Your Covid Defense

 

 Most organizations have one element upon which everything else is built.  When that element is performing to expectations, everything else seems to fall into place.

For some it’s their sales and marketing expertise.  For others it is their manufacturing excellence.  Some rely on their ability to be innovative in the development and delivery of cutting edge technology. Every company has something upon which they ‘hang their hat’.  What’s yours…?

In these times I wonder how many of you answered ‘…it is our delivery of HR services to our employees…’  If it is not at or near the top of your responses, you are in deep trouble and you don’t even know it!!!

Recently I was in conversation with the CEO of a major North American manufacturer of health and beauty products. She related to me how her role has changed over the past several months in response to the challenges that Covid. 

The delivery of products has obvious hurdles in the supply chain as raw materials delivery experiences disruptions. Sales struggle with some of their retailers experiencing closures or restricted sales hours.  But these issues pale in the face of the personnel matters that are often hidden from plain sight but which exist nonetheless.

Here are some examples she shared.

·       The executive who joined the company pre-Covid but whose family was still living abroad because of travel restrictions. 

·       The line employees who were living with family members in senior assisted living communities that prevented any face to face contact.

·       The middle manager who lost a partner to Covid and was left to raise three children alone.

·       Others who had adult children returning home because jobs were lost or education was being conducted on-line.

These are just some of the experiences that happen behind the curtain but which have tremendous influence of the lives of your employees.  The stress starts to manifest in mental health problems which are so difficult to diagnose unless you are prompted to look for them.

That’s why the companies with a pro-active HR division are the ones that are continuing to excel in these unprecedented times.  They are out front and leading the charge to recognize that leaders must be active life coaches for those in need.

That is not to say that the leaders should be counselors, but they must be trained to recognize signs of trouble.  Their role is to encourage those who are suffering that help exists and that there is no shame in raising their hand to say ‘help me’.

The professionals tell us that the next 4-6 months will be the darkest times of the pandemic.  The light at the end of the tunnel is not the train coming at us any longer.  There is a return to a sense of normality in our foreseeable future.

But we need to ensure that everyone make it of the darkness.  That is YOUR MAJOR RESPONSIBILITY for the next several months.  You may have to take your eye off the P & L for a time, but it will survive as long as your staff members do!

Invest in all things HR for now.  That is your best defense against Covid. And the best offence from your company!

Horses for Courses!

 In the world of thoroughbred horse racing there is an old and time tested axiom.  It says that there are ‘…horses for courses…’ 

There is a wide variety of events in which these horses compete.  Some are sprinters; some are more suited for distances.  Some prefer grass; others perform best on dirt.  Some run well on muddy tracks; some only on dry days.

The point is that the owners and trainers of these animals need to know their horses’ characteristics and abilities if they are to perform at their best and thus provide the greatest likelihood of victory.

In your business it is critical that you have a realistic appreciation of the skills and abilities of those on your team.  It makes no sense trying to get blood from a stone.

Frank McKeown, a consultant and mentor I know put it best this way.

“…it is better to have an average strategy well executed than a great strategy poorly executed…”  Makes sense to me.

Clearly you want to have a great strategy well executed.  But if your team members are not up to the task, you still need to be making an effort to improve, even if that improvement is incremental rather than exponential.

In these instances you obviously have two parallel strategies.  The first is to deliver a strategy that can be implemented with the personnel resources you have.  The second, and coincidental, is to improve the quality of your resources.

Don’t assume that replacing people is the problem.  It may be ; but what is your contribution to their performance? 

Have they been properly trained?

Are they in the correct roles?

Do they have the tools to do the job?

Have you done a good enough job in communicating and motivating them?

Have you created an environment in which people excel?

There are many other factors that can contribute to individuals failing to reach their full potential.  As the leader, that is your responsibility.  The ‘…horses for courses…’ applies as much to you as it does to your team.

Strategy is important…but execution trumps strategy every day.  Take a long, hard look at your horses before you decide where to run them!

