Best practices and a few rants and rumblings on CXO thinking and communication
10/04/09
Amelia Earhart: Lessons for Leaders
How much courage do you have? Enough to lead a global team or complete a difficult IT initiative on time or come in under budget? Child's play.Don't brag too much. If you can accomplish these, you're simply par for the course.
Want to demonstrate real courage…true accomplishment? Test your mettle and show uncommon leadership? Pull an Amelia.
"PULLING AN AMELIA"
Take fifteen hours out of your life, all alone, no sleeping, sitting in a compartment no bigger than a box, and fly across the Atlantic as you watch ice form on your plane's wings and fire shoot out of your engine's exhaust pipe. That was Earhart's day on May 20, 1932. Raw courage.
Makes meeting your budget seem paltry, doesn't it?
Amelia Earhart lived life with courage and grace and a bit of humility. You could do no better than to look to this uncommon leader for inspiration.
The upcoming movie on Amelia Earhart's life, starring Hillary Swank, got me thinking about this
iconic pioneer-hero and what business leaders can learn from her unflinching tenacity and courage.In rereading her books, 20 Hours, 40 Minutes [the time it took for her first Atlantic crossing] and The Fun of It, I came across a number of quotes that could inspire any business leader:
AMELIA EARHART'S QUOTES FOR LEADERS
- Decide whether or not the goal is worth the risks involved. If it is, stop worrying.
- Worry retards reaction and makes clear-cut decisions impossible.
- The most difficult thing is the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity.
- Fears are paper tigers.
- You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure. The process is its own reward.
- Preparation, I have often said, is rightly two-thirds of any venture.
- Never interrupt someone doing something you said couldn't be done.
Post-script to Nike: shouldn't you at least footnote Lady Lindy when you use your/her tag line?
09/12/09
The Language of Leadership
Have you ever taken your car in for service and heard the mechanic talk to you about a cracked manifold? (VERY nasty, BTW). Or maybe you've gone to a doctor who told you your symptoms indicated preliminary Pharyngitis and you needed a broad spectrum, BID?
All you're thinking is, "This is so much blah, blah, blah...speak plain English!" Great advice. But why don't business leaders take it?
No matter what industry you're in, you have your own jargon. Whether you speak in IT ( God help us all on this one), health care, engineering, or construction, you have a specialized language, insider buzzwords and idioms. Many of them are vague and at times unintelligible, even to the insiders!
Say it So Your Grand Mother Can Understand It!
The best advice for leaders is to use plain-speak. Cut the jargon, stop using acronyms, and approach every speech, every email, every presentation as an opportunity to show how brilliant you are using your own words and language!
Imagine that your grandmother is in the audience. Naturally, she is a very intelligent woman since she has a grandson/daughter as a business leader!
Do you think she understands ROI, TCO, ERP, bandwidth, ALAP, scalability, flexibility or cross platform? How many "regular folks" do you have in your audience who might be the same as your grand mom? Intelligent listeners, who might miss out on an idea because you used too many in-terms and jargon of your industry.
The key to communicating like a true leader is to know your audience. Use a language everyone can understand.
That means think like and write for the audience! So, if you are a medical researcher speaking at a conference of neurosurgeons, you know that your audience can handle the scientific buzzwords. OK, they can get into radioactive isotopes and acoustic neurinomas.
But unless you are sure that everyone of your listeners is tuned-into jargon, better to go broad and just be yourself without the acronyms and in-lingo. Think of Oprah or Ronald Reagan. No one scratched their heads and looked confused after they spoke. But most of all, think of your grandmother and make her proud!
All you're thinking is, "This is so much blah, blah, blah...speak plain English!" Great advice. But why don't business leaders take it?
No matter what industry you're in, you have your own jargon. Whether you speak in IT ( God help us all on this one), health care, engineering, or construction, you have a specialized language, insider buzzwords and idioms. Many of them are vague and at times unintelligible, even to the insiders!
Say it So Your Grand Mother Can Understand It!
The best advice for leaders is to use plain-speak. Cut the jargon, stop using acronyms, and approach every speech, every email, every presentation as an opportunity to show how brilliant you are using your own words and language!Imagine that your grandmother is in the audience. Naturally, she is a very intelligent woman since she has a grandson/daughter as a business leader!
Do you think she understands ROI, TCO, ERP, bandwidth, ALAP, scalability, flexibility or cross platform? How many "regular folks" do you have in your audience who might be the same as your grand mom? Intelligent listeners, who might miss out on an idea because you used too many in-terms and jargon of your industry.
The key to communicating like a true leader is to know your audience. Use a language everyone can understand.
That means think like and write for the audience! So, if you are a medical researcher speaking at a conference of neurosurgeons, you know that your audience can handle the scientific buzzwords. OK, they can get into radioactive isotopes and acoustic neurinomas.
But unless you are sure that everyone of your listeners is tuned-into jargon, better to go broad and just be yourself without the acronyms and in-lingo. Think of Oprah or Ronald Reagan. No one scratched their heads and looked confused after they spoke. But most of all, think of your grandmother and make her proud!
08/30/09
Top Ten Executive Mistakes
Want to feel old? Sixteen years ago today, 30 August 1993, The Late Show with David Letterman premiered on CBS. Where has the time gone?
Letterman, for most people, is synonymous with his 'Top Ten List.' It's such a part of our culture that The Top Ten List even has its own Wikipedia entry. Fun trivia, you're thinking, but how does this relate to executives?
Executives and lists have a long history together. Business leaders love to make lists, they hand out lists, they read lists. Lists are popular with everybody. You can't pick up a leading newspaper without finding a list of something. Everybody does lists: Business Week, Newsweek and dozens of other business journals, and Forbes has lists that go far beyond the top ten. They trump everybody with their list of the Top 100.
So, in honor of Letterman's anniversary, here is The CXO Mindset's List of the Top Ten Ways to Get Kicked Out of the C-Suite:
The Top Ten Executive Mistakes
Mistake Number 1: Talk too much and don't actively listen to your team's concerns.Mistake Number 2: Don't take responsibility when you've messed up.
Mistake Number 3: Have lots of ideas, but don't execute on any of them.
Mistake Number 4: Think you can do it all, and don't delegate power and responsibility.
Mistake Number 5: Give presentations that have no inspiration or vision.
Mistake Number 6: Think that what got you into the C-suite will keep you in the C-suite.
Mistake Number 7: Rely on people you like vs. people with skills.
Mistake Number 8: Don't communicate to your staff on a regular basis.
Mistake Number 9: Stay isolated from the "shop floor."
Mistake Number 10: Do not "give back" to all the people who helped you get into that C-suite office.
08/27/09
Powerpoint: Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Some leaders have minds that are as logical and clear as a bell. We listen to these executives speak and immediately connect with their ideas. They are genuine human beings. And of course, all readers of The CXO Mindset are such genuine human beings and communicators!
But...a strange thing happens to some execs when they get near a Power Point deck. A pod person takes over. Invasion of the Body Snatchers redux.
Invasion of the PPPs
Why do otherwise bright and brilliant minds end up going South when they create a PowerPoint deck? It's as if all good sense and brain juices just get drained and flushed away. And a clicker-obsessed PPP takes over (Power Point Pod Presenter). These presenters speak differently, in a stilted non-conversational way. They're like robots reading a prescribed script, and they are certainly NOT genuine.
But most importantly, they think differently when under the influence of PPT. You're probably thinking, "Why should I care?" Well, think of your Power Point deck as a mirror of how you think and process information, and it is a big clue to what kind of leader you are.
