EAST GREENWICH, RI – Businesses in the United States need to stay the course and not be derailed by the uncertainty of the long, drawn out ongoing presidential election process, according to The Society for the Advancement of Consulting® (SAC). Take the Campaign With a Grain of Salt “The American presidential campaign is an extremely long exercise in personal branding. It’s important to remember that candidate positions are meant to highlight their individual differences. The reality is somewhere much less extreme than what is being postured,” according to Linda Popky, president of Redwood Shores, CA-based strategic marketing firm Leverage2Market Associates, and author of the book Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing That Matters. “Smart marketers know there will be business opportunities no matter who prevails. They are prepared to take action now to secure business and build market share—offering compelling alternatives to those buyers who might otherwise be wary of the ongoing uncertainty,” she said. Clarity May Be Sacrificed “The current political climate provides a perfect example of zero clarity,” says Ann Latham, president and founder of the Boston consulting firm Uncommon Clarity, Inc.
People have been talking about conflict resolution and conflict avoidance for years as if we should all embrace conflict and shun those unwilling to do so. They are wrong. Conflict is destructive. It damages results, productivity, and relationships. Conflict is the result of the fears and unproductive behaviors that originate in disagreement. In the worse cases, conflict becomes violent. In the workplace, the consequences are rarely so severe. Nonetheless, conflict transforms decisions into painful processes. It invokes power struggles, silos, and internal competition. It makes some people talk louder, push harder, and lean in, while others shut down, react defensively, and lean out. Whatever the manifestation, conflict is destructive and prevents open, honest, productive conversation. I’m not saying you and your employees should be in agreement at all times. You shouldn’t. If you are, most of you are unnecessary. You need good healthy debate about ideas and decisions. You need disagreement. You absolutely need disagreement. And, unlike conflict, there is nothing fundamentally destructive about disagreement. Good, healthy disagreement leads to eye-opening discussions. People learn, explore, and challenge each other’s thinking. In the end, minds are changed and compromises are made or parties agree to disagree and move on. So what causes disagreement to become conflict?
The Patriots lost last night for the first time this season. But that is the least of their problems. Gronkowski was carted off the field and he now joins Amendola, Edelman, Lewis, Dobson, Jones – more players than I can list – who are injured. Brady looked crestfallen when Gronk went down. But this morning, what are they saying? “Just wasn’t our night.” In true Patriots fashion, they refuse to contemplate what Gronk’s injury means for the next game or the rest of the season. “It was a very hard loss” and “players gave a tremendous effort” are all that we will hear. Their job is to get it done. One game at a time. No matter what comes at them. Whether they will get it done remains to be seen, but we all know Tom Brady is special because of his uncanny ability to get it done by focusing on that and nothing else. Everyone has problems. Most people spend far more time agonizing, talking, and worrying about those problems than actually doing something about them. Save that energy. Channel Tom Brady. Your job is to get it done. One step at a time. No matter what comes at you.
While at dinner recently with a Fortune 500 Executive, we were discussing employee expectations for career advancement. We lamented the ambitious but misguided who don’t know what they don’t know and feel entitled to success. We bemoaned the techies who are eager to be done but inevitably break something as often as they fix something and are too quick to dismiss other people. And we shared stories of accomplished individuals who are so annoying and/or self-centered no one wants to work with them. In the end, we identified three measures of success: You’ve got to get things done You’ve got to get them done right And you can’t do either at the expense of others Getting things done means taking responsibility, being resourceful, persevering, and finishing on time. But finishing isn’t good enough. You’ve got to get things done right. To do that you must be sure you know what done looks like so what you deliver meets expectations. You don’t want to over deliver, nor stop short. Clarity is as critical as persistence. To meet deadlines, you must anticipate and prevent problems. Anticipation and prevention minimize the obstacles, rework, and firefighting that lead to delays. Last but not least, you can’t win at the expense of others and you can’t drive talent away. No matter how awesome you think you are or how important your projects, your colleagues must also succeed if the organization is going to succeed. If you can get things done right and on time, while also being respectful, helpful, and easy to get along with, you will go far. Not sure where you stand? Get some feedback from others. Find out how you are perceived. Ask for examples of specific behaviors that exemplify these three characteristics and figure out how you measure up. Not knowing and unrealistic expectations are a bad combination!