Consensus vs Consultative

 

In the rush to embrace diversity...which I applaud...there may be confusion as to how to appropriately incorporate disparate input and opinion.  There is a sense that it is imperative to validate those who may be new to the decision making process by accepting their contributions at face value and at equal weight.  The concern is that failing to incorporate and implement other's ideas may be seen as dismissing their contribution.

The tendency, then, is to work towards a consensus among all the stake holders or all those who have had input.  This is dangerous and potentially disastrous.  Allow me to share this real life example to illustrate the issue.

Two companies were examining an opportunity in the medical imaging industry.  Company A was based in Japan.  Company B was based in North America.  They started their evaluations at the same time.

Company A took 4 months to do their market evaluation.  Company B took 6 months.

Company A took 4 months to move from decision to product introduction.  Company B took 6 months.

Yet company B arrived in the market a full six months earlier than A and was able to dominate the opportunity for years.

What's missing?  Company A worked on a consensus decision making model.  Because there were some dissenters at the table, the decision to move forward was  delayed for months until everyone was satisfied that all the risks and other issues were addressed to their satisfaction.

Company B looked at essentially the same data but recognized that first to market was also a key component to success.   The CEO considered all the facts and accepted the fact that nothing is without risk.  She gave the go-ahead and the results affirmed her decision.  Everyone in the decision making process was heard, and while not all were in agreement, all were in support.  This is a perfect example of the consultative decision making process in action.

Where are you on this continuum?  Are you trying to appease every opinion on your team?  Do you equally value the ideas brought forward by each person?  

Or do you recognize that in the end, no decision is going to be perfect; no decision is without risk. 

You are in a position of responsibility because others have determined that your decision making ability is superior to that of others who were considered.  You have the ability to lead in a manner which makes everyone feel valued, even when your choice was not in line with their input.  You accept that the ultimate onus for success is yours - alone.

Diversity is a tribute to our society.  And decisions will be made better because of a broader range of input.  But the end game remains the same.  It's all about the quality of the decision.  Neither consensus nor consultative guarantees success.  But consultative at least guarantees a decision!

Lead On!

Lessons from the Donald, 2020 Update

 

 

In March 2016 I published a blog entitled “Lessons from the Donald” (https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/832341816682623158/2849494625533243905)

Some 4 years and 8 months later, I want to update those thoughts and observations based on the privilege of hindsight.

1.   Apparently you can fool some of the people all of the time.  I’m just saying…

2.   To run an alternate reality you need alternate facts.  Let that sink in for a few minutes to realize just how far we have drifted.  Is truth just a collective hunch?

3.   Despite the declaration of leaders throughout history, it is now clear that the buck does not always stop ‘here’.  We now are assured that it actually stops ‘there’ or anywhere but ‘here’.

4.   Twitter is a megaphone for twits.

5.   It seems that there is an inexhaustible number of people who don’t want to be ‘the guy’ but simply to be the guy that ‘the guy’ relies on. And they are willing to sacrifice any notion of self- respect and integrity to appease ‘the guy’.

6.   Controlling the narrative ceases to be a useful strategy when the narrative starts to control you.  (aka, believing your own press can be dangerous)

7.   Astronomers do not need to peer into deepest space to see a black hole imploding.  They just need to focus on 1400 Pennsylvania Avenue.

8.   Trump has visited North Korea but not Canada.  I don’t know what that says about US foreign policy…but Canadians are happy.

9.   When you are consistently yelling instead of listening, people become deaf.

     Fortunately it is also true that you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.  The four year experiment of irrationality is coming to an inglorious end.

And all God’s children say…AMEN!

Killing the lovelies!

In the world of design it is common to come up with a myriad of options to address a particular challenge.  Whether it is designing a home or an article of clothing, the designer allows their imagination and creativity to put forth different approaches for the client to consider.  In their own minds, the designers see the positive in all that is presented.  But ultimately is up to the end user to determine which suits them best.  The designer is left to ‘kill the lovelies’ that don’t make the final cut.