A Scary Mind
The absolute scariest example of PPP thinking is from the halls of the US government (no real surprise here...). Congressman Kevin Brady distributed the following chart to show how he envisioned the current health care plan playing out.
But...a strange thing happens to some execs when they get near a Power Point deck. A pod person takes over. Invasion of the Body Snatchers redux.Invasion of the PPPs
Why do otherwise bright and brilliant minds end up going South when they create a PowerPoint deck? It's as if all good sense and brain juices just get drained and flushed away. And a clicker-obsessed PPP takes over (Power Point Pod Presenter). These presenters speak differently, in a stilted non-conversational way. They're like robots reading a prescribed script, and they are certainly NOT genuine.
But most importantly, they think differently when under the influence of PPT. You're probably thinking, "Why should I care?" Well, think of your Power Point deck as a mirror of how you think and process information, and it is a big clue to what kind of leader you are.
A Scary Mind
The absolute scariest example of PPP thinking is from the halls of the US government (no real surprise here...). Congressman Kevin Brady distributed the following chart to show how he envisioned the current health care plan playing out.
Warning: the faint-of-heart should just look away...
OK, I know the engineers reading this blog are saying, "Wow! Nice chart!' But this is NOT an engineering schema; it's an organizational chart of the U.S. proposed health care plan. This was designed for business users and US citizens, not engineers. It would probably frighten most voters.
What's really scary about this chart is what is says about the author's mind: how he thinks and sees the world. Can you imagine the chuckles, moans and side comments when this slide came up in the Senate?
Lessons for PPPs
What's the take-away from Congressman Brady's ridiculous chart? Don't imitate it!
Your slides should help simplify your teams' world!
Let your organization see you as a leader who cuts through complexity. When they see your slides, they should sit up and be interested, not groan and take out their Blackberrys. Your slides are a reflection of how your mind works...how you see the world...the connections you make and the way you process information. More importantly, your slides are a snapshot of how you lead.
The next time you or your staff put a deck together, bring out the Health Care slide as a reminder. Your manta should be, "I will not be a PPP! And I won't pull a "Congressman Brady!"
OK, I know the engineers reading this blog are saying, "Wow! Nice chart!' But this is NOT an engineering schema; it's an organizational chart of the U.S. proposed health care plan. This was designed for business users and US citizens, not engineers. It would probably frighten most voters.
What's really scary about this chart is what is says about the author's mind: how he thinks and sees the world. Can you imagine the chuckles, moans and side comments when this slide came up in the Senate?
Lessons for PPPs
What's the take-away from Congressman Brady's ridiculous chart? Don't imitate it!
Your slides should help simplify your teams' world!
Let your organization see you as a leader who cuts through complexity. When they see your slides, they should sit up and be interested, not groan and take out their Blackberrys. Your slides are a reflection of how your mind works...how you see the world...the connections you make and the way you process information. More importantly, your slides are a snapshot of how you lead.
The next time you or your staff put a deck together, bring out the Health Care slide as a reminder. Your manta should be, "I will not be a PPP! And I won't pull a "Congressman Brady!"
08/27/09
The BEST Executive Decision
Tweet alert. Almost 100 years ago on August 20th, The Times "telegrammed" the first message for global distribution. The simple sentence: This message sent around the world, comes in at six words, 35 characters. (Was this the original tweet?)
OK, cool trivia, but as a busy executive, why should you care?
The Times' historic "tweet" got me thinking. Can we communicate like the NY Times telegram ? From a communication standpoint, think of this anniversary telegram as a gauntlet of sorts. Take up the tweet-headline communication challenge.
(BTW, If you want to feel REALLY old, try to explain to your teenager what a "telegram" is and how it got transmitted..)
Get Memorable: Think in Headlines
Do you want your teams to remember your messages? Think like a headline!
It's tough for teams to retain information when they're bombarded with emails, voice-mails, tweets, presentations, VODS, face-to-face meetings, etc.
Take a lesson from the Times (and Twitter): scale down the length of your initial sentences. Think in terms of a concise and focused headline. It's one of the best executive decisions you'll ever make.
Strategic Editing
Now, I'm not suggesting that every sentence be limited. But how you begin an idea is a critical place for a headline or tweet. The shorter, the more memorable. That means in:
- Emails: the subject line should be a compelling "headline."
- Voicemails: after you say, "hi", the next ten seconds should announce or "tweet" the main point of the call.
- Presentations: the title should be on one line, and it should be a value-rich message, not a factoid.
- Face-to-face meetings: Announce the initial idea or main point as a headline.
- VODs: Absolutely critical that you frame your ideas succinctly. Remember, most people are multi-tasking. Grab them with a verbal headline that is a 3-5 second soundbite.
08/15/09
Leadership Lessons from Woodstock
How can you not escape the Woodstock hype on this, the 40th anniversary weekend of THE event of the sixties? Peace, love and music are everywhere in the news.
No matter what your feelings for this sixties meta-marvel, you have to admit, it DID shape a generation. So what you say! Fair enough.
But before you dismiss the media obsession with Woodstock, get creative...amid the hype and the hyperbole, there actually might be some leadership lessons for managers, directors, vice presidents and yes, even CEOs. Groovy!
What can we take away from the the folks who peaced-out at Yasgur's farm in 1969 and apply to how we manage and lead?
Lessons in Collaboration
The big take-away from Woodstock is a lesson in collaboration.
Think of a half-million strong crowd and the potential for harm and mayhem. But cooler heads prevailed because people were respectful and listened, and took stock of the needs of others.
How can you apply that collective model of sharing to how you lead your teams?
1. Communicate Freely. OK, you're not going to share a blanket in your
team's meeting (or other substances that we only read about...), but the open channel of communications that was Woodstock's hallmark is a very effective model. There was heated debate over Vietnam war philosophies, but everyone had a voice. As you think about how you interact with your team, are you a "command and control" project manager or a collaborative leader who actively seeks input and drives to consensus? The latter is the model that many progressive companies and leaders are making a defacto standard.
2. Control Expectations. Half a million free-loving and substance-loving radicals all together in one place had the potential for disaster. How to control the crowds? Control their expectations. Every banner, every poster spoke to two things: peace and music.
As you motivate and lead your teams, how can you control their expectations for outcomes? Clearly define your goals at every meeting so your troops know exactly what is expected of them. Verbalize it often and put it in writing if you must, but let people know exactly what they should do or not do.
3. Turn Their Passion On. Whether it was Jimi Hendrix or Janis Joplin or The Who, music is what everyone came for, and that common bond untied and inspired the crowds.
What can you offer your teams and your organization that is inspirational? Whether you're an IT project manager trying to motivate 20 engineers to rally around a virtualization initiative or a CEO trying to get your sales force back on track, find a common cause that all team members can relate to, and then inspire and motivate them.
40-years ago, in a place as far removed from corporate America as you possibly could get, Joni Mitchell sang about how "we are stardust...we are golden...." Wouldn't it be great if you could inspire your teams to feel that THEY were golden? Take out that old Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young CD and get inspired again!
No matter what your feelings for this sixties meta-marvel, you have to admit, it DID shape a generation. So what you say! Fair enough.
But before you dismiss the media obsession with Woodstock, get creative...amid the hype and the hyperbole, there actually might be some leadership lessons for managers, directors, vice presidents and yes, even CEOs. Groovy!
What can we take away from the the folks who peaced-out at Yasgur's farm in 1969 and apply to how we manage and lead?
Lessons in Collaboration
The big take-away from Woodstock is a lesson in collaboration.
Think of a half-million strong crowd and the potential for harm and mayhem. But cooler heads prevailed because people were respectful and listened, and took stock of the needs of others.
