Apr 20, 2022 | Governance, Leadership
People want to do what they are good at, and it makes sense to let them do that. However, doing well on an individual basis is not enough to succeed. You need to do well at the micro, as well as ensuring that your bit is making a positive contribution to the macro, the efforts of others.
Alignment in the jargon, but it is more than that.
Success in business requires that everyone understands the impact on the business of the decisions they take every day, like taking a ‘sickie. Taking a ‘sickie’ impacts on those around who are relying on the output you would normally deliver. To cover the shortfall entails the added cost of standby capacity, or ‘shorting’ a customer. Therefore, the more everyone understands about the numbers that reflect the performance of the business, the better.
This is not to make everyone accountants, which is the conclusion many jump to, it is just about understanding.
We often use sporting analogies in business, they are easy to see.
This is because business shares four common characteristics with sport.
- There is a goal, in its simplest terms, to win.
- There are rules.
- There is a scoreboard, which in business is normally kept hidden, sometimes deliberately, but most often by default,
- There are rewards for winning.
In our sporting team, every member of the team ‘owns’ part of the result. If we extend the analogy, for a business to be successful, we need the stakeholders to think and act like owners, they have a stake in the overall success of the business.
This goes way past picking up the pay check on a Friday. The things an employee typically wants from an employer, in addition to the pay check to keep the kids fed and housed, are job security, time off, promotion prospects, the opportunity to learn, to be appreciated, and to be able to see the job as way more than a daily grind. They worry about these things.
By contrast, owners and senior management while having all those same worries, are also concerned with all the things that deliver to all stakeholders: satisfied customers, revenue growth, cash, cost control, growth, ROI, which are all necessary if the employees are to be rewarded.
Their goals are the same, it is the language and context that are different.
However, we do have a common language, easy to learn to a sufficient level of understanding to be useful.
That language is the income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement.
I hear groans: understandable.
Accountants have made these three simple ideas incomprehensible to most people. In unwitting collaboration with the regulators, they have complicated the simple ideas to suit their own purposes.
Broken down to the simplest form, these three reports provide the rules of the game, and the critical numbers that enable everyone to understand the score, while they provide the means to ensure everyone in the game understands their role and stake in the outcome.
To answer the question in the header: to build a successful culture you need to ensure everyone in the game understands the rules, and the way they apply in a volatile environment.
Header cartoon: Courtesy Hugh MacLeod at Gapingvoid.com
Apr 18, 2022 | Governance, Leadership
Words are important, crucial to the effective communication and intent of an idea being articulated. Without the right words, well delivered, the idea will not have any oxygen, so be still-born.
This notion is applicable to every type of situation, from the casual conversation at a social gathering, to the articulation of major strategic choices.
There is a sequence that seems to be successful when making everything from a cold call to a full-blown strategic proposal. I have observed this sequence being successful over many years in many situations.
- Identify the big change that creates the opportunity you are intending to address.
- Demonstrate how the change will create winners and losers. Nobody wants to be on the losing side
- Envision the promised outcome post the project implementation
- Introduce the positive features of the idea as the catalyst to overcome the obstacles and deliver on the promise
- Present the hypothesis/evidence that delivery on the promise will follow naturally from effective implementation.
In addition, there are two ‘secrets’ to the delivery that while obvious, most seem to miss.
The first is in the manner of the delivery.
A flat, wooden delivery and the words will carry limited weight, will not elicit any emotion in the listener. By contrast, words delivered with passion, and obvious commitment to the outcome will be met with a more emotional response, which will either engage or turn off the listener.
The second is in the choice of words.
There are always many ways to articulate a message. Therefore, choosing the right words, the ones that build the attention and emotional response in the audience is fundamental.
Read the words of the great speeches, without conjuring up the mental image of the original speaker, and some of the power is lost. Churchill’s ‘we will never surrender’ speech, Martin Luther kings ‘I have a dream’ speech are great examples. Now read them again with the image in your mind, and the power returns.
One further thing that can make magic, is the power of the moment.
