Looking Back- and Forward

I don't know about the rest of you, but I have found 2008 to be a very interesting year. The year started with my decision to return to consulting after a multi year hiatus. Even more interesting I decided to spend part of it recapturing my "roots" in the Southwest.
I decided in returning to consulting I also wanted to look at a different model- focus on creating engaged organizations and what it takes to build them and sustain them rather than just the usual projects.
I wrote and published my first book- people tell me that is a significant accomplishment. I tell them it took me thirty years to write the book, it took me several months to write it down.

The year also caused me to seek out and create connections with people all over the world through the use of social/business networking sites like LinkedIn and others. I have to tell you I have "met" some amazing people and created relationships that I will value for years to come. The value to me isn't necessarily commercial, it is the opportunity to engage with and exchange ideas with people from all over the world. I know I am much richer for it, I hope they are as well.
The current economic situation has definitely given us pause and hopefully motivation for introspection. We have seen this "coming" for some time and chosen to participate in collective cognitive dissonance, just pretend it wasn't there.

Maybe I had just been buried, but it also seems to me that 2008 has brought a profound resurgence of interest in employee engagement. Everybody seems to be talking about it and how to get it and keep it. I guess that is one of the ironies. In this time of crisis we are willing to do almost anything to re-stimulate the economy, even communicate with and engage our employees as partners rather than as just a cost of doing business. Technology and systems don't build and sustain long term success, relationships and people do.

We elected an African American president and saw a woman on the ticket for the Republican party, both historical firsts. We saw a female presidential candidate achieve another historical milestone with her candidacy.

2009 brings its challenges. The economic situation is one of the worst in the last 100 years. Being the optimist that I am I hope that it will also create a catalyst for doing things differently. Perhaps we will be willing to examine a new social contract between employer and employed with more appropriate balance in the rights and responsibilities of both parties. Maybe we will recognize that we live in a global economy and be more willing to appreciate and take into consideration what is going on in a global context rather than just our world.
Maybe we will even recognize that issues like health care, financial literacy, education, and other matters will require a collaborative effort between business, government, and individuals to fix.

For some reason I approach 2009 with the audacity of hope. I hope you do as well. Thank you for all of your support in 2008 and best wishes for 2009. It is up to each of us to decide how we apply the lessons of 2008. I hope we do so wisely.

Legends, Myths, and Heroes

As we barrel into the Christmas season a colleague posted a question about myths and realities; do they do harm or good, do they have a place in the work setting.

Christmas is an interesting time. Part of me deplores the commercialization that we have experienced. I remember distinctly being in a department store where they were playing Christmas music before Thanksgiving! I have to be honest, I didn't find it festive, I found it annoying.
I don't think there are too many people left who don't realize that Jesus of Nazareth was not born on December 25. Or that Santa Claus is a composite of potentially a number of people from different cultures and times. Or even that don't recognize that many of our customs are from pagan rituals that were co-opted for political purposes to create something that people could rally around.

There are parts of the Christmas "spirit" that I like a lot. The spirit of stopping momentarily to consider the "gifts" we all have been given. To consider others and take a break from our everyday realities and spend time with our families and even considering others. Should we do it every day, you bet, but starting with a season is a beginning.

I am a "recovering" idealist, romantic, and lover of stories and legends. One of my personal favorites is that of Arthur and Merlin. I especially like the versions by Mary Stewart and Jack Whyte where they describe these characters in rich detail as real people with real faults who worked hard to overcome them. The idea of Arthur as a succession planning exercise spanning several generations in Whyte's Camulod series was especially intriguing. It describes Arthur's great grandfather recognizing a coming change several generations away and planning for a leader who would be up to the challenges of uniting people with very different viewpoints and the planning that went into his eventual role as "high king" of Britain.

I think that people still want and need heroes. I think we still wat ideas that are bigger than us and aspirational as well. One of the things I like about engagement is that it is about things bigger than a person. It is about commitment to a set of values and ideas.

John Kennedy achieved almost legendary status, but we now realize he was a real person with real flaws. I personally think Bill Clinton is a brilliant man. I have issues with his character, but I respect his intellect.

It is interesting that Barrack Obama has not been sworn into office yet and we are already dissecting his character. I saw a news program the other day where people were complaining that his cabinet appointments weren't diverse enough. They didn't so much take issue with gender or ethnicity, but rather viewpoint.

I like to think I have my feet grounded in reality, but I must admit a passion for the big idea, the grand experiment.

I guess in the end I like my legends, heroes, and myths, as long as we don't allow these inspirational people and stories to obscure reality.

The whole thing reminds me a little of a quote attributed to John Lennon when he was asked whether or not the Beatles would ever get back together- he was quoted as saying "...the Beatles are a little bit like Jesus, I wish people would focus on what we had to say, not who said it."

As you might suspect Lennon was criticized for comparing the Beatles to Jesus. I don't think that is what he meant. I think rather he meant that sometimes the value is focusing on the message not the messenger.

So I guess as we move to the "holidays" let us consider issues like peace, understanding, charity, and hope; not whether the messenger was a Jewish carpenter or a jolly man with a weight problem in a red suit.