How can you apply that collective model of sharing to how you lead your teams?
1. Communicate Freely. OK, you're not going to share a blanket in your
team's meeting (or other substances that we only read about...), but the open channel of communications that was Woodstock's hallmark is a very effective model. There was heated debate over Vietnam war philosophies, but everyone had a voice. As you think about how you interact with your team, are you a "command and control" project manager or a collaborative leader who actively seeks input and drives to consensus? The latter is the model that many progressive companies and leaders are making a defacto standard.2. Control Expectations. Half a million free-loving and substance-loving radicals all together in one place had the potential for disaster. How to control the crowds? Control their expectations. Every banner, every poster spoke to two things: peace and music.
As you motivate and lead your teams, how can you control their expectations for outcomes? Clearly define your goals at every meeting so your troops know exactly what is expected of them. Verbalize it often and put it in writing if you must, but let people know exactly what they should do or not do.
3. Turn Their Passion On. Whether it was Jimi Hendrix or Janis Joplin or The Who, music is what everyone came for, and that common bond untied and inspired the crowds. What can you offer your teams and your organization that is inspirational? Whether you're an IT project manager trying to motivate 20 engineers to rally around a virtualization initiative or a CEO trying to get your sales force back on track, find a common cause that all team members can relate to, and then inspire and motivate them.
40-years ago, in a place as far removed from corporate America as you possibly could get, Joni Mitchell sang about how "we are stardust...we are golden...." Wouldn't it be great if you could inspire your teams to feel that THEY were golden? Take out that old Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young CD and get inspired again!
08/14/09
Leadership Stripped Bare
Can leadership be boiled down to just three basic lessons?
Whether you're a retail team supervisor with a staff of three, an IT project manager overseeing 20 engineers, or a CXO leading thousands of disparate employees, it's a provocative question.
Really, it's a great question to get the executive juices going and a wonderful conversation to have over a glass of wine (but it's GOT to be a hearty
zinfandel...no lack luster Chadonnays or Pinots for such a heady discussion).
Think of all the leadership advice you've gleaned from blogs, books, seminars, videos, self-help manuals and mentors. Can all that wit and wisdom be concentrated in three "must have" lessons for business leaders at any level?
Leadership Lessons Stripped Down to Basics
A recent Harvard Business blog post by Anthony TJAN did boil down the core of leadership in a conversation with Dick Hampton, former CEO of Reuters. Hampton said that what he learned in his twenty years at the helm was three things:
1. You have to have an "approximately correct" strategy -- you have to know where you are going, but directionally correct is the key.
2. You have to be highly focused and intensely execute that strategy by motivating and aligning the troops you have. And
3. It always comes back to the customers and the fact that you have to manically know your customers and drive everything from that.
Bravo to Mr. Harrington! It might very well be that the core of great leadership is just that simple. Sometimes we so over-think things. We need a process; we need flow charts; we need consensus-building; we need a methodology; we need technologies. Maybe what we need is simplicity.
How about the power of three simple lessons: have a clear vision and know where you want to go, be able to articulate that vision to your team(s) and get them to execute on it, and at the core of everything is the customer or end-user: think like the customer in everything you do. If that's not the best three lessons for leaders, at least it's one heck of a start!
Go ahead...whether you're having this leadership discussion or not, have that glass of zin. You deserve it!
Whether you're a retail team supervisor with a staff of three, an IT project manager overseeing 20 engineers, or a CXO leading thousands of disparate employees, it's a provocative question.
Really, it's a great question to get the executive juices going and a wonderful conversation to have over a glass of wine (but it's GOT to be a hearty
zinfandel...no lack luster Chadonnays or Pinots for such a heady discussion).Think of all the leadership advice you've gleaned from blogs, books, seminars, videos, self-help manuals and mentors. Can all that wit and wisdom be concentrated in three "must have" lessons for business leaders at any level?
Leadership Lessons Stripped Down to Basics
A recent Harvard Business blog post by Anthony TJAN did boil down the core of leadership in a conversation with Dick Hampton, former CEO of Reuters. Hampton said that what he learned in his twenty years at the helm was three things:
1. You have to have an "approximately correct" strategy -- you have to know where you are going, but directionally correct is the key.
2. You have to be highly focused and intensely execute that strategy by motivating and aligning the troops you have. And
3. It always comes back to the customers and the fact that you have to manically know your customers and drive everything from that.
Bravo to Mr. Harrington! It might very well be that the core of great leadership is just that simple. Sometimes we so over-think things. We need a process; we need flow charts; we need consensus-building; we need a methodology; we need technologies. Maybe what we need is simplicity.
How about the power of three simple lessons: have a clear vision and know where you want to go, be able to articulate that vision to your team(s) and get them to execute on it, and at the core of everything is the customer or end-user: think like the customer in everything you do. If that's not the best three lessons for leaders, at least it's one heck of a start!
Go ahead...whether you're having this leadership discussion or not, have that glass of zin. You deserve it!
08/11/09
Executive SOS Signals
... _ _ _ ...
OK, trivia fans, what did I just say?
Ex-boy scouts, sailors, or ham-radio buffs will recognize those dots and dashes as Morse Code for SOS. And for the really trivia-obsessed, today is an SOS anniversary. On Aug 11th 1907, the first SOS distress signal was used by an American ship, the Arapahoe, off Cape Hatteras, NC. (You've got to love the History Channel's This Day in History for finding all things trivia like this).
Executive Communication Distress Signals
That SOS anniversary got me thinking about the distress signals managers or executives might send out when communicating with teams or colleagues. We can unknowingly send out SOS distress signs with our gestures, words or our demeanor. We unwittingly are saying, "I'm in trouble...."
See if you recognize some of the following communication SOS signals you might be sending in your own communications.
Tentative Language. Do you send out messages that say you're unsure or not certain? Every time you use, "I think" or "perhaps" or "maybe" or "might," you're sending a signal that you are not in authority. Think about it, did you ever hear President Obama say, "I think I have a strategy for the recession"? or "I might have a plan for the auto industry"?
Even worse are phrases like, "sort of" or "kind of." "We kind of have a network management problem." It's either a problem or it's not! It's like "kind of pregnant." Pick one: your're having a child, or not. If you are using these phrases, you're not just sending up a plain old SOS, this is a Titanic distress call!
Eye Contact. Especially when delivering a presentation, do you take a moment to have direct eye contact with at least some audience members? Great! Then you are NOT sending out any negative signals.
But when you speak, if you tend to look over the heads of your
listeners or spend more time looking at your slides, then think about the message you're sending: I'm nervous and unsure and am not confident enough to look you square in the eye.
Hand Gestures. Here's another SOS signal: do you fold your arms in front of your chest? What about hands in pockets? Or standing with arms in front, hands folded one over the other? Your SOS says, I am NOT confident, I am NOT powerful, I am NOT in charge of anything, let alone my own gestures. Stand as if you owned the room! If you're speaking, you DO own it!
Once you recognize some of your own SOS signals, you can put a plan in place to eliminate them one at a time.
For business leaders, the only meaning SOS should have is "savvy, organized supervisor"!
OK, trivia fans, what did I just say?
Ex-boy scouts, sailors, or ham-radio buffs will recognize those dots and dashes as Morse Code for SOS. And for the really trivia-obsessed, today is an SOS anniversary. On Aug 11th 1907, the first SOS distress signal was used by an American ship, the Arapahoe, off Cape Hatteras, NC. (You've got to love the History Channel's This Day in History for finding all things trivia like this).
