Sunday 1 August
Harry Ramsden, Dennis Healy, Living Landscapes and August fun with a Queen in Amsterdam.
I just caught an hour's television on Thursday evening before bed time. It was one of those 'back to the floor' time programmes where the company boss experiences life at the front end. Usually these seem pretty meaningless and we don't learn a lot but this one was excellent.
It featured the newly appointed Chief Executive of Harry Ramsdens. Remember them, posh fish and chips. Well, Harry has been having a hard time recently under successive owners (no doubt venture capitalists) and this new boss wanted to find out why.
It was a very entertaining and insightful hour. I know it's made for television, but we quickly discovered a number of things. Firstly a complete gulf between her senior team and the rest of the organisation. We saw a group of smug looking managers sat round a table as she explained what she was doing. One young marketing guy (his tie gave it away that he was in marketing) asked her what morale was like. Maybe he should have known, although I suspect he rarely leaves head office and probably really does think that it's guacamole they serve with the fish, chips, bread and butter.
What she found were heroes throughout her organisation, people who were keeping going every day, doing their best, caring for their customers, motivating their teams, despite the most difficult and depressing of circumstances, and the uncertainty over the future of their restaurants. We saw a manager from near Birmingham struggling because of the location of her site(I mean a new food court had opened, not just because it was near Birmingham but I take the point), staff from Great Yarmouth struggling with broken equipment and a dodgy till system, a Polish guy determined to progress to Assistant Manager and a very confident young graduate devising training courses because of a lack of head office support.
The other thing that came through was how simple fixing many of their frustrations was. They were hampered by broken equipment, poor processes, systems faults. But no-one above them had taken responsibility and got them resolved.
So you had a company on its knees. Part of that is inevitable, this seems to be an outdated brand in need of significant investment. But part of it was so easily solvable, and typical of so many organisations. It's all to do with leadership, as ever. Not necessarily from the top, although the senior team needed a boot up their collected backsides (which I fully expect this new boss is doing). And not necessarily at the front end, where you will always find great people. It's in the middle, as it so often is, those managers in operations at area level and those faceless people at head office who should be motivating, inspiring, supporting and enabling, including just sorting those simple fixes which can make such a difference, to efficiency and to morale.
I'd really like to meet this Chief Executive and am going to try and contact her. I'd love to see how her progress has been away from the television lights.
And there is the crucial difference between management and leadership. I would guess Harry Ramsdens has got some good, or at least competent, management going on. The perception is of a complete lack of leadership. So it may be worth exploring the difference between the two again. Management is about getting the job done. It's about being efficient, working within current parameters, executing, managing systems and processes, managing budgets and other resources. Leadership is about motivating and inspiring people, it's about setting out a clear vision of the future, one which people want to follow. It's about empowering, unlocking potential, letting people see how much could be achieved. It's about thinking outside the box, challenging paradigms, coming up with new ideas, new ways of doing things.
Every organisation needs good management, it's an important and worthwhile profession. Without good management things don't get done. But every organisation desperately needs great leadership, inspiring people to do amazing things. And of course it's the same person who does both, great people spend part of their time at work managing and part leading. Both are necessary, indeed crucial functions within great organisations.
But the problem in so many organisations (of which Harry Ramsdens is a perfect example) is too little leadership. As Stephen Covey said 'most organisations are over managed and under led.'
It reminds me of the story of the group of managers hacking their way through the jungle. They are doing a really efficient job. One team go on ahead with scythes and other equipment cutting a path. A logistics team follow on supporting them with food and other provisions. A support team are busy recording the number of trees being cut down. There are graphs galore plotting progress. It's a wonderful example of good management. But then the leader comes along, climbs a tree and looks around them before yelling 'stop'. Everyone looks up and the leader shouts 'We're in the wrong jungle.'
And in certain jobs you just cannot survive without being a great leader, and if you are not you will be found out all too quickly. Counting the money may be a management function but the person at the top must be visionary, a true leader. As Dennis Healy is supposed to have wryly commented to Gordon Brown on the difference between running the Treasury and running the country, 'Chancellors must do something, Prime Ministers must be something.'
My final thought and example on leadership is that it's a relentless ongoing process which you cannot short cut,. Jakkie's daughter, Victoria works as part of a local authority team. I genuinely believe her boss is trying to make a difference. Recently they have had workshops based on well-known leadership material such as 'Who Moved My Cheese' and 'The Art of Being Brilliant.' Participants have found them both interesting and motivating. But there is no follow up and the experience is quickly forgotten. Nothing changes and the old cynicism quickly returns.
The stuff I teach around leadership and effectiveness is generic, learning can be applied across many different people, teams and organisations, regardless of the specific activities they are involved in. I don't need to deeply understand what my clients do, but I do need to build at least a basic understanding of their world. It would be complacent of me to think otherwise. But it is a challenge as my clients do a massive variety of things from chemicals to composites technology, building materials, restaurants, wildlife conservation, the care and recovery of traumatised children, finding work for people with disabilities, social care, advice and support, bars, events, volunteering and political advocacy to name just a few.
I do however have one long-term client, a leading national conservation charity, who want me to understand their world far more deeply to enhance my contribution in the long term. So Friday I spent the day with one of their regional Chief Executives learning about conservation, the environment, bio-diversity and eco-systems. My teacher is a highly qualified scientist, and as the nearest I came to that career was to spectacularly fail 'O' Level biology (how was I to know photosynthesis is nothing to do with cameras) it was a really challenging day.
But I did learn a lot. I learned about Living Landscapes, which is the terminology at the heart of the vision and strategy of this organisation to make a real difference to the world around us over the next fifty years. I learned how so many of the day to day things we take for granted rely on eco-systems and on nature, and how fragile everything is with the march of progress. I will need time to digest all I learned but it certainly built my awareness of the challenges the world faces. During the summer I'll collect my thought sand try and articulate this better for you in the autumn.
So August is here at last and I can finally begin my month off. I use this time as a way of regaining balance after a hectic few months of work. The problem, of course, is that it just speeds by and I try to pack in all those things I've been meaning to do all year!
Anyway it stretches ahead at the moment. We are starting off with ten days down at our cottage in Aberdovey (sand dune walks, pub visits and rain) before a couple of weeks at home, when I've got plans to fill a skip, sort out Dennis the Fire Engine, check on progress on my Landrover 90 rebuild project, take JUT, my 1966 Landrover out on a picnic or two, get 'The Lobster Pot Café' ready for another round of publishers (yes, really), have a Pink Drinks party (don't ask) cut down a tree and sort out my office. You get the point about being over optimistic! After that we have a few relaxing days taking a Queen to Amsterdam to end the month.
So a break from blogging as well, but I'll be back on 4th September, a year older, and hopefully with stories of a wonderful month. Thanks for reading my blog. I really do appreciate it, and the feedback. Enjoy August, see you in September.
Sunday 25 July
A second bus brings inspirational leadership thoughts, some reflections on happiness and fulfillment, and a strong measurement brings deserved rewards
It's a bit like buses really. You wait for ages and then two come at once. I'm feeling like a bit of an expert on buses recently having caught one from Salford into Manchester the other day, although I was quite shocked to find there was no conductor. But in this instance I'm thinking more of the analogy. No sooner did I stumble across one brilliant and impact book on leadership ('the Secret' by Kan Blanchard) then a client gives me another one.
'Unconditional Leadership' is written by a guy called David Robinson, founder of a very successful charity called 'Community Links.' I'm not going to try and do a synopsis, but just to pick a few points from the book. What I love about it is that it's short (only 77 pages), and it's written in an engaging and informal style. The author focuses on practical examples, not leadership theory, and at no time pretends he is a perfect leader. In fact he makes the point that that person simply does not exist. Every great leader has their failings, in a way that's what makes them strong.
Most importantly it's a really powerful story of how great leaders lead, with many pertinent personal examples. I've just picked a few things out here which work for me.
1. Be visionary, but translate that vision into practical action. As Mandela said 'vision without action is merely dreaming. Action with no vision is just passing time. But with vision and action you can change the world.'
2. Leadership is all about maximising potential, it's what great leaders do. They understand that people have so much potential inside them and it's a leader's job to unlock it.
3. Conditional leaders think of themselves at the top of the conventional hierarchical pyramid, focussed on command and control. Unconditional leaders instead see themselves at the centre of a circle, leading from the centre but pushing out supporting their people. It's as close to servant-leadership as you can get.
4. Anyone can be a leader, wherever you are in an organisation, or outside work as well. You don't have to be at the head of a whole organisation. You can lead a team, your colleagues, your boss or just yourself. It's about who you are not what you are.
Unconditional leadership is open to us all.
5. And you can start leading and changing things now. As Anne Frank wrote, 'how wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.'
6. Robinson then stresses the point that great leaders base everything they do on a deep-rooted commitment to values. They guide everything, pushing you towards your vision. But values have to mean something, they are not just window dressing. Even Enron had a published code of ethics.
7. If values push you, goals or objectives pull you towards that vision. And every individual, team and organisation must have well thought out goals. Without them we drift aimlessly. To quote from Alice in Wonderland, 'would you tell me which way I need to go from here?' 'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to' said the cat. ''I don't much care where', said Alice. 'Then it doesn't much matter which way you go' said the cat.'
Robinson then bases his leadership thoughts around a number of themes, including developing leaders throughout organisations, cultivating passion, developing every individual, appreciating failure, pacing change and what to do when it all goes wrong.
He finishes with a powerful statement around 'being somethin'. It's not about being famous, it's about people who exist everywhere. His story is of someone who worked full time with homeless people in London. She made friends with them. Some of those friendships led years later down long and winding paths to jobs and permanent homes. To stability. She died young. 'She was truly something' someone remarked at her funeral. There are still homeless people on the streets, but she saved a life or two. How many of us can say that?
And I could go on. Instead, two thoughts. In the near future I will put a full synopsis of the book on my website. In the meantime go and get hold of it for yourself. It's as powerful a read on leading in the right way as I've ever come across.
I was reading a great article in the paper on Saturday. It's about Michael Wright, a former newspaper columnist who took the life changing decision to move to France six years ago to pursue a dream of living abroad. He has written a best selling book about his experiences ('C'est La Folie'). Although, in my view, it's not as good a book as the wonderful 'Driving Over Lemons' it's still a good read in that genre of people who pack up everything and head for new life and commit to integrate fully in local life.
A couple of things stood out for me in the article. The first is that here is one person who had dreams and made them happen. He was a successful journalist but dreamed of a life in France. And he did it. How many of us are guilty of letting those dreams die inside us? We blame barriers such as money, commitments, family, work, other people, but deep down we know that the biggest barrier is us, our self-belief and our fear of failure.
