Creating A Community

In my last "corporate" job I think one of the things that I was proudest of was the relationship we had with the communities that we served and the fact as as member based organization we represented a "community" of our own.

I was reading an article on BNET- which I highly recommend by the way, and there was an article describing a farming tribe in what we would probably describe as a third world country. They were describing a conversation that they had with an elder of the tribe and his intrigue or perhaps disdain is a better word, for our obsession with individualism. While I believe strongly in respect for the individual, the elder was concerned that our obsession with the individual could have negative consequences like politics, dissension, and strife. He pointed out that without community the individual is finished. As I have pointed out somewhat facetiously before - Simon and Garfunkle may be a rock or an island, but the rest of us need other people.

If you think about it organizations that have a strong sense of community or mission have very high performance cultures. That is the basis of my concept of Compliance to Commitment(TM).

We talk about that concept today in somewhat different terms when we talk about engagement. Mutual trust and respect, shared values, a clear vision that we all support. That sounds a lot like a community doesn't it?

As we look at the days ahead I think that employees and consumers will be looking for a sense of community as well. Our trust in many of our institutions has been deeply shaken. We are looking for something to believe in. I have seen a lot of posting on LinkedIn and other places about what management and leadership should be doing in this time to create some sense of security for their employees. Perhaps building a sense of community and trust is a good start.

In my previous organization we took the idea of community very seriously. We felt strongly that we had a purpose of serving both our members and the community. We encouraged our employees to get involved in a variety of activities and causes. The results were overwhelming. Our employees volunteered at over double the national average. It showed up in our business as well. Our members saw us as part of their community and were proud of their association with us. That was reflected in our business numbers.

For those of you that are running businesses you might want to ask yourself- Have I created a community in my organization? You might ask even further am I connecting with the community at large?

The latest research from BlessingWhite would tell you that the highest level of engagement is pride of association. It would appear that building a community isn't just good citizenship- it is good business!

Are You Qualified?

It has been an interesting week. Given the state of the stock market and the economy in general that probably represents an understatement. It has been especially interesting to me based on a couple of experiences I have had. It hardly seems that they took place in the same week.
I made a couple of posts on LinkedIn as I typically do each week or so. The first was on the topic of the current presidential campaign and my "sadness" at the tone that some of the campaign rhetoric has taken on. In some cases the support on both sides is almost pathological. My point wasn't to support either candidate, but rather to lament resorting to character attacks on the part of either.
My second post was about where we "learn" leadership. Once again I got interesting responses ranging from "leadership is inherent in the DNA" to people that feel like the Bible or the Koran clearly lay out the expectations of leaders.
I also had a couple of "professional" discussions this week which caused me to pose my question. In one conversation we evolved into the debate about Gen X and Millenials. He was commenting that their expectations are too high and they aren't doing the "work" necessary to achieve their aspirations. I asked him if he was mentoring any of the young people in his firm and he responded that he would mentor them if they asked, but he would not proactively seek them out. So I said- "What if they don't know how to ask?"
My experiences with those generations has been different. I find them inquisitive, engaged, but frankly less patient based on what they saw their parents and grandparents experience. Their interpersonal skills have definitely been shaped by cell phones, the internet, and video games; but they do have an appetite to learn.
Then I had someone ask me why I believe I am "qualified" to do the work I do. He indicated that he had degrees and certifications that clearly "qualified" him, but I seem to be lacking those "credentials".

So what makes us "qualified"? Short of professions with a licensing requirement is there really a definitive test? Is is our track record, our "following" or some other set of criteria?

As usual I am going to retreat into the simplistic. I believe what makes us "qualified" is the trust and respect that others are willing to place in us. On my "short" list of qualifications for leaders I would include vision, clarity, and integrity. I have found that those elements are foundational to the most binding element in any relationship- the element of trust. Without trust we have nothing and trust cannot be demanded, it can only be earned.
So I would respond to my questioner that for now, what makes me "qualified" is the trust and respect that others have bestowed on me. It is a gift not a right and they may choose to withdraw it at any time.

Why We Need Nemawashi Now!

I just had an opportunity to read a study commissioned by a division of Global Knowledge on the implementation of change management strategies and I have to tell you that it reinforced many of my earlier beliefs. Another study conducted by the International Society for Performance Improvement which tracked "success" for change efforts ranging from strategy deployment to mergers and acquisitions in 49 different applications showed a success rate of 33%- at the risk of being overly dramatic that means that two thirds of those initiatives failed!

Now you are probably asking yourself- What caused these initiatives to fail and hat can we do to improve our chances of success? The majority of studies found two primary causes of failure:

• Employee resistance
• Lack of proper training

The employee resistance factors have been boiled down to three key areas; fear of job loss, fear of increased responsibility, and frustration with the process. As you might suspect, this employee resistance is by far the biggest impediment to successful implementation. The good news is that there are a number of things that can be done to improve your success rate, specifically they include:

• Recognize and account for the "people" side of change management.
• Invest in developing effective interpersonal and communication skills for front line management.
• Recognize that change management is a systemic element of every day reality and build it into your plans and tactics. It is not an initiative it is a fact of today's reality!
• Anticipate what and where your resistance points will be and plan for them.

We are dealing with people! Using buzz words like restructuring, reallocation, re-engineering, etc. may sound sexy, but at the end of the day you are dealing with people. This is our whole foundation of Compliance to Commitment(TM), you give people a chance to "join up" with you rather than attempt to impose a change. At the very foundation is relationships and trust.

I would venture to say that the events of the last few weeks have done little to create trust on the part of employees and the public. Two thirds of the initiatives fail because they don't address these issues. Which group do you want to be in, the third that implements successful change or the two thirds that fail?

You will never implement sustained change without this foundation.