Category: impact

leadership dot #3167: meaningful

February 15, 2021February 12, 2021by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Today is Presidents’ Day – a holiday that was established in recognition of the great patriot George Washington. But when the Uniform Monday Holiday Act locked the date into the third Monday in February it fell between Washington and Lincoln’s birthday and many began to include both leaders in the designation. Today, it is technically seen as an acknowledgment of all United States presidents but in reality, it serves as a retailing marketing gimmick and chance for Federal workers to have the day off more than a meaningful commemoration of America’s executive leaders.

The irony is that while it began by marking George Washington’s birthday as the holiday, due to its fixed date it is impossible for it to fall on the actual birthday of any of the four presidents born in February (also Lincoln, Harrison and Reagan).

Does your organization have traditions or commemorations like Presidents’ Day that have lost their way through multiple iterations and attempts at meeting a plurality of needs? If you attempt to achieve many purposes with one event, it often diminishes the impact for everyone.

A Federal holiday on Washington’s birthday to honor our founding leader is quite different than an arbitrary February date that gives equal recognition to Chester Arthur, Millard Fillmore, Warren Harding and 42 others. Compacting elements together instead of giving each its due may be efficient, but it’s doubtful that efficiency is your ultimate goal.

leadership dot #3112: delay

December 22, 2020December 21, 2020by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

If you ever questioned the ability of television to influence people, you need to look no further than The Queen’s Gambit. Not only has the show has become Netflix’s biggest limited series ever, but it has inspired an interest in chess for a whole new group of people. Google reports a stunning rise in inquiries about how to play chess and sales of chess sets have increased by nearly 200% online.

But what fascinates me about the impact of the show is that it is based on a book – that was published 37 years ago. At the time, Walter Tevis’ novel remained in the background. It did not win awards and was just one of the thousands of books published in 1983. The story even had several failed attempts at screen adaptation but now that it finally reached the screen, the book has become a New York Times bestseller and inspired this new-found interest in chess.

It’s sad that Mr. Tevis died before he could see the impact of his work or receive the acclaim that was due for his imaginative storytelling but let this delay serve as inspiration for you. Who knows what kind of influence your work will have. It may be through the lessons you teach someone else or through the product you produce yourself but we never know when the seeds we planted will fully take root and bloom. Keep playing your game.

leadership dot #3107: pockets

December 17, 2020December 16, 2020by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

As someone who lives at the intersection of three states, it has been interesting to navigate the various rules during the pandemic, with each jurisdiction responding in different ways with their own set of rules.

And it’s not just here; one of my coaching clients was lamenting the challenges she has faced in planning end-of-year recognitions while living at the convergence of multiple counties who also have addressed gatherings with varying degrees of restrictions.

It seems that each pocket of control considers only its limited scope without brokering a coordinated response or considering the impact on citizens who travel routinely between governmental lines. But this should not be a surprise. Our world is structured to where boundaries are more engrained than cooperation.

For example, schools operate with delineations between disciplines and even separate colleges at universities. Athletic departments create fiefdoms that are defined by sport rather than as a whole. Organizations have department silos that function independently from other colleagues. The political landscape is defined by red or blue. The examples could go on and on.

Whether it be through our philosophy, demographics, position, or geography, too often we grow up seeing the world in pockets instead of as a whole. Of course, this would carry over into how municipalities respond to a pandemic; the majority of life experience for those making the call has been to maximize the benefits for those in their sphere without paying much mind to those outside of it.

If you are in a position of influence, whether over a child, a department, an organization or a community – use some of your implicit power to help others see beyond their own circle and to reflect on the impact their actions have on the whole. Our world today – and tomorrow – will be better for it.

leadership dot #3053: global

October 24, 2020October 23, 2020by leadership dots by dr. beth triplett1 Comment

Today is a special United Nations Day, this one commemorating the 75^th anniversary of the global peace institution.

As their website states: “ There is no other global organization with the legitimacy, convening power and normative impact of the United Nations. Today, the urgency for all countries to come together, to fulfill the promise of the nations united, has rarely been greater.”

In 1945, the United Nations was chartered with 51 countries and five permanent members of the Security Council: China, France, Soviet Union, United Kingdom and the United States. Those nations have as many disagreements as commonalities, yet for three-quarters of a century, they have prevailed together to make the world a better place. Working on such topics as women’s equality, climate change, COVID, poverty, space exploration, migration and health, the 193 Member States continue to grind it out toward “peace, dignity and equality on a healthy planet.”