Executive Communication Distress SignalsThat SOS anniversary got me thinking about the distress signals managers or executives might send out when communicating with teams or colleagues. We can unknowingly send out SOS distress signs with our gestures, words or our demeanor. We unwittingly are saying, "I'm in trouble...."
See if you recognize some of the following communication SOS signals you might be sending in your own communications.
Tentative Language. Do you send out messages that say you're unsure or not certain? Every time you use, "I think" or "perhaps" or "maybe" or "might," you're sending a signal that you are not in authority. Think about it, did you ever hear President Obama say, "I think I have a strategy for the recession"? or "I might have a plan for the auto industry"?
Even worse are phrases like, "sort of" or "kind of." "We kind of have a network management problem." It's either a problem or it's not! It's like "kind of pregnant." Pick one: your're having a child, or not. If you are using these phrases, you're not just sending up a plain old SOS, this is a Titanic distress call!
Eye Contact. Especially when delivering a presentation, do you take a moment to have direct eye contact with at least some audience members? Great! Then you are NOT sending out any negative signals.
But when you speak, if you tend to look over the heads of your
listeners or spend more time looking at your slides, then think about the message you're sending: I'm nervous and unsure and am not confident enough to look you square in the eye.Hand Gestures. Here's another SOS signal: do you fold your arms in front of your chest? What about hands in pockets? Or standing with arms in front, hands folded one over the other? Your SOS says, I am NOT confident, I am NOT powerful, I am NOT in charge of anything, let alone my own gestures. Stand as if you owned the room! If you're speaking, you DO own it!
Once you recognize some of your own SOS signals, you can put a plan in place to eliminate them one at a time.
For business leaders, the only meaning SOS should have is "savvy, organized supervisor"!
08/09/09
A Line in the Sand; a Line in the Milk
Need a cool metaphor to wow your team into action? Listen-up to how Starbucks CEO, Howard Schultz used metaphor to focus his organization and give them a rallying cry.
A recent Business Week article highlights Schultz' story about Starbucks and spilled milk.
Schultz would not allow his baristas to re-steam milk (a quality-control thing). They had to pour leftover milk down the drain. (Not the best "green" message, Mr. Shultz!) So store managers came up with a simple and obvious idea: put etched lines in the steaming pitchers so the baristas would know exactly how much milk to use. Before, they just guessed. Simple, yet dramatic. No more spilled milk.
This metaphor is now mythic in the halls of Starbucks. Managers ask, "Where else can we find lines"? And the good news is that they are actively seeking and finding other ways to save, just like they did with the milk lines. This type of simple metaphor can rally your troops and impact team productivity and your image as a leader.
Where Are Your Milk Lines?
Think about how you can create your own metaphors.
Especially in these challenging times, teams need something to rally around, and a simple phrase like Starbucks' milk line might be just the thing to motivate your folks. There are probably many places to look for your own metaphors:
- Where can a team save time?
- Is there a process that can be streamlined?
- Are there meetings that could take place virtually?
- Is there a wasteful practice that could be re-channeled?
- Any simple and easy ways to increase customer contact or intimacy?
- New channels of communication... perhaps a Twitter suggestion box?
Prizes could range from the latest iPod to a day at a spa to...hmmmm...a $100 gift card to Starbucks?
08/04/09
Cash for Communication Clunkers?
The government is going to pay you to get rid of outdated cars and trade-up to a more efficient vehicle. Sweet.What if you applied that same reasoning to your presentations?
What communication clunkers would you get rid of? What are some of the outdated and ineffective words or phrases you use? Trade them in for more efficient patterns or eliminate them all together.
If you want to keep your presentations at an executive level, here are a few suggestions for phrases that belong in the junk heap:
Communication Clunkers
1. "I'd like to talk about..." Why waste your listeners' time by announcing, "I'd like to talk about X" or "I'd like to tell you about X" ? Why not just talk about it!
2. "I think..." Not a very leader-like subject and verb combination. It shows indecision. By virtue of the fact that you have a functioning brain, you do think! Why announce it? Do you ever hear leaders say, "I think I have a vision" or "I think we will make our quarterly numbers"? Throw this one in the trash. Apologies to Descartes.
3. "To make a long story short." So, do you really want to announce that you tell long (and probably boring) stories? Worse yet, you're telling the audience I'm cheating you out of some information. Just tell your story!
4. "To be perfectly honest." Right. So, you haven't been honest previously?
5. "I know you've probably heard this before." Then why are you wasting my time telling me again?
6. "What I'm trying to say is..." Don't even hesitate, just open the trash bin and toss this.
7. "Just." Ok, if you are a judge in a courtroom, you CAN use the term "just," but for executive speakers it demeans your executive presence. Do you really want to say, "I just thought..."?
8. "I like to take a few minutes." Great. Now you're announcing that you are a time thief.
9. "In my opinion," or "It seems to me." Of course it's your opinion, isn't that what you've been expressing all your life? If not, then you should announce, "In Jane's opinion..."
10. "A great many people have said..." Hmmm. So why are you repeating what so many others have already told us?
Rethink your own vocabulary or better yet ask a friend to monitor your presentations for these "clunker" phrases and trash them! Then you'll have your own Presentation Stimulus Pan!
07/30/09
Do You Hate People?
Are you a leader who hates people? Good!Well, it's good if the people you hate are the people targeted in the wonderfully humorous book, "I Hate People: Kick Loose from the Overbearing and Underhanded Jerks at Work and Get What You Want Out of Your Job."
Authors Marc Hershon and Jonathan Littman target a list of people in our work environments--the types of workers who can get us down, make us miserable and just make work a chore. It's a great summer read.
What to do With the Joy Suckers?
I call these types of people Joy Suckers: they suck the joy out of work. Instead of being innovative and leading your team, you end up wasting time dealing with these difficult people who drain your creativity, time and patience.
The great thing about Littman and Hershon's book is that for leaders, you can see their humorous taxonomy of worker types as a tool to help you make hiring or promotion decisions.
For example, once you identify someone who is a "Stop Sign", you can eliminate them from critical initiative meetings. All they're going to do is pour cold water on creative ideas and stop all progress. Or once the "Minute Man" is identified (he's the guy who only wants a minute of your time...then another...and then just one more minute...) you know he should NOT be the facilitator of the partner conference.
Re-Configure Your Teams
Amid the fun and laughs, I Hate People offers some sage-like advice for leaders and how they can configure and reconfigure their teams based on the taxonomy of people we hate. You can't change these folks and the authors urge managers to accept who employees are, even as unpleasant as they might be, and then reconfigure existing teams.
"Companies can create makeovers of groups, rather than makeovers of their physical offices," Hershon suggests. So you can rethink how you deploy your teams and reassign who collaborates with whom according to their personalities.
So, smear on your sun block, put on your Maui Jims, and take I Hate People to the beach as a fun summer read. And come back recharged ready to rethink how you deploy your teams.
Oh, and the guy who kicked sand on you as he walked by, you can just go ahead and HATE him!
07/27/09
Bare Bones CEO
What are the bare bones minimum tasks that only a CEO should do?
That question was raised by Procter & Gamble's CEO A.G. Lafley in Harvard Business Review. Ultimately, he says the job that ONLY a CEO can do is to link the outside world to the inside.
Lafley talked about how as CEO of P&G, he zeroed in on four areas that enabled him to make the outside to inside link. But if we really examine Lafley's critical tasks, they form a solid foundation for any type of leader in any type of organization.
Here is a repeat of Lafley's CEO mindset:
1. Define the meaningful outside: Determine which external constituency matters most. Not surprisingly, at P&G, the consumer is king. For some leaders, this might mean their partner community or a subset of customers, or a specific vertical or industry. Sharpen your sights and prioritize your most important base.