The designer has an emotional attachment to each of the recommendations as each is born of their thought and consideration. But only one will satisfy the decision maker and it thus, by default that the rest head to the trash.

As leaders, we are likewise routinely ‘designing’ solutions for our businesses.  As you would expect, we tend to think that all of our ideas are good, very good, and even are superb. But here’s the rub.

The good leader tends to think that most of their ideas are superb.  They seldom test them against reality during their rush towards implementation.  Sadly, they learn the hard truth that not all that glitters is gold.  

By contrast, the superb leader will come up with almost as many options for consideration.  But their experience and instincts help them to recognize that the vast majority are simply good or very good.  Few rise to the level of superb, and most of those have come from a collaborative thought process that has vetted itself along the way. 

They then implement far fewer ideas with far greater results.  The key…their willingness to ‘kill the lovelies’.

How often do you have trouble releasing an idea because of the pride of authorship you have invested in the process?  You have given birth to a concept to which you have developed an emotional attachment and it is hard to acknowledge that it really falls short.  Instead you push forward with a square peg – round hole trying to force fit your recommendation.  It is to the ultimate detriment of all because you have wasted time and effort and possibly resources on something that should have been cast aside as you ‘killed your lovely’.

How effective are you at ‘killing the lovelies’?  If you think that it is an issue, here are a few guidelines to help in your analysis.

1.    Is this matter even worthy of your consideration or is it something for a different pay grade.  If it is under your auspices, is the issue one which is serious enough to demand your attention?  Any time you undertake a time consuming or resource rich project you are taking it away from something else.  Make sure that it rises to a ‘superb’ level of need.

2.    Never trust your own instincts exclusively.  You are fully engaged in the process and will have difficulty seeing assumptions you have made that do not line up with the facts.  While it needs to be your decision in the end (I support collaborative decision making but not consensus decision making), having a second or third set of eyes and/or voices will only make the recommendation sounder and more feature rich.  This will be particularly important if those other voices are needed as part of the implementation.

3.     Review your decision with a mentor, consultant or peer.  External opinions will be the most objective and can raise valid questions based on experience and exposure to a broad range of other companies.  Not having any emotional investment allows this person to be much more dispassionate in their critique.

4.    Pride of authorship should not enter the discussion.  As the leader, your focus is on process and results, not on the genesis.  You are gauged on the outcome and the fact that it is the result of a team approach only confirms your ability to assemble and equip a group of professionals that achieved the goals and objectives set out. (FYI, this blog found its’ genesis in a YouTube video on knitting that I overheard my wife watching)

These are extraordinary times to be sure.  But the principles of success have not changed; only the scope of the challenge is different. Don’t abandon that which has served you well but do consider expanding the scope of your decision making to match the scope of the challenge. 

And only settle for SUPERB!

A Covid Reality Check

When the economic impact of Covid hit its’ peak, almost 20% of workers lost their jobs.  But let’s be clear…20% of CEO’s did not get a pink slip; 20% of senior management were not worrying about how to pay the mortgage and the loan on the Mercedes; even 20% of most middle managers were not worried about more ground beef and less steak.

No, the impact disproportionately impacted entry level employees and other front line workers…those who were the least able to withstand an interruption in their compensation.  Yet these are the people who implement all the strategies that flow from the boardroom.  These are the ones who so often are the face of the company to the public on a daily basis.  These are the ones who routinely report a lack of engagement with the corporate agenda.

Little wonder…

Lack of engagement has always been an issue in every company and in every industry.  The impact of Covid is a double edged sword.  Not only are many jobs lost, but many more have been displaced with so many employees now working from home. 

The task of maintaining even a modicum of engagement has never been more difficult.  I’d like to offer a few suggestions for your consideration.