When you feel challenged in finding cooperative partners or wondering how you can persist with other organizations that don’t fully align with you, remember the United Nations. They have overcome significant geographical distances, language barriers and philosophical polarization to find a higher purpose and commonality that they can agree on and work towards.

Let’s celebrate their endurance and use it as a model for our own work.

leadership dot #3027: invent

September 28, 2020September 25, 2020by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

What do turkey feathers, highway drainage pipes, a newspaper for antique collectors and zipper stops have in common? They seem like lowly items that could pass through the world unnoticed, but each of these products made their founders so much money that they could literally give millions of dollars away.

Edward Warren had the insight to substitute turkey feathers into corsets, providing strength yet flexibility, and his success in the garment world provided him with the resources to gift 1,952 acres for Warren Dunes State Park, including three miles of pristine beach along the shores of Lake Michigan that now benefit over a million visitors each year.
Joe Chlapaty has already donated over $80 million to his alma mater, a sliver of wealth earned from Advanced Drainage Systems, his company that makes the unglamorous yet in-demand plastic corrugated pipe that lines highways and drainage ditches across the country.
The Antique Trader, a newspaper (in the pre-internet era) for antique collectors, became so popular that it allowed founder Edward Babka to donate $60 million to his hometown university in addition to the other projects he had already funded on campus and throughout the city.
Irwin Zahn created a machine that allowed blue jean manufacturers to crimp brass around the bottoms of zippers, and his handy zipper stop helped fund assets in excess of $23 million for the Moxie Foundation before it began to sunset.

When we think of inventors, often the famous come to mind. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, or Steve Jobs. All are worthy of their praise and attention but few of us will achieve that legendary status. Instead, strive to be like Warren, Chlapaty, Babka or Zahn – and be someone who sees a need for the ordinary and functional – and fills it in a way that improves not just the process, but hopefully creates a legacy to leave behind as well.

leadership dot #3010: endure

September 11, 2020September 9, 2020by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

It’s hard to believe that it has been 19 years since the tragedy of 9-11. It was, at the time, the biggest shock since Pearl Harbor and effectively shut down the country for weeks.

But then it was over.

Just as I will always remember 9-11, people today will tell stories about COVID for the rest of their lifetime. It is another collective moment with grave and far-reaching implications.

Only this one has no end in sight.

Essential workers and others in a multitude of positions have been on COVID-overdrive for over half a year now. Creating plans. Redoing plans. Pivoting right. Going back to the left. Implementing Plan A, then Plan B and even Plan Q. Oh yeah, throw in a couple of natural disasters, a widespread social justice movement and divisive politics. It is exhausting.

Leaders of those directly impacted by any of these crises need to acknowledge the stress this year has brought on and take steps to mitigate the incident fatigue that is consciously or unconsciously plaguing so many. Supervisors should acknowledge that these are unprecedented times and explicitly give permission or mandate that key personnel stop doing anything that is not mission-critical. Vacation or time off should be required, even if the employee doesn’t feel like they can be gone. Senior leaders should model relying on each other for moral and literal support to share some of the load.

The terrorist acts on 9-11 were over in 73 minutes. The derecho lasted just hours. The hurricane a day. Most wildfires are extinguished within weeks. Crises do not usually endure with such intensity for months, but since COVID doesn’t appear to be ending any time soon, Job 1 is to make your ability to operate sustainable. Even people with a positive attitude cannot thrive under daunting conditions indefinitely. Acknowledge the toll that the pace and continued uncertainty are taking and shift to strategies that allow people to endure for the longer run.

leadership dot #2993: bypass

August 25, 2020August 19, 2020by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

A new bypass highway just opened after decades of planning. It is surrounded by pristine countryside, void of all commercial development and even housing. I’m sure it won’t remain that way for long, but for now, it provides the prettiest drive in town.

The Economic Development folks are bragging that it will impact the city for decades, but they only expound the positives. I think about the farmhouses that used to be isolated which now find themselves on a major highway. I worry about all the businesses that will be hurt by the diverted traffic, as they find their once-prime location now off the beaten path. I wonder what tourism will be lost as vehicles zip around the city instead of through it, seeing the great River and downtown.

I’m also sure new opportunities will abound as subdivisions and shopping areas grow near the exits. The highway will save time and lessen congestion. People will stop using the “unofficial bypass” as they no longer cut through residential neighborhoods to get from one end of the city to the other. As with most things, there is an upside as well as a down.