2. Decide what business you're in: For example, what are your core businesses, and which of them will you grow? In 2000, P&G decided to target low-income consumers and developing markets. In today's challenging economy (and keeping an eye for the upturn), where might you refocus your organization or team efforts?
3. Balance present and future: Ensure that stakeholders' near-term interests don't overshadow your company's long-term future. Sometimes in the heat of an initiative or economic event, we lose sight of long-term strategy. Keep your eye on long-term goals, and don't have knee-jerk reactions to the vagaries of short-term economics.
4. Shape values and standards: For instance, Proctor and Gamble defined trust as consumers' trust in its brands. What's the value or principle that will guide your organization for the next 3 to 5 years? What is the emotional legacy you want to be remembered for?
These are insights into the mindset of one of American's top CEOs. No matter what your leadership position, from team manager to CXO, Lafley's advice is solid bare bones thinking to add to your arsenal of leadership strategies.
07/23/09
You're Fired!
Want an interesting summer mini-project guaranteed to impact your career?
For a moment, put down that mojito, shut down the barbie grill, and imagine that Donald Trump just gave you the "You're Fired"! line.
Now ask yourself, "WHY did I get fired?" Hmmmm. Don't reach for that mojito again, instead, reach for a really accurate and soul-searching appraisal.
Fire Yourself
A very savvy executive, Luanne Tierney VP of Cisco's WW Channels Marketing, goes through this "firing yourself" process to fine-tune her leadership skills. Tierney believes, "the exercise of firing yourself can be a great eye opening experience that helps pinpoint your strengths, as well as your weaknesses. The result is a blueprint of your leadership traits showing you where you should focus your efforts to further develop your skills."
A Fair Self- Appraisal
Taking Luanne's lead, what weaknesses would get you fired? Give an objective and even brutal appraisal of where you do NOT hit the mark:
- What traits hold you back from greatness?
- Where are you weakest in interpersonal relationships with colleagues?
- What projects did you NOT complete on time as promised...why?
- What communication patterns are NOT strategic or leader-like?
OK, now prioritize. Which needs to be remedied asap? Put a plan in place to eliminate each trait that got you fired.
You're Hired!
Now flip the question: why would someone hire you? What traits qualify you to be a CEO? Don't rest on your laurels. There's some work here as well. These strengths also need a plan: what can you do to extend and build-on these positive traits? One positive trait per month, strengthened and amplified. Sweet.
This is a great summer exercise and one that highly effective leaders might consider as a quarterly career tune-up.
OK, I know you're all dying to get back to the barbie...you can pick up that mojito now, but in between sips, remember to keep your leadership brand on the front burner!
07/19/09
Leadership Lessons from the Newsdesk
The death of Walter Cronkite got me thinking about his leadership qualities and how business leaders can take a few cues from "the most trusted man in America."
I posted on Ulitzer about what IT professionals can learn from the legendary newsanchor, and even if you are not in IT, "Walter Cronkite's IT Career Advice" might be an interesting read. But from a purely leadership perspective, Cronkite is a fabulous role model with lots to offer anyone in any management position.
Leaders Set the Tone
Cronkite as a leader of news, created an atmosphere of trust and honesty. His long-time friend and Face the Nation host, Bob Schieffer said, "A leader always sets the tone. That's the most important thing that the leader does. And Walter always set the right tone. He set the right standards."
You can set a leadership tone in a number of ways, but the one Cronkite set was a tone of honesty and integrity. Whether you lead a team or a whole organization, drawing a line in the sand on integrity can only advance your leadership position. What's the tone you set in your company? Think about your next team meeting or All Hands, what can you offer to your teams that is inspirational and reassuring and that let's them see and hear your integrity loud and clear?
Authority Based on Credibility
Leaders with authority and respect earn both by being credible. How did Cronkite achieve credibility and how can you learn from him?
He never lied to us. Never had to retract a statement or say, "Sorry, I got it wrong." He researched his story and got his facts right the first time. As a leader, when you're presenting information, present it the way Cronkite did: fair and objective. When a team consistently sees a leader as someone who does not lie or spin or twist things in their favor, you're on your way to being the most trusted man or woman in your organization.
What a great legacy.
07/12/09
CXOs: To Tweet or Not to Tweet?
Should busy executives use Twitter? Hmmm. There is a line (or a tweet) in the sand on this one. It's a hot topic guaranteed to bring out heated opinions. And be sure to get your gloves on if you enter this dialogue.
A recent Business Week article on CEOs tweeting can give you insights into how top global big wigs use the micro-blogging service.
But what if we approached "To Tweet or Not to Tweet" purely from the perspective of advancing your CXO communication? Should you use Twitter as an executive messaging platform? Let's explore some pros and cons.
Twitter as a communication platform? YES!
Twitter is a great vehicle:
1. To disseminate timely and important information.
2. To connect with customers/partners and feel their collective pulse. Talk and listen.
3. To establish your brand online (in addition to creating a blog and using other social networking sites).
4. To connect with employees, raise morale or rally your troops to more collaborative actions.
5. To share experiences about your product or company brand and how you lead your organization. No hype. Just authentic you chatting.
Twitter as a communication platform? NO!
Twitter is not the best vehicle:
1. To be your main short-term marketing messaging machine.
2. To publish idle updates about your latest scuba diving or family vacation.
3. To lecture to your customers/partners.
4. To show bravado and how you and your company are the 800 pound gorilla.
5. To share mundane corporate messages.
Ultimately, it's a multi-part decision. 1. Decide if you want to commit the time and energy (it can be a time suck). 2. Know your competitors are reading every tweet you make; be judicious, and 3. Determine why you want to tweet, and be sure you align to your corporate messaging.
If you jump in, have fun in the process! As for me, still on the Twitter fence. If I jump in, I'll let you know!
A recent Business Week article on CEOs tweeting can give you insights into how top global big wigs use the micro-blogging service.
But what if we approached "To Tweet or Not to Tweet" purely from the perspective of advancing your CXO communication? Should you use Twitter as an executive messaging platform? Let's explore some pros and cons.
Twitter as a communication platform? YES!Twitter is a great vehicle:
1. To disseminate timely and important information.
2. To connect with customers/partners and feel their collective pulse. Talk and listen.
3. To establish your brand online (in addition to creating a blog and using other social networking sites).
4. To connect with employees, raise morale or rally your troops to more collaborative actions.
5. To share experiences about your product or company brand and how you lead your organization. No hype. Just authentic you chatting.
Twitter as a communication platform? NO!
Twitter is not the best vehicle:
1. To be your main short-term marketing messaging machine.
2. To publish idle updates about your latest scuba diving or family vacation.
3. To lecture to your customers/partners.
4. To show bravado and how you and your company are the 800 pound gorilla.
5. To share mundane corporate messages.
Ultimately, it's a multi-part decision. 1. Decide if you want to commit the time and energy (it can be a time suck). 2. Know your competitors are reading every tweet you make; be judicious, and 3. Determine why you want to tweet, and be sure you align to your corporate messaging.
If you jump in, have fun in the process! As for me, still on the Twitter fence. If I jump in, I'll let you know!
08/24/09
100 Ways to Kill Your PPT Presentation
A CEO once asked me, "As an executive coach, what are the top mistakes you've seen when business leaders give a presentation"? He was expecting just a few insights, I'm sure. But once I got thinking about all the mess-ups I'd seen, I just could not stop writing them down. What started as a Letterman "Top Ten List" took on a life of its own.
