center for Work-Life Policy where she directs the "Hidden Brain Drain"—a task force of 50 global companies committed to fully realizing female and multicultural talent.

Her research shows that high-potential employees are motivated by a desire to give back to their communities. These employees are increasingly seeking out employers that allow them to do so on the job. Real life examples and the associated returns? By integrating "doing good" into their business strategies, GE's healthyimagination and Pfizer's Global Access programs are expanding company revenue and attracting and retaining these key employees.

Weaving the 'feel good' factor into a go-to-market playbook gives high potential employees priceless psychic rewards, and a reason to stay, play and win, says Hewitt. This approach is certainly working for Ponni Subbiah — one of Pfizer's most talented female leaders. "We all want to feel that we can have an impact on the world. That's why I like Global Access. The fact that we're going to increase access to our medicines in a part of the world where people are very needy .... that's very gratifying for me." And it's good business.

Action

While donations and volunteering are wonderful avenues for allowing your employees to give back, do not limit your company's socially responsible efforts. Explore ways that your company can combine social responsibility and commercial viability by offering lower cost products to emerging markets or developing a new profitable solution to a social problem.

Adapted from Harvard Business Publishing

Using Values to Guide Business Strategy, Keep Employees Engaged and Grow Your Business

"The Cause is Hidden, But the Result is Well Known."

Ovid, Roman Poet (43 BC - 17 AD)

People today are focused on the global economic crisis, but Harvard Business School professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter sees also a global crisis of business.

Has the model of American capitalism that worked so well to raise the fortunes of millions of people last century hit a wall? In its place must arise a new model of the company, one that serves society as well as rewarding shareholders and employees, Kanter argues in her new book, SuperCorp: How Vanguard Companies Create Innovation, Profits, Growth, and Social Good.

Kanter, one of my top tier strategy and organizational change visionaries that I follow and learn from, shared key points and great stories at a leadership learning session I attended with my esteemed colleague from the Northern Trust Company, Jill Nabonsal:

1.  Start with a Sense of Purpose. Lead with Your Principles and Values. Think about how you can apply your products and services to address the many unmet societal needs.

2.  Be Open to Discussions. It is Not Your Words But Your Conversations that Matter. Allow for self-organizing, -governing -policing where possible. Give your employees a voice and you may be amazed what transpires.

3.  Value Relationships. A Sense of Purpose Forms a Strong Basis for Your Relationships and Conversations. Start with 'Who I am, what I believe and what is important to me.' Speak of values first. Think of meeting others' needs before your own. (And you may be surprised how your own needs end up being met way beyond your expectations.)

4.  Use Values to Reduce Risk. Having Values at the Core of Your Solutions Reduces Risk. Your standards seem too high? Help your clients reach the higher standards that you may set. Who wins? Who benefits? Your clients, your clients' clients, your team, you.

Here is a more detailed summary of the book if you are interested in learning more.

But can doing good keep employees engaged and grow your business? You bet it can. Stay tuned for my next post.

Gut or Wallet: Which Matters More When Motivating?You Might Be Surprised.

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Career analyst Daniel Pink examines the puzzle of motivation, starting with a fact that social scientists know but most managers don't: Traditional rewards aren't always as effective as we think. Listen for illuminating stories -- and maybe, a way forward.

Follow this link to learn more about Daniel Pink and why you should listen to him.

Video copyright TED LLC 

Get and Make a Living: [Insert Reward]. Give and Make a Life: Priceless

 "We Make a Living By What We Get, We Make a Life By What We Give."

The Right Honourable Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965)

I am looking forward to my first foray this evening with the Northwestern University Alumni Association Council of One Hundred, a women's mentoring organization whose members are willing to share their knowledge and experience to enrich the lives of Northwestern's undergraduate and graduate women students, and young alumnae.

Funny thing is...I always find that I walk away from such events (group or one-on-one coaching) having received MUCH more than I perceive I have given. If you have the chance to connect with someone - young or old - as s/he wanders along a professional or personal shift, I highly recommend it. Everyone wins, really.

ACTION

Prerequisite: Do the 'What to Ask the Person in the Mirror' exercise that I noted on Monday :)

1. Reflect for one minute on someone* in your life that may need mentoring, which John C. Crosby so eloquently describes as "...a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction." Create an opportunity to be that brain, ear, push.  

2. If you would prefer a more formal, structured approach, many businesses, associations, faith-based organizations, universities, governments, websites, etc. have mentoring programs or materials already. Check out these resources and see what works best for you.

3. You can always contact me if you are stuck. Mentoring is a significant part of my vocation and avocation, and I couldn't feel more fortunate.

* Caveat and lesson learned: you will need to determine if this person wants to be - or is capable of being - mentored. Otherwise, your wonderful energy, ideas and time will be underutilized. More on the 'capable' topic in an upcoming post. I will offer ways to spot the uncoachables.

“Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound.” — James Allen, 1864-1912, English literary man of mystery and unrewarded genius

The smart folks at Vital Smarts and the MIT Sloane Management Review recently released a study on the root causes for the shockingly high failure rate of cross-functional projects and programs. Estimates are that as many as 80 percent of strategic initiatives, IT projects, corporate programs, and the like are awful disappointments. For example, four years ago, the world watched as Gustav Humbert, the CEO of Air Bus, was dismissed from his job in shame when the A380 aircraft missed its delivery date by more than a year. The worst of it was that the announcement of the delay happened on the day the plane was due! Makes you scratch your head in wonder that this information did not seem to be available to Mr. Humbert any sooner than the minute he was supposed to unveil the engineering marvel to the world. What was going on?