The second is Wright's description of happiness in the article. His recipe for happiness is 'to have a passion, make a contribution and keep learning'. Ten simple words but I think they are brilliant. Fulfillment might be a better word than happiness but for me it's captured perfectly. And it applies inside and outside work, it could be about our leadership role at work or about being a partner or parent. Do you have a passion for things you do? Do you really believe you are making a contribution, and a difference. And do you accept the need to keep learning, every single day? Powerful stuff.
For a long time I've been aware of how important it is for teams and organisations to have a measurement framework in place, a way of understating how effective and successful they are, of measuring their results and their outcomes. Too many teams and organisations seem to regard this as being unimportant. I work with a particular group of clients who have developed a comprehensive measurement system. In short,
They have set up an independent body which reviews their progress via a detailed audit process. They measure each aspect of the business, focussing on outcomes, and participants receive a gold, silver or bronze award. But not every organisation is successful, they may equally be graded as 'working towards bronze.'
The system is not perfect. There are understandable criticisms of the amount of work that has to be done in preparing for an audit, and some believe there is too much emphasis in ticking boxes without really having to have done the work, but if I was at my most critical I suspect those who complain most are the under-achievers.
Overall it is a robust process which is, without doubt, improving standards in that group of organisations, and I was delighted at the end of last week to learn that an organisation I have worked with a lot over the last three years has become only the second one to receive the coveted gold award. It is well deserved, this is a well run organisation which does amazing things, is increasingly well led and has a clear vision and strategy for the future.
It is not necessary for teams and organisations to develop as sophisticated a scheme as this, but clear, unambiguous measures of success are crucial.
Only one week or so to go and then my month of August off work. Inevitably I have far too many plans to fit into the thirty one days, which I know will fly by, but more of that next week. It was a very enjoyable weekend in the garden, chopping down parts of trees, therapeutic even if I'm a little concerned they did not need to be chopped. Good fun though.
Sunday 18 July
The opportunity to build trust, aspiring leaders, a small lunch in Fradswell and fond memories of Andy Pandy's threesome.
I spent some time last week working in an organisation where trust is a real issue. The problem manifested itself in a number of areas, but seemed to lie at the heart of so many discussions I had. I was told that people throughout the organisation had a lack of trust in the senior team to deliver.
Trust does lie at the heart of any team and organisation. Where trust is high things just get done. Without trust people are constantly looking over their shoulders, they will not speak up or take risks, they behave defensively, and it is impossible to truly empower someone where trust is low.
Trust is obviously so important to people everywhere in teams and organisations. When I do work on values, on creating a behavioural framework for any team or organisation, words like openness, honesty, transparency and trust are invariably top of the list.
But the problem is that trust is a multi-faceted concept, where do you start if you want to build trust? Do you know how high trust is in your team or organisation currently?
I guess the first thing we need to do is to take the temperature, to understand if you have an issue. Do you currently have a method of measuring trust? When they are done right employee surveys are a powerful tool for understanding where you currently are. You could also just sit with your team and ask them. Ironically, of course, the lower trust currently is the less likely you are to get an honest answer. You are much more likely to be told what you want to hear, which may be reassuring but is of absolutely no value.
It does of course start with any leader of any team. If they are not trustworthy, if they do not demonstrate trust in their people, if they don't do what they say they are going to do, keep promises and model the right behaviours the chances of a high level of trust within the team are close to nil.
But this is never black and white. Think of trust in the context of a continuum. At one end of the line would be really high trust (think of it as ten out of ten), at the other end would be really low trust (a nil on this scale). I am certain trust within the team you lead is not at nil (I am not sure you would be bothering to read this if it was). I suspect is is not at ten either. The challenge is what to do about it.
There will be many books available on building trust, but the one I like best is called 'The Speed of Trust' by Stephen M R Covey (the son of the guy who wrote 'The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.') In the book Covey makes the direct link between high trust in a team or organisation and great results. This is not rocket science, not a hard link to make, but it is a powerful argument. Where trust is high, things just get done much more quickly. There is far less checking and monitoring. People are allowed to get on with their jobs, they are empowered, given the freedom to deliver. And people are willing to accept that freedom without being concerned about the consequences of making mistakes. Consequently things just get done quickly, efficiently, and invariably in the right way with great results.
He therefore argues that trust can be both a tax and a dividend. Where trust is high (towards ten on that continuum) it is a real dividend for any team or organisation, a clear benefit, but where it is low it is a tax, preventing things getting done quickly.
He also makes the insightful point that trust exists between people and within teams at four different levels. We often think about trust as just being about integrity. But is is a lot more than that. Of course integrity is important, but we also trust someone based on their intent, on their capability and on the results they deliver. Think about it, if you work for someone or have a member of your team whose intentions seem right, who you regard as a capable individual and who demonstrates that by consistently delivers great results would you have high trust in them? I suspect the answer is yes.
The challenge for any leader is what to do if you know trust in your team or organisation is low. This could be when you inherit a new team or in all honesty it could be the case in your existing team. Can you build trust? Covey argues strongly that you can, by demonstrating consistent behaviours, and identifies a number of these behaviours, as follows:
1. Talk straight. Tell the truth and leave the right impression.
2. Demonstrate respect. Behave in a way that shows fundamental respect for people and that you care.
3. Create transparency. Be clear and truthful. Even when it is difficult, and above all when it is difficult.
4. Right wrongs. Take action and do what you can to correct mistakes.
5. Show loyalty. Give credit to others and don't be negative about them behind their backs
6. Deliver results. Results give you instant credibility and instant trust
7. Get better. Learn from mistakes, continually improve, seek feedback
8. Confront reality. Tackle the tough issues head on.
9. Clarify expectations. Create a shared vision and agreement about what is to be done up front.
10. Practice accountability. Hold yourself accountable and hold others accountable.
11. Listen first. Genuinely listen to understand.
12. Keep commitments. It's the quickest way to build trust in any relationship
A dozen powerful examples of how you, or any other leader, can build trust in any team or organisation.
After my frequent ranting about leadership (or lack of it) in the NHS, I was really inspired this week to work with a group of young NHS managers in the north, on a programme for aspiring leaders. This group of 20 had been specially selected from across a large Foundation Trust on the basis of their leadership potential.
I was really impressed with the level of positive energy in the room, and the determination to make a difference as leaders in the future. But everyone had war stories to tell of leadership they had encountered at various times in their NHS careers to date. If the NHS is to survive the latest savaging it is about to face, nurturing new leaders like this group will be crucial.
Today was national Big Lunch day, although that fact may have passed you by. The intention of the organisers is to get people in neighbourhoods across the country to come together for lunch, building community spirit. They claim that almost a million people took part last year. We gave it a go in Fradswell, although it should probably more correctly have been called the Small Lunch as there were only ten of us on a long trestle table in the village hall. But that does represent over 5% of our population which wasn't a bad effort, and it was a great chance to catch up with neighbours over shared food and a glass of wine.
I do think the idea is great, although it must be very hard to get it to catch the imagination and to build numbers. I guess we are lucky living in a small rural community in that people tend to know each other and chat normally anyway. I know this doesn't happen everywhere, this weekend at my daughter Lindsay's in Newcastle I said hi to a couple of her neighbours and received strange looks in return. I hope the organisers push the idea again next year and numbers might grow.
Finally, an old and very dear friend of mine celebrated his 60th birthday this week. Andy spent the day in much the same way as he has spent every day for the last sixty years, involved in some sort of faintly disturbing threesome with his friends Looby Loo and Teddy in a wicker basket. It's also about time he changed out of that blue and white suit. I am of course referring to the legendary Andy Pandy, star of 'Watch with Mother' all those years ago. It all seems a long time ago now but he shared a week of compulsive viewing with Bill & Ben, and some spotted dog.
Best of all, of course, was Captain Pugwash and his motley crew. It may or may not be folklore that they included Master Bates, Seaman Stains and Roger the Cabin Boy, but I like to think it was true. If it was it was worth the license fee many times over, and a brilliant coup for whoever got away with it. It makes Any Pandy cavorting in his toy box seem like small fry. Happy days!
Sunday 11 July
Come back Mr Bond, all is forgiven, the real challenges of the coalition cut backs and a monsoon weekend in an otherwise beautiful summer.
Thank you for the positive feedback I received to my attempt last week to link England's football failures to wider leadership lessons for organisations. If you didn't get to read it have a look at the blog below. I think the general feeling was that it made sense and that the connections are difficult to argue with.
It was quite a revelation to me this week to learn that spying is still prevalent between America and Russia. I did try to follow the story but found it quite confusing, these seemed to be normal people living in normal neighbourhoods passing on snippets of information on what those next door are having for dinner. It does seem to be quite an incredible throw back to the cold war days of the seventies and eighties. I can almost hear Frankie Goes to Hollywood launching into 'Two Tribes' or Sting urging Russians to love their children too.
The whole thing seems so irrelevant in today's technological age. I am assuming that any information they were trying to get would be readily available on the internet. I suspect its just part of a giant game that both sides still enjoy playing. I can imagine it still involves drop off points in anonymous parks and cafes and maybe the odd newspaper or two with eye holes. I hope so.
How much simpler life was back then with James Bond cracking codes and enemy skulls before leaping off mountain tops and floating to earth with his Union Jack parachute. Or the wonderful cameo at the end of 'Moonraker' when Thatcher is provided with a live video link to an orbiting space capsule to be confronted with the image of Bond and girl in weightless embrace. 'I think they're attempting re-entry' Q wryly observes.
I was lucky enough to get a first hand experience of the old Soviet Union during the cold war years when our openly communist teacher (he even proudly drove a Lada) organised a coach trip to Leningrad and Moscow. It took place in 1974 and I seem to remember it cost very little. I have always had my suspicions that it was subsidised from somewhere behind the Iron Curtain. Fifty seventeen year olds set off in the most rickety old coach I have ever been on (no risk assessments in those days) and after travelling what seemed like non stop through Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Finland we dropped down through a pine forest in the middle of the night towards the Soviet border. It really was like something out of a Bond movie. The first thing we saw were the machine gun towers with armed guards and then the inspection began. We were at the border for seven long hours as every inch of the coach was painstakingly searched. They will have found little of interest apart from some smuggled on cans of cider and the only magazine they will have found was of the adult variety rather than full of bullets.
There followed two fascinating weeks in Leningrad and Moscow. We stayed in youth hostels, visited the Winter Palace and the Kremlin (neither of which I appreciated at seventeen), shopped in special tourist shops, sold pairs of jeans (a right of passage), visited a summer camp, ate more than our share of horse meat and attended countless evening receptions where local party officials welcomed us on behalf of their country.