So, for all you executives getting ready to present, here are 100 of the top mistakes I've seen over the years.
100 Ways to Bore Your Audience
- Don't have a story
- Show lots and lots of slides
- Don't have clear messages
- Have plenty of bullets and lists
- Don't break your deck into sections or "chapters"
- Have 100 disconnected slides
- Don't have an introduction that "wows" people
- Read the slide word for word
- To make a point read the slide twice
- Don't close with a strong and memorable ending
- Don't use examples
- Make sure you use at least 10 bullets per slide
- Change colors on each slide
- Use titles that are just boring facts
- Make sure your titles are long enough to go to two lines
- Make excuses for why the slides don't look that great
- Keep turning to look at the slides and not the audience
- Turn your whole back to the audience when looking at a slide
- Never look the audience in the eye
- Never, ever practice the presentation
- Actually go up and touch the slide on the big screen
- Use an annoying laser pen
- Make crazy little circles with your laser pen
- Make zig-zags with your laser pen
- Have no gestures, just stand there with arms dangling down
- Or, wave your arms around like Marcel Marceau
- Or don't move at all, or
- Pace like a lion in a cage
- Be sure to walk or stand in front of the screen (it's especially good if the words display on your face)
- Only stay on one side of the stage
- Talk to just the left side of the room
- Talk to just the right side of the room
- Use humor knowing you can't tell a joke
- Don't modulate your voice
- Don't emphasize any words
- Have no transitions from slide to slide
- Don't connect any of the ideas from any slides
- Put a quote on screen and read it word for word
- Talk very fast
- Talk very slow
- Walk with your hands in your pant pockets
- Fold your arms
- Never sound passionate or interested in your own material
- Don't ask any questions
- Never engage the audience
- Don't use stories or anecdotes
- Hold onto a podium or dais
- Hide behind the podium
- Memorize your slides and sound like a robot
- Never use images or pictures on your slides, just lots of text
- Make the text so small people in the back can't see it
- Make an excuse about small text, "I know you can't read this…"
- Use lots and lots of charts and graphs
- Put two or three charts on one slide
- Have at least a dozen data points on a graph
- Use different fonts
- Never proofread your slides, have spelling and grammar errors
- Talk about something else that is not on the slide
- Ramble and get off your topic
- For a 1-hour preso, have 60 slides
- For a 30-minute preso, have 30 slides
- For a 15-minute preso, have 15 slides
- Be sure to insult the audience's intelligence
- Use lots of outdated facts and figures
- Use lots of animations, especially twirls, fly-ins and spinning words
- Add cheesy annoying sounds to your fly-ins and spins
- Look over the heads of the audience
- Don't ask rhetorical questions
- Never have an agenda
- Keep referring to "him" and "he," especially if females are in the audience
- Use the PPT wizard; never vary the slide style or make your own template
- As you describe ideas on a slide, jump around, don't order your thoughts
- Use really small images that don't enlarge well
- Make sure the images are of the poorest quality
- Use the images your drunk brother-in-law took from his vacation
- Never buy classy stock photos
- Be sure your slides don't reinforce your words
- Use as many builds as you can pack in
- Make sure the transition builds are different for each slide
- Chit chat and say thank you to 20 people before you begin to speak
- Make sure your slides are really crowded
- Never tell the audience how long you will speaking
- Skip over ideas and tell people you're running late
- Point to a slide with your middle finger
- Point at the audience with any finger
- Use lots and lots of flash animation
- Don't have a clear purpose
- Talk a lot about you and your company and never talk about the audience or their needs
- Use a screen shot of a web page so no one can read it
- Insert poorly shot videos
- Insert videos with muddled sound
- Never tell listeners what your presentation is about
- Always choose dark text on a dark slide background or
- Light text on a light background
- Use lots of word art and slanted text
- Use child-like clip art and lots and lots of cartoons
- Never repeat the agenda so people can follow your ideas
- Be more concerned about your data than telling a good story
- Always go over, never under you allotted time
- Never ever be conversational—just drone on and on
06/30/09
Do You Think in PowerPoint Part 2
Do You Think in PowerPoint Continued...In my previous post, I looked at executives who have very organized thoughts: seeing ideas from a three-bullet point perspective, i.e., "Thinking in PowerPoint." There are definite scenarios where this type of highly structured thinking works well (just think how it worked for the logical Mr. Spock saving the day for Kirk et al.).
Anti-PowerPoint Thinking
But there are many other paradigms for effective executive
thinking. I know many business leaders whose minds would never see the world in terms of an ordered list. Their brains are just whirring with ideas but not necessarily in a logical structure. Sort of anti-PPT thinking.Random thoughts and ideas strewn all around their cerebellum. Think of dozens of different colored marbles, each representing a CXO thought: the current sales model...competitive tactics...economic downturn...staff reviews...product innovation...navigating for the upturn...customer loyalty. To an outsider, this might seem like a cluttered mind. Not so.
Connect the Dots Thinking
But if you look closer at what some execs do with these ideas, you WILL see an order. They connect disparate thoughts to form logical connections.
IF the economy continues spiraling down, THEN what will that do to our sales strategy? - IF we modify our sales strategy, THEN how will that impact what our competitors do; will they ramp-up?
- IF we increase customer satisfaction,THEN how will that impact customer loyalty?
- IF we release product X early, THEN how will that impact innovation?
When business leaders see the world as a giant chess board, with interconnected moves and relationships, they're using connect the dots thinking. Remember Philosophy 101 in college? If all men are mortal, and Socrates is a man, then Socrates is mortal. That's CXO "connect the dots" thinking. From what I've seen of the executive suite, this is one of the most critical mindsets any executive can develop.
A LEARNED SKILL
And that's the good news. This is not necessarily innate; it is a learned skill. If we start looking for connections, and start thinking in terms of "what if?" then we can develop IF...THEN thinking. For budding CEO's, it can be as simple as looking for clear connections between easily related ideas: a direct line. "IF we increase sales force by 10% THEN what...? IF we don't meet Q4 quota, THEN...."
Once you start training yourself to see a single connection, you can progress and start adding and looking for connections among two, three, four ideas. With determination and practice, you'll have "connect the dots" thinking as a default mindset. Then you're on your way to being the Bobby Fischer of the executive suite!
06/17/09
Do You Think in PowerPoint?
Recently, I spoke with Maryfran Johnson, editor-in-chief of CIO magazine on the pros and cons of executives using PowerPoint as a vehicle to deliver their ideas. Maryfran has probably seen thousands of presentations from countless CXOs, and she firmly believes in telling a story, using humor, and speaking in plain language. Bravo Maryfran!
Our chat about PPT got me thinking. Do some executives think in PowerPoint? Can there be a PowerPoint mindset that guides leaders' thinking, planning and analysis? Based on some executives I've worked with, yes, I think there is.
Do You Think in PowerPoint?
Now, just the thought of actually thinking in PowerPoint would make you take a gun to your head, or return to psychedelic 60's practices to blank out the stream of slides in your brain. Not that any readers of this blog actually engaged in those 60's activities. You read about them in Wikipedia like I did...right?
Not literal PPT thinking, but what about the process of thinking that PowerPoint promotes: seeing ideas organized in bullet points, logical structure, little deviation from status quo, confined analysis. Think about it. The templates and wizards in PPT allow for clean, streamlined thought patterns: main idea, three bullets to support it. Do you think this way?
A Time and Place for PPT Thinking
There are times when PowerPoint thinking and speaking come in handy.
Breaking the PowerPoint Crutch
For executives who don't want to use PowerPoint thinking or speaking, what are the alternatives? When should you break the template pattern? What situations demand you don't have a template?
