Mary E. Marshall's Blog, page 26

An Entrepreneurial Black Eye

Entrepreneurs have a hard enough time without being compared to “Bro CEOs” and their bad behavior.

As this Op-Ed piece points out, the behavior of these self-centered man-boys gives a black eye to all those who toil away to run a decent business, provide jobs and contribute to their community. I get frustrated when the Silicon Valley Dream Boys are labeled entrepreneurs – they are not. They are boys, (yes, 99.9% of them are male), who had an idea, were at the right place at the right time and had the ability to convince other “Bro CEOs” who run the investment firms to give them money – betting that they will bring home the gold.

This is NOT entrepreneurship, this is frat boys gone wild. Entrepreneurship does start out with an idea, (that’s the only piece the Bro-CEOs have in common with real entrepreneurs), but then it evolves into lots of blood, sweat, and tears to execute that idea. There are no parties, no free food and drinks, no lavish vacations and retreats, no extremely obnoxious leadership behavior and almost never any blatant discriminatory behavior. Most entrepreneurs are just working as hard as they can to keep the dream alive, to make their mortgage payment, to make payroll, and furiously trying to navigate all the obstacles in the way of success for a small business.

When it comes to financing, most small businesses do not get investments of millions of dollars, they get small loans in the $100K range. This is just enough to get going, hire a few people, make some marketing moves, and ramp up production or service. Most use every dime they’ve ever saved and count on the generosity of relatives who pretty much never expect to get the money back.

They have to cajole people to work for them because they cannot afford to offer the benefits of large companies. They often give away equity as a promise and hope they can deliver. They compete with the big guys and have to hustle to get anyone to listen to them or take them seriously.

They believe in their dream, not because of the billion-dollar valuation they expect to be theirs someday, but because the product or service they created will provide something better than is out there. These are small dreams that can turn into big realities if done well and only one out of ten will survive by year five.

As the article points out, having an idea is one thing, running a company is something completely different. All entrepreneurs find this out and the small entrepreneurs, (meaning everyone except Bro-CEOs), realize what and who they need to help them grow into a larger enterprise. They know that wasting money, talent and time are not a recipe for success.

So, next time you think of the word “entrepreneur” think of all those hard-working small business owners out there who aren’t getting multi-millions behind them and are building their companies one strategic step at a time. Here’s to all the non-Bro CEOs that make our economy hum and provide 72% of all jobs to Americans.

photo credit: Teratoiid Teratoiid NIPPONOIID! via photopin (license) (logo removed)

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Does Everyone Need to Lead?

A great piece in the New York Times this weekend discussed the frenzied world of the college application process and the perceived need for “leadership” abilities. It begged the question – if you aren’t leadership material, could/should you be admitted to college? Of course, the answer is yes. Everyone who has the opportunity can and should go to college, regardless of leadership potential. But apparently, “leadership potential” is now the favored characteristic so the scramble for high school kids is to lead anything. However, as the author rightly points out, without followers, nothing would ever get done. So, is everyone having leadership skills really the best focus?

The lesson here for entrepreneurs is that not everyone on your team wants to lead, let alone has the capacity to lead. How many times has the best salesperson or top engineer been promoted to a leadership or management position only to fail badly? More often than I can count. Occasionally it works, but only when that individual also has some innate leadership strengths.

Fully functioning productive teams have people of all stripes who are good at the job or task they are supposed to do. Everyone can lead at times, but everyone doesn’t need to be a leader, all the time. Much like Tom Rath points out in Strengthfinders, people are only really great in their areas of strength and some just don’t want or have the inclination to be a leader. And that’s perfectly okay. Unfortunately, our culture is obsessed with leadership being the coveted position at the top of the ladder. Therefore, if you want to get ahead, you must move into a leadership spot. Frequently, this is a recipe for failure. We need expertise at every level, in every position. One is not better than another, just different.

As business leaders identifying, not assuming, leadership potential within your team is your job. Giving people the opportunity to show their talents, how they perform and what their interests are is the best thing a leader can do. The team will generally sort itself out. The good leader watches which way the currents are going in the stream and goes with the flow, not against it. Promoting someone because they really want to lead or it’s their “turn,” when you know they have no capacity for it is not good management. You run the risk of lowering the overall performance of the team and putting the leader in a no-win position. It’s a lose-lose.