A long telephone conversation as I drove home on Friday made me fully realise how difficult it will be for many organisations as the full implications of the coalition Government's cutbacks take effect. In fact even as we come out of recession I bleieve that the last couple of years will go down in history as no more than th ewarm up act before the main event. I was talking to the Chief Executive of a charity which finds employment for people with disabilities. I have supported this Chief Executive for many years. She is a special person heading an organisation who do amazing things.
Their challenge is that their principal funder is a local authority, who have just learned that they are to face massive cutbacks to their own funding from central government. Like so many others who will face the same reality they have acted quickly, announcing many redundancies and putting this organisation and others on notice that future funding is not guaranteed.
The Chief Executive I was talking to understands the current reality and also knows that she must take decisive action to safeguard her people and the wonderful work they do. She has also ensured that over the past few months she has stayed up to date with the new Government's thinking within her area. She knows that along with these cutbacks they are working on a personalisation agenda designed to give service users more say over the services that are provided for them. She understands the opportunity this provides to carry on doing the work they exist to do. Her strategy may need to change, she may need to focus in a different direction, but her long term purpose, vision and values will not be affected.
What has helped this Chief Executive is that last year she underwent a scenario planning exercise, together with her Trustees, to prepare for just this sort of eventuality. In fact they went even further, looking at reductions in income even beyond these likely cutbacks. As such they already have robust plans and options in place which will serve them well in the weeks and months ahead.
It's what great leaders do. When necessary they confront the brutal facts, find innovative solutions, make plans and execute them in the right way.
I am writing this early on Sunday evening, just before the World Cup Final (if only, just imagine how the country would have been tonight had England made the final.) Jakkie and I got back earlier this afternoon from a wonderful weekend in the Lake District celebrating a special anniversary.
At least it was wonderful in every other way apart from the weather. While the rest of the country was basking in beautiful sunshine, as we left the M6 the clouds descended, it became almost pitch black and then it started pouring with rain. And it did not stop again until we rejoined the M6 today. We were, of course, totally ill prepared and looked a ridiculous sight running from car to hotel in shorts and sandals. Everyone else seemed to know what to expect because everywhere we looked there were people in boots and kagouls, carrying bulging rucksacks and very important clipboards containing maps and compasses.
But it didn't matter and it meant we could celebrate ten years together with pub lunches and in hotel bars rather than having to pretend to each other that we wanted to climb those hills.
Saturday 3 July
Applying 'Good to Great' lessons to our football shambles, how inspiring places build new thinking and a systems breakdown is saved by a real person
So my assumption in last week's blog that we could be on our way to a quarter-final showdown with Argentina proved ridiculously optimistic. At least we were spared the tabloid jingoistic references to defeating Germany and then heading for a Falklands rematch. Instead we once more endure the cycle of high expectation, torturous realisation, dashed hopes and recriminations.
Far be it from me to add my voice to the analysis of failure, except to say that I think there are undeniable parallels between this sporting failure and under-performing organisations.
We would not expect any organisation to achieve true greatness (their equivalent of winning the World Cup) without careful planning of a long-term strategy and then the superb execution of that strategy. For an organisation to achieve such greatness everything would need to be in place, the right vision, plans, people, structure, systems, processes and culture. Our football team appears to have none of this, so why on earth would we expect anything more than an early exit.
The comparison with Germany is inevitable. By all accounts their current success has been 10 years in the making, where they learned the lessons of under achievement and put plans in place at every level , from the grass roots upwards, to build, over time, a successful future. Our nearest comparison was the renaissance of our Rugby Union team under Clive Woodward, which set about preparing for and winning the 2003 World Cup in much the same way.
The comparisons between sport and any other organisation in any sector are unavoidable. So, if you are willing to bear with me, I would like to refer to the six common traits of sustainably great organisations researched and evidenced by Jim Collins and his team in 'Good to Great' and to see if we can apply them to our national team.
The first is around leadership, and the concept called 'Level 5 Leaders.' In the great organisations there was no evidence of the high profile leader, even if they were successful elsewhere, being brought in from the outside and delivering sustainable success. But that is exactly what we have done with Capello, expecting him to work wonders in the short term without focussing on the plans necessary over many years. He may be the greatest coach in the world but without the infrastructure and years of planning to support him it just cannot work.
The second lesson is about getting the right people on the bus. We all now understand that this 'golden generation' are nowhere near being the right people and we are seemingly bereft of the young talent coming through that will make any difference next time around. We have a domestic league which is all powerful, obsessed with money, full of foreign players, and failing to promote the growth of young talent through championing the academy systems.
And we are still failing to confront the brutal facts, the third trait of great organisations from 'Good to Great.' Those in power seem to have this blind optimism we will prevail without facing up to the radical change that would have to take place first. The complete restructuring of the balance of power in the game and the development of young domestic talent through academies.
The next trait 'The Hedgehog Concept' is just as relevant. This is about developing a single focussed goal and sticking to it zealously over a long period of time. It seems to absolutely be the secret behind Germany's renaissance. Our hedgehog concept should be around doing anything that is necessary to rebuild for the future, a focus not on winning next year or the year after but the 2018 or even 2022 World Cup.
Then there is a lesson around a culture of discipline, this concept that great organisations have succeeded in building a culture where people work in a self-disciplined way. They have a plan, a framework they are clear about and they stick to constantly. But within that framework they are free to express themselves, to be creative. It's what great teams, in organisations and on football pitches do, a freedom to express natural talent within rigid structures and tactics. It's what Germany excelled at and doesn't ever involve your complete defence charging up field in search of an equaliser.
And finally there are technology accelerators, the concluding trait in 'Good to Great', the idea that technology on its own won't deliver greatness but will speed you along the path. And actually goal line technology and a 2-2 half time score may have made for an interesting game. Or maybe not.
Okay I know I'm trying to be too neat because I despair of the football shambles and love 'Good to Great' but I think the parallels are clear. And the message is simple. Forget about the 2012 Euros or even the 2014 World Cup. Start planning today to win the 2018 tournament, hopefully on home soil. Build at every level of the England organisation a structure, culture and framework which can deliver future success. Then go out there and end 52 years of hurt. But I wouldn't hold your breath.
Over the past week I have worked with clients in some truly inspiring surroundings. I started the week in Liverpool at the National Wildflower Centre, spent time by the Firth of Forth at Cramond and then a day at the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. On each occasion the client understood that removing their team from their normal workplace environment can have a massive impact on their ability to think differently.
Too often these sessions are organised in the normal workplace environment, in dull conference rooms, with predictable results. Creativity is stifled and people are stuck in work mode, rushing back to their desks to check e-mails at every opportunity. I have even experienced the session being interrupted by finance staff bursting through the door with piles of cheques to sign. Getting people out into a different environment will stimulate different thinking and gives the chance to step back from the normal day to day demands.
And if you are doing it make real use of the time and the surroundings. One afternoon this week my client sent his team out to walk around the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens for an hour. There was no set agenda, just the chance to chat to colleagues, to learn more about each other, but also to look around them and come up with a couple of ideas that could change things back at work. The beautiful environment produced stimulating discussions, a chance to team build and really useful ideas.
It's good occasionally to get away from the work place, and hotels are fine as an option, but sometimes you are just swapping one uninspiring meeting room for another. That's why going somewhere different really does work. I love it when clients come and work with me at my home (including the obligatory countryside walk) but I've also been involved in great sessions in clients' homes, making lunch and washing up together while discussing organisational challenges.
And don't restrict this principle to team meetings and workshops. As leaders we are paid to think, and if we want to make progress on the challenges we all face we also need to think differently, to come up with new ways of addressing issues and taking our team or organisation forward. It is very difficult for this new thinking to take place in the work place with all its day to day pressures, restrictions and interruptions. So get out and do it somewhere different, somewhere that stimulates you. Go walk on a beach or across a field, take a trip to the zoo or to a beautiful building, find the stimulation and start solving those challenges.
As nice as the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh is (and it is truly beautiful) it all nearly ended in disaster before it had even begun. I arrived an hour early to set up for the workshop to find locked and forbidding gates. I eventually managed to attract the attention of the security staff who informed me they had no record of our booking on their 'system' and therefore I couldn't come in. My attempts to suggest that this could be a simple error met with astonishment and denial. To them their 'system' was their bible and I was treated like some kind of raving heretic attacking the very foundations of their beliefs. But as I made frantic calls to my client the day was saved by the Retail Manager from the Botanic Gardens who had overheard the conversation. She ushered me in and explained that these problems were always occurring. She took charge, confirmed there was indeed a record of the booking, took me to the meeting room and made me coffee. And the thing is that she didn't need to do any of that. Our booking had nothing at all to do with her job or department. She simply took personal responsibility for owning the problem and resolving it.
So two thoughts for you. How robust are your systems and processes, could these mistakes happen in your organisation and indeed are they happening as you read this? And do you have people like that manager who would readily step in, own the problem and resolve it?
So June is over and we have slipped quietly into the first week of July. June is my favorite month of the year. I love the light mornings and evenings, and the expectation that summer still lies ahead of us. This June has been particularly pleasant with great weather and amazing late night sunsets. With the obvious exception of the World Cup it's been a great month and I'm missing it already.
Sunday 27 June
Why leadership, not targets and more money, could transform the NHS, and a fun weekend with Tom Conti and Stacey.
I return this week to one of my regular and indeed favourite subjects- leadership in the NHS. I make no apologies for referring to it again, a combination of frustration and passion in equal proportions means that I just have to get it off my chest.
Last week was typical, an opportunity to work with front line staff running a leadership workshop. The group consisted of people doing a range of roles, including a ward sister, a physiotherapist, team leaders and trainers.
As ever the people there were caring individuals, who just wanted to learn. They welcomed the opportunity to take part in a programme examining their roles as leaders. Every one of them wanted to feel they could make a difference for the people most important to them, their patients.
So we explored together what they could do and what they couldn't. Each of them understood that leadership starts with them, how personally effective they are, how they choose to deal with issues, the opportunity they have to model the behaviours they want to see in others, and then the role they can play in influencing those around them and working in their teams to make things more effective.
But as ever these people are bowed down by bureaucracy and incompetence. The continued imposition of targets still drives the wrong behaviours from above. They spoke of meetings that ramble on and make no decisions, and of the form filling that is the bane of their lives. Apparently they still complete weekly swine flu returns (remember swine flu?), even though they know the information goes nowhere.
