Dealing with the Heat

Several weeks ago, my wife and I spent time in Palm Springs, California, with family. While we were “vacationing” the daytime temperature hit 125 degrees! It reminded us of the reason why we had moved from the Arizona desert heat to Southern California. Living in a place where the temperatures can make it so hot you can cook an egg on the sidewalk, you learn to adjust your life to not only survive but be fruitful.

Leaders often feel the heat when downturns hit their industry and survival is the preeminent focus of their lives. Pressure from investors and boards often push leaders to make decisions that seem correct at the time but in actuality, they produce negative results for the organization. These decisions are often the result of fear.

Living in Arizona, the summer months would push most people to stay inside their homes with the A/C down, isolating them from the outside world. The thought of going out to spend time with others, or engage in activities outside was dreadful. Instead, staying inside and disconnecting for a “few months” was easy, but the results were lapses in relationships, exercise, and discovery of new attractions.

The same is true for leaders dealing with their own heat affecting their organizations. Instead of looking outwards, they isolate the organization and start to cut budgets, production, and labor. The fear of downturns or changes in the marketplace creates a toxic organization that fuels uncertainty for the company and causes fear to permeate in all levels.

The hope of Fall that brings a relief from the Summer heat is seen in leaders of organizations that look beyond the current issues with foresight to create a vision of an organization that is successful. A leader that understands a couple basic principles for leading an organization towards success as opposed to leading in fear will quench the reservations of the organization’s investors and boards.

Capitalize on Opportunities

During the summers in Arizona, people that are fruitful in their daily lives see the various opportunities that others miss. Swimming pools can be seen throughout the city; however, most pools go unused during the daytimes of summer. To some, the pool becomes a great place for an evening swim, a place to enjoy the sunset. The low humidity of Arizona along with the water provides refreshing relief from the daily 100 degree plus temperatures.

For others, golfing during the summer is like Christmas day. The opportunities to golf at some of the nicest courses in the area for up to 50% off provides great opportunities for people to enjoy time outside in the early morning or late afternoon, when the heat is not as intense. The people that barricade themselves in their homes all summer do not see these opportunities as positive and often find summer difficult to get through.

The same is true in business. Bob Legge of Legge & Co. said, “Economic downturns are actually the best time to rethink your business strategy and gain a big advantage over your competitors.” While other organizations are turning inward and cutting budgets, products, and labor, leaders of successful organizations look to capitalize on opportunities that present themselves and establish them as a leader when the market changes. Opportunities can include new product creation and innovation, expanded marketplace presence, and talent development. These areas can be overlooked when an organization is moving forward but also are cut when an organization is in a downturn. It is the leader that can push one or more of these areas forward who will reap the benefits on an organization that not only survives but also grows and has the potential to lead its industry.

Routine Re-Evaluation

Not only do people in Arizona look for new opportunities for enjoyment during the summer, they also re-evaluate their daily routines. One such change is seen in the morning with the breakfast meeting and gathering a large part of the community. In their desire to spend time with people in relationship, the locals will often meet for breakfast before it gets too hot to enjoy food and fellowship.It is not that people start having breakfast during the heat. It is they change their routine about breakfast and by choosing to get out of their house and develop their relationships.

The same is seen in organizations with progressive leaders. During a time of “heat”, a successful leader will look at current processes, programs, and departments and reevaluate their impact for the long-term success of an organization. There are organizations that do this out of fear but a leader that understands the need to let go of unsuccessful items and replace them with new processes is beneficial for an organization.

Vijay Govindarajan, in his book The Three Box Solution, describes this action as a “Box 2” item. Vijay describes Box 2 as; it helps an organization “escape the traps of the past by identifying and divesting businesses and abandoning practices, ideas, and attitudes that have lost relevance in a changed environment.” The perfect time for a leader to forget about the past is when an organization is negatively affected by changing dynamics of the market and look to not only survive but also grow. Hylke Faber, the founder of Constancee, said this about Box 2 decisions, “As soon as I find the courage to say good-bye to a past that no longer serves – not looking back, flexing my Box 2 muscles – I’m ready to take my first step into my new future.”

The courageous leader will lead an organization to success, while a fearful leader will create a toxic environment that results in decline and potential organizational death. Warren Buffet once said, “Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy only when other are fearful.”