Take a look at your team or your company and make sure that vital and important non-leadership positions are viewed by the rest of the company in a positive light. Remember, as Jim Collins of Good to Great fame teaches – it’s not only having the right people on the bus, it’s about having them in the right seats – and that means the leadership seats as well.

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Listen – Stop Waiting to Talk

One thing I’ve found that separates the good leaders from the not so good leaders is the ability to listen. And not just the ability to listen but to actually “hear” what’s being said. That means listening with a new lens, or more accurately a crystal clear one.

There are a couple of ways that good leaders do this. First, it means that while listening, you’re not framing up what you’re going to say or waiting to talk. If you’re waiting to talk, you’ve stopped listening. You have formulated what YOU want to say on the subject and want to get your opinion out. As humans, we listen for matches, something similar, some past experience, some piece of knowledge that connects us to the speaker. The problem with this is that we are so busy searching our memory banks, forming up our thoughts that the listening brain shuts off. Ever been in a conversation when suddenly you didn’t know what was just said? You were preparing what you were going to say or finding matches to something that was said earlier. ALL of these patterns make us bad listeners.

To be listened to feels like being cared for. Try to recall a time when you felt “heard,” you had the sense that someone just got you, and I will show you someone who was a good listener. This is not about agreement or sharing the same point of view, it’s about hearing another’s. Great leaders have the ability to put aside their views and opinions and truly listen to what’s being said. This means putting all your matching and waiting to talk behavior on permanent pause. What you will hear will be very different than if you don’t. You’ll be able to hear the speaker from that crystal clear lens. As if you were just learning how to speak and everything was brand new – a sense of wonderment at what is being said.

Ever heard the term “listen newly”? This is what I mean. Listen as if you haven’t heard it before, don’t have an opinion on it or a thought to add. A while back I wrote a piece on the downside of being an expert – research has shown that experts defend their positions vs. being open to differing points-of-view, thus preserving their expert status. It’s like acquiring a piece of real estate in the 1800’s – you had to constantly defend it while never having time to tend to it. The opinion or piece of land, in this case, can become fallow or worthless. Passed over because the defense was taking up all the resources.

Great leaders listen well. They realize there are many more opinions than theirs and that the best ideas come from differing points of view. Great solutions, innovation, and diplomacy are all rooted in listening well. Listen first, ask questions second, and give opinions lightly and you’ll be surprised at what you’re able to hear – newly.

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(How NOT to) Be a Leader

As you know, I am frequently talking about leadership and what it takes to be a good or even great leader. Along these lines, about a year ago, a good friend and CEO colleague of mine, Kim Obbink, started reminiscing about bad leadership stories. We were surprised and a little dismayed that we had shared some of the same experiences of bad leadership. Our conversations led us to the realization that there were just as many lessons about good leadership in those awful bad leadership experiences. (And just to be completely transparent, some of those stories may just have been about us!) Let’s face it, if you’ve been in the leadership seat for any amount of time, there will always be a few moments where you wish you had a mulligan or a do-over.

We set about to capture those stories in a way that would be entertaining while also conveying a message of “How NOT to” because if you’re like us, no one likes to be told what to do. So, we’ll happily tell you what “NOT” to do in the hopes that you’ll take away a few gems, laugh a little, and be a better leader as a result. We’ve identified 24 traits or characteristics that you do NOT want to emulate and essentially recommend that you do the opposite.

(How NOT to) Be a Leader is the first in a series of three books; “(How NOT to) Build a Great Team” and “(How NOT to) Create a Winning Strategy” will be published by the end of the year. Our hope is that you will take these “I can read it on an airplane” style of books and find an inspiration or two to help you be a better leader. Or pass it along to that leader who could use a little reality check – perhaps as a little mirror into how others see him or her?

We hope you enjoy our tongue-in-cheek manifesto about leadership and what good leaders do. Pass it on to those who might need a laugh, need a leadership course correction, or will just find it interesting to get a different perspective on (How NOT to) Be a Leader.

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Is Culture Change Even Possible?

I worked with a brilliant man once who was in the “culture change” business. He went into large companies and helped with mergers of two disparate cultures to move the united company forward or came in after a leadership change to reinforce the new culture. What he said was that he was the “coach” to the organization, not just the CEO, and in that role of coach, he had to first ask questions and really listen to the answers.  He always had the most astute insights into the companies “gut” or culture and could usually find the one or two things that would make a course correction. So I’m going to attempt to give you one or two insights into cultural change that might help if you ever find the need to do so in your organization.

