Taking Service to a New Level

According to this article in today's New York Times, Kaiser Permanente has done some pretty amazing things with customer service, especially as it relates to re-design of patient areas and facilities. Looks like this service effort and patient-first mentality is taking over the culture there. The goal is to ensure the theme of "Thrive" is not merely a marketing slogan. Pretty interesting stuff and worth checking out.

Holding Leaders Accountable? Don't Forget Forgiveness!

Holding Leaders Accountable? Don't Forget Forgiveness!

Preparing for a trip to New York today, and I was going through some old magazines in my office and came across this one -- the June 2000 issue of Fast Company -- thick (418 pages) with the provocative cover "Enough Talk! It's Time for Results -- Are You Getting It Done?"

This was some fun reading. While the cover could be published today (it's still all about results, or should be), a few of the articles held up and a few of them reflected the mindsets we all had nearly 10 years ago. Check out page 88 -- a record company exec argues that CDs are here to stay, not those pesky MP3 players!

The article that holds up most is one by Alan Webber (no surprise - he's brilliant) on how to get things done. My favorite part is the section about accountability. Here it is:

Doing means learning. Learning means mistakes.

If companies genuinely want to move from knowing to doing, they need to build a forgiveness framework -- a tolerance for error and failure -- into their culture. A company that wants you to come up with a smart idea, implement that idea quickly, and learn in the process has to be willing to cut you some slack. You need to be able to try things, even if you think that you might fail.

The absolute opposite mind-set is one that appears to be enjoying a lot of favor at the moment: the notion that we have to hold people accountable for their performance. Companies today are holding their employees accountable -- not only for trying and learning new things, but also for the results of their actions. If you want to see how that mind-set affects performance, compare the ways that American Airlines and Southwest Airlines approach accountability -- and then compare those two airlines' performances.

American Airlines has decided to emphasize accountability, right down to the departmental -- and even the individual -- level. If a plane is late, American wants to know whose fault it is. So if a plane is late, what do American employees do? They spend all of their time making sure that they don't get blamed for it. And while everyone is busy covering up, no one is thinking about the customer.

Southwest Airlines has a system for covering late arrivals: It's called "team delay." Southwest doesn't worry too much about accountability; it isn't interested in pinning blame. The company is interested only in getting the plane in the air and in learning how to prevent delays from happening in the future.

Now ask yourself this: If you're going to be held accountable for every mistake that you make, how many chances are you going to take? How eager are you going to be to convert your ideas into actions?

Over-Communicate

Nothing lengthy today, just a reminder to double-up on your communications. We call this "over-communicating." One would think that this would not be much of an issue in this tough economy. I mean, isn't it more important than ever that we repeat key messages to staff? Yes, but that doesn't mean we are doing it.

I read in the Financial Times that "Weber Shandwick, the PR agency, reported research showing that 54 per cent of American workers have not heard from their leaders how their company will be impacted by the recession, but 74 per cent had heard co-workers discuss the matter. The rumor mill cannot be shut down and canny leaders will feed the grapevine with facts to help counter the rumours.

"Leaders must also show that they are listening and that they welcome employee feedback. In his new book, 'How the Mighty Fall,' Jim Collins notes that for companies on a declining trajectory, 'those in power start to blame external factors for setbacks rather than accept responsibility. The vigorous, fact-based dialogue that characterizes high-performance teams dwindles or disappears altogether.'"

One point we make in our book "Ordinary Greatness" is that if you make people guess, they will almost always guess wrong. Are you making people guess or are you over-communicating?

Using Ordinary Greatness Principles to Increase Trust

Now comes news that in a recent study by the American Nurses Association, about half of nurses say that they would not be comfortable having a loved one receive care where they work. (http://www.modernhealthcare.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090706/REG/307069952/-1&AssignSessionID=273358755675162) The study concludes that these nurses have lost trust in their employer, so much so that they wouldn’t want their child or parent to be cared for in these facilities. There’s a business case to be made for rebuilding this kind of trust, because as healthcare marketers, we know that word of mouth marketing, especially from employees, is the most valuable type of marketing for a health-care facility.
What can be done to retain or restore trust in a workplace? In our book, “Ordinary Greatness,” we examine this question, and here is what we found:

1. Tell the truth. Sounds simple, but most employees we interviewed who had lost trust in their boss could tell some story about a time they felt they were lied to, spun, or were told less than the unvarnished truth. The boss often has a different perspective when confronted about this disconnect, and blames “the script HR gave me,” the employee’s unrealistic expectations, or the economy. But is there ever a reason not to tell the whole truth? Our commitment to protect confidentialities aside, be sure you are telling the truth in every situation. A friend of ours asks his young children every night when he tucks them in, “Did Daddy tell the truth to you today?” We asked him why he did this. He said, “Because I want to avoid situations where my kids think I lied to them when in reality we just had a misunderstanding. For example, if my kids ask me if I could take them to the park, I might say yes, thinking I will do it this weekend, when they were thinking of today. I want to catch that stuff as it happens.”

2. Stay visible. Schedule time each day to go around and visit staff where they work and work alongside them. In many of these hospitals mentioned above, it is a safe guess that administrators and decision-makers have hidden in their offices and made staffing and equipment decisions based on spreadsheets, not on what they saw in the workplace with their own eyes, causing trust on the front lines to erode. Here are the benefits to you of getting out of your office today:
·You will identify and recognize ordinary greatness occurring during the course of the workday.
·You will let staff know that you care about the work that is being done and appreciate its importance to achieving organizational goals.
·You will encourage staff to make suggestions and offer opinions to improve the organization creating a stronger sense of ownership.
·You will provide the context for identifying opportunities for improvement and understanding the dynamics of decision choices.
·You will recognize obstacles or barriers that need to be removed to achieve better outcomes.

3. Be vulnerable about your own blinders that inhibit trust. In our research for “Ordinary Greatness,” we identified five blinders that keep leaders from spotting greatness in those they lead. These are:
·Compartmentalization (The belief that everyone and everything can be put in its own box)
·Preconceived Notions (Making quick cognitive commitments without getting the whole story)
·Personal Bias (Your own experiences and judgments that can cloud your vision)
·External Focus (Falling for the trappings of success or making judgments based on how something looks)
·Busyness (Over-scheduling to the point that important things are missed such as employee engagement)
Which of these blinders might you struggle with? Know your limitations and which blinders might be traps for you. Then discuss these with your staff. To take a free blinders assessment, visit our website: http://www.ordinarygreatnessbook.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23&Itemid=21

4. Conduct “aspirational conversations” with staff. Do you know the aspirations of each of your employees? Do you know where they want their careers to go in the next five years? Aspirational conversations are ongoing dialogue between the individual and their manager focused on personal development actions to support the expansion of responsibilities, upward mobility, or new career paths. The leader open to spotting and developing ordinary greatness will see the value of conducting aspirational conversations with subordinates. We have been stunned by how few leaders actually do this simple, free activity that will reap benefits forever.