1.   Consider rehiring staff in advance of the return of demand from your client base.  This may sound counter intuitive but consider this.  A layoff has a devastating impact on the employee. Most businesses though have the financial capacity - either through internal cash reserves or through access to capital – to afford the extra overhead.  Yes, there will be a short term impact on profitability, but your focus needs to be at least mid or long term success.  If you rehire, or even better, do not layoff at all, you show that the company is invested in its’ primary asset – its’ employees.  What a tremendous expression of the value you place on them and what a confidence building impression it has on one who would otherwise be at a food bank line up. Obviously you cannot consider this type of response if the business is already in a critical life- saving mode but for those of you not that close to the edge I urge your consideration. The reality is that layoffs have proven to be a knee-jerk reaction to business interruptions in the past that are not significant contributors to expense controls once separation payments are considered.

 

2.   With so many employees now ‘working from home’ the lack of personal interaction has a negative impact on the engagement. As already noted, a lack of engagement is the primary hindrance businesses experience even though it is a silent killer. 

You need to develop a new and proactive communication strategy that puts you in front of your employees on a more regular basis.  Something as seemingly insignificant as a personal acknowledgement of a birthday is a start.  Have more frequent and focused ‘town hall meetings’ that combine both in-house and online staff shows your intentional attitude towards engagement.  “Breakfast with the Boss” or similar personal and informal group meetings further demonstrates this attitude. 

The key in all of these endeavours is that you must be genuine in your approach.  If you can’t be, the impact will be to worsen rather than improve engagement.

 

3.   Some years ago a short book called ‘Management by Walking Around’ espoused the unstructured personal interaction that characterized an engaged executive.  I found much personal satisfaction whenever I interacted in this manner.  Again, you need to be authentic and honest during these times as any lack of transparency will be seen as an attempt to manufacture a connection that really is not there.

4.   Finally, adopt this time principle. 

For every hour you spend in developing a strategic plan,   spend one hour with those who ultimately must implement it. 

For every hour you spend analyzing financial results, spend one hour communicating those results in a manner that front line staff can relate to and comprehend.

For every hour you spend in the executive boardroom, spend an hour on the shop floor.

And for every hour you spend schmoozing a client at a posh restaurant, spend an hour in the company cafeteria. 

The more real you are to your staff members, the more engaged they will be with your interests.

It's time to just do it!

In the darkness, it is always easier to see once you have some light.  Objects come into focus and you are able to manoeuver your way around. 

When the light is limited, so is your ability to make judgments that are appropriate about your environment.  You need more than a flashlight app on your cell phone to make sense of things.  By the same token, too much light can be blinding and render you as dysfunctional as total darkness.  Too little or too much have the same essential effects.

I use this analogy because right now we are operating in an environment that is new to all of us.  We need facts – light – to help us make decisions.  Too few leave us feeling vulnerable.  But it is just as true that too many facts can overwhelm us.

As the leader, it is up to you to determine when you have enough data to make an informed decision.  And decide you must.

Remember these truths:

1.     You have ascended to the role you are in because others recognize your abilities and experience and trust you to make difficult decisions.

2.    You have likely earned your share of scars over the past 10-12 years which have been about as turbulent as any period in modern history.  Those scars are now badges of honour and testify to your ability to stand up and be counted in uncertain times.

3.    Few, if any, are better prepared than you are to make these decisions about your work place.

4.    As hard as you try to make the right decisions, failure is only an opportunity to learn and grow.  You will come to the right decisions a lot faster than scientists will bring us a Covid Cure.

5.    Most people want you to be right.  They don’t aspire to have your job; they want you to lead.

If it was easy, anybody could do it.  It’s hard because we don’t have a template or reference manual.

Collect the facts you need; weight them with the confidence that you have earned; and make a decision based on your experience.

We need leaders to lead.  Now is your turn to show us the way!

Nuggets of Gold

As a leader, you are facing unprecedented times.  Not that leading in normal times are easy, but the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic has been magnified by the world wide response and demonstrations in support of societal justice…specifically for those of colour.

Let me revisit that comment.  The world-wide response and demonstrations in support of societal justice have been magnified by the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic.  I think that it is important to put these two in this order because the former has existed for generations and cannot be fixed by the creation of a vaccine.  The latter has simply shone another and brighter light on the pre-existing situation.