The short answer is “yes,” it’s possible to change a business culture. It’s not easy and there are likely to be casualties along the way in the form of personnel departures, but it can be done. Let’s use the story of company “X.” They are a professional services firm specializing in marketing, sales, graphics and web design. The company was the result of a merger of two smaller companies and the combined revenues were $40M. The founder was still with the company, but not working on a daily basis and the organization was led by a CEO who came from a financial background and had no knowledge of the industry. The sales bumped along at a tepid 5-8% growth rate and some of the management team were getting restless as they were led to believe the vision was to grow to $75M and become an acquisition target. No one was happy and some key individuals were departing. All believed that the founder had no idea what was going on.

So what change needed to happen to get the company back on track? First and foremost it needed to get back in touch with what had made it successful in the past – an edgy, smart bunch of individual collaborators that created amazing work for their clients. They had lost their edge and competitors were circling and picking off their talent. The COO came forward and began implementing the methods from Dave Logan’s Tribal Leadership. She started with the leadership team and attempted to define the company’s values. She met strong resistance at first, but after identifying the real problem – that the company had lost its focus and needed a reboot – more people bought into the premise. When the leadership team had agreed on their seven core values and definitions for each, they rolled it out to the entire company. They made little table tents with cool graphics and gave one to every employee to put on their desk. They talked about them in meetings and they even used them to help make decisions in the company – it really became their kiddie bumpers on the bowling alley to avoid making any more gutter balls. New clients started to come on board and employees were “enthusiastic” again.  Revenue started to climb at a 10-15% clip, far exceeding earlier projections. The company had its “vibe” back.

So what’s the catch? The only person not on board with values and “culture” was the CEO. He declared it a waste of time and demeaned the effort at every opportunity.  Most COOs would have given up in the face of such negativity – especially since it could be a very career limiting move to proceed – but this one didn’t and the more support she had via the tangible results in both morale and revenue, the more she pushed forward.  He made an attempt to fire her, but the COO had already gone to the founder with the results and briefed her on the initiative so when the CEO tried to have her fired, the founder intervened. What happened next was the surprise, the founder let the CEO go and promoted the COO.

The troops were thrilled and today the company is thriving under “culturally aligned” leadership. The COO had what Logan calls her “hell no” moment when told to shut down the initiative.  She knew it was the right thing to do, so she pressed on.

You never know who the casualties will be of cultural change, you also never know who the stars will be, but there will be both and it’s all okay. Be prepared for resistance, acceptance, brilliance and disappointment, and always be willing to change.

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Leadership: The Quiet Strength of Grace and Dignity

In today’s noisy landscape, the quiet leader can be overlooked. Our overall cultural bias towards extroverts means people who are willing to grab the mic are admired simply because they are willing to do it. Those who demand and command attention often get to lead. However, if we look back at history, it’s often the leader who is quietly persistent, and who walks and talks his or her values that leaves the most impactful legacy.

Abraham Lincoln was an eloquent and persuasive orator but it was the grace and dignity of his words that had the most impact. He managed to do the right thing for the country while knowing how it was not the will of some of his people. He never made those people wrong, always trying to show them a different way – quietly and never forgetting their humanity.

Today, however, we have examples of workplaces gone wild. A recent New York Times piece showcased the horrible behavior at Uber that passes for leadership. A meritocracy that rewards those who climb ahead at the expense of others, abhorrent behavior that is celebrated as okay and a workplace culture that looks more like Animal House than a place where people are valued.

Quiet leaders are those who celebrate you, not themselves. They are leaders who show you the right way through dignity and perseverance, through grace and understanding and most importantly, valuing your perspective. There is no name-calling, no blaming, no victimizing or making people wrong. There is only an example of how an idea can move forward by teaching others.

Think about a time when you have truly admired a leader whose calm presence, and wisdom you admired. Did this leader need to raise his or her voice? Did they have to shame or make someone wrong to prove they were right? Probably not. You followed because you admired their courage, their vision, and their quiet leadership. Words matter. How those words are used, matters more.