We'll address that in our next post. And for Macintosh fans, no; it's not using or thinking in Keynote!
Our chat about PPT got me thinking. Do some executives think in PowerPoint? Can there be a PowerPoint mindset that guides leaders' thinking, planning and analysis? Based on some executives I've worked with, yes, I think there is.
Do You Think in PowerPoint?
Now, just the thought of actually thinking in PowerPoint would make you take a gun to your head, or return to psychedelic 60's practices to blank out the stream of slides in your brain. Not that any readers of this blog actually engaged in those 60's activities. You read about them in Wikipedia like I did...right?Not literal PPT thinking, but what about the process of thinking that PowerPoint promotes: seeing ideas organized in bullet points, logical structure, little deviation from status quo, confined analysis. Think about it. The templates and wizards in PPT allow for clean, streamlined thought patterns: main idea, three bullets to support it. Do you think this way?
A Time and Place for PPT Thinking
There are times when PowerPoint thinking and speaking come in handy.
- In a crisis situation (and aren't execs always dealing with fire drills?), you want a fixed verbal template with prepared remarks and no ad libs.
Organizing your thinking and communication following the template of PPT bullets and numbered lists might hit the mark. - When explaining complex issues. A terribly obtuse concept or complicated engineering schema sometimes could benefit from a structured explanation. Don't you wish Timothy Geithner could explain derivatives with a one, two, three logic?
- During an earnings call. Going off-script and rambling will not help your investors. Tight, buttoned-up, structured communication is what you need, and the template of PPT thinking gives you just such a focused structure.
- Describing a process. Have you ever had to explain steps your team should take to attack a challenge? Or a new selling model? Process thinking and speaking is right out of the PPT bible.
Breaking the PowerPoint Crutch
For executives who don't want to use PowerPoint thinking or speaking, what are the alternatives? When should you break the template pattern? What situations demand you don't have a template?
We'll address that in our next post. And for Macintosh fans, no; it's not using or thinking in Keynote!
06/10/09
Leadership Lessons from the Cockpit
Engines dead. Plane heading into the Hudson. All aboard braced for impact. US Air flight 1549 WILL go down.
What would you do if you were the pilot?
What Captain "Sully" Sullenberger did was turn to his first officer and say, "Any ideas"? Then he acted. Quick, concise, controlled actions. Cool, calm and pure grace under pressure.
This week we get to admire Captain Sullenberger all over again as we listen to him testify before the National Transportation Safety Board. America is re-embracing him as a hero. And with good cause. Thinks like a leader. Acts like a leader. Communicates like a leader. Sully is a super role-model for any executive.
So what can business leaders take-away from Captain Sullenberger's actions?
1. Think problem-solution. Captain Sullenberger said he saw this as, "a problem I had to solve." There are many ways to look at a situation, but if you analyze business scenarios from this standpoint, logic is sure to kick-in. "What's the problem, what resources are at hand, who can assist, how to attack: in one action or a series of smaller ones"? Bottom-line, thinking in terms of problem-solution as a default mindset, sets you up for a plan and most importantly, action and execution.
2. Focus. Sully told Congress that he, "focused on nothing else." We get distracted by the day-to-day activities of running our organizations, but what Captain Sullenberger reminds us is that for some situations, a single-mindedness is the right tactic. Clarity of focus enabled him to clear out all the non-essential distractions and zero-in on the task at hand.
3. Determination. Guts and resolve. Great traits for the CXO suite. Sullenberger said he was determined to find a way out of this. Firm conviction. Definite actions. And although companies are not Airbus 320s, the determined efforts to guide a plane to safety can find a parallel path in organizations of any size.
4. Rely on Training. Ultimately, Captain Sullenberger said he made his decision and let his training kick in. For business leaders, that could mean formal training, but more often than not, it's in the trenches training. What lessons can you look to from similar situations? What best practices can you tap into? Train yourself to not just knee-jerk react, but fall back on patterns of success.
5. Concise Communication. Wouldn't you love to see Sully deliver a PowerPoint presentation? My guess is, he'd have only 5 slides and probably not even use all of them. His communication style is simple: don't bore people with details they don't need and be precise in what you say. Lessons for us all.
Ultimately, Captain Sullenberger didn't just bring 150 people safely home to their families, he also brought a new breed of hero and leader to the forefront. Determined, focused leadership and a no-nonsense style of communication. Forget Harvard School of Business. Let's all commit to taking lessons from the Sullenberger School of Leadership.
06/05/09
CEO Speak: What if God Texted the Ten Commandments?
CEOs are known for flawless communication, right? We understand their ideas and can execute on them. Well, maybe...it depends on the communication vehicle they select.
When leaders speak or write, we have the chance to capture the flavor and nuances of their communication: in depth insights. But with Twitter and text messaging, some of that brilliance and subtly can get lost. Corporate mission statements in 140 characters? Hmmm...maybe not a bad idea. But for critical communications, perhaps social media is not the best choice.
In a wonderfully creative post, Jamie Quatro at Mcseeenys posted what a CEO's strategy might look like in text. BTW, the CEO happens to be God.
So how would God communicate his vision and strategy for mankind, i.,e the Ten Commandments, if he had to use text? Here is Jamie's wickedly inventive text version of the Big 10:
1. no1 b4 me. srsly.
2. dnt wrshp pix/idols
3. no omg's
4. no wrk on w/end (sat 4 now; sun l8r)
5. pos ok - ur m&d r cool
6. dnt kill ppl
7. :-X only w/ m8
8. dnt steal
9. dnt lie re: bf
10. dnt ogle ur bf's m8. or ox. or dnkey. myob.
M, pls rite on tabs & giv 2 ppl. ttyl, JHWH. ps. wwjd?
Note to earthly CEOs: to avoid confusion, maybe you should keep vision and strategy statements off of Twitter!
08/24/09
CEO or Czar: Which Leader Are You?
The "C" word is getting a lot of press these days (you WERE thinking CEO, weren't you?).
It seems that every time someone gets appointed to a government post, they get the title "czar." There are so many of these little crazy Ivans running around in Washington that Senator McCain said Obama has, "more Czars than the Romanovs."
We have a drug czar, an energy czar, a border czar, a climate czar, a czar for this and a czar for that. In December, in her Wall Street Journal article, Laura Meckler wrote about the rising ascension of czars in the White House.
And it's not just in the US. The United Kingdom has it share of little Ivans, with drug czars, and according to Business Week, the UK has appointed its first "Twitter Czar!" God help us all! (It's OK to say that...I'm under 140 characters).
The question is, what is a czar, and as a leader, do you want to be one?
According to history, a czar is a despot, an emperor or monarch (tsar is a variation, but we don't use that one much for our leaders; pronouncing the "ts" sounds a bit sibilant and not "manly" enough. Czar's connotation is absolute power, heavy-handed despot: think Ivan the Terrible or the ill-fated Czar Nicholas. We can even think Despotic Queen of Hearts from Alice.
So when your employees think of your leadership style, do they think czar? Are you heavy-handed, autocratic and part of the chain-of-command mindset? Do you relish absolute power? Or is your style open to listening and accessible? Do you delegate and share the power? Think collaboration and you've got a great "C" word to apply to your leadership style.
There are a lot of "C" words employees could use to describe your approach to leadership, but czar should not be one of them.
06/04/09
Leadership Lessons From the Heart
CEOs lead by using their brains: they think about how to generate revenues, they ponder company vision and they constantly think about how to advance and grow their organization. Competitive analysis, differentiation, profitability, sustainable growth and innovation. Whew! Heady heads! And that's good stuff going on in the brains of business leaders.
