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February 8th, 2010

Aligning Employees Around the Things That Matter

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Developing a high-performing organization starts with defining and aligning employees around the things that matter, or what I refer to as the organization’s core values – the actions and behaviors essential to the organization’s success. Customer service, reliability, and financial sustainability are three examples of core values that every company needs to explore.

To do this successfully, you must engage your employees in a series of conversations about what it means to be a values-driven organization, what behaviors support the core values, and how important employees are in the daily realization of the core values.

Here are some techniques we use here at LRI in aligning employees around an organization’s core values.

First, we use focus groups. Managers, supervisors and employees get a chance to discuss the core values and explore what they mean and what behaviors are most important to supporting them. We spend time brainstorming and then narrowing lists of specific, measurable behaviors.

Second, growing from the focus groups, we work with the senior management team to hone the core values and develop a list of “we statements” that everyone agrees are the behaviors most critical to supporting the core values. The management team commits to measure these behaviors consistently over time.

The next step is for the management team members to measure how well they are currently upholding the core values and related behaviors. They then publicize the results and make commitments to improve in areas where the scores are weaker.

Next, we assess how well people in the organization exemplify the core values. Internally, a survey goes to all employees. Externally, we survey customers and other constituents. We systematically track the results and provide feedback, focusing people on those areas that score low and devising strategies to improve them.

To deepen the alignment, we make sure that employee recruitment, orientation, training and promotion are tied to the core values. All employees get regular orientation and training. People who demonstrate alignment are promoted over others.

Finally, we retool the company’s performance appraisal system so that it is aligned with the core values and we statements. That cements the pieces, creating an integrated system of communication and performance measurement that assures continued attention is placed on the things that matter most to the company’s success.

Those are the ways we align people around an organization’s core values. Above all, it means creating a culture in which the core values truly live in the organization – not simply as words on paper, but on a day-to-day basis in people’s hearts and minds.

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January 7th, 2010

New Report Highlights Unhappiness in the Work Place


What an interesting report this week from The Conference Board!  The report says that Americans of all ages are increasingly discontent at work.  Only 45 percent of those surveyed say they are satisfied with their jobs, down from 61 percent in 1987, the first year in which the survey was conducted. The report said that the youngest employees (those currently under age 25) express the highest levels of dissatisfaction ever recorded by the survey.

A high level of job dissatisfaction obviously bodes poorly for organizational performance. It inhibits innovation, which stymies long-term growth. It affects the attracting and retaining of top talent (talented people will always go where job satisfaction is higher, even if it means going abroad) and on inter-generational knowledge transfer (people who are unhappy are less likely to provide useful coaching and mentoring to  younger workers). Over the long term, high levels of job dissatisfaction will stunt the growth of our economy.

My new book, “Leading at Light Speed,” lays out a model for increasing job satisfaction by building trust and sparking innovation. The book (soon to be in stores) describes 10 quantum leaps that help create high performing organizations. One key is increased levels of communication and engagement by senior leaders and managers. While it’s too much to expect that every organization will embrace these 10 quantum leaps, if even 10% of the organizations in the U.S. adopted these techniques, we’d see a reversal of the trends in this report.

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November 4th, 2009

Streamlined Strategic Planning for a Non-Profit


Here’s the text of an email I sent today to the president of the Board of Directors of a non-profit. I think it speaks to how to do streamlined strategic planning for a non-profit.

“Hi, Meg – The best way to make this process go expeditiously is to prepare a draft plan for the Board to look at. The work we do before hand with the executive committee should be oriented to creating that plan. We’ve already decided on the format for the plan.

“The key decisions the Board needs to make revolve around reaffirming the mission of the organization – and then deciding the specific goals/priorities to achieve – within its resources. The key questions to ask are: ‘What’s our underlying strategy in terms of how we will achieve each goal? How will we re-allocate resources to assure we have the capacity to achieve it?’ Don’t make the mistake of setting goals and then starving the organization of resources to achieve them!

For example, if raising money from grants is a priority, then you’ll need capacity to research and develop grants. If generating revenue from fee-for-service programs is a priority, then you’ll need  capacity to manage those programs. You have to work through the options, decide where the impact will be greatest, and make choices.