Leadership is not always about winning or being right. It is often about leading something unpopular or doing something very difficult. It is often stepping into the void left by someone else who made a mess and doing the right thing for all. It’s not loud, it’s not prideful and it’s hard. This is how we as leaders create a truly lasting legacy of positive impact. How will you be remembered by those in your care? Understanding and developing quiet leadership – both as a follower and a leader could be the most powerful experience of your career.

photo credit: Gage Skidmore Abraham Lincoln memorial via photopin (license)

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Communication: Be Responsible for the Wake You Create

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. – George Bernard Shaw

In today’s dizzying pace of information, we barely take in yesterday’s news and events when we are deluged with all that is happening today. What gets lost in the noise is actual communication.

For the record, communication is not a one-sided conversation. It’s not a tweet, it’s not an email, it’s not a post, it’s not a text, it’s not even a voicemail. Communication is the understanding of the receiving party of whatever was communicated by the sender. The actual definition is “the imparting or exchanging of information or news” or “a means of connection between people or places in particular.” This is why fake news and the alternative facts universe we live in is so dangerous.

It’s great that we now have multiple ways to stay in touch with people but many studies have shown that we are actually less connected now than before because we have lost our ability to communicate. Communication is not simply venting your opinion. How many of us have cut off Facebook or LinkedIn ties with those spouting different points-of-view than ours?

The piece that “opinionating” leaves out unless you are an opinion column writer for a news outlet, is the effect of that tweet, text or email on the other party. It is incumbent on all of us to “own” the effects of our communication and the “wake” it has. Years ago, I was in a meeting of Key Executives and the facilitator was becoming more and more agitated with one of the participants. The participant was clearly heading down a path that was not going to end well but the purpose of the meeting was for all of us to help him choose a different route. In the process, the facilitator literally lost it and filleted this guy five ways to Sunday to the point that I actually think he started crying. The other 12 of us in the room were so stunned by the invective spewed from the facilitator that none of us did a thing. (To this day, I am ashamed I did not do or say something other than to suggest we take a break.)

The facilitator then tried to give a lame apology that went something like this “I’m sorry I was so direct but he needed to hear it from someone he could trust.” Not much of an apology as it was a justification for very bad behavior. The “wake” of that rant was huge. The poor guy quit the group, his job, and actually had a nervous breakdown. 3 of us also quit the group and it eventually imploded. The facilitator just said we were “weak.”

Because we live in the digital world, one-way communication is not going away. But what we can do as leaders is model good communication by being responsible for the wake of our words. Own what we say and write, think about how it will land on the audience, and follow-up if you are concerned. Remember, open conversations, in-person, respecting the other person’s point-of-view is what good leaders do.

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Leadership: Strength vs. Stubbornness

“I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.” ― Abraham Lincoln

In our culture, when discussing leadership strength, you will hear words like; decisive, bold, unwavering, strong, courageous, tough, stable, stalwart, firm, backbone, firmness, power, might, fortitude, steady, etc. A leader is often defined as one who is strong, and unwavering. We can trust them to do what they say they will do and to take us up the proverbial mountain. For the most part, people will agree this is good and positive.

On the other hand, stubbornness is not viewed as positively, except in certain circumstances. Words like: inflexible, bullheaded, pigheaded, obstinate, doggedness and mulish are often used interchangeably with stubbornness. The problem is that strength and stubbornness are often confused or collapsed together.

I worked with a CEO once who was more in the stubborn category and he was roundly disliked by his staff and board alike. He got results, but at the expense of employee morale and often created more problems then he solved due to his intransigence. He believed that being open to other points-of-view was weak. What he eventually learned was that someone who was strong enough in their own knowledge and point-of-view could still be open to others. The former view was stubborn, the subsequent view was strength.

How Do You Discern the Difference?

Being willing to question whether you are right. Being open to this is strong. Being closed to this is stubborn.
Are you holding onto “your way” or are you open to the best way that all members of the team feel you need to go? If no one agrees with you, it’s probably stubbornness. If you have consensus, real consensus, not just driven by your title, it’s probably strength.
What is your motive? If it’s for the good of the team, mission or purpose, it’s likely leadership strength. If it’s for personal gain, it might be stubbornness on your part.
Are you willing to look at new information? Changing one’s mind due to new facts, (not alternative facts), is actually strong. Refusing to look at the new information is stubborn.
Is ego involved? If so, it might be stubbornness. If it’s authentically for the greater good, it’s probably strength.

Think of this in terms of toddlers. When they don’t get their way, they throw a fit (and sometimes throw things) because they want what they want. Despite all the good reasons we give them for why it should be a different way they are often stubborn because the only person they are focused on pleasing is themselves.