We believe that if the hospitals with the untrusting nurses had expected the above behaviors from leaders, trust would not be as much of an issue there. These principles work. Trust matters. Are you working hard each day to build trust by spotting ordinary greatness where you work and live?

Don't Skip The Offsite

Great blog post on HBR by Melissa Raffoni on the pros and cons of meeting offsite, even in tough budget times. http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/hbr/hbr-now/2009/07/the-pros-and-cons-of-canceling.html

Melissa is upfront about the expense and the risk, but I would come to the same conclusion -- don't skip the offsite, just make sure it is genuine and adds value. We recommend that all executive teams meet offsite at least quarterly.

Time for Some Visioning

Read an article on Forbes.com about Johnson Controls and an interesting custom there. http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/30/johson-controls-vision-leadership-ceonetwork-week.html Every year, all 140,000 employees in over 1,000 locations gather for sessions to discuss the strategic direction of the company, the overall vision, and the challenges the company is facing. Very admirable. I believe that "weigh in equals buy-in," and I would encourage all companies to copy this best practice.

Here are some highlights:

• Because of financial challenges this year, someone suggested that the vision sessions be cancelled. The CEO said it took about 30 seconds to kill that idea. I've found that most great companies and teams have a "now more than ever" approach to clarity and effectiveness. The hard times are when we really need to do this, not just when things are going well.
• "In an employee survey afterward, 68% said this year's week improved their understanding of how to effectively serve their customers. A surge of organizational and cultural awareness was created as hundreds of operational, sales and marketing, and support teams shared stories and plans." Sounds like a good return on investment.
• Johnson Controls also invites some its largest customers to the meeting. Definitely a good idea. When discussing and sharing vision, get the input of customers.

Stanford Study Confirms "Ordinary Greatness" Principle

The Stanford Graduate School of Business (http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/research/fast_commongroup.html?cmpid=news) recently conducted a study to determine if performance really matters when it comes to who we talk about and how often we talk about them.

The researchers asked participants to discuss baseball players, and gave them two lists: well-known players who were having mediocre seasons and less-known players who were having All-Star caliber seasons. They told the participants to discuss the players with one another, and more participants selected well-known players (66 percent) than lesser-known, higher-performing players (34 percent) to discuss with their conversation partners.

There are many reasons for this, but the main one seems to be that the participants selected the safer, well-known choice for a conversation topic as a way to seek "common ground." So when asked to select a player to discuss with a partner, performance seemed to matter less than how well the participant felt their partner would know the player.

In "Ordinary Greatness," we talk about blinders that inhibit our ability to see greatness, and this is an example of the blinders of compartmentalization and personal bias. We simply have a hard time spotting greatness if it doesn't fit into our preconceived notions of what greatness is or who can be great. In most companies there are employees who are doing great things who are less noticed because they may be quiet or are just not in a position to be noticed.

If you'd like to take a free assessment to see if there are any blinders you should be aware of in your own leadership, click here for that part of the Ordinary Greatness website: http://www.ordinarygreatnessbook.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=23&Itemid=21

Thoughts on Leadership from CEO of Prescription Solutions

Interesting interview with Jacqueline Kosecoff in Sunday's Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/business/21corner.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all). She had some good advice and insight into leadership that really mirrors some things that I share with clients. Here are some highlights:

• She doesn't lead all of her team's meetings. "Each one of the executives leads the meeting — it rotates in alphabetical order and we just go through the list." She said this approach gets some good outcomes: "First of all, it teaches them how to lead a meeting. It also sends a message that this meeting’s not for me, it’s for us. And it’s been my observation that at a lot of these operations meetings, everyone talks to the C.E.O., not to each other. It also teaches good meeting etiquette. People are much more, I think, respectful of how they behave in a meeting because they’re going to be leading the meeting one day. "


• She also starts meetings by asking if someone in the company needs to be acknowledged. A good idea to be sure reward and recognition is prevalent in the company.


• Kosecoff also has this to say about silence: "it is consent. If you don’t speak up in the meeting, you can’t later come back and say: 'I really hated that. I don’t want it to happen.'" I would add that silence is really abdication. It is a good idea to have each team member go on the record and state their opinion on every important issue to avoid the outcome Kosecoff describes above. I am so glad she has thought this through. Shows good leadership on her part.


• She also stresses "assume positive intent." I agree. On the great teams I have worked with and on, there is a high level of benefit of the doubt.

Summer Reading List

Summer is a great time to catch up on your reading. Yeah, right! Who wants to read on vacation, you say? Well, whether you are a prodigious reader like us or not, these are the books we recommend this summer. We prefer books that are easy reads that challenge our assumptions and give us tools we can use in our everyday leadership. These definitely fit the bill:

How The Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In
by Jim Collins

·Whether your company is on the way up, way down, or stagnating, this book will let you know the warning signs of failure and how some organizations stay successful. Hint: a lot of it has to do with your senior leadership team.

The 100 Best Business Books of All Time: What They Say, Why They Matter, and How They Can Help You
by Jack Covert, Todd Sattersten

·This is my kind of book - pick it up anytime you have a few minutes and read the 2-3 page summary of a book you have perhaps read before but want to be reminded of the key concepts.

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us
by Seth Godin
·Puts a whole new perspective on how leadership develops on blogs and social networking sites.

Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else
by Geoff Colvin

A Sense of Urgency
by John P. Kotter


Here are some books that aren’t as new as the titles above, but ones that we definitely recommend:

Firing Back: How Great Leaders Rebound After Career Disasters
by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Andrew Ward
·I picked this one up at a used bookstore just because I hadn’t remembered seeing a book on this topic before. At about 300 pages, there is a lot there, but it is a tremendous look at what it takes to recover from setbacks.

The Servant
by James Hunter
·A nice little fable that illustrates that the greatest leader is the greatest servant. This one changed my life.

Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers
by Robert Kriegel
·Funny and provocative look at innovation and shaking up your business.

The Transparency Edge
by Barbara and Elizabeth Pagano
·This isn’t just a leadership book – it will teach you how to live.

Of course, we recommend that you read anything ever written by Patrick Lencioni. Also, any of the “Little (Color) Book of ____________” by Jeffrey Gitomer. Both of these authors are especially good choices for people who don’t like to read traditional business books.

Any that you would add to your summer reading list?