Whatever tradition you follow and whatever beliefs guide you I wish you and your families all the best as we bring one year to a close and begin another. Thanks you to all of you for your support and encouragement, I appreciate it more than I can adequately express.

"Outdated" Words

A couple of "virtual" discussions I have had with colleagues I respect a great deal cause me to ponder the use of some words that are part of our business lexicon. Two words in particular that people focused on are loyalty and empathy.

My colleague said that she felt loyalty has become a kind of psychological handcuff that we try to put on people, especially in the employment environment. People who don't stay with us for a long period of time are disloyal. Employees who question company policy are disloyal.

I use the concept of loyalty as one of the five elements of my Compliance to Commitment(TM) model. The other elements are respect, responsibility, information, and rewards.

In my my mind loyalty is in context. Loyalty like respect and leadership is something you earn and is freely given rather than an entitlement. Loyalty means that we meet our commitments to each other and that we deal with each other from a place of respect and clarity. It does not mean tenure, fealty, or other things that in my mind are based in a compliance kind of relationship. In an employment setting it means that while I am in your employee I meet your expectations to the best of my ability and that you give me clear expectations and honest feedback. It is measured by that commitment not the length of the relationship.

I think to ask someone to act in way that is not in their best interests or is in congruent with their values is being disloyal to them. I also think for me personally it is easier to be loyal to a person or value set than to an organization. I have always asked people who worked with me to be loyal to the vision or values of the organization, not to me.

Empathy is an interesting word as well. In my mind empathy is an appreciation and considerations for another's point of view. It is not sympathy, nor is it necessarily sensitivity. I think empathy is very important, if you cannot recognize and acknowledge another persons right to have a viewpoint or value set different than your own I think leadership is a bad fit for you. I didn't say you needed to agree with their viewpoint, rather that you acknowledge their right to have it and be able to evaluate it objectively. Without empathy I think we run the risk of attempting to impose our viewpoints and values on others.

So, I would ask you two questions:

• Are these words "outdated" ?
• What words would you add to my list?

The "Right" of Personal Competency

I was helping my daughter with an assignment this week and came across a concept that I hadn't focused on in a very long time if ever- the "right" of personal competency.

It would seem that back in the day the Founding Fathers wanted to ensure two very important rights that they felt were absent in the feudal societies and relationships that we left behind in Europe. Everybody is very familiar with personal property rights. Our right to own property, build a business, and generally prosper. You don't hear nearly as much about the right of personal competency; the right to express yourself, market your skills, and literally to "reinvent" yourself.

In Europe, and in fact in a lot of the world, your "destiny" was somewhat predetermined. Literally during the feudal period the "serfs" were tied to the land. You could not leave or relocate without your "Lord's" permission.

There were a lot of riots and other ugly history associated with collective bargaining as well, the right of individuals to bargain for the value of their services was not provided in that society.

In the early days we had what seemed to be an inexhaustible supply of land so anyone could "reinvent" themselves. Everybody was at least theoretically equal.

The Industrial Revolution changed a lot of things. We moved from an agrarian to an industrial society. Mass production allowed for a lot of things to be "dumbed" down.

The American history relative to personal competency isn't very attractive either. The railroads, industrialization of manufacturing, and exhausting our supply of "frontiers" created a new feudal system. The "new" nobility didn't think much of collective bargaining either- it was the late 1930's when the right of unions to exist and groups to bargain became a protected right.

Corporations began "taking care" of their employees. I'm not saying they did it out of altruism, rather they did it because unions demanded it or because they wanted to avoid unionization so they provided it proactively.

Employees of corporations began to expect their employer to provide employment security, health benefits, and retirement. Our labor relations laws still infer a lack of competence on the part of working people. Employees traded obedience for security and employers didn't include them in decisions about how we were going to do things. We have changed some of this with things like TQM, lean manufacturing, employee engagement programs, and other initiatives; but we still don't discuss many things with employees like adults.

Those things include : how we make decisions about compensation, factors affecting the costs of health care, and others. We don't always act like our employees are competent adults. What happened?

I like to think that my two models- Managing Whole People and Moving from Compliance to Commitment are in concert with what Jefferson and others had in mind with the right of personal competency. A system based on mutual respect, responsibility, information, rewards, and earned loyalty.

What do you think, is it time to go back to the future? Is personal competency both a right and a responsibility?

Managing Whole Relationships

The last week has been interesting. The holidays always cause me to pause and reflect about the year that has passed and the year that lays ahead.
This week has been especially interesting because some things I have been working on for a while are approaching completion.

I have believed for sometime that we need to redefine our employment relationship in the U.S.
In many ways I think it resembles the ancient system of serfdom and royalty.
Organizations have replaced the royalty, but we expect "fealty" and "loyalty" in return for taking care of our employees. The concept of taking care of employees really bugs me. You don't take care of adults. You partner with them. You reach covenants and understandings about mutual expectations and mutual benefits. You exchange ideas and value. You hold each other accountable and you invest in relationships.
There may be leaders, but leadership comes from creating a meaningful vision and clarity and giving people a reason to follow you. It is not a hereditary right that comes with a title or position.