Your challenge is to find the right strategy to guide your organization during these times.  I hesitate to say ‘through’ these times because the end is outside of your control.  Individually you cannot ‘fix’ either of these ills and you are as dependent as the rest of your team in the reliance of others to find the solutions.  Therefore you must strategize the ‘during’ period.

My advice is simple but, at the same time, also extremely difficult.

In all situations there is but one truth, one absolute.  And it is upon this truth that you can build a firm foundation.  That is the simple part.

The difficult part is finding it.  In today’s social media dominated world there is no lack of ‘information’.  Much of it is highly influenced by the biases of the author and by the validity of the ‘facts’ upon which the opinion is based.

You must be a prospector in your search for truth.  Not unlike the prospectors who panned for gold in the silt on the river bottoms, you must sift through the data and opinions until you find your nuggets of gold.  Once you have, and further tested to ensure that it is not fool’s gold, you have the foundation that is based on truth.  Now you can plan with assurance.

Recognize that this is not a quick process. No prospector got rich with one nugget and none found enough in one pass of the pan.  But the process is definitely worth the effort.

Don’t look for short cuts.  Don’t be ashamed to engage others in your search.

Like gold, your strategy will shine and show others – employees, clients, suppliers and society in general – the values upon which your company operates.  It will be evidenced in the moral, ethical and legal standards that support your decisions; that are reflected in your workforce; and by your contributions to society.

Simple, yes, but not easy.  Are you up to it?

Best before Date

I have written in the past about the need for so many of those in Executive positions to re-examine their ability to make meaningful contributions to their companies.  On balance I have not been kind to the Baby Boomer generation and the type of leadership that they have provided.  And I speak as an ‘early adopter’ member of the group.

The fact of the matter is that the primary objective of the vast majority of these CEO’s has been to ‘maximize shareholder value’ while simultaneously lining their own pockets with over sized compensation packages that reward them with stock options for fundamentally just doing their jobs.  And in too many instances they have padded their security blankets by ensuring that the Board is comprised of ‘friendly’ members.  For perspective, simply look at the exit package Boeing handed their departed CEO for his abject failure to navigate their recent fiasco.

With rare exceptions it is time for a changing of the guard.  The future will demand radically different thinking and the baby boomers are too tied to the present, and the past, to lead us there.  They lack personal understanding of the levels of technology that is needed.  Simply having brilliance as part of the team is insufficient to fully comprehend and implement the changes that the immediate future demands.

Succession plans must be implemented NOW.  The skills sets of the future are not embodied in the baby boomer generation.  Those in the corner office need to read their personal ‘best before date’ and make some painful admissions.

Oh, just a quick reminder, as you leave make sure you put the seat down in your personal washroom.  The next occupant prefers it that way!

Our Defining Moment - Part 2

In my previous message I stated the importance of the leader planning beyond this crisis.  Transitional, intermediate and long term planning that provides the direction of your company, or your team, in what is becoming the ‘new normal’.

I fully appreciate that there are a number of unknowns as you look into the future.  And I expect that this will be a very fluid situation with unanticipated factors impacting your decisions.

That said, it is vital to understand this.  Having a goal or an objective is not a plan.  Too often leaders confuse the end with the means and are surprised when the objective is unmet. 

This period of uncertainty is new to everyone.  Whether you anticipated it or not, there was no way to predict the impact and ultimate outcome. 

Lily Tomlin once opined that ‘truth is nothing more than a collective hunch’ and during these times one may be inclined to agree with her.

We are in the early stages of this pandemic.  Everyone is anxious to have things return to normal.  We think that a lifting of the shut-down represents the end.

The reality is that it may represent a small victory. I think that Winston Churchill’s words best represent our current situation.  During WWII he commented after a victory in North Africa “…this is not the end, it is not even the beginning of the end.  But this may be the end of the beginning…”

Soon you must commit to a course of action.