Get More Done By Saying Less

Good article by Carmine Gallo on the Business Week small business site on the value of being more succinct when communicating. http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jun2009/sb20090616_017396.htm

Contains a great quote by New York real estate queen Barbara Corcoran. "Nobody is as interested in you as you think they are." This can be applied to our communication strategy as well. People probably aren't as interested in our message as we think they are, but we can improve our communication effectiveness.

We coach leaders to use two strategies: elevator speeches and over-communication.

When introducing a new concept or message, employ an elevator speech. Elevator speeches should answer four questions about our topic:

1. What is it?
2. Why is it necessary?
3. What will success look like?
4. What do I need from you?

The idea behind the elevator speech is that if you can't describe your idea, product, or message in four sentences or phrases, it's too complicated and will probably not be retained by the hearer.

Then once the elevator speech is prepared, you can't just say it once. You have to absolutely pound the message over and over and over. Dont' be afraid to repeat yourself. Repetition is how people remember.

This Summer, Don't Be Camouflaged

I chuckled when I saw the "uniform" satirist Stephen Colbert wore when he went to Iraq recently to entertain the troops. I didn't know Brooks Brothers custom-made camouflage suits. Then I really cracked up when I saw the clip of him getting his hair cut by order of the President: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/31183492#31183492

Camouflage makes for a funny suit for Colbert, but fading into the background is something every leader should avoid this summer. Summer is already a time of vacations and time away from work as it is. The thing to remember this summer is visibility. In our book "Ordinary Greatness," we talk about the importance of leaders being as visible as possible in order to find the greatness that exists everywhere in the company. So instead of staying in the office doing e-mail or spreadsheets, get out and spend time with staff. Here are the benefits:

1. Builds trust between staff and management


2. Provides opportunities for the leader to identify and recognize
   ordinary greatness occurring during the course of the workday


3. Lets staff know that you care about the work that is being done
   and appreciate its importance to achieving organizational goals


4. Encourages staff to make suggestions and offer opinions to improve
   the organization, creating a stronger sense of ownership


5. Provides the context for identifying opportunities for improvement
   and understanding the dynamics of decision choices


6. Helps the leader recognize obstacles or barriers that need to be
   removed to achieve better outcomes

However, the myriad benefits of visibility are often lost on executives. They have given us many excuses for not being visible. Here are some we have heard over the years:

1. Too busy


2. Didn't I just do that last month?
   
3. I don't know what to say when I am with staff.


4. They don't want me around anyway.

Entire books can be written to debunk each of those excuses, but if you are interested in improving your visibility, here are some tips:

1. Commit to just getting started and doing it. It's always scariest right before you get started.


2. Schedule it. Be sure your schedule is not so overburdened that you miss out on being visible to your staff and customers.


3. Use your visibility time as an opportunity to over-communicate key messages. Don't be afraid to repeat yourself.


4. If you are interacting with staff layers down in the organization, don't forget to manage up their leader to them -- be positive. This is what we call a win-win-win-win.

So next time you are tempted to hide out in your office, remember Colbert's camouflage suit. Be sure this is one article of clothing that you never wear. Stand out and get out. Now about that haircut...

Any visibility tips that have worked well for you? How do you stay visible to your customers and staff?

What My Summer Job Taught Me

With millions of high-schoolers and young adults heading out to the workforce for their first summer jobs this month, the WSJ ran an interesting item, "The Strange Summer Jobs of 23 Famous People." http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124389730538274205.html#mod=djem_we

While it is satisfying to think of Rod Stewart as a gravedigger, Brad Pitt in a chicken suit, and a young Colin Powell selling furniture, this article also acted as a catalyst for me to think about my first summer job. I worked at a Dairy Queen (just like Gwen Stefani, it turns out), and here's what I learned there:

1. The concept of mandatory effort/discretionary effort is real. I hadn't yet heard these terms, but before long (maybe a week), I had figured out just how much work I needed to do and how fast I needed to do it to avoid getting in trouble. Every one of your staff members knows where this line is as well. Those leaders who can tap into discretionary effort and get more than what is mandatory will be most successful. Not getting the maximum discretionary effort from people represents the greatest waste in most businesses today, and if leaders addressed this, most layoffs and waste-reduction efforts would not be necessary.

2. Find out the most important part of your job and do it better than anyone else. The rest is pretty simple. For example, though no one told me early on, I quickly found out that the most important part of my job was keeping the soft-serve mix bags in the cooler from emptying. Duh, you say, it is a DQ, and people will want soft-serve ice cream, but hey, give me a break, I was 15! Don't make anyone ever guess what is most important to the business overall, to you, and to their individual success. Are your staff members confused about priorities?

3. The true leader isn't always the one with the title. Every shift at the DQ had a crew chief as you might expect, but then there was a lady named Ruth. Ruth had worked there since the Dairy Queen was a Dairy Princess, and her combination of tenure and confidence and fearlessness made her a leader though she was not a formal crew chief. I made sure I didn't cross her, and often looked to her for guidance before I checked with my boss. Do you know who the influential informal leaders are in your business? Do you recognize that some people have more influence than others and deal with them accordingly? Fortunately, Ruth was generally a positive force and presence, but I have seen many cases where the informal leaders were negative influences, and those teams and businesses were almost always dysfunctional.

What about you? Any lessons you learned at your first summer job?

Is Your Team on the Way Down or the Way Up?

The current Business Week contains an excerpt from Jim Collins's new book "How the Mighty Fall." http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_21/b4132026793275.htm

In the book, Collins talks about the importance of the role of the executive team in making the organization mighty. He lists the traits of teams on "the way down" and those on "the way up." Fascinating stuff.

If I could dare to supplement Collins's list, here are some I would address:

Teams on the way down are led by leaders who create confusion by assigning work and discussing outcomes only with individual team members.

Teams on the way up are led by leaders who know how to use the team's meetings to promote clarity and cohesion.

Teams on the way down are made up of members who come to the table representing first and foremost their vertical line of the business.

Teams on the way up are made up of members who come to the table representing first and foremost the team and the organization -- they think horizontally across the business.

Teams on the way down work together for years with the members never really getting to know one another.

Teams on the way up are cohesive because they genuinely enjoy being around one another and are comfortable discussing even personal aspects of their lives.

Teams on the way down are made up of team members who hide their weaknesses from one another.

Teams on the way up are made up of team members who willingly apologize to one another and freely admit mistakes.

Teams on the way down have meetings that are boring and that are dreaded by the team members.

Teams on the way up have meetings have that are interesting, compelling and relevant.

Teams on the way down pursue artificial harmony.

Teams on the way up pursue healthy levels of debate.

Is your team on the way down or the way up?

One Man's Trash....