Churchill, newly installed as Britain’s PM as France surrendered, facing a catastrophic defeat, and King in front of 250,000 people on the steps of the Lincoln memorial in 1963. In the moment, King changed the text he had written adding the immortal words: “I have a dream’ to the list of changes he wished to see for his fellow Americans. Both used the moment to conjure emotional magic from the ether with words and passion.
Compare those to Albo’s 5-point plans, and Scomo’s blizzard of pithy sound bites, and know why we are so desperate for some genuine leadership.
Header credit: Courtesy ‘First dog on the moon’ cartoon frame.
Apr 13, 2022 | Leadership, Management
Asking questions is the best way to build empathy, while collecting information and helping others reach a conclusion. This assumes that you are listening closely and reacting appropriately to the answers.
It follows that being disciplined and planned in the manner in which you ask questions, all of which are context sensitive, is essential.
It makes little difference if you are engaging in a sales process, or seeking information from the factory floor, planning your questions, and using the right form at the right time drives the outcome.
There are six types of question, they overlap, intersect, and build on one another, and each has a situation where they deliver the best results. Whichever question types you use in any situation, always remember that asking with a genuine interest in the answer will deliver better results than if those being questioned see it as a proforma. Asking such pro forma questions demonstrates you are not interested in the answers, or alternatively, are laying some sort of trap for them to fall into.
Closed questions. These do not invite discussion or opinion, just a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answer. They can often feel like an interrogation, particularly if there are several in a row.
Open ended questions. These encourage discussion, opinion, and maximise the opportunity for new or unexpected information to enter the conversation.
Limiting questions. These fall between the open and closed questions. You want more than a simple Yes or No, but also want to limit the discussion to a specific area. For example, you might ask: How often…. Or: What were the operating conditions when……..
Leading questions. A leading question is designed to give you the predetermined answer you are seeking. Generally, they are used to confirm a fact or situation, which may have been surfaced with an open or limiting question. Lawyers use leading questions as a core tactic often seeking inconsistencies in a narrative. For example. You might ask: How overdue was the maintenance when the machine crashed? In this case, you are assuming the maintenance was in fact overdue, and that oversight caused the machine to crash.
Questions seeking examples. Discussing an example is a good way of clarifying a situation, while collecting information. It also is a handy tool if you do not understand something, asking for an example will usually clarify it.
Theme based questions. These would usually be used to influence or reinforce a theme. For example, the best way to ensure that everyone in a business understands the overall objective is to consistently communicate that objective. You then might ask of a stakeholder how their job contributes to the achievement of the overall objective, and then an open and productive conversation that leads to greater understanding and productivity.
There is an old saying: ‘We have two ears and one mouth for a reason’. Remember it.
Apr 8, 2022 | Leadership, Management
Culture as defined by Michael Porter is ‘The way we do things around here.’ Those words imply ‘Local.’ Immediate. In the vicinity.
I have seen differing cultures exist in the one business in separate locations. When most commentators refer to ‘Corporate culture’ it implies that it is across the whole enterprise, and often it is. However, local leadership, established practices and the history of that particular unit can also result in a culture that bears no relationship to the corporate version beyond the fine words on the foyer wall.
So, what are the building blocks of a successful culture?
It seems to me that you have four headline characteristics, many with behaviours that grouped together make up the headline.
Respectful.
Respect is a very general word, open to different definitions in differing contexts. In this context, to me it means that every stakeholder has the right to be given, and be expected to give, respect to others. To be given consideration, have common courtesy extended, and be treated with dignity, irrespective of the role in the organisation they occupy. The part time casual cleaner has as much right to be respected for the job they do as does the CEO.
Inclusive.
Enterprises are similar to natural eco-systems. They thrive on diversity, and conversely, underperform as a monoculture.
This means that all sorts of diversity is welcomed and absorbed into the enterprise, each playing a role in building a robust and resilient system. It has little to do with the current blathering about gender equality, although that is a part of it. Diversity is encouraged by the presence of ideas that emerge from diverse backgrounds, life experiences, education in its broadest sense, acceptance of difference. These differences may be racial, sexual, physical, and every other ‘difference’ you will find in a population. Including them in an enterprise provides the opportunity for superior outcomes.