But in a down economy, you can tell real leadership by what is going on in executives' hearts. Shifting focus from profits to philanthropy is easy in good times, but in this bleak economic landscape, it takes a CEO with the right stuff to have head and heart operating at full steam.
Case in point, I read a recent blog post in Fast Company about Seth Merrin, CEO of Liquidnet receiving an award from the Committee to Advance Corporate Philanthropy (co-founded by the Paul Newman Foundation).
Now, Mr. Merrin is a millionaire many times over. Actually we can use the "B" word: billionaire is more appropriate. But instead of just focusing on racking up more consonants in front of his "illions," he focused on his philanthropic zeal and applied time, money, energy, and innovative thinking to his Global Social Engagement Program.
He partnered with a youth village project that is a residential community for orphans in Rwanda, in response to the genocide going on in this African country.
“Through the Rwanda program, we are pursuing a holistic approach to a large problem with an innovative solution. We are giving orphans a chance at life, creating the next generation of leaders for the country,” explains Merrin. With support from Liquidnet, the village provides food, medical care, and psychological services to the children, in addition to a school that is equipped with computers and wireless internet. “The youth village is a place of promise and perhaps a beacon of hope in Africa. That's its potential,” says Merrin.
In a Forbes interview, Mr. Merrin has said, today's philanthropy is about getting your hands dirty and making a difference. I would certainly say that you have Mr. Merrin! Bravo! Leadership lesson for us all. All executives can take a cue from Mr. Merrin and lead not just with heads and minds, but with hearts as well.
And getting a little dirt under your fingernails wouldn't hurt either!
06/01/09
Are You Losing Your Executive Hair?
How many of you remember Aesop's fable about the man with two wives? For those in the C Suite, it's a fable very much worth remembering:
In the old days, when men were allowed to have many wives, a middle-aged Man had one wife that was old and one that was young; each loved him very much, and desired to see him like herself. Now the Man's hair was turning gray, which the young Wife did not like, as it made him look too old for her husband. So every night she used to comb his hair and pick out the white ones. But the elder Wife saw her husband growing gray with great pleasure, for she did not like to be mistaken for his mother. So every morning she used to arrange his hair and pick out as many of the black ones as she could. The consequence was the Man soon found himself entirely bald. Moral: Yield to all and you will soon have nothing to yield.
Whether you are a male or female executive, no hair is...well, not the best look for most of us. If you let colleagues pick at your follicles, giving each one what they want, when they want it, you'll end up like Aesop's barren-headed gentleman. Not a pretty sight for an executive and certainly not one to be respected. You can't be all things to all people.
Authentic leaders don't give everyone what they want: they always respectfully listen and consider, but in the end, THEY make the decision, guided by their best judgment. Authentic leadership is about being true to yourself and your instincts and sensibilities. After all, that's what got you into your leadership position.
So occasionally if you want to let someone have one of your executive follicles, go ahead, be magnanimous. Remember it's OK to say, "no," and it's perfectly fine to say, "no way!"
After all YOU are the leader!
In the old days, when men were allowed to have many wives, a middle-aged Man had one wife that was old and one that was young; each loved him very much, and desired to see him like herself. Now the Man's hair was turning gray, which the young Wife did not like, as it made him look too old for her husband. So every night she used to comb his hair and pick out the white ones. But the elder Wife saw her husband growing gray with great pleasure, for she did not like to be mistaken for his mother. So every morning she used to arrange his hair and pick out as many of the black ones as she could. The consequence was the Man soon found himself entirely bald. Moral: Yield to all and you will soon have nothing to yield.Whether you are a male or female executive, no hair is...well, not the best look for most of us. If you let colleagues pick at your follicles, giving each one what they want, when they want it, you'll end up like Aesop's barren-headed gentleman. Not a pretty sight for an executive and certainly not one to be respected. You can't be all things to all people.
Authentic leaders don't give everyone what they want: they always respectfully listen and consider, but in the end, THEY make the decision, guided by their best judgment. Authentic leadership is about being true to yourself and your instincts and sensibilities. After all, that's what got you into your leadership position.
So occasionally if you want to let someone have one of your executive follicles, go ahead, be magnanimous. Remember it's OK to say, "no," and it's perfectly fine to say, "no way!"
After all YOU are the leader!
08/24/09
A Personal Social Media Strategy
Today, leaders don't just innovate and communicate. Today they must tweet, connect, blog and join the virtual conversation. The social media world is here to stay, it's no longer the latest fad for Gen Y. And business leaders must have a presence in the virtual world. No ifs ands or buts. It is a business imperative!
Many leaders bemoan the fact that they don't have time to get engaged in all the virtual chatter. Here are a few strategies I've seen successful business leaders use to survive and thrive in the brave new 2.0 world.
1. Manage Your Tweet Time. Many busy execs bemoan the fact that time just flies along and they can't find a few extra minutes for social media. But it's relatively easy to make time.What's your morning routine? Java or tea, of course. Then perhaps reading an online news source, answering emails and voice mails etc. etc. Why not program 5 minutes for tweet strategy and 15 minutes for your blog? If you plot out your social media time as a "must do" along with other morning requirements, it soon becomes part of your daily habits...you execute, and move on.
2. What to write about? Take your blog cues for material from news sources you read everyday. Timely topics featured on CNN or in The Wall St. Journal or Financial Times can open up op ed ideas for your blog. One of the best sources for material is your customer base. What was the latest conversation you had with a big prospect? Or look to your own team. What are they talking about at the water cooler this week? What challenges do they face or what solutions are working?
3. Prioritize Ideas. What is critical and timely to post or tweet about now? Some ideas as time-sensitive, like a current stimulus package or a highly publicized merger. If you want to rant on a timely topic, you can't waste a second. But some ideas are what journalists call "evergreens." they last indefinitely. Why not keep a list of evergreen ideas that you can pull out and turn into blog material? Relevant business ideas that will fly in any time or season. I know some execs who write a half dozen posts while traveling, then file them away until needed.
Bottom-line. It's about having a vision for your online presence and then putting a personal social media strategy in place.
05/19/09
Top CEO Says, "Put Your Laptops Away"!
Eric Schmidt, Google's CEO, gave the commencement address yesterday at my alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania in Philly (yeah, yeah, I know, all us Philadelphians eat soft pretzels and say things like "YO"... but we don't care, the Phillies are world champs, so "YO"!).Schmidt gave some pretty interesting and somewhat controversial advice to Penn's new grads:
"You need to turn off your computer, turn off your phone, look at the people who are near and around you, and decide that humans are the most important things..."
This is some pretty heady advice for anyone, not just graduates, but especially for leaders. Here is one of the chief technology brains on the planet suggesting that technology has its place, but people come first (for those keeping score, this means: Technology 0 Humans 1).
Schmidt is saying in essence, humans are at the heart of everything, whether technology or culture or business or politics. It seems to me that keeping a human perspective is the best advice any leader can take to heart in our web 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and growing world.
Effective leaders can use the latest technologies to communicate: they might Tweet and tape VODs and be LinkedIn and YouTube their latest messages for all the world to see, but in the end, they are communicating to people. Leaders who really "get" it use Telepresence and CUVA cameras, but they also connect with their teams the old fashioned way: shake hands, eye contact, one-on-one conversations.
So as you speak to your colleagues, teams, your customers, and your partners, yes, use the latest 2.0 technologies, they bring speed, clarity and innovation to your leadership platform, but don't forget that humanitas is at the heart of authentic leadership, not an Intel processor.