I know the coalition Government wants to address the targets issue, but they are focussed on the wrong thing. It's not the targets themselves that are the problem (why wouldn't we want to reduce waiting lists and treat people quicker) it's the way those targets are interpreted and acted upon by management across the NHS.
I have no doubt that at the top of the NHS there is a desire to improve things. Indeed the Chief Executive of the whole NHS, no less, talks about a need to build leadership 'in every ward and on every board'. Brilliant words and sentiments, but absolutely worthless without addressing the real issue- the weakness of middle management wherever you look.
I know I cannot approach this in such a black and white way. I know there will be great leadership going on in that middle management group, but I honestly believe it's in pockets and is the exception not the rule. Time and time again I hear of middle managers who do not provide effective leadership, who do not challenge bureaucracy, who hide behind targets and who fail to inspire and to motivate their people.
And the problem is that these middle managers are so important, so influential. I very often refer to them as 'the clay.' They are the people who stifle creativity, prevent empowerment. Those at the top of the myriad of Trusts and other organisations that make up the NHS know what they want to achieve. They try to set their plans in motion, but then they get bogged down in the clay, thwarted by people who seem scared to take decisions.
I also know that this is an issue which is not unique to the NHS. This middle-management clay exists everywhere, in organisations across all three sectors. It just seems to create such an issue in the NHS and to prevent wonderful front line people from being more effective. The result is that people quickly become disillusioned and cynical. At best they get their head down and try and get on with their jobs. At worse they begin to spread negative energy and become part of the problem.
But its not all doom and gloom because it could all be so different. The NHS needs one thing, and its not more targets or even more resources, its leadership, highly effective leadership at every level 9yes from the board room to the ward.) And it is leadership that is needed, not management, in fact in truth it could get by with a lot less managers.
Let's be clear of the different between management and leadership. Management, even good management, is just about getting the job done, delivering efficiently within the available resources. Of course we need good management. But it is leaders who make the difference, take things forward, improve teams and organisations, build amazing places to work. It is leadership which inspires and motivates people to deliver brilliantly for the patients. It is leadership which ensures that the right things are done in the right way, that bureaucracy is challenged and eliminated, that unnecessary swine flu returns stop now and that every meeting, if it has to happen at all, is effective.
So my challenge to those at the top of the NHS is to make it happen, to begin a leadership crusade. And Government, any government, need to understand that only when effective leadership is in place, at every level, will we finally get the NHS we deserve at an affordable price.
And one more thought, it's also about finding those people who can provide that leadership and nurturing and developing them. Let me tell you about one person on last week's programme. She's 26, with a first degree and a masters in her professional subject area. She has chosen to work in the NHS because she believes in it and deeply cares about the work she does. She is now delivering every day in a front line role. But after two days with her I am convinced she could do far more. She has undoubted leadership qualities and potential. I am certain she would already be identified for development and would have been given her first management role in the vast majority of private sector organisations. But this is not happening where she is and she is getting no encouragement from above. The danger for me is that she will fulfil her potential by moving to the private sector of medical care. I think that would be a massive loss for the NHS. Okay she is just one but I am certain that thousands of people like her exist. Young people with leadership potential who, developed in the right way, could contribute so much.
I am writing this in the middle of Sunday, at the end of a really fun weekend, and with the nail-biting prospect of England v Germany to come. We've just had four friends staying for the weekend, people who we met on holiday last winter on a cruise of the Caribbean. This week was our re-union. One couple are from Yorkshire and one from the Welsh valleys. We had great fun, including a surprise visit yesterday evening from Captain Dimitri Papadopalous, the captain from the cruise ship in January, who hosted the re-union cocktail party. I thought my performance as the captain, including wig and hat, was convincing, especially my Greek accent heavily influenced by Tom Conti's performance in Shirley Valentine, but I think the others saw through my disguise.
On a more serious note I did have a long conversation with my Welsh friend Stacey (so called by me for obvious reasons.) She is a nurse in the NHS and absolutely confirmed my experiences of last week as set out above. It's a simple mantra, wonderful people appallingly led.
I got no sympathy from our Welsh friends over my nervousness ahead of the football this afternoon, but I guess I didn't expect any. It's incredible how the nation goes through this collective anxiety every two or four years. The second half of the Slovenia game last Wednesday was excruciating. By the time you read this you will no the result, and either we will be heading for a show down with Argentina or have headed out on penalties. I can almost hear the laughter in the valleys already.
Sunday 20 June
A fabulous fun Fradswell fete in the sunshine. Who cares about the football?
Please excuse me if I take a few minutes to wax lyrical, but I really love the month of June. There can be nothing better than days where it gets light around 4am and is still light way after 10 at night. We're now approaching mid summer and those long hard days of last winter seems a life-time away.
And this weekend has been as good as it gets with our first ever fete here in Fradswell. You could have a look at some photos at our village web site www.fradswellvillage.co.uk, but to give you a feel for it do not think of an established and sophisticated event. This was our first effort and was everything I imagine a tiny village fete to be. We held it on our roughly cut parish field and borrowed a marquee, some gazebos, tables and even a mobile toilet (the nearest we got to sophistication!) The activities included skittles, a coconut shy, tombola, splat the rat, penalty shoot out and an unusual looking vegetable competition, complemented by home-made ginger beer and cakes, and strawberries and cream.
We commenced with a village picnic, then the vicar opened the fete and we had a great afternoon, raising a few hundred pounds in the process. I was the announcer in chief and there was not a single lost child to deal with. Dennis the fire engine was a star attraction. We rounded off the day with a hog roast, enjoyed by all with the possible exception of the hog. On a serious note we sat there for a couple of hours in the evening sunshine drinking copious amounts of wine, surrounded by friends and neighbours, and I reflected on how lucky we are to live in such a calm, remote but so friendly community. Even the farmers seemed to be getting on well, the infamous Daisy the cow incident of 1892, where resentment still simmers, happily forgotten on one beautiful summer evening.
And this morning the good feeling continued as, despite bad heads, 20 of us met up to take down the marquee, remove the tables, pack up the generator and collect up the remaining misshapen vegetables. What could have been a chore was really good fun and re-enforced once more that I could never live anywhere else.
What a contrast to Friday, where we had erected the marquee in the rain and then endured the most tense, nerve racking and frustrating evening possible watching England play Algeria. I'm not going to write any more about it here, what's the point and how can I compete with the eloquent outpouring of a host of talented sports writers but that doesn't make it any less painful. A whole nation has played out the last week or so in typical fashion, high expectation followed by increasing despair. Will we ever learn?
Stupidly though I'll be there again Wednesday afternoon, with my friend Tim and a much needed glass of wine, hoping against hope.
All of this came at the end of another busy week, the highlight of which was a day with a client combining a morning of deep thinking on becoming even more effective with an afternoon of fun and team building exercises.
This client is the marketing department of a FTSE 250 company, a team of about 50 people who need to provide marketing, customer insight, promotions and print and design support to the rest of the business. We have spent much of the past year or so developing the overall effectiveness of the department, and in particular the management team. This has included building clarity of purpose and vision and getting the right people on the bus.
This week, in the morning session, we focussed on building the cultural framework that will give them the best chance of achieving their goals. This is based on the culture of discipline I have spoken about before in recent weeks. I am convinced that it is a culture of discipline that can provide a breakthrough point in taking a good strategy and making it happen. A culture of discipline is nothing to do with a culture in which a manager disciplines people. In fact it's just the opposite. In a culture of discipline people have the space to be creative but within absolutely clear parameters. It's called freedom within a framework. People have absolute clarity on what they should be working on, which provides the framework, and then they are free to deliver within that framework.
The key point is that people are self-disciplined, and a stop doing things list becomes as important as a to do list.
In the afternoon the team were engaged in a series of outdoor team building exercises. I was lucky enough to have a rare afternoon off and watch them as they defused bombs, shot clay pigeons and puzzled their way across mine fields and through spiders webs. It was great fun but I do have an issue with this kind of activity. I am never convinced that people take the right messages away from them.. Yes they enjoy them but I think that the leadership learning gets lost somewhere in the activity. But that's a bit churlish because taking time off to have fun is important in its own right.
So early this evening, on midsummer eve, I cut the grass and then Jakkie and I sat in the garden and shared a bottle of Lanson to celebrate a great weekend. And it doesn't matter than England are having a horrendous world cup and driving a nation to the edge of despair, or that by 8 tomorrow morning I will already have driven 170 miles and set up for a workshop, or that I still haven't got round to doing last month's invoicing. Tonight is all that counts. And it's wonderful.
Saturday 12 June
How getting the culture right can deliver amazing things, the science of doodling and the Vicar of Dibley meets Father Ted.
One of my most satisfying current assignments is with a client who, in many ways, is already a great organisation. They are a third sector organisation in the north providing countless opportunities and support for younger people.
They have just developed their strategic plan for the next four years, at the heart of which is a compelling vision of the type of what they want to be delivering by 2014. Now they need to translate that vision into action.
They know that the main way they will do this is through developing and implementing a clear strategy, broken down into work plans and objectives. But on its own that will not be enough. They know they also need to build a truly high performance culture.
Culture is such a nebulous term, but to me it means no more than 'what's it like round here?' Is this somewhere which will engage the people who work there and enable them to be effective?
This particular organisation starts from a good place. In their recent staff survey, 86% of respondents said they already love working there. That is really good, but they also recognise that they can do even better. We have therefore embarked on a journey to build that high performance culture, to put the organisation in the best possible place to deliver its vision.
We have identified six themes which we believe are the component parts of a high performance culture. This is where a nebulous concept comes to life, where things can begin to happen and to get done. They are as follows:
Firstly by developing a way of leading across the organisation based on the principles of servant-leadership. This will challenge and encourage leaders everywhere to consider that their first role, their primary purpose as a leader, is to serve others. I have written before about servant-leadership, and this is a great example of seeking to bring the theory to life. We are trying to illustrate the change by inverting the traditional hierarchical pyramid, putting front line staff at the top and the Chief Executive and his Senior Leadership Team at the bottom. The Senior Leadership team primarily exist to serve and enable their managers and so on.
The next component is to seek to engage people throughout the organisation even more than they are already. When people are fully engaged they want to come to work, want to give their best, and believe they have the tools and resources to do so. This part is based on material that suggests people can be engaged in four dimensions- their body, heart, mind and spirit, and when we engage the spirit, the highest form of engagement, people genuinely believe their work is worthwhile and that they are part of some noble purpose.
The next challenge is to unlock potential everywhere. Throughout organisations there are many talented people, but far too often this talent is never recognised or released. We have developed a formula for unlocking this potential, based on clarity of roles and goals, line of sight for everyone to the organisation's purpose and vision, empowerment, joint accountability and personal development.