For each potential goal, keep asking, do we have the capacity? If not, how will we get it? At what cost? What will be the benefit? Is the return to our mission significant?

I look forward to seeing you all and helping you lead this to a successful conclusion.

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October 29th, 2009

Strategic Change Management


To paraphrase Kenny Rogers, as a change manager, you have to know when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em.

Our firm worked with a large coalition in California, helping it develop a strategic plan and a new governance structure. The strategic change management process we initially designed called for multiple meetings with coalition members to clarify the goals of the coalition — and then look at options for a new governance structure. It was a solid process, grounded in our 12 years of doing similar work.

The key funder for this coalition was a large California-based foundation. When we began work, the woman assigned to manage the coalition told us to scale the process down in order to meet her timetable. That was the first warning sign. After the first stakeholder meeting, she heavily edited our synopsis to spin it in a way she felt would play better to coalition members. That was another sign of trouble.

As we were designing the next stakeholders meeting, she told us to shrink the timeline even further. It was gut check time. I called some people.  Their stories resonated: the coalition manager treated people with disrespect; she pushed her agenda at the expense of collaborating with others. Feeling that our firm’s reputation was on the line, I told her of my concerns about the quality of the process. She replied with a blistering email, criticizing me and criticizing our staff.

I tried to imagine whether our firm could successfully partner with her. Looking at the evidence, I realized it was highly unlikely that the process could ever be as robust as it needed to be. At that point, I decided the best strategic change was to end the engagement. I communicated that to her in an email. The next day, I got a voicemail  from her, asking if we could talk. Perhaps we needed to clear the air, she said.

I told her the decision was final. It was unfortunate. But a good change management process needs to be anchored in a strong, trusting partnership between the consulting firm and the client.

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September 18th, 2009

Good Governance Development – A Consultant’s Story


good governance

I worked recently with the Board of Directors of a large public power company. They needed stronger governance systems. I talked about how effective boards work. I detailed our approach.

“With our framework,” I told them, “the board expresses exactly what it wants the organization to achieve in the form of policies. By defining what it expects in writing, and by regularly monitoring those policies, the Board can do its job, staff can do its job, and the organization can achieve high levels of performance.”

“But we already have policies,” one board member said.

“You do have policies,” I said. “But those policies are not the board’s policies. They are a mixture of state and federal policy, with a lot of your staff’s policy thrown in for good measure. I’m talking about a separate set of policies that express only what the Board wants the organization to achieve.”

“Why would we need that?” said another board member. “Our policies seem fine to me.”

“Because it would enable the board to communicate as a board,” I said. “Right now, you communicate as individual board members. But the board of directors is a single entity, and the board needs to say what it wants. Otherwise, your staff has to guess. And that leads to all sorts of mischief and mayhem.”

“Maybe we like it that way,” said one board member. “We can then tell them to do what we want.”

“Is that really how you want to communicate?” I asked. “What if you had 20 bosses, all telling you different things? How long would you last in that organization?”

I let that sink in. “Look, the best boards in the country use this framework. I’ve seen the results. It enables the organization to be clear about its priorities, clear about its measures of success, and clear on how it’s going to evaluate the general manager or CEO. That’s good governance. All boards should aspire to it.”

“Well,” said one board member. “Maybe we just like doing it our way.”

At least that’s honest, I thought to myself. Out loud, I asked, “How many of you would like to move toward this framework? How many of you would like to try this?”

A few hands went up, and then a few more. I looked at the one board member who was most vocally resistant. Slowly his hand went up, too. I looked around. All the board members were raising their hands.

“All right,” I said. “It looks like you have made a decision. Let’s figure out what you want to do next.”

Related Article: “Good Governance and Performance Goals“

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September 9th, 2009

Strategic Change Management and the First Five Percent


Strategic Change Management
I have written before about the “First Five Percent.” That’s my approach to strategic change management that says the quality of the first five percent determines what happens in the rest of the process.

I was in Los Angeles last week, working with a large association, on a strategic plan for their organization. It was the beginning of a year-long process to create a high-performing organization.