I came across a strange little story in today's New York Post (http://www.nypost.com/seven/05312009/news/regionalnews/vinyl_treasure_in_yukky_trash_171811.htm?CMP=EMC-email_edition&DATE=05312009). It is about music-memorabilia dealer Howard Fischer and the fact that he has found many valuable music albums, old comedy recordings, and even famous speeches by Winston Churchill, all in his neighbor's trash.

"The recordings are on 7- and 10-inch plastic discs, in brown paper sleeves with handwritten labels. They were made in the mid-'40s, but it's not clear which radio shows, or even which stations, the devoted listener recorded. Fischer thinks his unknowing benefactor must have recorded the shows with some primitive device he made himself. "

Now even the Library of Congress is interested in getting its hands on these recordings.

I suppose the appropriateness of what Fischer is doing can be debated, but I can't stop thinking about the person who threw the recordings away. The person who made the originals obviously knew how unique the records are and how difficult they were to make. I suspect the person who threw them away was not the original owner and probably someone who didn't know or care about their value. Maybe it was a relative who thought, "Let's get rid of this trash." Or, "it can't be valuable if one of our family members owned it." Little did that person know the value of the "trash" right there in that apartment.

In our book, "Ordinary Greatness," we write about leaders tendencies to do this same de-valuing, but instead of music recordings, they tend to underestimate the people they lead. There are several blinders that get in the leader's way -- personal bias, preconceived notions, busyness, compartmentalization, and external focus. Any of them could be at play here.

As you interact with those you lead this week, watch out for these blinders, and remember -- there is valuable treasure right were you are. Don't throw it away!

Leading Clever People

One of my favorite leadership titles of the past decade is "Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?" by Gareth Jones and Rob Goffee. They are at it again with "Clever – leading your smartest, most creative people" being published later this year.

I saw Stefan Stern's column about the book in the FT, (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/643a8cec-4914-11de-9e19-00144feabdc0.html), and it got me thinking of my own list of challenges related to leading clever people:

1. They are not easily-controlled because they don't fear for their job -- they know they have talent that others will want or they can embark on their own.

2. They will only want to work on the most important, invigorating projects, often with no respect for turf or boundaries. This can drive corporate managers crazy.

3. They have a lot of influence, so it is important to keep them engaged, as others will follow their lead.

4. A real challenge is helping them see that they are not more important than the organization or the team. An expectation will have to be created that they use their impressive skill sets in service of the whole, not themselves.

Do you lead clever people? If so, what has worked for you?

Another Recognition Reminder

As you know, I am an enthusiastic proponent of managers learning new recognition strategies in order to better engage their staffs. So when I saw a column by Lucy Kellaway in today's Financial Times on what leaders should remember when recognizing good work, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c89a5f04-46ea-11de-923e-00144feabdc0.html, I was drawn to it.

The article is thought-provoking, and here are my take-aways:

1. We often teach that recognition should be specific, but Lucy says this is not always a good idea. She shares the example of a leader who told a direct report, "You are a brilliant administrator." Leaving it at "you are brilliant" would have been better. I hadn't thought of that before, but it makes sense. I know for me the second example would have been more effective.

2. Lucy says she is "addicted to praise." I think most of us are, and the leader who realizes this will have an awesome tool in her arsenal.

3. "Praise is hellishly difficult to get right: good praise is even more of an art form than good criticism, and bad praise is worse than none at all."

4. Lucy closes the article by stressing the importance of handwritten notes. Amen!

Hey, He Has a Goal. Kind of Strange, But He Has a Goal

Saturday's WSJ features the story of a 37-year-old man named "Winter" who for the last twelve years has been in pursuit of a personal goal: to visit every Starbucks store in the world. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124301100481847767.html#mod=djemITP

So far he has been to over 9,000 stores around the world (98.9% of North America's), and a focus of the article is the bit of a panic he finds himself in due to the recent announcements by Starbucks that hundreds of stores will soon be closing. You can even go to his website http://www.starbuckseverywhere.net/ and check to see if Winter has visited the Starbucks you frequent. He has visited "mine" (pictured above) in Gulf Breeze.

Winter's story first made me laugh, then made me think about what would possess a 37-year-old man to give his life to pursue this? He admits he is "mildly obsessive-compulsive." OK.

What I did admire in our age of short attention spans was his focus on his goal . A strange goal, but a goal. Most people have long-since strayed from their New Year's resolutions by the Super Bowl, and my corporate clients often confess that they have difficulty sticking to a goal, and their goals are certainly more important and meaningful than Winter's, I would think.

So what can we learn from Winter? What does it take to be so invested in a goal that one would devote 12 years of life to seeing it through?

One thing is obvious: if leaders could tap into this kind of passion, energy, effort, and commitment with those they lead, some great things could be accomplished.

Oh, and another thing -- the London Fog Tea Latte is really, really good.

Money's Nice, But a Good Boss is Better

Today's Washington Post details the results of a recent survey of federal workplaces. I love the title of the article -- "Money's Nice, But a Good Boss is Better." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/19/AR2009051903621.html

Of course, some federal departments in the employee survey fared better than others. Here's what the article has to say about the difference between the departments with high morale and those where employees are miserable:

"What separates these agencies in the minds of their employees is often the senior leadership, how well or poorly it shares information with subordinates, and the training and opportunities it provides workers, according to the study of federal survey results by the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan group devoted to improving public service. "

The study also found that workers valued communication and straight answers from the boss more than pay and benefits! This research validates organizational studies we have been a part of and reiterates a central theme of life: everything rises and falls on leadership.

Every improvement tactic and strategy, to be effective in your company, will have to be role-modeled by the leaders first. The best gift you can give your employees is a great boss.

Google's Approach to Higher Turnover, Lower Engagement

According to an article in today's WSJ(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124269038041932531.html#mod=djemTMB?mg=com-wsj), the leadership at Google is concerned over the loss of staff members to newer start-ups like Twitter and Facebook and also over what seems to be a lessening of employee engagement in the company.

So their response? "The Internet search giant recently began crunching data from employee reviews and promotion and pay histories in a mathematical formula Google says can identify which of its 20,000 employees are most likely to quit. Google officials are reluctant to share details of the formula, which is still being tested. The inputs include information from surveys and peer reviews, and Google says the algorithm already has identified employees who felt underused, a key complaint among those who contemplate leaving.

I have my doubts about the effectiveness or appropriateness of a tool like this. Wouldn't equipping leaders at Google to get to know their people and spend time with them to see if they are fully engaged and/or at risk of leaving be a better approach?

In our book, "Ordinary Greatness," we talk about the need for leaders to have "aspirational conversations" with staff to get to know them better and to see if the work they are doing is fulfilling and meaningful. Give me that over an algorithm any day.

What do you think?