The fourth component is about developing synergy. This is defined as where the whole is always greater than the sum of the parts and in practice is about developing a culture where people work together highly effectively everywhere, in teams and between teams. Too often organisations are held back because of a silo mentality within individual teams and departments and a failure to share information or identify the benefits of working together across teams.
Then we want to create a culture of discipline. It is clear that work gets done really effectively when disciplined people first engage in disciplined thought and then take disciplined action. When this happens people are no longer distracted by conflicting priorities, they are clear where their focus should be. But a culture of discipline should never be confused with a manager who disciplines. Where there is a genuine culture of discipline people need minimum supervision, they are clear on what they have to do and are given the freedom to deliver within a clear framework.
The final component is the development of a set of behavioural values that will act as a framework to guide and challenge behaviours across the organisation. They will also be used to govern decision making.
So those are the six components that we believe can make up a high performance culture. Now it's a question of turning theories and principles into reality, and the way we are approaching this is for some 80 or so managers and supervisors across the organisation to work in cross functional and multi layered cohorts to implement the changes themselves, involving their people at every stage. I think this refreshing approach gives by far the best chance of success. You can not impose a culture from above, it needs to be built by the people throughout the organisation.
Last Wednesday we held the launch event, and it was an amazing experience. The atmosphere in the room was really positive, electric at times, as people understood the unique opportunity they had to be involved in building something even more amazing. I am looking forward to working with them over the next few weeks and months in making it happen.
Do you ever sit in meetings watching people doodle as tedious debates take place? Do you ever find yourself doing it? Someone was telling me the other day what you can read into how engaged people are and how they are feeling by what they are doodling.
Apparently when the pen is really being pressed hard into the paper and repetitive patterns are being produced the person is angry or frustrated. When they are producing angular symbols and shapes they are thinking logically. When they are producing simple abstract shapes they are thinking creatively and when they are producing works of art they are bored, are not listening and have turned off completely.
So just one week to go to the first ever Fradswell Village Fete, and there is high excitement in the Parish. Last Tuesday was the final planning meeting for an event jointly organised by the Village Hall and the Church. This combination of people has certainly produced some interesting meeting dynamics. Think of Vicar of Dibley meeting Father Ted and you get close. It's the only meeting I know where eight different smaller meetings seem to be happening at once, at least half of which are locked in feverish debate about whether to serve strawberry or raspberry jam with the scones. It's also the kind of meeting where you suddenly realise everyone seems to be on different agenda items at the same time.
Me, I just sat quietly in the corner putting the final touches to my doodle of a Van Gogh masterpiece.
Sunday 6 June
Amazing Turkey, in despair of all those Sarahs, the next generation of leaders, and the dream begins once more.
Ah Turkey, amazing, vibrant Turkey, where Europe meets Asia in a cauldron of exotic cultures, where the Bosphorous flows into the Aegean, an azure of mystery etc. etc. Okay, so we just went to the resort of Bodrum and didn't even venture as far as the nearest historical site, but it was still brilliant.
My abiding memory is of how friendly everyone was wherever we went. This really is a nation which seems to welcome tourists with open arms. We spent the week in a great hotel where the staff could not do enough for you, what a contrast to so many experiences back in the UK.
I don't want to overstate this point because I know there are exceptions, but I was one more reminded of the immense cultural differences between so many people in other countries and our own people when it comes to a work ethic and to even a basic understanding of and commitment to customer service. Let me tell you about two people to try and illustrate the point.
Serhan is 19, and Turkish. He works nights at the hotel we stayed in, starting his shift at 8pm, and usually finishing at the end of breakfast, around 10am. Rarely if ever have I come across a more positive person who went out of his way to make his customers feel special. This was even true as he served breakfast at the end of his long shift. For a comparison go to any motorway service area in the UK at seven in the morning and experience breakfast service from the person who has been working all night there.
Then, during the day, Serhan's entrepreneurial side took over. For he also ran boat trips. We had a fantastic day out at sea with him, sailing round Turkish and Greek islands. He seemed to function superbly on just an hour or two's sleep. But that is not all, Serhan is also at university in Turkey studying tourism, and doing English exams.
Compare him to someone I will call Sarah. I never did find out her real name. She is about 19 as well, and is the Thomson's rep at our hotel. I have never come across anyone less interested in her job, to the point of extreme rudeness. We were clearly a real inconvenience to her even being there. She told us she was new to the hotel and could provide us with no information, beyond booze cruises, which seemed to be her favourite pass time. She also spent all her time sat in reception texting on her phone.
What made it even worse is that on the flight home I read an article in Thomson's magazine written by their Customer Director, extolling the brilliance of the service his people offer and affirming his Company's commitment to delivering exceptional customer service. For once I enjoyed filling in the questionnaire.
I know I am in danger of creating stereotypes here, but I've come across enough Serhans and Sarahs to know they are the rule not the exception. So what creates the difference between them? I know that a load of it is cultural, but some of it must also be to do with leadership and with reward mechanisms. Above all for me it's about pride in doing a good job, something that was so evident in everything Serhan said and did and completely absent in Sarah, who could not have cared less. I really do despair at how we can ever develop a great customer service culture in the UK. Customer Directors can write about it all they want but unless they can create a desire in their people to want to do a good job, unless they can make them care, it is never going to happen.
It was good to take a break from a very heavy schedule and to get away. On a week like this I try to do a couple of things, to relax and recharge batteries, but also to take time to reflect, to think about the work I am doing. I think both are very important.
The relaxing was very easy. Sunshine, sun beds, boat trips and Turkish beer do help. I read the most amazing book, 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' by Steig Larsson. I am aware this is one of the books of 2010 (it's also part of a trilogy) and for once the actual product was even better than the hype. A superb book which even rivalled the best of Sebastian Faulks for me. What is incredible and so sad is that Larsson died suddenly aged only 50 weeks after delivering the manuscripts of all three books to his publisher. It makes you think.
The time to reflect was also invaluable. Like so many other people I get so tied up in the 'doing', delivering day after day whether it's facilitating or coaching, and I often fail to spend enough time thinking about what I am really trying to achieve. A few days thinking it through restored my perspective.
My real desire is to do what I can to make a difference to what happens in organisations. I know from bitter experience and constant observation that two things so often happen to people at work. So many are unhappy in their jobs, either because they feel unfulfilled or because they are badly treated by their manager, who passes on their own insecurities with a management style that all too often borders on bullying. In many cases the way people are led has not changed much since the mill owners post the industrial revolution.
It could all be so different. Every person is a special individual and has so much potential. Great leaders treat people in the right way and unlock that potential.
So the time I spent thinking in Turkey re-invigorated me to focus on two things over the next few months. Firstly I will complete my work on the characteristics of great leaders. I have a framework and will begin to share my thoughts over the next few weeks and months, with my clients but also via my web site and Facebook leadership group. And secondly I will find a way of working more closely with what I call the next generation of leaders, those people in their twenties or early thirties who are still in the early stages of their leadership career, and have such a contribution to make in the years ahead.
And so it begins. In less than a week England start their 2010 World Cup campaign against the USA and once again a nation holds it's collective breath. The build up seems to have taken place very late this year, probably because of the General Election, and despite everyone knowing we should keep our expectations fully under control (quarter finals, penalties, Rooney injured, etc. etc.) suddenly, judging by the phone in I listened to last night, it has all gone completely mad again.
Failure to qualify for the Euros two years ago has not helped, it starved us of our dose of ecstasy followed all too quickly by agony, but now it's upon us again. Today we put the bunting and flags up around the house, blew up the inflatable footballs and dusted off the rattles. And there's a new addition, a megaphone that plays the 'Ole' song. Good grief!
I am old enough to remember when we did win it. I was nine years old on that historical day in 1966, and recall jumping from my chair as Geoff Hurst's shot thundered off the cross bar and over the line (because it was, thank you Mr Russian linesman), and also the immortal 'they think it's all over ?it is now.' What I don't remember was much of a celebration afterwards, and the story that Hurst went home and mowed his lawn remains one of the best ever.
I did take part in a celebration of an entirely different magnitude in 1998 when I was fortunate enough to be at the final at the Stade de France as the host nation beat Brazil 3-0. Around midnight I was there at the Arc de Triomphe and on the Champs Elysees together with tens of thousands of ecstatic French supporters, a truly unforgettable occasion.
And I guess that's why we all continue to believe. Or at least I do. Can you imagine what it will be like on Sunday 11 July as Steve Gerrard holds the trophy aloft? That would start a party to end all parties. And if you believe in something enough it just might come true.
Sunday 23 May
Beating the ash cloud, and a deep conversation on transformational change in the sunshine.
The beginning of the week turned into quite an adventure as what should have been a simple flight out to Palma for a few days relaxation with ex work colleagues turned into an ash cloud driven frenzy. Our flight from East Midlands fell victim to the cloud, which continues to mystify me as no amount of gazing into the sky could locate the guilty party.
Not to be defeated though (and aware that if we didn't get there the sole colleague flying out from Stansted would have three days in Palma in a reunion party of one) we managed to book a flight out from Bristol instead. A dash down the M5 was not helped by the insistence of my friend that we use his sat nav, but after exploring most of the country lanes and no through roads south of Bristol, and a brief visit to the airport's service and goods entrance, we eventually made it to the terminal just in time. I record all this because my deep distrust of sat nav was proved right once more. What's wrong with a map and common sense?
Once my pulse rate and anxiety levels had returned to something near normal three great days in Majorca followed, the perfect start to the week. I spent a lot of time over a few cold beers talking to my friend about his business issues. He is Managing Director of a company whose main business is property management. They employ around 1,400 people and have in excess of 130,000 customers, the people who own the properties serviced by this company.
His main challenge is that they have just acquired another company working in the same field and are seeking to merge it into their current business. The problem is that this company has been poorly run over a number of years and has a terrible reputation with its customers. They know this through a series of measures and surveys, and more subjectively are aware of it on a daily basis through an internet blog set up solely for the purpose of attacking the company. I saw some of the posts on the site and they are forthright, damaging and sometimes personal. They know that only a limited number of people are responsible for the content, and have lawyers monitoring it, but this is a great example of how the internet has transformed how customers can exercise power.
But the internet blog is only the tip of the iceberg, the dissatisfaction of their customers runs much deeper and is extremely damaging. It is also business critical, these customers do have the ability to move to alternative service providers and therefore to significantly affect business performance.
