Month: May 2021

leadership dot #3262: refill

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I have an out-of-town guest who forgot to bring his medicines along.

He normally fills his prescriptions at a small, locally-owned pharmacy so was able to call up the pharmacist that he knows by name and she was able to get a week’s supply of his medicines transferred here with no problems. The conversation had the tone of asking a friend to do a favor.

Had he normally transacted with a major chain, that too would have been an easy process with a centrally-linked database able to pull records and process a refill without an issue.

The issue would have come in with a mid-size pharmacy — without the intimacy of a personal relationship or the technological capabilities of a national company. The organizations in the middle have neither advantage and find themselves competing — and lacking — on both ends of the spectrum.

It is tempting to play the middle ground since it doesn’t require the courage to leave one segment of the market behind. But long term you’re better off choosing one end of the scale and leveraging all the advantages that come with clarity.

leadership dot #3261: line

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The other day I sat out in the sunshine to read and felt like the sun had no impact on me at all. But when I took off my sandals that evening I saw lines where the straps were, clearly indicating that the sun had worked its magic that morning.

When you’re undergoing a change effort — whether a system-wide innovation or personal slog like trying to lose weight — it often seems as if no progress is being made. Harry Beckwith wrote about “selling the invisible” and the difficulty of marketing services that you can’t touch, hear or see. The phenomenon also applies to creating change, where without any tangible evidence, the impact feels negligible and unworthy of the discomfort.

Take a lesson from being in the sun and create your own version of a sandal to show evidence of your efforts, even when it’s not immediately apparent that there is any. Having that little line of proof may be all you need to keep going.

Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing by Harry Beckwith, 1997.

leadership dot #3260: effective feedback

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The book No Rules Rules describes the elements that have made Netflix successful as a business, entertainer, and employer. Their “culture of freedom and responsibility” is based on three anchors: building up talent density (having only “stunning colleagues”), then increasing candor (saying what you think but with positive intent), and finally removing controls — in that order.

Their approach is radical and requires a system-wide buy-in to operationalize it, but their lessons about feedback can be helpful to everyone. Netflix has distilled its feedback guidelines into what they call “4A” with two “A’s” for giving feedback and two more behaviors when receiving it:

Giving Feedback
1. Aim to Assist: Effective feedback is given only with positive intent to help improve the behavior of the recipient or the performance of the company. Netflix is clear that feedback is not hurtful, whining or about you.

2. Actionable: The reason for giving feedback is to explain how a specific change will make things better. Your comment must include suggestions for improvement, rather than just pointing out a problem.

Receiving Feedback
3. Appreciate: To be effective, the recipient must appreciate that the feedback is being given with positive intent and truly listen to what is being said, rather than automatically dismissing it.

4. Accept or Discard: It is up to the recipient to evaluate the feedback and to decide whether or not to implement the suggestions. Appreciating the feedback is required. Acting on it is optional.

If you follow the Netflix approach when you’re engaged in the feedback process, you’re sure to earn an A for your communication effectiveness.

Source: No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer, 2020

leadership dot #3259: good fortune

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Actor and writer Dan Levy commented that one of the best things to come from the success of Schitt’s Creek was the ability to fold in friends and colleagues, and the power to give them opportunities in the future. “Success should always come with sharing success,” Levy said.

Most of us are not fortunate enough to be in a position where we can hire all the stars in our circle but we probably do have occasion to use our good fortune to empower others. Make a referral to someone’s business. Hire a former mentor as a coach or refer them to someone who could use some guidance. Make a connection for someone to get involved in a volunteer organization. Share a job opening or endorse a former colleague on LinkedIn as a way to help them advance. Spend a few moments reviewing a presentation or polishing a proposal for a colleague.

Never forget that you become successful by helping others become successful. Share your gifts freely.

leadership dot #3258: attire

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Over the weekend, I attended my first official social engagement since the pandemic began. Not only was it an event — a rarity in itself these days — but one that requested “formal attire.” What does that mean in this post-COVID world where many days wearing shoes feels like dressing up?

The organizers joked that more people had asked about what to wear than any other detail about the event! And the answer was: however you defined it. There were women there in dresses that could have been worn to a garden party or to the Met Gala. Some had full-length sequin gowns while others wore flats with a career dress. One man came in “Zoom formal,” meaning a sport coat and tie — with shorts and sneakers. Other men donned tuxes and even tails.