Ethical.
Ethical behaviour implies honesty, integrity, and accountability coupled with regulatory compliance, as well as the acknowledgement of the place ‘common sense’ should have. I considered using the word ‘Integrity’ to describe the characteristics of successful cultures I have seen, and it still holds that personal integrity must be present, but that is the point, integrity is a more personal word than ‘ethical.’
Safe.
By ‘safe’ I do not mean just physically safe, as in not being assaulted at work. ‘Safety’ is a much wider concept than that when applied to an enterprise. It means an individual is psychologically safe to be themselves, to express an opinion, and not be one of the crowd. This requires an expectation of transparency, accountability, up, down, and across an enterprise.
To be safe, you are also safe from bullying, the political ‘backstabbing’ that often occurs, and ruthless competition that has flexible boundaries not always equally evident to all.
The size of the organisation does not matter. Whenever you have more than one person present on a continuing basis, there will be modes of behaviour that can be called ‘Culture’.
Should you be inclined, you could take the converse of these points, and when you see them, they represent the symptoms of a failing culture.
Apr 4, 2022 | Collaboration, Leadership
Ask them for their advice, rather than an opinion.
When you ask for advice, you are doing the right thing, you are getting people inside the tent.
When you ask for an opinion, you are often doing the wrong thing.
You are giving them the opportunity for them to go back inside themselves, weigh up their views, and then tell you what they think you should do. Once said, it becomes harder for them to accept when the action you take is different.
When you by contrast ask for their advice, one word only is changed, but you have them inside your tent, they are a part of the solution you then present.
It seems logical to use props to make your position clear before you asked for something, setting out to engage others before you ask. However, it does not work all that well.
If I was collecting for the wilderness society, I would not dress up in a koala suit and hang around corners with a bucket asking for donations.
Instead, I would ensure that I was neatly dressed, and approached people who looked similar to me, and ask if they felt that there was enough being done to save the environment. Most would say ‘no’, which is then the time to ask for a donation to do more.
When they agree with your proposition, you have them inside your tent, the one that is concerned about the degradation of the environment. Under that circumstance they will be more likely to give you a donation, than they would if you accost them on a corner in a koala suit.
Mar 28, 2022 | Leadership, Marketing
Our enterprises are organised vertically, by function. Accounting, IT, HR, and so on, all vertically arranged to accommodate the leverage of resources that scaling of the output of those functions delivers.
Customers do not give a toss about your internal processes. Their only concern is the degree to which you can deliver the value they have paid for, the solution to the problem, the salve to their irritant, the mechanism to enable them to grow.
‘General management’ is a term that implies cross functional knowledge and accountability. Often however, the reality is different.
Functional expertise does not necessarily translate into cross functional effectiveness. Almost all ‘general managers’ irrespective of their title, are in that role because of functional skill and success.
Successful marketing by contrast relies on being able to assemble cross functional expertise and capacity in the absence of the functional power to do so. Marketers are the internal representatives of customers and potential customers, as well as being the custodians of the future cash flow initiatives of an enterprise.
Why is it that so few marketers make it to the ‘GM’ role? Why is it the tenure of senior marketing individuals is far shorter than the tenure of their senior functional peers?
Marketing, being about the future, requires foresight, an ability to deal with ambiguity, and a willingness to make decisions with less than complete information. Surely these are useful leadership skills?
It normally takes a while for the future to arrive, so success is hard to measure except with hindsight. It also make more obvious the inevitable mistakes that occur when a marketing function is seeking competitive advantage. Being wrong as you often will be when predicting the future, is rarely an ingredient in successful corporate pole-climbing.
Successful marketing requires horizontal skills as well as deep vertical ones concentrated on the tools to be used on the levers to be pulled. Of all of them available, the most important are in the hands of their functional peers, so horizontal, collaborative skill is an absolute requirement of successful marketers.
Often it is just called ‘leadership’