Is the Recession Costing You Sleep?

According to survey results published in the Financial Times today (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/222c8a8a-4342-11de-b793-00144feabdc0.html), the recession is costing us not just our money, our savings, and our 401(k)'s. It is also costing us sleep. The average manager is sleeping 19 per cent less than the recommended eight hours a night. Some 40 per cent of those questioned blame the state of the economy for their lack of sleep. If you think the results of your business in this recession is going to cost you sleep, instead of tossing and turning, do the following, and you might sleep a little more and make a little more money:

1. Contact every customer who has purchased from you in the last two years. Tell them you are thankful for their business. Period. This isn't a manipulative, "salesy" conversation -- just reach out.

2. Take care of your top people. You know who they are. The people that your customers mentioned when you called them. The people that you know make you look good. You think it's bad now -- if you lost your top people, it would be worse. Thank them, recognize them, and get to know them.

3. Weed out poor performers. I know I mentioned it in a previous post, but it keeps ringing in my ear: the only thing scarier than top people leaving is bottom people staying. Again, you know who they are -- start coaching and having the conversations immediately.

4. Make sure your leadership team is cohesive. Do team members acknowledge weaknesses to one another? Do team members point out one another's unproductive behaviors? Does the team engage in healthy debate? All these are critical to your success, and success usually begins with the team leader modeling the behavior.

5. In times like these, you cannot afford a single employee who is not operating at full discretionary effort. Are your staff members doing just the minimum to get by? Or are they "going the extra mile"?

Instead of losing sleep and money, take the above steps. Then you can rest easy, knowing your customers love you, your top performers are safely in the fold, the poor performers are on notice, your leadership team is cohesive, and everyone is giving their all.

What's on the CEO's Mind?

I just returned from providing the keynote address to a group meeting of 130 CEO's. Pam Bilbrey and I discussed the concepts in our new book, "Ordinary Greatness." These CEO's were from around the country and had gathered in Savannah, GA to discuss trends, hear from speakers, and collaborate on strategies related to the difficult economic conditions.

We talked to them about the need to retain their best people, how to be sure their investment in those people was being maximized, and how to teach their leaders to spot and develop greatness everywhere in the organization.

In speaking with the CEO's in some of the sessions, at breaks, and after our presentation, it became obvious that these were the issues that were front-of-mind to those in the executive suite:

1. Survival. Most CEO's right now are most concerned about getting through this time of cutbacks, budget cutbacks, and capital crunches. There was a real feeling that if we can get through 2009, the worst of this will be behind us. I hope they are right!

2. There was a lot of concern that when things do pick up, they may lose some of their best people. Right now there has been such a focus on survival and budgets that some of the things we have to do to retain our best people have been ignored. Recognition, employee involvement in decision-making, and training have all been cut at most companies, so when competitors begin to hire again, will we lose our best people?

3. They are very concerned that some of their worst-performing employees are just hanging on because they can't find anything else. You know, there is such a thing as good turnover -- when poor performing employees leave. And that is not happening right now. As one CEO said to me, "The only thing that scares me more than my best people leaving is my worst people staying." More important than ever to be sure the hiring model the company uses ensures the right people get in the door.

4. The time for touchy-feely "do it because it feels good" people solutions is over. There must be a botom-line answer for every proposed action. I think that's why we were so well-received. The issues we discussed related to making the business more profitable by being sure that every employee is engaged and employing maximum effort. We stressed value and profitability, so I know we were speaking their language!

Manny Being Manny

Recently I was facilitating an executive offsite, and during a break, I was talking with one of the participants about our ability to begin to overlook the flaws in others the more we work with them. It is kind of "well, that's just how he is," or "I've worked with him for a long time, and I've adjusted and learned how to deal with him."

The same has often been said about baseball star Manny Ramirez (pictured). We've all probably read about his recent alleged transgression involving a banned substance (not the subject of this post). Throughout his career, Manny has displayed some bizarre behaviors, all of which have been chalked up to "Manny being Manny."

Well, we do the same thing with people that we are on teams with. We overlook some of their negative behaviors because we have become used to them. It's just "Bob being Bob" or "Jane being Jane." This attitude makes life easier in the short term perhaps, but it is devastating to the team. Here's how to avoid this destructive mindset and the inevitable fallout:

1. Acknowledge it. The more we work around someone, the more comfortable and excusing we become about their behavior. Acknowledge this and vow to work to overcome it.

2. Establish that the team will not wait for the team leader or the boss to give feedback, but that feedback will flow in all directions.

3. Set aside time in team meetings to give and receive feedback on behaviors. It's amazing that if you ask teammates to list your strengths and weaknesses, they can accurately describe you. Go around the table and share each person's strong points and also what each can do to make the team healthier. Sounds intimidating, but it's easy once you get started. It's also easier if you use an outside facilitator. What's better is that your team will be stronger.

No more "Manny being Manny." Let's stop excusing and start working together.

Again With the Visibility!!

The New York Times Business Section on Sunday featured an interview with Robert Iger, CEO of Disney.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/business/03corner.html?_r=1

These are the main points that I was able to take away.

1. He stressed the role optimism plays in effective leadership. I would second this. The best leaders I have worked around, with, and for have kept an even keel, but lean to the optimistic side. The worst leaders I have seen have been paranoid masters of panic. Confidence (and lack of) is contagious.

2. His first boss at ABC told him he "wasn't promotable." Oops.

3. As is the case with successful leaders, Iger practices VISIBILITY. He says he meets in the cafeteria with staff, and that he actually schedules time to meet and talk with staff. Over and over, this visibility and accessibility is a trait of successful leaders. They know and are known.

4. When asked about hiring, he shares a quote by Warren Buffett that I think is just tremendous: “When you hire someone, you look for brains, energy and integrity, and if they don’t have the third, integrity, you better watch out, because the first two will kill you.”

Obama's Suggestion Box

In his address to the nation Saturday, President Obama mentioned that he is going to reach out to federal employees to capture and implement their ideas for improvement. "We'll establish a process through which every government worker can submit their ideas for how their agency can save money and perform better," he says.

http://www.startribune.com/politics/43689227.html?elr=KArks:DCiUMEaPc:UiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

Now, we have all seen lots of suggestion programs come and go, so naturally many commentators and observers are skeptical (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124113391622175125.html#mod=djemITP), but all suggestion programs are not doomed to failure.

