Unaverage Leadership

A Great Way To Get Educated

I have discussed open book management and employee ownership as a means to improve bottom line performance and enhance company cultures.  At this time of the year, there are several national conferences that provide a huge learning opportunity for those of you considering open book management or employee ownership.

These conferences are some of the best deals you can find on educating yourself before you spend additional dollars on professional fees or consulting.  All three conferences utilize experts in the field, but one of the best values is that you will hear the real life stories of companies from the people themselves. 

These conferences also allow ample opportunity for you to network with your peers and pick their brains on what they did well and mistakes they have made.  This kind of value is not always easy to come by.  I have personally attended all three of these annual conferences and it is well worth the value.

The information for the conferences is as follows:

• NCEO (National Center for Employee Ownership) Annual Conference, Apr.20-22, Minneapolis,MN 
• National Gathering of Games (Great Game of Business), May 5-7, St. Louis, MO
• National ESOP Association Annual Conference, May 12-13, Washington D.C.   

Make the investment of time and resources today - you will not be disappointed.

Because They Care

Caring is a trait that many believe is a good trait in organizations. Many hours of training, worrying and even tears are spent by leaders, employees and families in the pursuit of caring.

Yet, as with anything in life, too much of it can be harmful. You may ask yourself - how can you care too much?  Caring too much is harmful when it invades your personal life and when it inhibits the growth of others.

There are leaders and employees that will sacrifice their own families because they care about what happens to the organization in an extreme way. These individuals also have a tendency to expect others to care as much as they do. When this occurs, it creates a lot more organizational stress than what people may think.

Individuals that care too much can also have a tendency to take care of all problems. This behavior does not allow for others to make mistakes and then learn from them. Mistakes are in many cases the best opportunity for individuals to experience critical learning that becomes part of their behavior.  

Does your caring come with a cost to others?  If so, you may need to take a step back and make some adjustments.

Do Not Be A Fool - Take Your Time Off!

Last June I took a week long vacation in the Boundary Waters of Northern Minnesota.  Complete isolation - no phone and no computer - and a lot of free time to ponder life (in between the paddling and portages).

I find it extremely odd that to this day, I still know people who actually lose vacation because they do not take it.  Absolutely absurd!  The typical answers - they can not get away, to much work when they get back, and the company really frowns on long vacations.

Highly developed company cultures encourage and even force their employees to take the vacation they have earned.  Why?  During an extended vacation (no less than one week) people tend to come back with one of two attitudes - they have recharged and are ready to get back into the fray or they have realized that their current work situation is not meeting their needs and make a decision to move on.

The first attitude is easy for companies to accept. The second, well that is a different story.  Far to many organizations fear the second attitude and that is why they frown on extended vacations.  They would rather keep an unsatisfied employee than go through the work of finding a replacement or even more exasperating, they fear the challenge of creating a culture where people do not want to leave.

I say give vacation, make employees take their earned vacation, and celebrate when your employees make a choice to leave and better themselves.  Quit being selfish and bitter, and support the growth of your people.  We all need to take time to drive down the road and see what is out there!

A Formula For Organizational Change

Organizational change is not a simple process and requires a lot of thought and resources. Time and time again change initiatives fail for a variety of reasons. Just imagine if there was simple formula you could follow that would guarantee success.

Well believe it or not there is a formula that has been developed that can increase your chance of success when implementing change. The basic formula is from the work of Richard Beckhard & David Gleicher. The formula is Dissatisfaction x Vision x First Steps > Resistance to Change or DxVxF>R. 

Meaning that if D, V or F have a zero value you are doomed to failure (you will need to remember your math). There is a new twist to the formula that has surfaced that adds Trust or T. The new formula is DxVxFxT>R.  I agree that the addition of trust to this formula does improve the accuracy of this formula.

If you are looking at implementing change, I would encourage you to take a long and deep look at your organization and how it stacks up to the components of the formula. Spending the time to evaluate, measure and discuss these components will help your change initiative go much smoother.

