September 2024 – Page 2 – leadership dots

leadership dot #4386: taking risks

September 20, 2024September 19, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I’m a Washington Post subscriber and have just discovered their daily news quiz “On the Record.” Each morning, I am given a quote from a recent news event and need to answer who said it. If my response is correct in free form with no prompting, I receive 5 points; if I first need a hint, I earn 3 points, and if I guess correctly via multiple choice, I am given 1 point. At the end of the week, I can “shoot the wad” and bet as many points as I want on the final bonus question.

In my few weeks of playing, I have discovered that I know more than I give myself credit for. Frequently, I earn 5 points on an answer of which I am very unsure, maybe not even conscious that I know it. I almost always earn something by logical deduction, if not pure knowledge.

But at the end of the week, I’m still hesitant to bet big, even though there are zero consequences for losing it all. I’m not in a competition, no one knows my score, the points don’t carry over, and there is nothing but intrinsic reward if I earn all the points.

This goofy little game has reminded me that I need to become more comfortable taking risks. I need to trust that along my journey I have accumulated wisdom and intuition — and that I should find more occasions to be “all in” instead of holding back. I’ll wager that the same is true for you.

leadership dot #4385: minimal investment

September 19, 2024September 18, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

It always amuses me when students write proposals and boast that “no budget is required” or vendors pitch their products, assuring me that they will require “minimal investment.” Of money, maybe, but time is a valuable resource that needs to be accounted for in the calculations.

You could offer me new software for free, but the hours it could take me to learn it negate any benefits it would provide. The new process that requires no budget necessitates hours of meetings that divert staff time from other responsibilities. The offer for a free subscription loses its value when it takes a half hour to cancel at the end of the trial.

As the saying goes, there is no such thing as a free lunch. There’s no such thing as something new that requires new resources either. Be realistic about what you are committing to invest when you say yes.

leadership dot #4384: 3 choices

September 18, 2024September 17, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplett2 Comments

In his book Supercommunicators, Charles Duhigg states that most conversations fall into one of three categories: practical, emotional, or social. Each type requires a different response from the listener.

In one type of conversation, the person wants Help. This response would provide practical suggestions and aid in solving the issue being discussed.

In another conversation, the person is focused on sharing emotions and wants a Hug. This calls for a focus on empathy and support, rather than solutions.

In the third type, the person just wants to be Heard. In this scenario, the person uses a social situation to vent their frustrations and will feel better by having someone listen.

This model has been used in school districts with students indicating to teachers the type of response they need at that moment and can also be used in relationships or business settings (minus the literal hug part!). Paying attention to body language or explicitly asking the person what kind of conversation they are having allows the respondent to connect and converse effectively.

Whether you mentally ascertain “Help, Hug, Heard” or rephrase to “Solve, Support, Vent,” triaging conversations will help you provide the desired response.

Source: Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg, 2024

leadership dot #4383: stringing pearls

September 17, 2024September 16, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I was helping a client create their professional development plan and mentioned several components that could be included: podcasts, articles, books, tutorials, collaborating with colleagues, journaling, etc. She had not considered how these multiple elements could combine to provide new skills and insights.

Once again, I was reminded of my analogy of stringing pearls. Too often, people look for the equivalent of the Hope Diamond — one big thing to address their needs. In reality, life is much more incremental and those who succeed are the people who can intentionally connect the small occurrences to provide cohesive and consistent meaning. These are the people who can “be the string” to craft the small pearls into a necklace.

Professional development happens incrementally, as does financial saving, weight management, health, learning a new skill, relationships, and just about everything of value. Rather than expending energy searching or waiting for the big answer, focus on uniting the small inputs and actions instead. Cultivating a lifelong habit of “being the string” will turn your incremental moments into significant ones.

leadership dot #4382: recruiters

September 16, 2024September 15, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I attended a concert by the United States Air Force Jazz Band. Typically, these events are “soft sell” — with the idea that you’ll have good feelings about that military branch just by enjoying their performances. You hear a few patriotic songs, see the musicians in uniform, and subliminally be reminded that the armed forces are an important and ever-present part of our country.

However, this concert was different as there were several explicit announcements about recruiting. At one point, the conductor asked everyone to raise their hands if they were in the military (not just the Air Force), had any family members who were or even knew someone who had served. Of course, many hands went up. He used that opportunity to remind people of the need to recruit and the role they could play in encouraging others to speak with a recruiter.

Having a traveling jazz band serve as a means of getting prospects to join the military isn’t the first recruitment strategy that comes to mind, but that’s exactly what they were doing. Making the personal connection raised the consciousness of everyone there, and planted the idea of them serving in a recruiting role.