First I would give President Obama praise for seeking to get the ideas of those employees on the front lines. This is becoming more important every day because of demographic changes in our country. In our book "Ordinary Greatness," Pam Bilbrey and I point out that the latest generation of employees (sometimes called Generation Y) has been engaged in decision-making within their families and schools in ways vastly different than previous generations. Children now have a significant say in most key family decisions, such as which house to purchase, which car to buy, and where the family will vacation. Generation Y is bringing this desire for involvement into the workplace, and leaders who feel they can continue to manage as they always have will be shocked when they not only fail to see greatness in their staff, but when they see management habits that worked in the past, such as maintaining secrets, playing politics, and promoting factions cause their personal and professional demise. Our survival depends on engaging our staff and getting their best ideas.

When establishing employee suggestion programs, here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Have a process for tracking and monitoring ideas, preferably electronically. Nothing destroys employee engagement faster than having ideas they submit get lost in the shuffle. If you haven’t been staying in touch with your staff and letting them know if or when their ideas will be acted upon, good luck getting staff to let you know their best ideas.

2. Be sure managers are engaged, accountable, and accessible throughout the process. When implementing his plan, President Obama must insist that leaders harvest ideas from staff and follow through on them. If their salary increases and promotional opportunities are not tied into their ability to engage their people, the plan has little chance for success. Managers must have goals tied to employee participation in the effort, and should constantly ask staff, "Do you know of any way we can improve our service or eliminate waste?"

3. Recognize the positive. Tell stories of how much the ideas have saved or how many wasteful processes have been eliminated. People remember stories long after they have forgotten facts. Keep the most positive people engaged by thanking them for their ideas and telling others how their ideas improved the workplace or the customer's experience.

4. Really mean it. If you aren't sincere about respectfully listening to staff and implementing their best ideas, don't start a suggestion effort. Staff can spot a phony flavor-of-the-month program, they will most likely ignore it, and leadership loses more credibility.

It's nice to see that with everything that President Obama has on his plate he is acknowledging a desire to listen to those closest to the taxpayers every day. Let's hope those who install the effort pay attention to these guidelines too.

Employee Engagement

Towers Perrin recently released the results of its global survey of employee engagement. "Just 21% of the close to 90,000 respondents worldwide are engaged in their work, meaning they’re willing to go the extra mile to help their companies succeed." The rest are at various levels of disengagement.

"What’s perhaps more troubling, 38% are partly to fully disengaged. The result is an 'engagement gap' between the discretionary effort companies need and people actually want to invest, and companies’ effectiveness in channeling this effort to
enhance performance. The study also found that companies with the highest levels of employee
engagement achieve better financial results and are more successful in retaining their most valued employees than companies with lower levels of engagement."

Link to the study: http://www.towersperrin.com/tp/getwebcachedoc?webc=HRS/USA/2008/200802/GWS_handout_web.pdf

Startling results like this beg the question: what can organizations do to improve employee engagement and discretionary effort? It is critical that companies pursue full engagement as anything less than full engagement represents enormous waste. If your greatest business expense is benefits, salaries, and wages, wouldn't you want to maximize your investment and be sure you were receiving maximum effort? It is always startling that the efficiency, Six Sigma, and LEAN experts seem to miss this one. The greatest waste in your company occurs anytime a staff member gives anything less than maximum effort.

So what can be done? Many things, but according to the study, we can start by:

1. Creating a hiring model that ensures the selection of those who will produce maximum effort.

2. Building a cohesive, clear, and effective senior leadership team that will set the tone in the organization. The Towers Perrin study shows we have a long way to go in this area.

3. Recognizing the positive, even simple, ordinary greatness that is in your company. Everyday there are heroes who are solving customer problems and representing you well -- find these heroes and thank them.

4. Holding leaders accountable to hiring, spotting, developing, and retaining those who bring their passion with them to work every day. Until people see that this matters to the boss, change is unlikely to come.

What has worked for you? How have you improved employee engagement and discretionary effort? What do you see that is in the way?

Farewell to Pontiac

This week GM announced plans to pull the plug on the Pontiac brand. This was tough news for me to take for sentimental reasons as the Pontiac Sunbird was the first car I ever bought at a dealership, with a car loan ($164.22 a month). Made me feel like such a grownup. It was 1992, and the dealership was Wade Raulerson in Gainesville, Florida. The 1992 Sunbird is pictured to the right -- white like mine. And yes, a four-door. How many 22-year olds buy a four-door? I traded that car in for an SUV days before my first son was born. We needed something bigger, you know. Well, he'll be a teenager next month, and I still have that SUV, which is a link to the Sunbird, so you're starting to catch on to the sentimentality.

Anyway, it is a reminder that no company or brand has the right to exist. We all have to make our way and prove our worth and value. And while I loved my Sunbird, I got rid of it before the head gasket blew (as that model was prone), and I have to remind myself this was the same brand that rolled out the Fiero (it was supposed to be a cheaper Corvette and ended up being a more expensive Citation) and the Aztec (a recent winner in an "ugliest car ever" contest).

Also, Pontiac has created some iconic advertising. Advertising Age has a slide show containing some of the ads -- fun to look at, and yes, I remember some of them -- you will, too.

http://adage.com/article?article_id=136319

So, I guess the lesson here is to stay vigilant about your business, but more importantly, stay relevant. Because for some reason, I never bought another Pontiac after that Sunbird, and I guess there were too many others like me.

"Mr. Irrelevant"

Every football fan knows the NFL Draft was held this past weekend, with the Detroit Lions selecting Matthew Stafford with the coveted first pick. Stafford and all the other first-round picks have gotten a lot of attention as the focus now shifts to how (and if) they will be able to help their new teams and to the big contracts they will all sign. A side question: what kind of system rewards the newest, most unproven people with the most money?
But the first rounders don’t always get all of the attention. Every year, the last pick in the draft is honored as “Mr. Irrelevant” by a group in California created and headed up by former NFL wide receiver Paul Salata, who played in the NFL for one year. Salata’s group invites Mr. Irrelevant to Newport Beach for “Irrelevant Week” and the awarding of the “Lowsman Trophy” (opposite of “Heisman” and pictured above) It’s all in great fun, the proceeds go to benefit the Orange County Goodwill Fitness Center, and the designee often joins the festivities to be part of the scene. This has been going on since 1976, and according to the group’s website (http://www.irrelevantweek.com/), there will be lots of enjoyable activities to greet this year’s Mr. Irrelevant, Ryan Succop, from the University of South Carolina, chosen as the 256th overall pick by the Kansas City Chiefs.
Now, you’d think the last overall pick in the draft wouldn’t stand much of a chance of success, and sometimes you’d be right. Some Mr. Irrelevants didn’t even make the roster of the team that drafted them (anyone heard from Cam Quayle, 1998’s Mr. Irrelevant?), but there have been some surprises. According to irrelevantweek.com, there are currently four past “winners” playing in the league, Bill Kenney (1978) was a Pro Bowl player, and Marty Moore (1994) became the first “Mr. I” to play in a Super Bowl.
This got me thinking about how often we might miss talented players, employees, colleagues, and others in our midst. How many “Mr. or Ms. Irrelevants” are in our lives? These might be the people who would be last on our list, but have the potential to surprise us with their talents and abilities if we only take the time to notice them.
This summer when the NFL teams go to training camp, while everyone else is watching the top picks, I’ll be keeping an eye on Ryan Succop, a really good kicker from South Carolina. When I’m watching him, I hope I’ll be reminded to not let anyone in my life be “irrelevant.”