The challenge for my friend is enormous. He knows that he needs to change his business as a whole into one that genuinely cares about their customers, and then to demonstrate that in every action. He is talking about transformational change which will affect every person in the company and ultimately every customer. But he also knows it is essential to the long-term success of his business.
Change of this magnitude is immensely daunting, and will require real changes of beliefs and attitudes everywhere and we chatted at length about where to start.
The best framework I have for change on this scale is something I blogged about some months ago and is set out by John Kotter in his book 'Leading Change' and then re-told as a story about penguins in an enthralling book called 'Our Iceberg is Melting.'
Kotter sets out an eight-step change process as follows:
1. Create a sense of urgency.
Unless people see the need for change and the importance of acting immediately they will not believe in or really contribute to the change process. This has to happen before setting out the vision for the future. My friend needs to build a compelling case for change throughout his company built on the business critical need to make the change or lose customers with all the consequences of that outcome. This will take time and energy, and will be daunting, but is the essential first step.
2. Pull together a guiding team
My friend can obviously not deliver change of this magnitude on his own. He needs a powerful group to guide the change, one with leadership skills, credibility, communications ability, authority, analytical skills and a sense of urgency. This group will consist of a number of members of his senior team, but not exclusively so. Through the organisation, at various levels, will be people who can and must be part of this process. They are 'natural leaders', people who can make a real contribution, not least by influencing their peers. They are 'change agents', essential for the journey. They are often not the obvious people, and this may be the chance to unlock their potential. They are there.
It should also include people who are willing to challenge, but not those who will be a block to the required actions.
3. Develop the change vision and strategy
Now and only now, having created a sense of urgency and put together a guiding team, is it possible to set out the vision and strategy for the required change. The vision must be compelling, a clear picture of the future which is both stretching and achievable. Ideally there will be some emotional attachment for those about to embark on the journey. There must also be a clear understanding of the need to make the journey, and some unambiguous measures that would demonstrate achievement of the vision. The strategy should set out, at top level, the big steps necessary to achieve the vision with simplicity and clarity. All the detail can lie below those headline actions. In time everyone needs to understand the role they can play in contributing towards achieving the vision.
4. Communicate for understanding and buy in
Now we need to make sure that as many others as possible understand and accept the vision and strategy. Again this is a relentless and challenging piece of work for any leader, with many hours spent repeating the message over and over again throughout the company and beyond, but at least now the guiding team should be fully involved as well.
5. Empower others to act
My friend and even his guiding team cannot achieve this change on their own. Their role is to help people understand how they can contribute to the change, however small that contribution may be, and then remove as many barriers as possible so those who want to make the vision a reality can do so.
6. Produce short-term wins
Create some visible, unambiguous successes as soon as possible. Communicate them brilliantly. When people see evidence of change happening they will start to believe that the journey is underway and that it can happen. This will increase their desire and willingness to change their beliefs and to contribute.
7. Don't let up
This is such an important point. Driving change day after day against seemingly impossible odds can be so difficult and even demoralising. But understand that the change is right and essential. Press harder and faster after the first successes. Don't slow down. Be relentless with initiating change after change until the vision is a reality.
8. Create a new culture
Finally, it is crucial to put as much effort into holding on to the new ways of behaving so they become 'what we do round here' and replace old traditions and behaviours.
That eight-step process can be applied to any change programme, at team or organisational level, large and small. The principles are the same. And it is not easy, but any change, and particularly transformational change, never is. But courageous leaders understand when it is necessary and meet the challenges and drive the change with relentless vigour.
Also appreciate that transformational change takes time. I believe it will take around two years for my friend to achieve the changes necessary in his business. And they will be the hardest two years of his career.
Relentless vigour is not something that would have described our few days in Palma. Strolling from one pavement café to another would be a far better description. I tried to work out why that was all we seemed to do, and then realised, without trying to make a gender issue of it, that men don't shop. We would sit outside shops with no interest in going in. And we are not all that interested in sightseeing (although a quick tour of Palmas' beautiful cathedral was obligatory). And while we are at it we don't see the point of sun cream, with predictable results. All together a great time though.
There are those who think I am always away, but it is not true. It's back to work this week, for three days at least. Then Jakkie, Victoria, Charlotte and I are off to Turkey for a week of (hopefully) cheaper living than I found last week in the Euro zone.
So no blog next weekend, but I will bring you up to date on my first visit to Turkey on my return.
Ash cloud permitting of course.
Saturday 15 May
Elevating behaviours to equal stature with delivering results, a mire of red tape threatens our village fete and poor old Nick Clegg tackles the washing up.
I spent a couple of days this week with a client who is doing some wonderful work on establishing the right behaviours within their organisation. Their philosophy is simple. Delivering results is absolutely crucial and therefore what people do is really important. They therefore have ensured that their people understand their roles and goals, and take time to set objectives for everyone, embedded through an appraisal system. But they have also recognised that how people behave is equally important. To this end they have established a set of behavioural values, created by their staff.
The values that emerged will not surprise you:
Treat people with trust and respect
Choose a positive attitude to work
Use creativity and innovation
Demonstrate professionalism and integrity
Continuously practice effective two-way communication
These are pretty general and maybe could apply anywhere. The difference is the importance this organisation have placed on them. They consider that they have equal status with the objectives that are set for people annually. In other words how people behave is regarded as being important as what they do. Values are as important as results. They have even gone so far as to embed values into their appraisal system alongside objectives, so both are reviewed, and both are given equal weighting, driving a year end appraisal grade which links directly to the level of salary increase.
I think this represents a breakthrough point in building a truly high performance culture and highly effective organisation.
During the time together we explored how these values can be really made to live within the organisation, and came up with the following ideas:
1. They can be integrated fully into recruitment systems and processes. There should be a commitment that however well suited a candidate may be in terms of delivering the objectives required in a particular role, they must also be able to demonstrate that they have similar values to that of the organisation, and will therefore behave in the right way. There must be the courage not to employ a candidate who demonstrates the wrong behaviour however capable they are.
2. They can form part of the induction process and be re-enforced constantly through training events.
3. Team meetings can include a discussion on the values and an honest review of behaviours amongst team members. So often team meetings exclusively focus on objectives and results, what has rto be done not how we do it.
4. Behaviours must start with the senior team in the organisation. Why would anybody else behave in a certain way unless those behaviours are consistently modelled by the senior team.
5. A discussion on values and behaviours can take place at every review session b between boss and team member. This is not something that can be restricted to the annual appraisal.
6. Values must be visible through the organisation. But simply placing them in a poster on the walls is never enough, they must be referred to regularly via a variety of means
7. They must be the framework which guides all behaviour, particularly when times are tough. When difficult decisions have to be made, which is inevitable from time to time, making them and enacting them in line with a values framework is incredibly powerful.
I commend this approach to any team or organisation.
Wednesday evening last week was the trustees meeting of our village hall, with the agenda dominated by two items, the new village hall project and planning for our first ever village fete, on 19th June. We have now received outline planning permission for our new hall and I think for the first time we realised the enormity of the task that lies ahead. The total project cost is likely to be in the region of a quarter of a million pounds and for a village hall with an annual turnover of only a couple of thousand pounds and where most meetings consist primarily of events planning it is quite an undertaking. We now begin the process of fundraising, seeking grants from a variety of sources to fund the project. We had a brilliant discussion on Wednesday though, setting out principles for the design of the new hall including a commitment to exceed whatever environmental standards are required. You could follow our progress if you wanted to at www.fradswellvillage.co.uk
The more frustrating discussion, however, concerned the fete, and the wade through the ridiculous wealth of bureaucracy, legislation and frankly nonsense that is necessary to deal with and before such an event can be held. This includes regulations on the playing of music, the mowing of the grass, car parking, animals, children's games, toilets, running water, insurance, the serving of food, the planned tug-of-war and virtually everything else you can think of. I am aware of several villages deciding it is no longer worth the effort to try and organise fetes, which I find really sad because they really are a historical part of British village life.
I was hoping that the new Government could have sorted this for us with their commitment to reduce red tape, but apparently June is a little over optimistic. It didn't get off to a good start. The day after they took office I received two absolutely identical letters through the post from HM Revenue and Customs. I am wondering if this duplication is a requirement of a coalition government.
On a far more serious note the make up of the new coalition cabinet is so depressing in its relative absence of women. There are a total of 4, or about 13% of the cabinet and you get the impression it was a challenge to find that many. That compares with 53% in Spain, 37% in Germany, and 33% in France and the Netherlands. It seems we have moved nowhere since the days of 'Yes Minister' and the wonderful moment when Jim Hacker told Sir Humphry that he wanted more women in his department. A bemused Sir Humphry can only reply 'but Minister we are up to establishment on tea ladies and cleaners!'
It's Nick Clegg I feel sorry for, marginalised in his non-role of Deputy Prime Minister. On Friday Cameron headed for Scotland and Hague for Washington. There was no mention of Clegg. I can only assume he was left to do the washing up, probably with Teresa May and her three colleagues.
A few days of relaxation now follow as I fly off to Palma, Mallorca tomorrow with my ex work colleagues volcanic ash permitting.) This annual occasion is now in its seventh year and is a great opportunity for a few drinks and a chance to put the world to rights. This year the trip has added poignancy following the untimely death of one of my ex colleagues who had been a regular on previous trips. This morning I received a lovely letter from Tom's partner, enclosing a cheque and asking us to have a drink or two and toast Tom's health. We certainly will.
Monday 10 May
Reflections on the election: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly and why Maurice and Doris are a disaster for democracy.
A quick blog a day late at the end of another very busy week. Anyone else who is self-employed will be very aware of how difficult it is to maintain balance when you work for yourself. While you are pipe line building you are not earning money working with clients, and when you are working with clients you are not pipe line building. At the moment I am in one of those frenetic periods of client work, which is of course fantastic with some brilliant assignments, but it is a constant effort to maintain that balance. But I know it's a bit churlish to complain, and it allows me to quote first -hand experience on days like today when I have been teaching the need for balance on a personal effectiveness programme!
Thank you for all the feedback to last week's blog. The response to the Servant-Leader article was really positive. I do understand that the word 'servant' can have some negative connotations, and it may well be that 'Enabling-Leader' is a more appropriate and acceptable alternative, although it isn't quite as memorable. Thank you also to those who shared similar horror stories of being refused the sale of alcohol without ID when shopping with children, I am still waiting to hear from Sainsbury's after last week's experience.
Blogging a day late has allowed even more extraordinary developments to unfold on the political front. As I write Gordon Brown has just announced he will stand down and floated the prospect of a progressive, or even 'rainbow' coalition. Has it ever been more interesting? I remember 1974, and the Lib-Lab pact, but that seemed to be straightforward in comparison. Actually I've quite enjoyed having no Government for a few days. The world doesn't seem to have ground to a halt!