Think of how you can expand your base of recruiters by empowering those who have been touched by the services you offer.

leadership dot #4381: ice bucket

September 15, 2024September 14, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

At a recent hotel stay, what stood out wasn’t the beds or shower, but rather the ice bucket. Both my sister and I were tempted to slip it into our suitcases!

For generations, the hotel ice bucket has been standard issue brown but someone had the idea to make it part of the décor. It added a pop of color and made the whole room appear just a bit more contemporary.

It’s like the Hampton’s waffles that I wrote about yesterday (dot #4380). You don’t need to enhance everything. Find something that you can make distinctive and embrace that.

leadership dot #4380: waffles

September 14, 2024September 13, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

The Wall Street Journal estimated that Hampton Inn guests make 30 million waffles/year in their hotels and list that specific breakfast item as one of the top three reasons they choose the chain.

Think about that. It’s a hotel, not a restaurant, yet the amenity that gives them the most bang for their buck is a simple cup of batter. Not even the whole free breakfast buffet — they are known for their make-it-yourself waffles.

Take a lesson from Hampton and focus on being distinctive in a small area and doing that well. You don’t need to master everything if you create your own niche.

leadership dot #4379: black cat

September 13, 2024September 12, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

The chapter I’m reading in Challenger is titled: Black Cat. It seemed appropriate for a Friday the 13th dot!

Challenger is a well-researched account of the space rocket explosion in 1986 but the story begins earlier. What would have been the 13th shuttle program (STS-13) in 1983 was renamed due to superstition following the near catastrophe of Apollo 13. The NASA administrator refused to allow another mission to contain the number 13.

But the crew of that mission (now STS-41-C) designed its own unofficial patch for their suits — featuring a “crazed-looking black cat, its back arched, a bright green number 13 emblazoned on its flank, with a shuttle orbiter swooping between its legs.” Obviously, the patch was never used, but it provided camaraderie and bonding for the crew.

What role does superstition play in your organization? Do you rename things to avoid 13 as hotels famously did to avoid labeling a 13th floor? Or have you created your own irrational beliefs that carry as much weight in your organization as the mythical black cats? Be like the astronauts and set your fears aside today to have some fun with the 13th.

Source: Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space by Adam Higginbotham, 2024.

The unofficial patch from STS-41-C, the 13th Space Shuttle mission. http://www.spacepatches.nl/sts_mis/sts13.html

leadership dot #4378: who decides

September 12, 2024September 11, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

One part of the debate on many issues is who should get to decide — the individual, the States, or the Federal government. It’s a more consequential version of what plays out in organizations all the time — how much autonomy to give employees, branch offices, or whether to have the parent company dictate the policy.

Determining the amount of freedom you can give that still allows for enough consistency and coherence to be whole is a tricky question. The trade-off in autonomy is often complexity — if each person or office completes a process in a different way, misalignment can occur when they try to interact. However, standardization can cause inefficiencies that fail to take into account situational differences.

Whether you impose policies with an iron fist or let your office be a free-for-all, the key issue is clarity. Everyone needs to know where the leadership stands on what level of autonomy is acceptable and what needs to stay within the strict parameters. Don’t abdicate your responsibility to define the rules.

leadership dot #4377: let’s roll

September 11, 2024September 10, 2024by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

I saw the Ground Zero site while it was still smoldering and have visited the 9-11 Memorial Museum in New York. But this summer, I visited the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, PA and it was the timeline there that really put things in perspective.

At 9:37 am, the hijackers notified the passengers that they were being hijacked and a bomb was on board. People secretly used the phones in their seats (in the era before cell phones) to call loved ones and report the issue. Through this, they learned it wasn’t a hijacking-for-ransom as expected but rather part of a larger plot. So, at 9:44 am they began planning to storm the cockpit, using whatever they had at their disposal to overtake the terrorists, including hot water used for coffee.

At 9:55 am came the famous “Let’s Roll” charge as a group of brave volunteers stormed the cockpit.

When the hijackers saw the passengers enter, they inverted the plane to prevent it from being overtaken. At 10:03 am, the plane crashed — upside down — at 563 miles per hour — carrying 5500 gallons of jet fuel.

It was 20 flight minutes from Washington, DC.

Take a close look at how condensed that timeline is. These passengers had 25 minutes to develop and execute a plan as they knew their lives were likely ending. There is a time for planning and a time for action and fortunately, they acted, saving hundreds in the District of Columbia who would have died had the plane hit its intended target instead of landing in an isolated field. National heroes.

Never forget September 11, 2001.