One of the rules of the First Five Percent is to engage as many people as possible early on. You never know who has the good ideas. The more people you engage early on, the quicker you can identify the best thinking and the hidden resources.

There were 300 people in the room, including board members, chapter leaders, and local officers. The agenda was flexible. Depending on how the first exercise went, I was prepared to go in different directions to assure high levels of participation.

The first question I posed was this: “Think about where you want the association to be in two years. Tell me the specific changes you want to see and your measures of success.” They worked on this question for 60 minutes and wrote down their responses on flip chart paper.

Each group then reported out. I then asked them: “What did you hear yourselves say? What did you agree on?” Everyone called out what they heard. “Increase membership.” “Fill our vacancies.” “Create a new business line.” Their juices were flowing. “How would you measure success?” I asked. They shouted out what they’d heard. I listed four specific measures of success. I asked if they all agreed. Everyone raised their hands. They took a quick break for lunch.

While the room was quiet, I thought about my next move. I looked over all of their reports, and decided I should simply tap into their energy. I listed 12 goals on flip chart paper. Each goal came from them, like “Double our membership” or “Increase our political clout.” I posted these goals on the walls of the room.

When they came back from lunch, I said: “Take a look around the room. These are your goals. Find a goal you feel passionate about. Go stand by that goal. For those of you who are passionate about some other goal, there are blank pieces of paper.”

The group divided itself into teams around each goal. I asked them to develop an action plan for each goal and then report out. During the report-outs, I identified key issues that needed to be resolved and facilitated a discussion around each issue. When people drifted off topic, I invoked the two-minute rule (”Anything important can be said in two minutes”) and they got back on course.

We wrapped it up at 4 p.m. I asked people to tell me what they liked about the meeting. “It was energizing,” someone said. “Great ideas!” several people said. “Your guidance,” someone said. “The two minute rule!” several shouted. “We’re excited to be building our organization,” a woman said. “And what would you like to change?” I asked.

“That we have to leave!” a man shouted. Everyone laughed.

Next blog article: “Our Change Management Model“

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September 9th, 2009

Three Principles of Our Change Management Model


Change Management Model

When people ask me to describe our change management model at LRI, I tell them it boils down to three principles.

Principle number one: focus on the first five percent. What you do to gather champions, set expectations, how extensively you engage stakeholders, and how well you paint a picture for people of the decision-making process will go a long way toward guaranteeing a successful outcome. Let me emphasize the importance of engaging many people early on – those who will be affected by the decision and those whose expertise can help. Even when ideological stances are strong, early engagement is always the better approach (as opposed to shutting people out of the process).

Principle number two: Focus on defining the root problem. Solutions don’t matter unless you define the problem correctly. We emphasize a systems approach. Too often people say things like: “We need better products,” or “we need more sales, or “staff isn’t working hard enough,” without looking at the reasons why. Very often, the answer lies in looking in the mirror – at what you’re doing or not doing. One systems approach is to look at the organization’s core values – the things essential for its success. You can make tough decisions look easy if you ground them in well-understood core values.

Principle number three: Find a good guide.  An experienced guide can set the tone, keep an open mind, identify key issues, articulate points of agreement, and keep things moving. A guide should be able to offer models and examples from other organizations. The courage to handle uncertainty and adversity is also important, along with a healthy sense of humor. Good, experienced guides are hard to find. But they are absolutely essential to our change management model.

Next blog article: “Strategic Change Management“

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August 27th, 2009

Business Management Problems: Staff or Management?


The chief executive of a non-profit organization asked me to come to a meeting of her management team to talk about the performance of staff. When I arrived, she ushered me into a conference room. The four other members of the management team were already at the table.

“We want to tell you what’s going on,” she said.

“First, the staff doesn’t seem very motivated,” said one vice president. “I wish they would just do their jobs.”

“Everyone’s feeling overwhelmed,” said another v.p.

“They don’t show any initiative,” said another.

The conversation continued. As they continued to criticize their staff, I picked up a few more clues. The CEO said she was trying to be more democratic in making decisions. A senior v.p. said he hadn’t met recently with staff because of his workload. I jotted some notes in my notepad. “Management or staff?” I wrote. I decided to trust my instincts.