As I've mentioned before I am really positive about the prospect of collaboration, in whatever form it emerges, providing that all parties involved are genuine about wanting it to work. It just could be the start of a new way of working. I also agree wholeheartedly that it is time for the reform of our voting system. First past the post, where the election is decided in a limited number of constituencies (not including mine) seems to be increasingly outdated. Whatever form proportional representation takes has to be the right way forward.
Here are a few observations from me of election week.
First the Good, the Bad and the Ugly summed up the election for me. The Good was the election, by a very narrow majority, of my friend and (ex) client Paul Blomfield as the new MP for Sheffield Central. Paul is just a brilliant guy who has combined his commitment to his work for a third sector organisation with his tireless political activities and contribution to his local community over many years. He is now in his mid fifties and thoroughly deserves to be elected. He campaigned tirelessly but also his election was the reward for years of dedication to his local area. He will be a superb constituency MP and also finds himself thrown head first into the excitement and intrigue of Westminster this week.
The Bad was the loss of David Kidney as the MP of my neighbouring constituency, Stafford. I obviously realise that there will be casualties when there is a national swing to another party, and David actually lost 10% of share of the vote but he has been an excellent constituency MP and I think Stafford will miss him greatly.
Which brings me to my constituency of Stone and the unfairness of it all with Bill Cash being re-elected. This locally anonymous MP had a brilliant tactical plan to win the election, which was to go into hiding and not to campaign at all. It worked brilliantly, for everyone except for anyone with any kind of local issue or problem that is.
The queues at the polling stations in major cities and the inability of people to vote was an absolute scandal. I obviously understand the view that you should not leave it until the last minute, there is a personal responsibility as well, but the prime responsibility must lay with the local Returning Officers for failing to provide sufficient staff. Queues formed early in the day and it did not take a genius to understand what was going to happen and put a contingency plan in place. Maurice and Doris out of their depth trying to deal with a massive queue of people wishing to vote is no way to run a democracy. But I guess the obvious lesson is if you want something like this to run smoothly, with an appropriate level of pre-planning, emergency response and 'customer' service you should never, repeat never, give the job to a local authority. I don't suppose Tesco would want to run polling booths would they?
Part of the reason for the queues was laid at the door of the unprecedented numbers of students in University towns who were mobilised to register for and then to vote in this election. In watching the efforts to make this happen unfold on Twitter it was clear that this has been a massive and hugely successful initiative. Making sure young people vote must be at the heart of a thriving democracy and I think it's brilliant. I also fully support the movement in favour of votes at 16. With the right education in schools and awareness campaign this would be such a sensible move. And don't let anyone tell you that at 16 people cannot make a reasoned choice over who to vote for. This is an amazingly savvy and aware generation.
However the main solution to polling station queues and the real kick-start that is needed to take election turnout to new levels has to be on-line voting, initially alongside physical ballot boxes. I can already hear the concern and cries over potential fraud, but it would clearly be possible to put sufficient controls and safeguard in place. It's obvious that on-line voting will be the norm in a few years, let's get on with it now and find a way to make it happen.
A few weeks ago I wrote a fairly withering assessment of a client of mine, a third sector organisation that was desperately in need of rejuvenated leadership and direction. My over-riding feeling was of an organisation that had not moved forward over several years and was seriously under-delivering for its members. Last week I worked again with this organisation, and took so much pleasure in what has been happening there. A team of young trustees has decided that action is necessary, and working with a positive and focussed leader they have begun work to create a renewed sense of purpose and a strategic direction based on a compelling vision. They are basing their work on comprehensive research into their stakeholders, provided by external experts.
At last week's workshop you could sense the excitement amongst the trustees as they realise what is possible going forward, and many people will benefit for years to come as a result.
Only a week to go and I am off on my annual trip with ex work colleagues, this year to Palma, Majorca. Or at least I hope I am. I have been scanning the heavens today for volcanic ash cloud, which seems to have made an unwelcome re-appearance. Watch this space!
Monday 3 May
A defining moment on my leadership journey that I really want to share, peace and mayhem in a log cabin, and an extraordinary experience in Sainsburys.
Throughout my working career, which began with 8 years in the voluntary sector followed by 16 years in the private sector, I became increasingly interested in leadership, and what makes a good or great leader. Much of this was prompted by my own experiences. At times over those years I had some good bosses (I struggle to come up with a great one) but I also experienced my fair share of mediocre and sometimes unpleasant managers, those who thought the only way to get results was to shout louder.
During those years I tried to develop my own leadership style. I intuitively knew that people gave their best when they felt good about themselves, motivated and respected, but I never really understood how to make that happen as a leader. That was because so much of what happened to me, and what I saw around me was the opposite of that, autocratic, often insecure managers caught up in a culture which believed results came through telling people what to do and demanding they performed. So often it was no different to what I guess happened in the factories and mills after the industrial revolution. The big boss in the big office demanding more results and harder work, his (always his) approach to managing re-enforced by his underlings at various levels.
Part of my feeling of helplessness lay in the fact that no-one was there to show me a different way, I had no role model to grab onto. The training I received was skills based, not about developing me as a leader. The inevitable outcome was that I often acted and behaved in much the same way as that I saw around me, believing it must be the way to get results.
The point is that shouting at people, telling them what to do, will always deliver results for you. People become scared and will do as they are told. But are they sustainable results? Absolutely not. And there is always a better way to get the best out of your people.
When I started my own business 8 years ago I was determined to discover different way of leading, ones that would unlock the potential of people and enable them to deliver sustainable amazing results. Since then I have tried to learn as much as I can and to share it with my clients, on an exploratory journey together. The problem is there is just so much to learn. There is no one simple solution to leadership, no one model or approach that is right.
But now, over 30 years after I first entered the world of full time work, some of my thoughts have begun to crystallise around one or two big ideas, the concept of servant-leadership, mixed in somehow with the 'Level 5 Leadership' explored by Jim Collins in 'Good to Great.' In 'Good to Great' Collins identifies 'Level 5 Leaders' as combining personal humility and professional will. I was introduced to his work by a mentor who helped me set up my business. I came across the idea of servant leadership just a couple of years ago, but now it is starting to all make sense.
Which brings me to today. I have finally come across a short, easy to read book on servant leadership which just allows so many pieces of my leadership jigsaw fall into place. It's called 'The Secret', it's by Ken Blanchard (him of 'One Minute Manager' and 'Gung Ho!' fame) and it's been around for several years now, I just happened on it in a bookshop. The book is very simple, as so much of Blanchard's work is, telling a story of a woman struggling to lead her team at work and then being introduced to a different way of doing things by a new mentor, who is the President of the company. The problem with the book, as ever, is that it is just so American, and just occasionally a little evangelical, which can make it difficult for us more reserved Brits to relate to. But what I would like to do is to try and summarise the learning and insights from the book here. I hope that's okay, I guess of it's not you'll have stopped reading this by now anyway.
The story is about a woman in a large company who is new to managing a team of people. Before this she was successful in a role with no line management responsibilities, and this earned her promotion. But team performance is poor, customer relations terrible and results bad.
Then her company offers her the chance to have a mentor, and she is allocated the company's President, much to her shock. She is asked to define leadership, in advance of the first meeting, and comes up with 'a leader is a person in a position of authority who is responsible for the results of those under his or her direction.' Not a bad first effort, you might think, very familiar for me from my past. She is surprised when she meets the HR Director to discuss the mentoring, for this senior manager tells her 'I'm here to serve, let me know if I can help in the future.' This manager's reaction is 'how odd that she would say her role is to serve. For goodness sake, she's head of Human Resources. Someone had better tell her that her role is to lead.'
When this manager meets the President of the company she is surprised at how relatively small and unpretentious his office is. He explains he chose to mentor her because he loves working with young leaders, and he believes that 'developing leaders is our highest strategic priority as an organisation', and also that 'if I don't invest time in helping other leaders grow and develop then the people I work with won't see it as a priority.'
He then goes on to outline his views on leadership, central to which is that anyone can be a leader, wherever they are in the organisation. You don't need to line manage a single other person to be an effective leader. Equally there are many others who hold senior positions who are not exerting much leadership at all. He likens effective leadership to an iceberg, above the surface is the bit we first see, the leadership skills of the individual, but most of the talent of great leaders lies beneath the surface, it's to do with their character.
He then reveals the secret of great leaders. They serve. If a person is leading with the intention to serve their people and their organisation, they will behave in a fundamentally different way than if their intention is self-serving. People become great leaders one day at a time throughout their lifetime. They constantly find new ways to serve.
The issue now is understanding what servant-leader really means in practice. This is a big and uncomfortable leap for many people, they have not worked hard for so many years to drag themselves up the organisation to the big office and feeling of power to now be told that they have to serve others. People also think it means things like making tea for the team and picking up litter in the car park. Although these might sometimes be important examples of role modelling (why expect one of your people to do something you won't do yourself) this misses the point of what servant-leadership is really about. It's about finding more strategic ways to serve.
The leader in the book then sets out five ways in which a servant-leader can strategically serve others. They are as follows:
1. Serving their team by building a compelling vision. It's about building clarity and setting a sense of direction, creating a picture of where the team or organisation will be in, say, three years time. It is through setting a compelling vision that you build passion, a reason for your team to get out of bed in the morning. It's the balance a leader has to develop between being 'heads up' (looking to the future) and 'heads down' (dealing with the here and now).
2. Serving their team by getting the right people on the bus in the right seats, engaging their hearts, minds and spirit, then developing them and releasing them through empowerment. Servant-leaders spend considerable amounts of time and energy making sure they have the right people (including getting the wrong people off the bus when necessary) and they unlock potential through development and empowerment. They constantly seek ways to engage heart, mind and spirit.
3. Serving their team through constantly improving yourself, and through improving and aligning structure, systems and processes. You cannot serve others effectively if you are not effective yourself, and unless structure, systems and processes are aligned to support the team it cannot be highly effective.
4. Serving the team through a constant focus on delivering results in the right way and on building relationships. This includes getting to know team members on a personal basis, including their interests outside work in their life as a whole. This is not to be confused with becoming personal friends with every member of your team, that is neither possible nor necessarily desirable. In the story the President spoke of learning each team member's 'Be, Do, Have and Help' in their lives and then making small contributions from time to time to that person achieving them.
5. Serving the team through acting and behaving in line with a set of values. All genuine leadership is built on trust. There are many ways to build trust. One way is to live consistently with the values you profess. If you value customers as being important, your behaviour and actions must display that all the time, or you lose that trust.