The study identified five early warning signs of project failure. How companies handle these five issues predicts with up to 85 percent precision how well they achieve critical results. In fact, if the people at these organizations handle any of these crucial issues poorly, the odds of the project being delayed, of quality being compromised, and of costs escalating are better than 70 percent. Not good.

1. Fact-Free Planning — Commitments to deadlines and limits on resources are made with little consideration for the real demands of the project.
2. AWOL Sponsors — The executive sponsor of a project is not leading as s/he should. S/he is not showing up for meetings, holding people accountable, or walking the talk.
3. Skirting — Powerful leaders bypass agreed upon decision-making processes or quality gates in ways that are allowing scope creep or putting commitments at risk.
4. Project Chicken — Critical aspects of the project are going over schedule or running over budget and it's not politically popular to admit it. Instead, people play "chicken"—letting things get closer to the deadline without acknowledging problems.
5. Team Failures — Key members of the project team are not competent or do not follow through on their commitments.

ACTION:

• In your project plans, remember to give the right level of focus on the people aspect of the project. Confirm sponsor commitment and what 'commitment' means to project success.
• Make one of the first steps in your project a "Roles and Responsibilities" list. In organizational (or project team) design 101, a fundamental reason why teams don't work effectively is because it is not clear who is doing what. Make it clear – write it down and discuss with everyone on that list.
• Raise issues as soon as you identify them. I think we all know that it is much more effective to handle issues when they are spark vs. a full-blown wildfire.
• Get clear on how people, groups are to be held accountable for this project. This is tricky, but if you get this agreement upfront, it gives you the leverage to question accountability should something go awry.

Adapted from Vital Smarts, 2009.

Loss: A Learning Opportunity with a Specific Purpose

"Should you shield the canyons from the windstorms, you would never see the beauty of their carvings." Dr. Elisabeth Kubler Ross, 1926-2004, Swiss-born psychiatrist and author

I have friends and family that are experiencing difficult losses of family pets. I've been revisiting Kubler Ross' five stages of grief to help me get a better sense of where these folks are in the grieving process so that I may better support them through each stage.

Brushing up on this model reflects what some of what my clients are experiencing. A merger of two companies with two distinctly separate cultures into one company and one culture doesn't happen overnight. People need to experience the Denial – Anger – Bargaining – Depression – Acceptance of the 'death' of their original company before accepting and embracing their new company.

Remembering to include organizational change frameworks and time to allow employees to move through this process. Don't fault them for their feelings. Instead take the time to learn how to assist in guiding them through the stages, if appropriate.

I'll end with another impactful quote from EKR:

"You will not grow if you sit in a beautiful flower garden, but you will grow if you are sick, if you are in pain, if you experience losses, and if you do not put your head in the sand, but take the pain as a gift to you with a very, very specific purpose."

ACTION: If you are experiencing an organizational change, develop a list of ten possible purposes / opportunities for you to learn in this change. The purpose is there...and it is up to you to find it.

Change is the only evidence of life.
—Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966), English novelist

Follow the Rocket Man to Develop Your Mythology-inspired Change Plan

"The less I say the more my work gets done."

Elton John (1947 – ), English music artist

(and inspired by The Northern Trust Corporation colleague across the pond, Mark Newsome)

Nike may have used this quote as inspiration for its "Just Do It" tagline. Have you ever noticed that during a shift in a company's business and/or organizational strategy, employees seem to fall into two broad camps: those who talk and those who deliver. All the talking is typically nonproductive and can show a weakness in character.

ACTION

1. Be quiet and get to work. Spend time in conversations of value that will help you and your team accelerate movement through a change, but do not waste your energy on fruitless conversations.

2. Try not to engage in fruitless conversations. Certainly, all humans need to express there questions, fears, concerns etc., but keep that group small and the conversations private.

3. Channel your inner Nike - not the company but the Greek mythological character of strength, speed, and victory - and focus on the building momentum, accelerating and creating a strong desire to succeed in influencing a significant strong organizational change.

Do What You Gotta Do: Thinking Beyond Change

"Just go out there and do what you have to do."

Martina Navratilova (1956 – ), tennis champion

It is certain that in every life, change will come. Change represents the situations, conditions, and events we try to avoid that could result in adversity, controversy, stress and inconvenience. We do not intentionally seek out these tough challenges. We do not desire to face these difficulties. We do not want to deal with some changes. When the changes do come, human nature allows these times to overwhelm us. However…

 

When we can appreciate change and respect its value in our lives, we come to a place of contentment. When we can see beyond current difficulties brought about by changing and realize that these challenging times will make us stronger and allow us to grow, we truly open our eyes with optimism. When we understand that ultimately we are in control of the way we respond and think about changes, that only we have the ability to choose the thoughts that enter our minds, we discover absolute freedom. Such hope is there in knowing that when faced with any type of circumstance, the truth remains that change is what we choose to make of it.

 

 

When your change comes – be it in your professional life or personal life, will you choose to be upset how the storm has inconvenienced you? Or, will you choose to acknowledge that while change has the potential to be destructive, it also brings growth and new opportunities?

 

 

ACTION

1.       Choose to think differently about facing change.

2.       Choose to see beyond the change to uncover the opportunities that change brings. 

3.       Choose to welcome change during all of life’s twists and turns.

 

 

 

Adapted from The WALK THE TALK® Company