Whether it be for a gala, an interview, a presentation, or a first date stressing over the proverbial “what to wear?” question is a waste of energy. The bottom line is that for most occasions, it’s not how you look, rather how you feel about your outfit selection. What’s in your head is far more relevant than what’s on your body. If you’ve got inner confidence, the outer threads are insignificant.

leadership dot #3257: tailored

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I’ve seen dog treats before that have catered to different breeds or sizes of dogs but there is a new brand that takes specialization to a whole new level. Premium Jack now makes treats that are hypoallergenic, low-calorie light, gluten-free & sugar-free for senior dogs, high protein, and dental care. There are as many options as for a human.

In addition to choice overload, the expansion in the dog treat aisle is a reminder that people are becoming more accustomed to products and services tailored especially to them. There is little “mass” or “generic” anymore; now everything is crafted for a special niche.

And if it’s happening with dog treats, it should happen in your organization, too. Providing one service, or one publication, or the same social media post for everyone is a doggone bad idea.

leadership dot #3256: controlled

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As if your smartphone did not already serve as the hub for so many functions, there is now another feature you can control with an app: the temperature of the beverage in your mug. The Ember company makes mugs that keep your drink hot (135 degrees plus) and allows you to adjust the temperature from your phone. Do we really need this?

The “smart mug” is not cheap ($129) nor is the travel mug ($179) and more discouraging than the price is the weight. Both are chock-full of electronics and could be used as exercise equipment if the fascination of controlling the temperature wore off.

But what this latest gadget signals to me is that apps are becoming more central to almost everything out there. It widens the gap between those who can afford a smartphone and those who can’t and also creates a chasm between those who are technologically savvy and others who are not as comfortable with this way of operating. Seeing yet one more item controlled via phone says to me that organizations should be investing in a first-rate app rather than treating it as an afterthought or optional.

leadership dot #3255: tell time

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A speaker remarked that a good consultant uses your watch to tell what time it is vs. bringing in their own. I think the same is true of a good teacher — who teaches you the principles of how to tell time on your clock — or any clock — rather than providing the answer without the tool to use it in the future. The real key is helping the learner understand the dynamics of their own particular situation and equipping them with the knowledge to take action based on that insight.

As a consultant, teacher and supervisor, I can tell you that it would be a lot easier to do the equivalent of bringing in my own clock — providing the answers, spending a class period espousing trusted theories, or giving mandates — but learning wouldn’t take place. Instead, I use case studies in most of my classes, recommend journaling for most of my coaching clients, and provided 1:1 coaching for my staff to effectively connect concepts with the actual application and help others internalize their meaning.

I’m reminded of a quote from master teacher Parker Palmer that “education is the intersection of the big picture and the little story.” It’s making sense of those abstract concepts by relating them to someone’s personal experience.

In whatever role you play that involves helping someone learn, teach them how to use their watch know all there is to know about telling time.

Thanks, Mike!

leadership dot #3254: thrown away

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I had dinner with a friend and between us, we ordered two burgers and one small fries. In addition to our order, we received 15 packets of salt, 27 packets of pepper, 15 pouches of ketchup, and 5 pouches of malt vinegar — none of which we asked for.

When I shared our experience with the manager he seemed unfazed and said that he would “talk to them about it.” I hold out no hope for change.

If a customer provides you with feedback, you should embrace it and see it as a window into a behavior that you may not otherwise be privy to experience. In this case, the inattention to detail and the excessive waste should be a big red flag that other transgressions are occurring. Little things do add up over time, whether it be ketchup packets or other lapses in performance.

leadership dot #3253: insane

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Author David Hieatt provides an unusual tip to spur productivity: set a self-imposed, insanely impossible deadline. “If you are given a week to get something done, you will take a week,” he writes. “If you are given two weeks, you will take two weeks. Will the one that took two weeks be twice as good? I doubt it.”

We all know that he is right.

I’ll wager that the majority, if not all, of my students have not yet started on their final project — yet, if I gave the assignment to them the week before it was due there would be an uproar. I’m sure that many people don’t start gathering the receipts for their taxes until very soon before they must be filed, even though they have had since January to collect them. I just received a project from one of my clients that she wants finished by the end of the week, and it will be completed before the article that has been lurking on my to-do list without a deadline since March.

I recently wrote about deadlines (dot 3246), but Hieatt’s advice takes it a step further. Consider his idea when the next project looms and make a deal with yourself to finish it in record time. Doing so might just make the insanity possible.

Source: Do/Purpose/Why brands with a purpose do better and matter more by David Hieatt, 2014.