On the other hand, good leaders will consider everyone and everything: employees, constituents, family, organizations, etc. When the greater good is at stake, strength will lead to solutions that benefit all or most of those impacted – at least that will be the intent. Stubbornness will lead to acrimony, “us vs. them,” and no one being pleased with the outcome except the leader.

 

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Mentoring Your Team the Right Way

So much of your business success depends upon the people on your team. In today’s competitive hiring environment your ability to hire, train, and mentor well is critical.

A recent article in Inc. Magazine lists 8 things that great bosses communicate to their people regularly:

 

“I have total confidence in you.”
“This is what I want you to accomplish.”
“What can we do better next time?”
“I want to play to your strengths.”
“What is your opinion?”
“How can I better support you?”
“Let me know if you have any questions.”
“Good work.”

These are great and if you are at all squeamish about any of them, you might want to reflect on your leadership style and see how it’s working for you.

Points 1, 4 and 8 all relate to building up a person’s confidence in their own ability to do the work. Without that confidence, regardless of skill level, they will not accomplish what you want. Letting your team members know that you believe in them and you recognize their strengths is key to building that confidence. Praising them genuinely and in the way, they want to receive it, is the last step towards building confidence. Employees gain confidence by knowing they did well or are on track from their boss. Most survey’s show that good employees will leave if they do not receive regular feedback and acknowledgment for a job well done. And if someone truly deserves a stellar review, don’t muck it up with a made up “one thing to improve” just because you feel you need to put it on the form. It’s demotivating and will become their focus vs. all the good things they’ve done.

Points 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 are all about good delegation. Mostly what I see is the opposite of this. First, gain absolute clarity about what you are trying to accomplish, what success looks like, and what you expect them to do. Then give them time to think it over and come back with questions, usually later that same day or first thing the next day, but no more than 24 hours after delegating the task or project. Asking for their thoughts on it is always good as they will likely be able to add value and point out what you may not see. Asking how you can help or what resources they might need is key to a good outcome. Remember you’re trying to get them to be successful, not do it for them, so providing all the tools needed up front is mandatory. Lastly, debrief after any delegation – what went well, what did not go well, and what will you do differently next time. And of course, always be open to questions, at any time.

Think about how often you have used any of the questions in the past week or so and if you can’t honestly say you did, this might be a good opportunity to add to your communication repertoire and motivate and engage your employees in the process.

photo credit: wocintechchat.com Women In Tech – 84 via photopin (license)

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Managing Change

Change before you have to – Jack Welch

Change inside an organization is the one constant you can count on. If change doesn’t happen, growth slows and eventually, obsolescence takes over. Few like it, most complain about it and just wish we would stop tinkering with things and let it be, but as leaders, we can’t. However, changing things for change sake is never a good strategy and usually leads to chaos, as does poorly managed change.

So how do you do it well? Just to be clear, it’s hard. Start with the premise that it will take work and won’t be a breeze and you’re already a few steps ahead. Another assumption you need to make is that change is a constant. The minute you change something, no matter how well thought out, an unintended consequence will show up. The theory of constraints says that the minute you fix (change) one thing, you cause something else in the flow to break or need work. It’s a never-ending process and for most entrepreneurs, it’s half the fun. For employees, not so much.

Here are some steps that I’ve used and have seen work in the past, (and no doubt will need to be changed going forward)! But it’s a start:

Be crystal clear about the problem you are solving.
Do not plan for one change to solve multiple problems – if it does, you got lucky.
Once the problem is defined, brainstorm multiple ways to solve it.
Choose the best option, (usually least risk, biggest reward is the combination you want).
Map out the steps.
Define success.
Assign someone to “own” the process and outcome.
If this change involves people, (employees, customers, vendors) craft your “why” story.
If necessary, find an early adopter to prove the concept.
Practice your “why” story as if you were on CNN – is that really how you want it to sound?
Play devil’s advocate, what could go wrong?
Plan for contingencies.
Roll it out and debrief at multiple points to inspect what you expect.
Do a post mortem – what went well, what didn’t, what will we do differently next time?
Celebrate!

Depending upon the size, scope, and significance of the change, you may not have to follow all the steps above, but once you get a process down that works for you, keep it until it no longer works. Remember, the change process will need to be changed too! Keep a positive attitude and you might actually have some fun with it.

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