Normally, going to church is a source of comfort for me. I relish the chance to find peace in the secure place I know so well. This weekend proved to be very different then what was expected and I think it provides insight for business leaders.
It started simply enough. “Let’s go to 8am mass so we have the full day ahead of us.” We arrived and sat in our typical place and the priest processed in. So far, so good. Then the priest announces that if we hadn’t noticed yet there was a bat flying around. He also went as far to say that in his experience, bats usually stay up high and should not cause any issues. Well, this bat decided to be different.
The priest began the mass and the bat began to swoop low around the parishioners’ heads and all around the altar. People ducked, people yelped, people waved their missals so as to shoo the bat. The congregation was losing it but the priest steadfastly continued his work. He was undeterred by this distraction and kept focus even as small pockets of chaos erupted.
Mass was going to continue as usual from his perspective but the same could not be said of some of the parishioners, myself included. Since I am quite tall, I could not get the image of being an easy target for the bat out of my head. The more it swooped, the more distracted I became – especially every time it came within a few feet of my head! As far as I could tell, most people stayed for the service. My personal instinct was to get out of there but I yet I stayed. After mass though, I nearly ran the whole way to our car! As we were driving home though, I started to reflect on the incident.
There were positives and negatives to both aspects of the situation. The priest had a job to do and he executed it flawlessly. However, he didn’t acknowledge the risk that was present, as the bat could have had rabies and someone could have gotten hurt. The congregation was committed to follow their leader but at times the distraction proved to be too much which led to a lack of confidence.
The more I reflected, the more I realized that there were business lessons to be learned from this situation. As business leaders we constantly have outside distractions swooping in to take our focus. The distractions are uncontrollable and you don’t know what direction they are going to come from. Focus becomes paramount to success. In staying focused though, know when to acknowledge and address those distractions that could prove to be dangerous.
Most of all you have to remember that through this, your employees and peers might be committed to you but you must stay connected to them. Try to alleviate their responses to the distractions and reinforce their confidence in your ability to lead. Just as there is no way to predict the path of a bat, you don’t know what distractions will surface in your business life. Finding a balance between maintaining focus and knowing when to address the distractions are keys to achieving business acumen.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Creating negative undercurrents…
As I try to maintain consistency with this blog, the challenge becomes in finding fresh topics. I have had several situations over the past few weeks that have proved to be distractions to my writing. Hopefully, I can get back on track. In this post I want to explore egos in business and how much they can distract from our business acumen.
One of the situations I recently faced involved a project that I designed for an organization. I have extensive experience in this type of project. It was my strong recommendation that the project be conducted so as to avoid any and all skewing in the results. Rather than take my advice, the leader decided to play the ego game and insisted that the project be executed in a different manner. The different approach had no foundation and would clearly be in opposition to the desired outcome. No amount of explaining this worked. Now the end result is that I have had to excuse myself from the entire process as I cannot put my expertise to something that I know will lead to inaccurate and unusable results. What comes to my mind is “what good did that serve?” There is now alienation on both sides and it is the organization that will suffer.
As business leaders we need to let our own egos go and know when to rely on others. We are not experts in everything. No human is perfect and has all encompassing knowledge. Being a great leader means you know when to defer to alternative viewpoints. Business acumen in the organizational sense means you know when to put the success of the venture above your own ego.
The entire situation was made even more ridiculous when different leaders within the organization started opposing email campaigns so as to rally support for their personal viewpoints. Creating negative undercurrents will not unite a group towards success – it will divide them in frustration. Yes, frustration. While your ego might be screaming “I am right just because I am the leader” everyone else will be looking for the exit. It is just too frustrating to deal with decisions made for personal agendas rather than group success. Know when to defer – it doesn’t mean you are weak. It means you are well on your way to becoming a great leader with strong business acumen.
Yes, the organization will continue but believe me, I am looking for the exit…
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
One of the situations I recently faced involved a project that I designed for an organization. I have extensive experience in this type of project. It was my strong recommendation that the project be conducted so as to avoid any and all skewing in the results. Rather than take my advice, the leader decided to play the ego game and insisted that the project be executed in a different manner. The different approach had no foundation and would clearly be in opposition to the desired outcome. No amount of explaining this worked. Now the end result is that I have had to excuse myself from the entire process as I cannot put my expertise to something that I know will lead to inaccurate and unusable results. What comes to my mind is “what good did that serve?” There is now alienation on both sides and it is the organization that will suffer.
As business leaders we need to let our own egos go and know when to rely on others. We are not experts in everything. No human is perfect and has all encompassing knowledge. Being a great leader means you know when to defer to alternative viewpoints. Business acumen in the organizational sense means you know when to put the success of the venture above your own ego.
The entire situation was made even more ridiculous when different leaders within the organization started opposing email campaigns so as to rally support for their personal viewpoints. Creating negative undercurrents will not unite a group towards success – it will divide them in frustration. Yes, frustration. While your ego might be screaming “I am right just because I am the leader” everyone else will be looking for the exit. It is just too frustrating to deal with decisions made for personal agendas rather than group success. Know when to defer – it doesn’t mean you are weak. It means you are well on your way to becoming a great leader with strong business acumen.
Yes, the organization will continue but believe me, I am looking for the exit…
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
How not to let your business be like a game of “telephone”...
