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A Cultural Advantage: Making People Feel At Home in Your Organization
On my recent trip to the NexusAfrica conference in Johannesburg, I found my first intriguing lesson in the time spent with my host family. I was welcomed into the home of Ivan and Yolande Overton, founders of ChangeWright Consulting, and their three-year-old son Mathew.
I was struck by how comfortable they made me feel – nearly like family. They invited me to make myself at home which included foraging for late night snacks, taking a nap in the middle of their living room and playing with Matthew and his minitiature cars like I was actually the Uncle he called me (or at least that’s what he said in Afrikaans I was told by his parents).
Authenticity as a Core Competence of Leadership
“Write for five minutes about yourself.”
That was all. They were the only instructions we were given.
Then we sat together in small groups and read to each other what we had written. I sat with the faculty members who were part of this Catholic healthcare system. They called the five minutes of writing and subsequent sharing a reflection assignment.
Use the Power of Paradox to Achieve Successful Organizational Change
I was on my way this past Sunday morning to pick up my weekly batch of donuts. Later in the day I made sure I stopped at the store on my way home from an In ‘n Out burger to get my potato chips and pint of ice cream. Call it my Sunday ritual.
It’s part of how I stay fit and trim. In the past few months by eating all that garbage I’ve lost three belt loops on my pants (that’s about 4 ½ inches)
Why You Should Bother Putting Yourself Out of Business
Imagine you were your competition. Now – as your competition – create a plan to put yourselves out of business.
This may not seem like the question you would want to be asking yourself. One goal of every organization is at the least to stay in business, if not even thrive.
Because we never do is exactly why I recently asked a leadership team to answer that exact question.
After I asked the question, there was some nervous laughter in the room. Was I serious??
Silent Webinar
A few weeks ago I co-hosted a webinar with Sara Ismail-Beigi and Jonathan Thomas Meenach, two students from Bowling Green University’s Masters of Organization Development Program. The first thing we talked about in our planning were our own experiences as both leaders and participants in other webinars. Here’s the short list we developed:
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There was some technology glitch every time
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Presenters took the lead in several areas:
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Picking the date and time
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Defining the content to be covered
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Talking anywhere between 90-100% of the time during the session
- Leaving us to figure out how to apply what we’d learned “offline"
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The list was sobering. The power seemed all out of whack. The ones supposed to learn had little, if any, power, save for signing up and joining the webinar.
What do you need to not change?
Several years ago I was working with an organization that was taking on a major transformation effort. They were restructuring the business, changing how people worked, and shifting the culture to one of “open communications.” Information had been power in this business so at face value, these goals made good sense.
I was meeting with the senior human resources executives in the company, exploring what these changes would mean for them and those they served in the organization. How were they going to “open communications” across the organization to support the transformation effort?
In the middle of a brainstorm to identify ways to do this, one of the executives (let’s call her Sandy) blurted out, “To tell you the truth, I am not that interested in more "open communications."
Complex Organizational Change Made Simple
“That’s what I do. It’s what I love to do. It’s what I do best.”
My wife looked at me, happy that I had started my Thursday morning on such a positive note.
She’s used to my exuberance and confirmed my self-assessment: “I make complex things simple that helps others get clear and take smart action.” (By the way, there’s plenty I’m awful at…anyone who’s driven with me can attest to my having zero sense of direction).
How Fast Is Too Fast to Change?
My 115 pound black lab Theo spent most of yesterday re-asserting his dominance among our small pack of dogs in the house (3 dogs, 2500 square feet…don’t ask). He spent the day knocking our new scrappy puppy Bonnie to the floor, growling to keep her in her place, and generally got back to being the “man in the house” (dog-wise at least).
Go Slow To Go Fast in Your Change Work
Read on to learn about adding another Critical Success Factor to put in place for your change work to work to the list of seven I have described in another article.
I got an email last week from my wife. It was one of those notes that’s been forwarded across cyberspace until it finds its way into your inbox. The story was about some guy who played his violin for 45 minutes in a DC train station at rush hour. 1,097 people passed by while he was playing. Only a half dozen stopped and listened. He collected $32.17 in tips. Scenes like this play out every day in train stations around the world.
But this day was different. So was the guy playing the music.
Partner with Your “Competitors” -- The Smartest Change Work to Do During the Economic Downturn
I recently did an interview with Michael Fischer from Lyondell-Basell about important change work to do during this economic downturn. The short list of to do’s is pretty straightforward:
Manage costs. Decrease them wherever possible
Protect your share of a shrinking marketplace
Conserve cash so that you can weather the financial storm
These make sense. But alone, they miss the mark.
There’s one good thing about times like these when the economy tanks. It encourages out of the box thinking. You get ahead by challenging fundamental assumptions. The more sacred the assumption, the more you need to call it into question.
What’s the most basic assumption in this economy?
Download the rest of "Partner With Your Competitors" in pdf format.