Do Not Forget The Fun

Yes, times are tough and everyone is focused on the bottom line.  I would suggest that maybe it is time to have a little fun - cut loose and let the hair down.

I am sure you have seen several movies where the battle is coming, but the night before the battle the heroes sing aloud or indulge in some type of party.  They know that it is going to be a tough road, but they still celebrate the human spirit with hope and laughter.

I believe that many companies forget that balance is an extremely important part of managing a company's culture.  Any time we spend too much time at the extremes (good times or bad times) balance is lost.  We get greedy with the good times and cynical with the bad times.  Either way, our focus is polluted and it can lead us down a dangerous path.

Maybe the ultra cynical think the world is ending, but I believe we are in natural adjustment.  Times are tough, but we will cycle out of them and see prosperity once again.  So plan some fun within your company - a party, some humor, perform a good deed for someone else, something that gets your employees focused on the good side of life.  I think we have spent enough time on the dark side!

Organizational Trauma

You may have just recently made some hard decisions or have been impacted by them during this economic melt down.  When these types of decisions are made that drastically impact peoples lives through job loss, pay cuts and other forms of suffering, organizations are faced with the trauma of that event.

Companies make these hard decisions to improve bottom line results or the possibility of closure.  Unfortunately companies fail to deal with the trauma, even though the decisions may be needed and appropriate.  When the trauma is not addressed, there will continue to be a decline in productivity, moral and bottom line results increasing the chances of further organizational trauma.

After trauma there is a sense of loss, anger, finger pointing and a need to discuss or vent the issue. Eventually resolution with the impact of the trauma will occur.  How many companies do you know that figure out a process for how to handle organizational trauma?  We all know far to many companies where the tough decisions are made and not a word is said after wards.  The expectation is people should feel fortune that they still have a job and should work even harder.  It does not work this way.

The remaining employees may have lost friends or families.  They know more intimately how these types of decisions will impact individuals, and in many cases feel guilty that they are still employed.  Immediately the impact of anger and finger pointing comes forth - the management should have been able to avoid this that is why they make the big bucks, who should have been let go and who remains becomes a huge point of discussion, and ultimately trust goes out the window.

Many of my blog posts have dealt with ways to prepare employees for tough decisions through education, communication, and involvement.  This is the best way to prepare and cope with trauma.  For those of you who do not believe in these concepts, maybe after experiencing a traumatic organizational event, the light may have come on.  Take the time to review the archives of my posts for multiple examples of how to prepare and cope with organizational trauma or visit this sight for an academic perspective. 

Success Tips for Organizational Change

Change is an important part of successful organizations (check out the stories at fast company).  One issue that occurs within organizations is how much change can be implemented before it begins to be counter productive.  The timing of new change initiatives is critical to their success.

I have always held the view that there are four groups that are key to organizational change. By dealing with these groups effectively, change can happen quickly and it becomes part of the culture sooner.

The first group is the naysayers.  The people in your organization that always see the glass half empty and nothing is ever good enough.  The best solution is to not allocate any resources in dealing with this group.  Let them be.  They will either get on board or leave the organization.  This may sound harsh, but many organizations see change initiatives die because they put to much energy in trying to get this group on board.

The second group is the thoroughbreds.  No matter what the change, they embrace it and are advocates for the change.  They lead the charge.  The challenge with this group is that they need to see the change quickly or they will shift their energy elsewhere.  Give this group projects and tasks that support the change, but in the context of allowing time for the other groups to buy into the change.  If the thoroughbreds are to far out in front, the other groups look at them as privileged or aloof, and the change initiative will hit a brick wall. 

The third group is the steady eddys.  This group expects change, and as long as they are given education, training and the purpose of the change, they get on the change wagon in short order.  This is the biggest group and the foundation of a company's culture.

The fourth and final group is the fence sitters.  They need extensive training, ample time for questions and an extended period to incorporate the change into their day to day activities.  This is the group that you must watch closely before you add new changes into the organization.  If they are still coping with an existing change, they will not handle more change and you will have organizational chaos if you move to quickly.  By focusing on this group, you can accelerate change and its acceptance.