Agendas are king. This message has been pounded long enough to be well-ingrained, even if not always followed. But have you noticed that despite the proliferation of agendas, everyone is still complaining about meetings? That’s because 95% of agendas are simply recipes for wasting time. 8:00 – 8:15 Waste time on this 8:15 – 8:30 Waste time on that 8:30 – 8:50 Waste more time Before I dive in, why don’t you grab a few agendas so you can see what I am talking about. First off, you need to keep in mind that the purpose of any meeting is to get somewhere. To make something happen. And you won’t get anywhere if you don’t know where you are trying to go. You have to have a destination. You have to know what must be different when the meeting ends. This may seem obvious, but it’s not. People who know I deplore unproductive meetings have been known to tell me about great meetings. When I ask them what made the meeting great, I typically get three reasons: The group was focused. The topic was interesting. Everyone was well-behaved. That’s it! There is no mention of outcomes! Just because you had an interesting discussion does not mean your meeting was productive. Now back to those agendas.
“No two persons ever read the same book.” — Edmund Wilson Nor do they: Hear the same message Measure success with the same yardstick Thrill to the same challenge Respond with the same speed Pulse with the same energy And yet, consider how little people really listen. How quickly and frequently they draw conclusions from a handful of words. How rarely they pause to test for understanding. No wonder best laid plans fail, balls are dropped, and misunderstandings are so plentiful. Start seeing differences instead of listening for what you want to hear.
The current political climate provides a perfect example of zero clarity. As long as our elected officials insist on staking their identities on alternatives before agreeing on objectives, it won’t matter who wins the election. There will be no effective compromise, problem solving, or innovation. Business leaders are left with three choices: wallow in the uncertainty, blame others for their lack of success, or take charge of their future. Which path will you choose?
I tried to keep quiet. Honest! This executive team did not know me yet and I wanted to get off on the right foot. So I listened patiently, waiting for my appearance in their agenda. Until I could stand it no longer. That’s when I interrupted. The team was smart, serious, earnest, and focused. But they weren’t clear. They didn’t have a clear purpose or process. As a result, they were talking intelligently, but going nowhere fast. In just the first five minutes, I had identified five decisions and two plans – seven different threads – under discussion. They were a bit taken aback when I interrupted. They were indignant when I told them why. But as soon as I itemized the seven threads, they knew I was dead on. On top of that, they were instantly energized. It was as if I had opened the starting gates and turned them loose on a straight track to a finish line that had just become visible in the fog.
“Ann is an invaluable executive coach. She is a quick, honest, and insightful partner. I have learned as much from her about focused, action-oriented leadership in two months as in a decade of first-hand experience. Ann elevated my awareness of strategy, planning, and execution in ways that immediately impacted my work. I can’t recommend Ann more highly.” John Bidwell, Director, Marketing & Digital Strategy, Baystate Health
It wasn’t until I was getting out of the shower that I realized the towels were stacked on the far side of my hotel room. How can that possibly make sense? And how can such a thing happen? Here are a few possibilities: Someone selected a designer with zero expertise. I don’t think this designer had ever even been to a hotel! Across-the-board cuts truncated the design process, surrendering results to “good enough.” Management wasn’t willing to spend money on final touches – like towel racks in the bathroom. Employees have never cared enough to point out the problem. Management is deaf to employee suggestions and/or customer complaints. Service standards are so low they leave bruises on your shins. The schedule was so tight, no one thought things through. The answer could be any or all of the above. What do you think?