Ben Stein on Sales

Ben Stein's column in The New York Times rarely disappoints, and this week is no exception. He opines on the value of the art of salesmanship and how transferable sales skills are.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/business/26every.html?_r=1

Raising Bill Gates

Fascinating article in Thursday's Wall Street Journal. "Raising Bill Gates" is an in-depth look at the early life of Bill Gates and what his parents did right and lessons they learned in bringing him up. Here's what I captured and as the father of three will try to put into practice:

1. Don't freak out when children's interests, talents, and desires begin to diverge from your own. This is natural.

2. They will be independent of you at some point, so when that process begins, go with it. It was only when the Gates began to let young Bill follow his hunches (including leaving college) and stopped trying to control him that he really blossomed.

3. A man named Dorm Braman had a huge impact on young Bill Gates, Sr. when he was a child. The lessons he learned from Braman were put to use as he raised Bill Jr. I loved what Sr. had to say about Braman: he had "no sense of personal limitations whatsoever."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124061372413054653.html

What Works in Sales

Famed reality TV producer Mark Burnett is claiming that producers like himself can do a better job selling ad space on these shows than professional ad sales people.

Burnett is producer of "Survivor" and "The Apprentice." Maybe I'll write about "The Celebrity Apprentice" next week. Anyway...

During a gathering of reality hitmakers at a Hollywood Radio & Television Society luncheon in Beverly Hills on Wednesday, Burnett was asked by moderator Jeff Probst what is the most frustrating aspect of dealing with networks.

"The biggest problem is the massive disconnect ... between creative producers and ad sales," the "Apprentice" creator said. "The dumbest thing in the world is that the people who are trying to sell advertising -- the entire reason for this business -- are explaining what the content is after hearing about it third-hand. We're not there to say, 'Here's what the show is, here's my vision, here's the feel of it, and here's how I think some of your products could integrate seamlessly without harming the experience for the viewers.'"

He's right -- I believe he could create a more compelling sales proposition for advertisers because they would be hearing him describe his vision. Not a professional salesman describe Mark's vision as it was described to him (third hand).

More proof that sales and communications comes down to two things: clarity (a clear message) and credibility (an interesting messenger).

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i2b46d200e6140dd0146572e6e431f8ef

Obama's "Rounding"

John Baldoni has a very good post on the Harvard Business blog. It deals with Obama's recent efforts to be visible to the CIA employees and his "making rounds" there. Contains some very good morale-boosting tips.

http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/baldoni/2009/04/what.html

Health Care's a Mess, But I Like My Doc!!

Came across this item on the Wall Street Journal Health Blog today: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/04/22/patients-theres-waste-in-medicine-but-my-doctor-is-perfect/

Americans are typically unhappy with the state of health care delivery in America today, but they love their individual personal physician. (I would have to include myself in this category as well.) Reminds me that even when Congress has low overall approval ratings, expect an overwhelming majority of individual members of Congress to be re-elected. ("Congress sucks, but my guy is good.")

Also saw these results of a Harris Poll a little over a year ago in which Americans stated things in the country were bad, but as the questions got closer to home, the more positive the responses became.

I wonder why. Is it just because we are more optimistic about the things we know and feel we can control (like the choice of a physician)? Or is this positivity the only way we can cope in an increasingly hectic world?

Traits of a "Kitchen Nightmare"

NPR today did a spot on Gordon Ramsay's show "Kitchen Nightmares." I would recommend this show on Fox to anyone who is interested in culture change. The concept is that successful chef Gordon Ramsay is asked to come to a struggling restaurant and act as a sort of consultant -- find out why it is in trouble and provide the owner with the know-how and juice to turn it around, all the while showcasing Ramsay's charisma, profanity, and ego. But the show works. I've seen a few of the episodes, and it seems that all of the struggling restaurants have these three things in common:

bad leadership/ownership

bad food

filthy kitchen

I suppose service could be listed as well, but often after the above three are taken care of, the service seems to improve. It's almost as if the staff is waiting to see if leadership really cares enough to improve the food and clean the place up. Oh, and after a few months, Gordon returns, and the places have inevitably gone back to chaos. Which shows how tough changing a culture (even in a small restaurant) really is.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103321043&ft=1&f=1008

Accountability, NBA Style

For a team to be effective, it must be accountable. This doesn't mean that the players or team members are only accountable to their coach or leader. This is one-way accountability. True accountability flows in all directions, with players and team members accountable to one another. There is a good example of this in the Atlanta paper from last month. Al Horford of the Hawks in only his second year is holding his team mates accountable for their effort and performance. He is becoming a true leader way beyond his 23 years. Oh, and he isn't the best player or the biggest scorer. He's just a leader.

He’s different because he’s a second-year pro and leading this team —- often by example, sometimes by his words, even in the face of a veteran teammate.
How many second-year pros do that?
“I did it at Florida when I felt I had to,” Horford said Thursday. “I did it in high school. Here, I’ve done it a couple of times.”
Anticipating the next question, he quickly veered left: “I’m not going to name names. But if I see that somebody is not necessarily putting in the effort or is slacking off and it’s noticeable, I’m going to say something. Usually I’m very mellow. But sometimes I think something needs to be said, even if I put it out there in front of the whole team, even to the point where the guys might be mad at me for a day or two. I think it’s for the best."

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2009/03/20/schultz0320.html

Frantic Family

The schoolteacher of my fourth-grade son paid my wife an amazing compliment today. She said, "You know what I really admire about you and your family? You're not one of those overscheduled, hurried families who involve their kids in every single activity."

While it felt good to get this kind of feedback, she had to give a lot of credit to a book, "3 Big Questions for the Frantic Family." It helped us define what makes our family unique, the most important thing we have to accomplish together as a family, and how we are going to keep communicating these priorities. Has really helped us avoid the "well, everyone else is doing (fill in the blank activity), so I guess we should too." We led a small group at our church based on this book, and I know it helped many other families as well.