Fear or Prospect

As a leader during a time of “heat” or downturn, you can influence an organization from the position of fear or the position of prospect. The decision is yours, the leader. Do you want to lead from a position of fear that creates a toxic environment? Alternatively, do you want to lead from a position of prospect that produces an environment of innovation, creation, and development? It boils down to a decision to expand the organization or end the organization. Where will your organization be when the heat is over?

Rebel Innovators - Committed to the Cause

This past weekend we celebrated Independence Day, or more commonly known as the “4^th of July”, and this year was our nation’s 140^th birthday. As I enjoyed the day off with friends and family, I thought back to a couple of books that I have enjoyed that recount some of the history of America’s birth. The first is David McCullough’s Pulitzer Prize winning book 1776, and the other Joseph J. Ellis, also a Pulitzer Prize winner, book The Quartet. The themes that impacted me from these two great books showed individuals involved with the revolution and the beginning of the nation were:

•  Rebels to the status quo
• Innovators of a new standard
•  Totally committed to the cause

As I thought through these themes, the three characteristics that marked the Founding Fathers are the same as those found in successful leaders and organizations.

Rebels to the Status Quo

The economical, social, and political environment in the Colonies was not vastly different from the one found in the other parts of the United Kingdom. The lack of representation, followed by an imbalanced amount of taxes, and the inability for class growth made the Colonies susceptible to serious problems. However, very few “brave” individuals were willing to take on the powerful British state to demand the changes. The ones that did decide saw a future not linked to the status quo of the current environment but a new, vibrant future. They were marked traitors, rebels.

Today, the current business environment could label Apple, Google, Netflix, etc., as traitors, rebels. These organization, and others, saw the status quo but decided to rebel against it and demand changes to create a vibrant future. The risks, the failures, the obstacles did not deter them, and it does not deter individuals, leaders, organizations that look to change the status quo. The mark of organizational death is the mindset to continue to do things the same way because it has always been done that way. A rebel does not want death, it demands life.

Innovators of a New Standard

Beyond being rebels, the founders needed to design a “country” that would provide the freedoms that they sought to have in their lives. As innovators, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and others did not look to create a country from scratch, but looked at other countries and ancient writers to take concepts and philosophies and implement the ideas. Innovators and disruptors do not always come up with new ideas as much as understanding the current situation, taking ideas from various areas and then implementing them to make a difference. They become the doers of ideas and not just the thinkers.

This is the same with leaders and organizations. Innovators often look beyond their industry to understand new trends and ideas and then look to implement it into their organization. An example would be in the Bitcoin and blockchain technology. Beyond the innovative opportunities for monetary possibilities, the prospects of taking this idea and adapting it to education will be revolutionary. This innovation could be a game changer in education and how we provide competency-based learning.

This will, like the country’s founders, will cause people to be uneasy and will fight against it. Creating things and innovating often disrupts the status quo and those with a stake. Successful leaders and organizations are often disruptors in not only their industry but other industries as well.

Totally Committed to the Cause

Although it is not easy to be a rebel and innovator in an industry, the part that often can trip most individuals or organizations is the commitment level. The history of America’s beginning is filled with disappointments, gaffs, and defeats; however, the total commitment to the cause of freedom did not deter the founders. With each set back, the opportunity to learn and grow from the experience pushed the birth of the country forward. Others did fall away, but a core team stayed in focused to the cause.

For successful leaders and organizations, the road to success is never easy. The realization and acceptance of failures and defeats are used to empower, as learning outcomes, and ultimately, become the basis for a better product, service, or idea. It is the leader or organization that allows others to try and fail so they learn, that build an environment of success. When failure is taken off of the table as a complete negative, then individuals and organizations thrive.

Like the rebels, innovators and individual totally committed to the cause of freedom, those leaders and organizations that take on the same characteristics will become the new standard for others to follow. Do you desire to be a rebel? Is that who you are or your organization is? If not, how do you become the disruptor and new standard-bearer for your industry.

We need revolution in our business world, and especially in our education system. Let begin now!

Teams - Success Begins with the Selection

As an avid follower of football (soccer), this summer has been enjoyable with the COPA America Centenario and the Euros being played and broadcasted in the United States. The focus is often on the players, like Messi, Dempsey, Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, and any Spanish player, but the real leaders are the national team coaches and managers. The ability of the coach/manager to create a unified team of players that are committed to the same goal with each player bringing their talents and passion to the team brings about success. When it is done correctly, the team like Iceland moves on in the tournament, but when done incorrectly you have a team like Mexico, that loses 7-1 and gives up during the match.

