Month: September 2013

#466 before

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I have owned one of my dogs for two years this week.  It seems like it has been forever!  Unless I intentionally concentrate, I forget what it was like before her or even before her one-year old sister arrived.  It seems like I have always had these two goldens in my life.

I embrace relationships with people in the same way.  It’s hard for me to remember what it was like before our new CFO was part of cabinet even though she just started in January; the pre-Kelsey/Holly/Ken days even though they are relatively new on staff; or what it was like before my staff had their babies.  

Getting in this comfortable groove is, for the most part, a very good thing.  It’s a sign of fit, competence and overall congruence with who people (dogs!) are and the role they play in my life.  It does remind me, however, that patterns develop very quickly.  It is important to start a relationship off right, during those precious few moments when you are actually thinking about forging a bond.  Invest some conscious thought about how you want the relationship to be before it becomes ingrained and automatic.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com



#465 picture this

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While on her vacation, our university president was staying in a cottage that had puzzles in bags, but without the box or front picture that lets the maker know what the completed puzzle should look like.  She was able to put together the edges, but did not make much progress on the center section.

For this year’s opening session address, she used the analogy of a jigsaw puzzle to describe the importance of our strategic plan.  “Our strategic plan is our puzzle box top,” she said.  “It gives us long-term direction, allows us to make optimum use of our resources and maximizes the impact of our effort.”

How true it is.  Think of the frustration and wasted energy when only those at the top know what the puzzle is supposed to look like.  Organizations are wise to share the picture widely and to encourage others to help assemble it.  Sometimes a person may only link two pieces while passing by, but they may be the crucial start of a whole new section.

Keep the puzzle accessible and the picture on the box visible and your puzzle is likely to be assembled much more quickly.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

Thanks to Joanne!

#464 about me

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We all have stories to tell.  For me, I tell them through this blog.  Others share them via Facebook or Twitter.  Still others deliver yarns in person to communicate about their life events.  Some people paint their stories.

As I was listening to the Tim McGraw CDs, I realized that he (and most artists) are just setting their stories to music.  Each song shares a life event – truth or fiction we do not know, but it relays a vignette about a specific incident to which we can often relate. 

Think about your life – how can you reflect on your experiences so that you can share them?  Country singer Trace Adkins penned a tune “Songs about Me”, explicitly sharing that he likes country music because they is about “who I am and loving and living, good hearted women, family and God.”  

These blogs are about me.  What vehicle are you going to use to share stories about you and your organization?

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

#463 a picture is worth…

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In keeping with yesterday’s theme about the pervasiveness of technology, look at this photo from on-lookers at the Vatican.  

http://www.acumenlearning.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/innovation-2005-vs-2013.jpg?utm_source=Newsletter+Subscribes&utm_campaign=24506224ef-Newsletter_10_12&utm_medium=email

In the span of only a decade, phones have gone from devices used to make telephone calls to portable life command centers.  Hardly anyone would think of being at a significant event where they did not take a picture and/or share the experience with others.

Your challenge is to create an experience so remarkable that someone would want to share it.  Are you providing moments that are camera-worthy?  Making it easy to take a shot and share it?  Providing incentives that encourage people to do so?

For many, your organization is shared through a 2″ by 4″ device.  Look at your efforts through that lens and see how you can enhance their focus.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

#462 wake up call

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We were at an outdoor concert over the weekend and saw a young toddler taking pictures with her parents’ iPhone.  This girl could barely walk, yet she was aiming the correct side of the phone in the approximate right direction as if she was a master photographer.  She was as comfortable with the device as she was with a toy, and apparently her mom was as comfortable giving it to her. 

No longer are phones a technological treasure; they have become as ubiquitous and non-remarkable as keys.  We no longer think of phones, even iPhones, as something special.

This phenomenon is transcending continents as even those in impoverished areas of the world see phones as the pathway to freedom.  In Time magazine, Bill Clinton writes that phones actually foster equality and lift people out of poverty by giving the average person access to financial opportunity.  People in many developing countries are now using their phone to make deposits and process transactions — without ever having a bank account.  Others in Africa are using phones to check the validity of medications; phones are used as a conduit for charitable giving from the masses and others are using phones as a way to reunite refugees.

Phones are an example of how technology was developed for one purpose, but has morphed into an everyday item that is available almost worldwide.  The toddlers of today are growing up with the expectation that we are all constantly connected through our devices and that we can capture and share it all.  Yet face to face doesn’t mean via Skype or FaceTime and sharing a photo isn’t the same as experiencing it.

While it is great for phones to provide access to those in developing nations, I hope that your device remains a tool and not the primary mechanism for how you view and share your life.  A little unplugging goes a long way toward making life real.
— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

Source:  The Case for Optimism by Bill Clinton, Time, October 1, 2012

#461 find a way

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I am fascinated with the story about Diana Nyad, the 64-year old who swam the 110 miles of the Straits of Florida this week.  I cannot even fathom having the desire to do such a feat, let alone the ability to pull it off, but I love how steadfast she was in her quest.

Nyad first dreamed of doing the swim at age 8 and attempted it for the first time at age 29.  She failed then, and three other times over the course of three decades.  Most people would have given up long before she did, but she said that her mantra this year was “find a way.” And so, on the fifth attempt, she found a way to swim for 6 minutes shy of 53 hours and made it from Cuba to Florida.  Can you imagine doing anything for 53 hours straight, let alone swimming in the ocean?

