Jellies
On Sunday I toured an exhibit at the National Aquarium in Baltimore about “Jellies”-jelly fish. They do an amazing job in multi-media presentations. Screens with comments about the tanks underneath, beautiful displays, mood lighting and of course, the star of the show the jelly fish. Jelly fish are amazing looking creatures-oranges and whites and reds-amorphous and swirly and mysterious. They float around growing smaller, then larger, with their long sweeping tentacles. I learned that they are in all the oceans and some fresh water habitats as well. Not all of them sting, some are quite harmless.
I was quite struck by the time line outside the exhibit. Jellies have been around, little changed, for over 300 million years. Humans, on the other hand have been around for about 200,000 years. I’m not sure what jellies have done to influence their habitat. My guess is that their impact is small, even though our planet is 70% water. Plankton or algae may have a wider impact. And, early on, there did not seem to be enough people to seriously affect the planet, either. Now, things are clearly different. There are too many of us to sustain the earth without serious change and we are incredibly reluctant to take action when it is hard and is not universally agreed to.
I keep trying to apply systems thinking to address that conundrum. We all want a better, safer, healthier planet for our grandchildren and their grandchildren, but we can’t agree on what we all would have to do to get there, nor if we would be willing to take the necessary steps. The continuing spill in the gulf, and the resultant damage to ocean life, beaches, marshlands and the people who depend on them to eat, feed their families, recreate, navigate is mind boggling.
Life in that aquarium as a jellyfish sure looked easier.
Is it about you?
I spent a long time talking with a CEO this week about him. We talked about who he was, what was important to him, how he showed up in personality profiles. We didn't spend much time talking about how that worked with his people or with customers.
We do that with our products or our services, too. We talk about our stuff without knowing much about the audience. Then we can't figure out why one customer loves us and the next can't wait to get us out of the room. What's up with THEM?
Yes, it is critical that as leaders, we know ourselves. That might be described as step one. However, if we stop there, we miss the juice. The next step is how that resonates with the customer. Do we really understand how we come across? Do we do any research, ask for any feedback or evaluation? How many times have you listened to someone's presentation, and been turned off by their demeanor, felt bored or irrelevant to the conversation? Yet, the speaker thought they gave a great presentation.
Where do you get CONSISTENT feedback about how you are showing up? Do you have feedback partners within your organization? Do you have feedback partners outside-customers, vendors, peers?
What product or service does the customer really want? How do you find out? Do you ask them? Do the people within your organization have a template for what to say about your products and what to ask the customer? Do you do market research?
There is so much noise out there and everyone is working so hard to be heard, we can't take it for granted that what we did last year will get us heard now.
I challenge you to get feedback from 3 customers/clients this week on what you should stop doing, what you should start doing, and what you should keep doing.
Let me know how it works out.
Personal Mastery
How well do you know yourself? Can you predict or understand the behavior of other Members of your team?
I was talking with a CEO who is working with a new assessment tool for leadership style. If you have done personality assessments before, you may have discovered characteristics about yourself that may be a challenge to your success in your job. When you examine them carefully, you may find that this is the reason you struggle with parts of your responsibilities.
Well, my friend is very self aware. She knew most of what she heard in the personality assessment to be accurate. However, there was one thing new that she learned- that she was extremely focused when she had a goal. Not reasonably focused, not balanced, extremely focused. She had always thought that most people were that way, at least the people on her team. For her, once she set a goal, other things dropped out of her line of sight. Some of the members of her team didn't react that way, and had questions or comments that to her felt like they didn't get the goal. Now she understands that they don't immediately organize around goals, so she needs to give them time to process what they will have to do differently. Now, she can gauge the reaction and modify her communication style if she needs to. By using an assessment tool, the team can have a conversation around differences that are non-judgmental...leaders just have different styles that are neither better nor worse than the others around the table.
When we get a reaction that puzzles us from the people around us, do we examine what our part was in creating the dynamic? By working with personality profiles, we can open a discussion with our team about who each of us is and how that helps or hurts our organization. In other settings, we can stop the conversation and check in with others on what they are hearing and how it affects them. Ultimately, the more we know ourselves, and pay attention to how we affect the people around us, the better leader we can be for our families, our companies and the community.
What Makes You Different?
2010 will not be a lot different from 2009, economically speaking. We are still in a recession, people are still being laid off. Companies are doing a little bit better, but they are not rushing to hire. If we keep doing what we were doing in 2009, we will continue to get the same results.
But, here is the flip side- people have time to listen now. If you have a good story, or a new product, or a new way to reach customers, they have time to listen to you. SO, what do you want to tell them? Who are you? Do you have a great product or service? How do you tell your story? Who do you tell your story to? Are you the best kept secret around?
There are so many inexpensive ways to get a message out- Web pages, blogs, facebook fan pages, email newsletters. Okay so you know how to communicate, but do you know what to communicate? As a consumer here is what I want to know:
Who are you?
What is your product or service?
Why should I choose you instead of your competitor?
Who do I know and respect that recommends you?
What will I gain from working with you or buying your product?
If you sound like everyone else, I probably will not be motivated to talk with you further.
Good luck!
The Translator
On Tuesday, November 17, Charlie Beck is likely to be confirmed as the New Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. Following an inspirational leader like Bill Bratton is no small task. Bratton has turned around the LAPD and created deep bonds with the community. Beck describes his role as the police officer’s police officer who can take the changes that Bratton made with the management staff deep into the rank and file.
In every successful organization there is someone, usually the top leader who sets the vision: “here is what we want to create in the world.” With a vision, they excel as Bratton’s LAPD did.
In many organizations ”what we want to create” is unstated. So, for subordinates, both leaders and those on the floor or on the street, this becomes “my interpretation is as good as the next guy’s.” For the most part, people do their best to make the company successful. How many different interpretations of the vision are there? How many people work for you? In the LAPD, Bratton drove his vision through the management lines. He called it “no broken windows”. Beck and many others got that vision and changed the way LA was policed.
Beck says he’s the guy to bring the vision from management practice to the front lines. Mayor Villaraigosa agreed and chose Beck over some very fine LAPD senior staff. Beck’ sees his role as the translator. In the selection process, Beck raised the fear that the changes Bratton brought are tenuous or not in the hearts of the LAPD. Marketing experts would say that Beck differentiated himself from the other candidates by articulating a pain that he could uniquely solve. Beck can be the translator that will demand the behavior that over time will become “the practice”.
Every organization needs both vision and translation. Sometimes, the leader can speak the language of everyone from the senior staff to the front line worker. Not always. Be aware of what you do well and recruit good people to do the rest. If you are the visionary, find the translators in your organization and work with them to align your organization around your vision. If you are the translator, bring the team together to articulate the vision, so there is buy in and a clear direction understood by everyone. Stories and real world examples of successful behaviors will guide your organization when the vision seems vague or “nice to have.”
Note: If you want to know more about structuring communication between levels in organizations, Elliot Jacques’ work on how our time horizon indicates how high we can rise within an organization is really thought provoking analysis.
THTh