I was recently at a conference where Jim Leavitt, the defensive coordinator at the University of Colorado-Boulder, spoke about leading during crisis. At the conclusion of his talk, an attendee asked what the most important aspect of leading during a crisis is for him and his answer was hiring the correct team at the beginning. This aspect of leadership/management is often forgotten during discussions about organizational leadership. How often is the success of the team determined by not promoting the best candidate for the position and the team?

When looking at building a team there is usually a list of skills, knowledge areas, and temperaments that we look for in an individual. However, three items that can be difficult to discern but are essential for an individual to possess to build a successful team are self-motivation, confidence, and passion. These three attitudes are a foundation element to the success of an organization as evidence by its customers' satisfaction or products and services received. I was able to experience these attitudes at work in two individuals I recently encountered.

The first happened while I was at the aforementioned conference during dinner. I had the privilege to dine at Brasserie Ten Ten in Boulder, Colorado. The first thing I noticed when entering the restaurant was the energy in the space. People were in conversation, enjoying their meal, and their time together. What made the meal memorable was not the incredible food I had, although that was certainly enjoyable (contact me if interested in hearing more about the food). The foundation to the success of the establishment was the wait staff at Ten Ten and specifically Scout who took complete care of our entire night. During our meal, Scout exemplified an employee that was self-motivated, confident, and passionate about what she was doing. Her attention to detail of service ware, which was replaced after each course, to asking the chef the specific ingredients in a sauce for my dessert course were outstanding. Her presence, which was not overbearing or suffocating but rather responsive, made the evening fantastic. 

The second experience happened at another restaurant, Spencer's Restaurant at the Mountain in Palm Springs, California, while on a extended family vacation. Spencer's had been recommended as a fantastic spot for lunch or dinner, so in the 125 degrees of the day, we headed out for lunch. What is the importance of the temperature being mentioned? If anyone that has encountered the heat will know, you can become very unpleasant as an individual as a result of the extreme heat. However, in the midst of the heat, our table was served by Michael, who like Scout, brought self-motivation, confidence, and passion that made the fact of the heat outside vanish while enjoying the outstanding food. His attention to specific dietary needs of the table, working with changes even after an initial order, and finally his knowledge of the coffee service and answering question about the coffee producer evidenced these traits. 

Scout and Michael personified the attitudes, self-motivated, confident, and passionate, that contribute to successful organizations. The meals and the products at both Brasserie Ten Ten and Spencer's were outstanding, but the service provided by our two wait staff were foundational in our exceptional experience. I would suspect that the other members of both of these teams have similar attitudes and that is what makes them successful. We know that there was training involved with the creation of the team but the initial creation/hiring of the team was essential. Each organization found the individuals with the attitudes that drove the success of the organization. Additionally, those individuals that do not have the skills and attitudes to push forward need to be replaced for the betterment of the organization and the individual. 

As a leader in your organization, what is the attitude of your team? Do you have a team of individuals that are self-motivated, confident, and passionate about the team/organization or do you have some that seem to drag the team back? The question is, what will you do to resolve the situation to bring about success? If you need some help, go visit Scout and Michael. You will love it!

Organizational Identity the Foundation for Organizational Culture

Much has been written about culture and how it plays into the DNA of an organization. As a student of organizational structure and leadership, I have read and studied how culture becomes a foundational piece of an organization. Whether it is John Coleman’s article for HBR about the six factors of vision, values, practices, people, narrative, and place to Keith Richards’ piece about value alignments necessity in corporate culture, I have felt a piece missing.

This was until I read Andres Hatum and Luciana Silvestri’s article about FCBarcelona.  The interest in the article came from my love of football and reading about the business behind one of the largest and most successful football clubs in the world. However, what I read turned my thinking about organizational culture on its head. The basic premise that Hatum and Silverstri put forth is that culture comes from identity of the organization. They state:

While culture tells us how to behave, identity tells us who we are. That services two purposes. By serving as a lens, identity helps make sense of the environment. It also informs action by guiding employees’ responses. Together, these dimensions allow organizations to maintain a sense of balance between “who we are” and “what we do.”