Once you have, communicate, communicate, communicate.

Care and listen, not the other way around. 

If your team doesn’t think you care, they won’t say anything that you can listen to!

Only now can you focus on execution.  Stay focused on the process because this is uncharted territory for all of us and the end may not even be where we think it should be.

Your leadership mettle will never be more severely tested.  I urge you not to go it alone.  If you succeed there will be glory enough to share.

Your Defining Moment!

For the past decade we have all enjoyed a level of success and prosperity that has seldom been matched in our collective histories.  To have led and succeeded during this period was less a testament to our abilities and more a testament to our good fortune.  I don’t mean to understate the value of quality leadership, but candidly, you had to mess up pretty badly to have failed in this period.

But now we are individually and collectively facing a challenge that is literally unprecedented.  This is no understatement in the face of the response that seems to be necessary for us to pass through this portal of time.

I think that it is fair to say that for those in leadership at this moment, your legacy will be defined on the basis of how you respond in crisis. Here are my recommendations.

1.    Be present.  Even when you don’t have all the answers, your teams are looking to you for optimism and inspiration.  You must be present and available. 

2.    This is not the time for hyperbole; it is a time for humility.  No one has all the answers and speculation only causes more confusion.  Hope is a virtue, but false hope only disappoints.

3.    This is not the time for empty rhetoric; it is a time for honesty and action. 

4.    This is not a time for sounding an alarm; that time has already passed. It is a time to respond to the alarm and trust those whose advice is based on the best scientific evidence.

5.    We don’t need to hear how bad things are; dwelling on the obvious is for the historians. We need to hear how we are going to make things better; we need to be assured that the sun will follow the darkness.

6.    We need inclusive strategies that offer purpose to everyone.  Being part of the solution builds a sense of community and that will be critical in a successful recovery.

7.    Leaders must have multiple strategies.  There is the immediate; what are you doing during the crisis to survive. There is the transition time, how are you going to move from today to recovery as the disruptions are gradually lifted.  And then there is the new normal.  You need to determine how this crisis alters your business in the future.  What changes are permanent; is there long term impact on your employees; with your customer base; with your supply chain.  You need to be planning now and putting together different scenarios because none of us have any certainty what the future holds.

Right now, nothing is easy.  But just because we don’t have all the answers doesn’t mean that we won’t.  You must lead in a manner that demonstrates concern for the present; optimism for the transition and confidence for the future. 

Lead acknowledging these truths and others will follow!  

Obituary Decisions

Every year presents us new challenges.  As leaders you will be required to make some difficult decisions that will push your moral or ethical standards to the limit.  And if your standards are not clearly established you may find that your ‘limit’ is flexible based on the situation.

My recommendations for these instances are twofold:

1.    Make your standards fixed.  Situational ethics or morals mean that those who depend upon your leadership never know with certainty what to expect.

2.   If you ever find yourself in a dilemma over which way to go on a decision, ask yourself ‘…what would I want to read in my obituary…’ as to how I responded under pressure.  Did I hold to the standards that I set or did I cave?

Clearly the easier decision, in the short term, is to turn the blind eye and move on.  But this only leads to more trouble down the road.  The right decision, the tougher decision, is one that you will be able to defend to the grave.

What you will find is that having made the tough call, it actually becomes easier over time.  Others know that you hold yourself to the same high standards you expect them to adhere to and they respond accordingly.  There will be no misunderstanding.  No one will be able to say ‘…but last time…’ when recalling a similar situation.

I am reminded of a quotation from a highly respected college basketball coach who said:

        ‘…reputation is what others think about you; character is what you really are…’

I know what I want in my obituary.  Hopefully you do too.

A side note.  In my blog dated November 9^th, 2019, I wrote about the different responses to failure in Boeing and McDonald’s. 

It was recently announced that Boeing has fired their CEO for the culture that he created that allowed their Max 8 planes to be delivered with a potentially fatal software flaw.

It took the Board too long to act, but at least they finally did.