“Look, here’s what I think is going on,” I told the management team. “I think the problems with your staff begin with you. I am guessing you are not communicating very well. Your meetings don’t have clear action items. Your delegations to staff aren’t clear.”

“Change happens in three ways,” I said. “It can be top down, bottom up, and inside out. In this case, I think the change you’re hoping to see in your staff begins with you.” I paused. They were looking at me. “Can you help us?” one said.

“Sure,” I said. “We can provide you tools to help you manage decisions better and run meetings more effectively. We can begin next week.”

“That would be great!” they said.  “Would you draw up a proposal for that?” said the CEO. They were all smiles as I left the meeting.

It was a good reminder: Don’t always believe what your clients tell you!

Here is an instant download we recommend from our Leadership Tools:

Issue Mapping – Identifying and Resolving Tough Business Problems

Next blog article: “Strategic Change Management“

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May 30th, 2009

Board Development Training: Fixing Corporate Boards


board development trainingThere’s a good piece in the New Yorker this week called “Board Stiff.” The writer, James Surowiecki, makes the case that corporate boards still aren’t doing a very good job minding the store for shareholders. Despite “reforms” like increasing the number of outside directors and increasing the ethnic diversity of corporate boards, he argues, the boards of publicly traded companies still aren’t effective in anticipating problems or preventing business meltdowns. The main reason, he cites, is that board members still rely on their CEOs for information. There’s no clear autonomy or ability to challenge the CEO’s thinking.

One reason is that the CEOs of publicly traded companies still play the largest role in selecting directors, which results in a loyalty system that makes it difficult to rock the boat. Directors don’t have enough power or time to really direct; instead, they typically see their most important job as selecting the CEO. It’s not until there’s a crisis of confidence in the CEO that the Board steps in, and by then it’s too late.

I’ve worked extensively with corporate boards. I’ve also worked extensively with the boards of many other types of organizations: non-profits, public agencies, universities, and cooperatives. One thing stands out: the CEO typically doesn’t serve on those boards.

That confers some clear advantages:

  • First, it’s a lot easier to clarify the roles of the Board and the CEO when there’s clear separation of powers.
  • Second, it enables the Board to structure its work so that it truly understands the issues of the company and can set overall direction and policy.
  • Third, it forces the Board to be held accountable. It can’t fall back on the excuse that “we relied on the CEO.”

That’s a powerful case. But implementing a CEO-less board of directors runs up against a counter-veiling force: the ability of CEOs, under the current system, to control their boards and not be governed by them. That, fundamentally, is what stands in the way of fixing corporate boards.

Related Blog: “Executive Corporate Board and the Disruptive Member”

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May 19th, 2009

7 Best Traits of Successful CEOs


traits of successful ceos

A recent study measured successful CEOs for the Big 5 personality traits (openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and stability) and found the closest correlation with conscientiousness.

The authors of the study, Steven Kaplan, Mark Klebanov and Morten Sorensen (“Which C.E.O. Characteristics and Abilities Matter?”) relied on detailed personality assessments of 316 C.E.O.’s and measured their companies’ performances. So where do you think you are on the conscientiousness scale? What traits of successful CEOs do you have?

Here are some sample questions:

  • I am always prepared.
  • I am exacting in my work.
  • I follow a schedule.
  • I get chores done right away.
  • I like order.
  • I pay attention to details.
  • I leave my belongings around. (reversed)
  • I make a mess of things. (reversed)
  • I often forget to put things back in their proper place. (reversed)
  • I shirk my duties. (reversed)

Regardless of whether you think you score high or low on this scale, you should not leap to the conclusion that these are the most important traits of successful CEOs. On the contrary, I can point to dozens of case studies in which passion, honorable behavior, and humility played a much greater role in defining successful leaders and successful companies. The real difference between the successful and not-so-successful CEO has nothing to do with personality. It has to do with traits that are learned, like persistence, efficiency, analytic thoroughness and the ability to work long hours. It would be easy to miss this point if you were inclined to put too much faith in nature, not nurture.

Next blog article: “Executive Leadership Coaching – Traits of a Successful Leader Coach”

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