Nyad, deservedly, is the focus of attention, but she did not do it alone.  Accompanying her on the journey was a team of 35 people.  They worked to mark her course, feed her in the water, clear her path of the stinging jellyfish and serve as a lookout against sharks.  They provided support in the truest sense of the word.

What is your dream, and how do you “find a way” to help you achieve it?  Most of your musings won’t be as ambitious as Nyad’s nor the obstacles as serious, but many will demure and let the barriers stop them.  Maybe you can take two lessons from this endurance swimmer:  1) Persist.  Learn lessons from your failures and try again.  2)  Don’t do it alone.  Even the greats have a support team.  Make it part of your goal to assemble yours.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com


Sources:  Never, ever give up: Diana Nyad completes historic Cuba-to-Florida swim by Matt Sloane, Jason Hannah and Dana Ford, CNN 9/3/13
Nyad credits maturity for record-breaking swim by Jennifer Kay AP in Telegraph Herald, 9/4/13

#460 Popeye’s girlfriend

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I was in Minneapolis over the weekend, and my sister took me to the grocery store to “pick up some olives.”  Where I live, that means green or black in a little jar or can.  In the Twin Cities, it means a huge display of exotic choices, elaborately laid out in an appealing olive bar: French Green with Herbs de Provence, Pitted Mt. Athos olives, Bella Di Cerignola olives, Hot Tunisian Mix, olives with Peruvian Chilies and so forth.


The folks at Byerly’s realized that they needed to do something to encourage people to buy all of these olives.  So they have little cups that allow testing of the different kinds.  They have recipes that conveniently require several kinds of their olives as ingredients.  They share entertainment suggestions and conveniently display other items to eat with your olives (cheeses, crackers, oils and wine).  All of this leads to people like my sister coming to the store specifically to partake in the bar.

This olive bar is marketing in action.  If these olives came in little glass jars or cans on a middle shelf somewhere, no one would find them, let alone pay $9.99/lb. for them.  But because they have been showcased and featured in the prime traffic aisle, they are selling.

How can you think of a new way to display your specialty?  Are you keeping your prime product or service tucked away on the far corners of your website or marketing messages?  Are you like a grocer who thinks he needs to feature bread/milk/eggs or the standard items when you really need to concentrate your efforts on olives?

The world has become a compilation of specific niches.  Think of olives to find yours today.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

#459 leadership transitions

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A lot of organizations are undergoing transitions in their top leadership these days.  The new person who comes in would be wise to develop a relationship with the departing person and consider a strategy on how the two will work in concert.

I have seen organizations do a poor job of honoring the past leader, with the new president acting as if he was the first to ever hold the post; ignoring the wealth of knowledge and context that the previous chief could provide.  I have also seen strong partnerships where the president emerita was visible and engaged, but also clearly aware of who could do the decision making.

At my institution, the past president took a year-long sabbatical to Ireland when our new leader started.  The current president described it as “generous” for the past president to go away, leaving her, as the new president, free to make her own mark without perceived influence to do it how it had been done.  At other schools, the past president remains without having a clear demarcation of the transition.  It is not always a smooth course.

Even though the past president may no longer have positional power, they still carry a tremendous amount of influential currency.  The new leader needs to acknowledge that others in the institution or on the board may have allegiance to the departed leader, and take care to honor their work and legacy, even while forging a new direction and making changes.

The emphasis is usually only on the transition into an organization.  It is a smart strategy to also consider orchestrating the transitions out and after.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

Thanks to Joanne for insight on this topic

#458 cycle of giving

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It is Labor Day, and although the calendar says it is not autumn for a few more weeks, this holiday has traditionally signaled the end of the summer festivities.  For some, it also means a change in wardrobe and transition to the fall clothes and colors.

As you clean out your closets to prepare for the cooler seasons, invariably you will have clothes that no longer suit you.  Many donate their castaways to the area Goodwill or missions, but I am a loyal contributor to the ScholarShop.

The ScholarShop is a model of collaboration.  People donate used clothing, volunteers help run the two resale shops in St. Louis, and the proceeds are used to give scholarships to area college students.  The foundation gave $4 million in interest-free loans and grants last year!  Their motto is “give good things so we can do good things” and people take them seriously.  The store is full of upscale, designer clothing, much of it unworn.  They received over 400,000 donated items last year, and the place is always packed with shoppers.

Members of the foundation could have gone out and raised funds, but instead they developed a strategy that could earn funds for them on an annual basis.  How can you apply their lessons to generate revenue to a cause that is important to you?  Is there a need that you can fill by providing a service that has value to those with resources?  What, in addition to clothing, do people have that they may no longer want and be willing to donate to you?  The ScholarShop shows an innovative approach to non-profit funding.  Look beyond the auction for your next revenue strategy.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

Send your box of donations to:  8211 Clayton Road, St. Louis, MO  63117

#457 reframing the issue

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A lot of people talk about being bold, but only a few actually act that way.  Below is a video clip of an audacious public relations campaign, and the power of public relations to change the message.  I think it’s worth your three minutes to watch it:

How can you take lessons from this approach to reframe the issue on something that is real in your world?  Is there a way for you to highlight the positives, or show the cost of not doing something rather than rehashing the points in the same context?  Can you illustrate a new perspective to drive home your message?

Instead of going point/counterpoint, sometimes you need to shake up the arguments.  Even if you don’t do it in as risky of way as Troy, Michigan, learn from the essence of their strategy and infuse a new view into the debate.

— beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com
@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

Thanks to Mike Cyze for sharing this clip from Rich Bagin at the National School Public Relations Association