Balancing change within these groups falls on the shoulders of owners, CEOs and senior management.  Be sure you take the time to plan change with these groups in mind.  Failure to do so will guarantee the change initiatives are a waste of time.

Systems are Not a Guaranteed Lock for Success

The company makes a big announcement that a new system will drive performance and make the company a better place to work.  I am sure you are familiar with the systems - lean, six sigma, theory of constraints, just in time inventory, open book management, the latest performance appraisal system, employee ownership, touching toes, et cetera.

In many cases the systems are implemented, and in a month, year or even years down the road, things go back to the way they were.  There may have been some financial gains for a while, but soon the embedded cultural memory sucks them back out.  The initial wow and energy fades, and once again people are working in the same old company with the same old problems - nothing really changed.

Why?  Because the systems are not implemented within a framework that engages the employees.  The systems are implemented without any input from the employees that will be impacted by the systems.  There is no clear alignment of how these systems will improve communications, build teamwork, encourage the adult to adult relationship, create opportunities for employee growth, or improve leadership in the company.

The surveys by Gallop show that over 70 percent of workers are not fully engaged.  Systems are valuable, but if you implement them without a focus on employees you are doomed to failure.  Remember that if you involve someone in a decision, their follow through on the results of the decision will dramatically improve.  Implementing systems within a context that engages employees is the ticket for lasting success!

The Purposeful Company

The business world gets crazier every day - stock markets going nuts, banks on the brink of closing, wondering if our 401k accounts will be around for retirement and politicians worrying about lipstick on a pig!  It causes one to reflect on life and examine why do we do the things we do.

Since we spend most of lives at work, does it not make sense that we find purpose and meaning at work.  Even better, that the company we are employed at is purposeful in its business.  Yes, that purpose has more meaning than the all mighty dollar (with the understanding that business success comes from a profit - I think we all know this).

I just recently heard my good friend Kim Jordan, the founder and CEO of New Belgium Brewing (Fat Tire Beer), once again speak to the fact that purposeful organizations do exist.  New Belgium is based on three fundamental issues that center on purpose:

• Stewardship of the environment
• Promoting beer culture
• Having fun

There is much more to the purpose based beliefs of New Belgium, but Kim boiled them down to these three.  In just 19 years it has become the third largest craft brewer in the U.S.

This is a company of 300 employee owners that twice a year participates in the strategic planning process (a fact - I attended one several years ago), ownership is shared with the employees and ideas are encouraged and acted upon.  They have instilled a higher purpose for business and in doing so, have created a place where individuals can pursue a higher purpose through the work environment.

There are other companies that have done the same or more.  The key is that they are engaging their employees in running a business for a purpose bigger than the founder, the CEO or the managers.  By focusing on a higher purpose it takes away the stigma of working for "the man" and gives meaning to work.

I know it works; I was a part of a company that did the same.  I encourage you to ponder the thought of running a purposeful company instead of business.  Good luck!

Open The Books - The Minds Will Open

In far to many instances companies drive performance through emotional and subjective processes, reviews, and management. 

There is nothing worse than being told you are not performing as expected and when you ask why there is no valid reason.

Smart companies have recognized that using open book management helps eliminate the emotional and subjective conversations.  Open book management is based on the numbers - the facts (unless the organization is so corrupt it cooks its books).  Business is about numbers - sales, expenses, inventory, profits, cash, stock value and more.

The fundamental purpose of a company is to offer a service that makes money.  If your employees do not understand how their every day actions contribute to the bottom line, I will venture to say that you have a lot of unresolved issues in your company that drive you nuts.

Many owners, CEO's, and management people fear that sharing numbers will destroy their business.  There are thousands of ways to practice open book management and you have to evaluate which way works best for your company.  Start today before your competition beats you to it.  It will give you a competitive advantage!