As you contemplate major projects of your own, don’t get seduced by looking only at the benefits. You may decide that the price you pay is worth it, but remember that all good things come with a cost.

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leadership dot #2931: operational

June 24, 2020June 22, 2020by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

Nancy Pelosi is a polarizing figure and if you can get past that, you could learn a great deal from the woman on how to get things done. I just finished reading Molly Ball’s fascinating biography Pelosi in which she describes the Speaker as “operational” and then gives countless examples to bolster her point.

Operational in Pelosi’s case means that she was “committed to getting things done above all, and had the ingenuity to figure out a way to do it. Everything was about results.”

When AIDS was still too taboo of a topic to address, she garnered support for research funding by bringing the NAMES Quilt to the National Mall – and lined up activists to lift it every twenty minutes to overcome the Park Service’s attempt to deter her by saying the Quilt would have to be raised that often to avoid harm to the grass. When she hit a wall and could not get the votes for the Affordable Care Act without a stricter ban on abortion, she swallowed her pride and appealed to the most liberal women to back down on their insistence on the clause, sharing her vote tally sheets to show there seemed to be no other way. When the DREAM Act was in jeopardy, she collected stories of Dreamers and read them to the House – for 8 full hours without interruption – in order to put a human face on the bill. She ensured a bill on the war in Iraq would pass by splitting it into two, allowing one faction to vote for domestic spending but not the war funding and another faction to vote for the reverse.

When Pelosi was asked how she was going to round up the votes required to pass the Affordable Care Act, she replied: “You go through the gate. If the gate’s closed, you go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we’ll pole-vault in. If that doesn’t work, we’ll parachute in.”

Whether or not you agree with her politics, Pelosi is a master at getting the job done. The book can inspire you to think more broadly about how to find solutions to the problems you face and to become more “operational” in your work. Don’t stop when the gate is closed.

Source: Pelosi by Molly Ball, 2020

leadership dot #2926: Juneteenth

June 19, 2020June 18, 2020by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

A year ago, June nineteenth went unrecognized by many people who were unaware that it commemorates the day the last slaves in the U.S. were told of their freedom when word finally reached Texas 30 months after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.

But the recognition of the date has gained much more prominence as part of the current race equity revolution. This year, employees at Nike, Twitter and other corporations have the day off in observation; the Juneteenth flag is flying over the Wisconsin State Capitol for the first time in history, and several marches and rallies are planned for the day.

If you’re not familiar with the story, you can watch a short video here or read more about what has been called America’s Second Independence Day here.

You know when a social change is taking place by observing the little things that are altered. In the span of less than a month, Band-Aid has announced that after 99 years of only making its product in white flesh tone, it is now committed to offering new products in a range of light, medium and dark blacks and browns. Quaker Oaks is retiring the Aunt Jemima brand after 131 years. Other brands, such as Uncle Ben’s Rice, Cream of Wheat and Mrs. Butterworth have also committed to changing their imagery. Change happens slow, then it happens fast.

At one time, not that long ago, any of these changes would have been unthinkable. Hopefully, next year it will be equally unimaginable that most people fail to recognize this holiday and the history it represents.

leadership dot #2910: how to

June 3, 2020June 2, 2020by leadership dots by dr. beth triplettLeave a comment

YouTube has become the go-to resource for learning how to do things. Want to fix your pipe? Learn how to record a podcast? Know how to teach your child math? There’s likely a video showing you precisely what you need to do. YouTube is the second-most visited site in the world with 30 million visitors and 5 billion new uploads – each day!

This kind of volume makes YouTube a great resource for learning – and its heft shapes the consciousness and expectations of everyone. Over a trillion people have used the service, frequently finding it a straightforward and easy way to fix or create something.

But there are many things in our organizations and lives that can’t be taught in a short video snippet. Systemic change, deep-seated healing, organizational culture and relationship building don’t occur in a 30-minute how-to. People may wish they did, but it doesn’t work that way. There is no YouTube video on how to magically cure the virus, mitigate the impact of racism, stop police brutality or revitalize a crippled economy.

The serious work that needs to be done – the real work that makes an impact – doesn’t come with a 5 Steps Checklist on how to do it. As an organizational leader or concerned citizen, you may be tempted to focus on the urgent and look for that quick fix. But if you can put your strategy on YouTube, it’s the wrong one. The answer you need requires grace, time, openness, action and missteps. “How to” on the important stuff is all about hard, not easy, but must begin within each of us.