Even though this concept hit a new chord in my organizational thought, Stephen Downey wrote about this idea in 1986 for Public Relations Quarterly in his article “The Relationship Between Corporate Culture and Corporate Identity.” Downey was remarking that the identity is not the brand or image of the organization, instead the identity was the “why” of the organization. This is still an issue that permeates organizations, and specifically leadership.

Current understanding still views identity as coming from culture. It is in the creation of culture in an organization that identity, or image, can be realized. However, this can lead to an organization operating in a manner that is counter to its true identity. A leader must help define and create the “who” of the organization so the behavior of the organization is in unison. If the “who” and the “what” do not become synced then mission and vision can become confusing and lead to a dysfunctional and poorly operating organization.

As many organizations continue to build on their success or, on the other hand, deal with issues, leadership should re-examine the organization’s identity. When identity is realized throughout an organization, beginning with the executive leadership and weaving through the entire structure, that is when the “real culture is understood. This leads to better processes, products, and ultimately revenue for the organization.

As a leader, do you know your organization’s identity? Or, do you operate in a culture that might be contrary to the true nature of “who” the organization was created to be? If you do not know the identity of your organization or its relationship to the organizational culture as a leader, then it is time to discover the identity of the organization you lead. Discovering the identity might set the organization back on to a path of success and growth that you have been to trying to find. You owe it to your organization.

Leadership by Influence or Authority

Leadership is often defined by the impact that an individual has on an organization and their ability to influence others to engage and own the vision of the organization. This can be accomplished through several methods, but it is partnered with the authority to put programs and ideas into processes. However, what happens when you move from having authority to another role?

To some leaders, this can be a death call to their leadership opportunities. To the true leaders, the opportunity to lead through influence becomes a role that becomes significant in being a part of the success of an organization. Influence leadership can be difficult to cultivate but a true leader is still sought out by others for discussions about ideas, processes, and strategy. Even for a young leader, influence leadership provides an opportunity to be a mentor or teacher to others as they discover their gifts and talents. Experiences and knowledge in a leader can be shared and used to assist others to make significant and substantial contributions to their organization.

The positive part about being an influence leader is that senior leaders in a healthy organization will recognize the contributions that are being made and look to place that leader in a more significant role. In an unhealthy organization, the leader might be viewed as being disruptive or envied by senior leaders because of the influence the person might have on others. If the influence leader is operating in the best interest of the organization by providing support to others, in the end, even in an unhealthy organization, they will be recognized and provided with other opportunities.

It is easy to lead with authority and learning to lead with authority is necessary in successful leadership. However, it is the individual that masters the art of leadership by influence that is given additional opportunities to make significant contribution to organizations.

Loss of Passion and Focus

"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light."

Aristotle Onasis

How often do we lose focus or passion in our lives? We become stuck in a rut or become under-appreciated within our organization. As a leader, the absences of focus and passion can dangerous. The symptoms cannot only affect the leader but the entire organization. Worse, the lack of focus and passion could ultimately ruin an organization. It is in these dark times that a person, especially a leader, is shaped.

However, these dark times are often a common experience for many people. This could be the result of failed or unmet expectations, personnel issues, or poor business decisions and outcomes. It is a part of our personal and professional life that marks our journey and can feel like a “death blow” to our hopes and dreams. To some, it provides an opportunity to bounce back and learn from the experience by refocusing, reevaluating, or reenergizing but this provides only temporary relief. Often many decide to let it consume them and it leads them to a life of mediocrity and stagnation.

To those individuals that do recover the passion and focus, their success does not come from refocusing, reevaluating, or reenergizing. It is in the reengagement and recommitment to the core principals and values of their original vision. It is often easy for us to move on when we lose our passion and focus to a “new” vision but it can lead to a loss of passion and focus again. The successful individuals realize their core principles and values and begin to reengage and recommit to their vision. The learning in the dark times brings about the biggest success in our lives. Failure is not a “death blow” to a personal or organizational vision but an opportunity to learn and grow to succeed.

The question for each of us is what “re” will we use to regain our passion and focus?

"That's what learning is, after all; not whether we lose the game, but how we lose and how we've changed because of it and what we take away from it that we never had before, to apply to other games. Losing, in a curious way, is winning."

Richard Bach