This week my first book went to the printer. People ask me how long I took to write it and I answer somewhat whimsically that it took my thirty years to write it, and about six months to write it down.

Over the last 30 years I have been a consultant, manager, executive, and I hope a leader.
My book is about those experiences and the things that I learned and the mistakes that I made. It is also about a new model that I believe in- a partnership model. We take care of each other.

I hope it is a good book. I have worked hard on it and I have been blessed with the patience and investment of a number of people who have helped me shape it and edit it and make it better. It is a reflection of our collective effort, not just mine.

We are faced with some challenging issues right now and for the foreseeable future. The world economy, health care delivery and costs, famine and terrorism, and a bunch of others.
I think we need to deal with these issues collaboratively.
We need to partner with our employees and communities and look for solutions that are different.
People are complicated and messy. Organizations take on all those issues and add their own. Societies just increase the scale.
2008 has been hard, but I have learned a lot and done things and met people that I probably wouldn't have without that catalyst.

I think I would like to spend 2009 working on knowing and appreciating "whole people" better and working with others to create new better models together.
I don't want to take care of people I want to share relationships and experiences with them. I don't want to complain about what is, I want to participate in what could be instead.
What do you want to do as you "wrap up 2008 and move into 2009?

Thoughts for Thanksgiving

For those of us in the U.S. today is Thanksgiving. Originally a day to recognize the first significant harvest of the "Pilgrims" landing in New England in many ways it has become lost as a commercial holiday- the day before "black Friday", the largest single retail day in U.S. marketing.
I would like to think of it more traditionally, as a day of reflection, of what we all have to be thankful for in our lives.
In our family every other year my wife's family gathers at our home. Although my parents have both passed away I get some vicarious pleasure from seeing the joy that comes from my Father in law as he gets to see his children and grandchildren assembled in one place.
My children will be joining us as well. At 18 and 22 they aren't children any more. Soon they will have their own families and their own traditions.
2008 has been an interesting year so far. I have returned to consulting after almost a seven year hiatus. I took the time to write the book I have always threatened to write. With the support of family and friends and the kind editing and gracious endorsement of my work I am preparing to formally publish it soon.
We saw a historic event in 2008. A woman and an African American competed for the nomination of a major party. The African American prevailed not only in winning the nomination of his party, but being elected as the President of the United States.
I like to think that pioneers like Abraham Lincoln, the Kennedy brothers, Dr. Martin Luther King and others who fought so hard for so long can look now and see that meaningful change is possible and that their sacrifices were not in vain.
We face on the deepest recessions that this country and perhaps the world has seen in generations, but there also seems to be a dawning recognition that we live in a world economy, not a local economy anymore. Perhaps we can use this as a catalyst moving forward to truly make meaningful changes on multiple levels.
This year has been challenging for me, but I see it as a new beginning and a platform for the future. We will each make a choice as to whether we move forward or backward.
I have much to be thankful for today. I hope you do too!

The Right Team

As President elect Obama goes through the next few weeks he will have both the opportunity and the responsibility to do something very few of us ever get a chance to do- individually select the members of his "executive team" or cabinet.

I have had the opportunity to serve as an executive with several different organizations. With the exception of my own business, I have never had the opportunity to assemble my own "team" with a blank slate to start with. That is not to say that I have not hired new team members or everyone that I "inherited" was not a good fit or a keeper, still the prospect of making each decision is an intriguing one.

My colleague, Joseph Skursky, specializes in helping his clients select the right people. He calls his model- "Hire hard- Manage easy". The intent is clear. Think about not only the "technical" aspects of what you want in your team mates, but their values, commitment, and other attributes.
Matt "Boom" Daniel talks about his experiences as a Marine Corp aviator, and the importance of having each others "six" or looking out for each other and how important that is especially in combat situations.

In my previous blogs, monologues, and presentations I have talked about some other things that I think are cogent to this discussion. Specifically I would include the role of a leader in providing clarity and eliminating ambiguity and the concept that leadership is a gift from those who freely elect to follow your direction and "join up" with you to achieve commonly understood and accepted goals. That is the essence of Compliance to Commitment.

Some of the most interesting dialogue around President Obama's selections is his past relationship with some of his key appointments. Whether they have personal animus or "like" each other or not. He seems to be approaching his selections in a very pragmatic way- the qualifications of the person to do the job, and their commitment to the vision.
Sounds like the way a good executive would make those key decisions.

Many people I have talked to indicated a key decision point for them in deciding who to vote for in the presidential election was Senator McCain's selection of Governor Palin as his running mate. Some felt her so unqualified as to bring his judgement into question, others felt the decision was a concession to political constituencies whose values and positions they found unacceptable.
Do I think Senator McCain lost the election because of Governor Palin, no, but she was definitely a polarizing choice.

At the end of the day I hold leaders accountable for their choices of their "team". They either selected them, or chose to retain them. Either way the leader who complains about their "team" isn't much of a leader to me. Who is on our team is our responsibility.