Pat discusses the book in Success Magazine: http://www.successmagazine.com/dynamic-family/PARAMS/article/665

"Take Your Passion With You" (Excerpt from "Ordinary Greatness")

"It's surprising how many people come home from relatively 'clean' jobs at the end of the day feeling bitter and miserable. Whereas the people I meet, by and large, seem really content with their lives, and happy with their dirty jobs. " -- Mike Rowe

Mike Rowe, host of TV’s “Dirty Jobs,” was asked by Fast Company magazine to share some tips and some life lessons he has learned as he has gone around the country spending time with people who do some of what most of us would refer to as the most disgusting jobs. Number one on his list was: “Never follow your passion, but by all means bring it with you.” (http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/122/seven-dirty-habits-of-highly-effluent-people.html) This struck us as great advice. Some say, “Follow your passion.” Dumb advice. If I simply followed my passion, I’m afraid most days I wouldn’t stop tossing the football around the backyard with my sons. I’m most passionate about spending time with my family, but of course, that has to be balanced with a need to make money, fulfill other obligations, etc. So we love Mike’s advice – take your passion with you wherever you go.

Just watching Mike’s show gives some insight to this concept. While everyone he visits is doing a dirty job, and for the most part, it seems, not getting rich doing it, every person he works alongside of is engaged and showing passion for the work. Can someone really be passionate about collecting chicken manure or scrubbing the inside of cement mixers? I doubt it. Instead, I think these people have brought their passion with them, and no matter what they were doing, they would be passionate about it. They just would be. Now, does it help to do work we find interesting? Of course. But we’ve also met executives who work in much nicer surroundings and make more money but who are miserable and exhibit less passion for their work than Mike’s friends. They have a great job, but they haven’t brought their passion with them.

Best Book on Teamwork Ever Written

I know I am biased because I am a consulting partner of the author Patrick Lencioni's firm, but this is the best book ever written on teamwork.

Culture Drives Innovation

I saw an item today based on research conducted by The University of Minnesota. It found that building a strong culture is an underrated, yet vital element of innovative, creative outcomes. You might say "duh," but there are a lot of companies spending a lot of money on Six Sigma and creativity programs and not seeing results because of the lack of a strong culture.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-11/uom-uom111808.php

"The Guy Who Didn't Deserve His Own Show"

One of the side-effects of my constant travel schedule is arriving at hotels in new cities late at night or early in the morning, and being unable to sleep, too excited by either the harrowing travel or the events of the next day. I’ve learned to appreciate the ability of late-night TV to slow down my nerves and help me sleep. Late-night TV is mostly a wasteland of infomercials and B-movies, but one of the bright spots for me has been “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” on NBC. I’ve only caught a handful of the shows, but it can always be counted on for a laugh it seems. It was interesting to see recently that Conan has aired his final show, as he will be succeeding Jay Leno as “Tonight Show” host when Jay steps down later this year -- according to Conan, a dream of his come true.

Conan’s career path also contains many lessons for leaders, I believe. You see, when Conan was offered the role of host of “Late Night” in 1993 (after being encouraged to audition by the legendary producer of “Saturday Night Live” Lorne Michaels), he was following the very successful David Letterman, and Conan was a complete unknown. He had been a successful writer behind the scenes on “The Simpsons” and “Saturday Night Live,” but he had no show-hosting experience. Many experts in the entertainment field were quite surprised and maybe even a bit offended that someone they did not know well had been chosen to host “Late Night.” In fact, NBC even acknowledged this perception in a radio ad which aired shortly before the show's debut that year that had O'Brien telling the story of someone who recognized him on the street and said, "Look, honey, there's the guy who doesn't deserve his own show!"

And his tenure was not without its bumps. For example, the first three years, NBC insisted on renewing the show only on a two-week basis at a time, as its survival was not guaranteed. Then Conan and his staff began hitting their stride. The shows became consistently funny, ratings improved, and the show developed a loyal following, especially among high-school and college-age kids. This provided some comedic fodder for O’Brien on his 10th Anniversary Special. Mr. T appeared on the special to give O'Brien a gold necklace with a giant "7" on it. When O'Brien tried to point out that he's actually been on the air for ten years, Mr. T responded, "I know that, fool...but you've only been funny for seven!"

What’s the lesson for leaders? Well, first of all, greatness in others is not always readily apparent. Sixteen years ago, no one was predicting that Conan would be such a successful host with such a legion of fans that he would actually be the next host of the “Tonight Show” after Jay Leno. His greatness was under the surface. He appeared to be an ordinary man, the “guy who doesn’t deserve his own show.” It took a visionary like Lorne Michaels to see the “ordinary greatness” in Conan.

Second, the lesson is that people need time. It might take a while to see ordinary greatness in others – don’t give up. You might have to keep an eye on things weekly like the NBC folks, but the results will be there.

So tonight, before you watch “Late Night” or go to bed early, be sure you have recognized greatness somewhere around you. Oh, and be sure to not just recognize it, but to tell someone you have. Here are some phrases to get you started:

I haven’t told you this in a while, but thank you for….
You might think that no one noticed when you…
Thank you for making my job easier when you…
Thank you for always taking such good care of our customers. I know they don’t always say thank you, so let me…


There is ordinary greatness everywhere you live. If it’s not apparent, you might have to be open to it and give it time. But the return on your investment will make it worth it, and you might find the next Conan!

Ordinary Greatness

Just wanted to remind everyone about my book "Ordinary Greatness," published by Wiley and in stores in July. It is available for pre-ordering on Amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/Ordinary-Greatness-Where-Expect-Everywhere/dp/0470461721/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237848509&sr=8-1

Part of the fun of writing a book like “Ordinary Greatness” is the opportunity to connect people with the greatness inside themselves, those they lead, and in fact, everyone around them. We found that as we researched the book, there were in every organization multiple opportunities to find greatness, and our goal was to equip leaders with tools to ensure that they could find that greatness even in places where they least expect to find it.
We were constantly reminded of leaders we know who, because of their busy schedule, frantic life, and overall hectic existence, walk past greatness every day because it appears so ordinary. Then we realized that far from being the exception, this has become the norm: greatness gets overlooked on a daily basis due to how it is encapsulated. Ordinary people do great things in the business environment, but these individuals and their deeds go largely unnoticed. Leaders simply fail to grasp what is right there in front of them.
This is further evidenced by clients who bring us into their organizations to solve a problem. We soon realize that they’ve had everything needed to successfully resolve the issue all along—they just don’t see it.
This book will analyze the invisibility of ordinary greatness, how it happens and what it is, how leaders can learn to open their eyes and recognize it regardless of its frame or context. This can be a wakeup call for you as you work every day to keep employees engaged and passionate about their work.

Welcome to my blog!

Well, it has happened -- dream come true -- I am now blogging! I hope that all of you will find this site both helpful and entertaining -- I'm sure I will!