It is probably one of the most referenced childhood games and I just cannot resist using the analogy myself. In the game of telephone, one person whispers a secret word or phrase to the next and this continues until the last person announces what they heard as the secret. Of course, their announcement usually is not even close to what the first person whispered. The core message is lost in the communication through the filters. Clearly, this is a great analogy for business communications and it is understandable why it is used so often. I bring it up because I think it is also the foundation of a new television show, which I like very much, called the Undercover Boss.
If you haven’t seen it, the premise of the show is to take a corporation’s CEO and make them an entry-level employee for a week. This is accomplished by disguising the CEO as an unemployed person trying different jobs for a documentary. During the course of the week, the CEO fills five different jobs within their company. At no time is the CEO allowed to reveal his identity though the senior management is made aware of the undercover operation. It is usually messy and enlightening. At the end of the week, the various employees the CEO encountered are called to the home office and the reveal occurs. As a part of the reveal, the CEO addresses the issues that were uncovered and recognizes the hidden gems that were discovered. I will admit some doubters might think the situations are staged, and they very well could be, however there are still some great messages to be learned.
So, how does this tie in to the game of telephone and why do I think all of it important for business acumen? I am glad you asked. One of the resounding themes in the show is that messages and policies that come from the corporations’ executives don’t always get translated the way they are intended once they reach the front line. The Hooters manager pushes way past the line of acceptability in the manner he treats the “Hooter Girls,” countless perishable products are wasted at a 7-Eleven store instead of being donated to a local charity, driver productivity comes at the expense of treating female employees with respect at Waste Management – the CEO’s certainly didn’t intend these situations to occur but yet they did and probably still do across corporations world-wide. It is incumbent on us to make sure we understand the impact of our decision at every level AND that our message is communicated as intended. The two are expressly linked and only our attention to these details will ensure the success of our endeavors.
Easy for me to say? I say easy for everyone to do! Think of your employees as your customers. After all, they are your stakeholders too. To help with the process, here are some tips on gaining the knowledge of an “Undercover Boss” without the pitfalls of “Telephone:”
• Host events such as “Roundtable Lunch with the Executive” which can be a regularly scheduled lunch where the executives can interact with the front line employees. These lunches should offer a forum for honest feedback on policies from the employees while the executives get the opportunity to explain the underlying reasons. For larger companies, employees and executives can be rotated based on chosen discussion topics.
• Create a CEO blog and/or forums – this can be a great avenue for the CEO to promote his directions and messages IF it is done consistently and with a respectful tone.
• Regularly survey the employees. Find out what is working and what isn’t. Go further and discover the underlying reasons and address them. Show results to get results!
In the end, you must have the self-awareness to understand what you say and what is heard will be different. This self-awareness will heighten your business acumen. For more information about Undercover Boss, the show’s website is: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/undercover_boss/ . If you have any ideas for improved executive-employee communications please share them! We are all trying to find our successes together.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
If you haven’t seen it, the premise of the show is to take a corporation’s CEO and make them an entry-level employee for a week. This is accomplished by disguising the CEO as an unemployed person trying different jobs for a documentary. During the course of the week, the CEO fills five different jobs within their company. At no time is the CEO allowed to reveal his identity though the senior management is made aware of the undercover operation. It is usually messy and enlightening. At the end of the week, the various employees the CEO encountered are called to the home office and the reveal occurs. As a part of the reveal, the CEO addresses the issues that were uncovered and recognizes the hidden gems that were discovered. I will admit some doubters might think the situations are staged, and they very well could be, however there are still some great messages to be learned.
So, how does this tie in to the game of telephone and why do I think all of it important for business acumen? I am glad you asked. One of the resounding themes in the show is that messages and policies that come from the corporations’ executives don’t always get translated the way they are intended once they reach the front line. The Hooters manager pushes way past the line of acceptability in the manner he treats the “Hooter Girls,” countless perishable products are wasted at a 7-Eleven store instead of being donated to a local charity, driver productivity comes at the expense of treating female employees with respect at Waste Management – the CEO’s certainly didn’t intend these situations to occur but yet they did and probably still do across corporations world-wide. It is incumbent on us to make sure we understand the impact of our decision at every level AND that our message is communicated as intended. The two are expressly linked and only our attention to these details will ensure the success of our endeavors.
Easy for me to say? I say easy for everyone to do! Think of your employees as your customers. After all, they are your stakeholders too. To help with the process, here are some tips on gaining the knowledge of an “Undercover Boss” without the pitfalls of “Telephone:”
• Host events such as “Roundtable Lunch with the Executive” which can be a regularly scheduled lunch where the executives can interact with the front line employees. These lunches should offer a forum for honest feedback on policies from the employees while the executives get the opportunity to explain the underlying reasons. For larger companies, employees and executives can be rotated based on chosen discussion topics.
• Create a CEO blog and/or forums – this can be a great avenue for the CEO to promote his directions and messages IF it is done consistently and with a respectful tone.
• Regularly survey the employees. Find out what is working and what isn’t. Go further and discover the underlying reasons and address them. Show results to get results!
In the end, you must have the self-awareness to understand what you say and what is heard will be different. This self-awareness will heighten your business acumen. For more information about Undercover Boss, the show’s website is: http://www.cbs.com/primetime/undercover_boss/ . If you have any ideas for improved executive-employee communications please share them! We are all trying to find our successes together.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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