Towards the end of the book the President admits that he had not always been a servant-leader. In his early days he was a self-serving leader, where things were all about him. It took someone who saw potential in him and invested in him, showing him a different way of leading. I think this is so true, I just wish someone had showed me many years ago.
I hope some of that at least makes sense and is thought provoking. The five elements of strategic servant-leadership outlined above are reassuringly close to the four steps of leading a team that I try and teach. I had a really worthwhile and fascinating two days with a leadership cohort on just that subject only this week. If you are interested in exploring the concepts and ideas behind servant-leadership more fully I would love talk with you about it.
I also think we need a British version of this kind of story, we rely too heavily on American texts, which don't often sit comfortably. What do you think?
I am writing this on Saturday, sat in a log cabin in Derbyshire. I am here for the weekend with my four children. I was able to sit outside early this morning in the sunshine on the first day of May while they slept and enjoy real peace. Since then it's been a mad round of cooking, football, chatter, cards, swimming and Monopoly. Mayhem at times but I wouldn't swap it for the world.
I must finish, however, by recounting to you the most extraordinary and bizarre experience last night. I had collected my children from Derby station and we called at Sainsburys to pick up last supplies for the weekend which had been missed off the main shopping list. This included some bottles of beer. When we got to the self-service checkout and tried to process the alcohol a young manager became involved and amazingly told me I could not proceed with my transaction unless my four children could produce proof that they were over eighteen (they are 23, 21, 17 and 14.) No amount of explanation from me that these were my children and that the alcohol was not for the younger ones made any difference, 'trading standards' was just quoted to me as the reason for the refusal. By now we were causing quite a scene with our impasse (I was still in shock) and I asked to speak to the Duty Manager. She was very apologetic and I think embarrassed but was unwilling to alter the decision of her staff member, and we left empty handed before going to the nearest competitor supermarket and quickly and successfully completing a transaction.
I am the first to applaud Sainsburys for being vigilant about under-age drinking but this was a wonderful example of where a process was overcoming common sense. At no time did the junior manager try to discover more about me and my family and our motives, I think as soon as he began to intervene he realised his mistake but by that time he was slavishly following his procedures. I must have purchased alcohol in a supermarket with a child in tow hundreds of times over the last twenty three years without a second thought. I am going to write to Sainsburys, the logic here intrigues me and I am aggrieved at how it was handled. Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Sunday 25 April
A week in my life; amazing people, 600 miles, 100 leadership group members, a savaging from a poodle and the village fete takes shape.
At some point during each week as I work with clients or reflect while travelling, the content of the weekend's blog springs into my mind. Some weeks are more difficult than others, while on other occasions there is just so much I could write about.
This week was a great example of the latter. It was a really stimulating week. I say that I work with some amazing people a lot, and it could be regarded as a cliché if it was not true. This was such a week, so rather than trying to just pull out one or two things I thought I would share the whole of my week with you, which may also give an insight into some of the things I do.
Monday
The week started on site at a manufacturing company near Wolverhampton, where we are seeking to build a high performance culture. I was meeting with a group specially selected people from across the site who we believe can make a real contribution to the journey, not because of their seniority but because they display the leadership qualities and positive outlook necessary. It was a very worthwhile session, and a lot of fun too, not least because they were teaching back their understanding of the Gung Ho! material we are using as the basis of our work.
Gung Ho! uses a story based around squirrels, beavers and geese (which is why the presentations were such fun) but it is the underlying messages which are important, building a simple cultural framework around worthwhile work, shared goals, values, clarity, mutual respect, listening and praise.
I finished the day even more convinced that the changes we want to make on site are possible and that this group really are a positive force for change.
Tuesday
I grabbed a bit of time in the office at home Tuesday morning, but it never seems to be enough. I teach the principles of effective management of time, but there is a big difference between knowing the theory and putting it into practice. Too often I regard clearing my e-mail in box as the height of achievement when I am in the office.
Then it was off to Birmingham for a first meeting with two renowned change experts who may be helping with a major intervention in a national charity to build leadership capability. I was only with them an hour but found them really inspiring, two people who are committed to helping people make a difference.
An evening train journey to Southampton, and a walk around the port to end the day including watching the brand new and enormous Celebrity Eternity cruise ship leave for Bilbao where it had been chartered to pick up stranded holiday makers. They will have travelled home in style!
Wednesday
The middle of the week saw one of those days which summed up why have chosen to do this work. It was truly inspiring. I was working with the trustees and senior team of a third sector organisation facilitating their development of their mission and strategic plan for the next four years. The focus of the day was on developing clarity of mission. We spent the morning building an understanding of their stakeholders based on a lot of research they had undertaken and the afternoon using that understanding to create the mission. The afternoon was a wonderful example of synergy in action, where we demonstrated that the whole is always greater than the sum of the parts. Working in three groups, challenging each other, we produced several drafts, before, almost magically, the final proposal emerged. A wonderful example of people working together in a spirit of mutual collaboration.
One of the best things about the day was the chance to work with people just beginning their leadership journey, in their early twenties and about to embark on the next stage of their lives. Their enthusiasm, desire to learn and willingness to explore new ways of doing things with open minds was brilliant.
I arrived home very late to find Jakkie nursing a heavily bandaged finger, and the news that she had been bitten by a dog while out delivering leaflets. I was shocked to learn that there might me a Rottweiler on the loose, but slightly more bemused when Jakkie admitted that she had been savaged by a poodle. And for anyone who is worried I have checked and the poodle is fine.
Thursday
Another couple of hours in the office, then a quick haircut (long overdue) before dashing over to Shrewsbury for one of my favourite coaching assignments. This woman is the UKs leading expert on the care and recovery of traumatised children, and I have had the privilege of supporting her in a coaching capacity for three or four years now. We focus on the running of her business and also on her legacy as she prepares to hand over the reigns of her company in the next couple of years.
I always take so much away from our sessions on what a real difference people can make to the lives of others, and perhaps best of all this week we spent the afternoon chatting in her beautiful garden in glorious sunshine. A real gift for April!
More good news on Thursday was my Leadership Group on Facebook achieving 100 members. I am really excited by the potential the group has, and how much interaction is already taking place.
Thursday evening was the latest planning meeting for our first ever village fete, being held in mid June. It's really taking shape now, with much enthusiasm over the choice of stalls (from funky vegetables to hook a duck), although car parking and toilet arrangements inevitably took up much of the agenda. I briefly thought about facilitating the group to deliver a mission for the fete but it probably would have been inappropriate and there wasn't a flipchart in sight.
Friday
The week finished with a trip up to Leeds and a chance to plan what will be one of my most exciting assignments to date, building a high performance culture in a third sector organisation of 500 people, which already does amazing things. I spent the day exploring a framework and building plans with the HR Manager, working in the stimulating surroundings of their brand new children's nursery, before an end of day presentation of our proposals to the Chief Executive. There is a genuine sense of excitement about what we have planned and although it's a bit daunting I can't wait to get started.
We should never be afraid to steal great ideas, and one of our plans is to produce a book based on contributions from all participants. One of the senior team at this organisation had produced a similar book in a previous life and it is just so powerful.
It is full of handwritten answers by many people to one question, 'what is my tip/hint for getting the best out of people.' I just love the variety of replies, but also how simple they are, no management speak and great leadership theories here. To finish the week here are just a selection:
'Ask what you can do for your people, not what your people can do for you.'
'Be big enough to admit you've made a mistake and say sorry'
'Always congratulate on a job or task well done'
'Take an interest in what actually makes them tick'
'Listen to your people and their ideas. Involve them in decisions'
'Treat people with respect, show integrity and be consistent'
'Give clear direction for focus'
'Recognise people, do it in front of their peers'
And so on....
I ended the week with a really positive glow. I know how fortunate I am to do the job I do, and although the travelling can be so tiring and there is never enough time back in the office to do justice to the follow up required I wouldn't swap it for the world.
Sunday 19 April
A fascinating election unfolds, the opportunity of collaboration, the power of synergy and the importance of creativity.
What a fascinating election this is turning out to be. I love General Elections, (1997 was one of the most exciting nights of my life and back in 1979 I was even a candidate, securing 142 votes in Birmingham Edgbaston), and this one may prove to be equally fascinating and momentous.
The first Prime Ministerial debate last week may well have been a defining moment when we look back in years to come. How Cameron and the Tories must be regretting agreeing to them. It elevated Clegg and the Liberal Democrats to a whole new status and the bounce in the opinion polls which followed was extraordinary.
Most significantly for me, however, were Clegg's assertions that collaboration between the parties was what was needed after the election. He was presenting a whole new way of doing things and it just seems to have captured the imagination of voters. I understand that cynics will say that he is bound to take this approach as the third party, but just possibly he means it.
One of my frustrations with our political system is how much time and energy is spent in arguments between the main two parties. I have wondered for a long time about how much could be achieved if the parties chose to work together on the big issues of the day. It's possible that the outcome of this election may force those parties into acting differently, and collaborating with each other going forward.
The problem of course with this, is whether they would mean it, or whether they would simply be going through the motions as a desperate attempt to cling on to power. But imagine a different way. How radical would a world be where the parties agreed that the only way to make real, tangible, breakthrough progress was to work together on issues such as healthcare, education, the economy and the environment? If they were genuine about it goodness knows what could be achieved.
Best of all for me is that Clegg has at least opened up the debate, and we just might see the beginning of a new way of doing politics after 6th May.
But of course collaboration, people working together to achieve common ends, is not restricted to politics. It's something that happens every day in organisations, and should happen far more widely. And when people genuinely mean it, when they want to work together for the right reasons, and understand the immense opportunities it offers, then amazing results occur. The highest form of this is called synergy, that's when people are genuine about putting aside their differences to find solutions to issues. Synergy is the final habit in Covey's '7 Habits of Highly Effective People', and is the final habit for a reason, for it's the fruit of practicing all the other habits. If you're not familiar with Covey's 7 Habits, or require a refresh, dip into the book or visit the website, this is powerful, timeless material, and still the best framework there is for true personal effectiveness.
Covey defines synergy as where 'the whole is greater than the sum of the parts', in other words if people are willing to work together to resolve differences it is possible to develop a solution which is even better than people's starting positions.
Typically, however, when two organisations or teams or people disagree fundamentally about something behaviours are so different. People are conditioned into a type of thinking called 'win-lose' where they are determined to win and to ensure the other party loses. So if a company and its supplier are in disagreement over a contract, they might meet in the Board Room of the company to resolve it. You can picture the scene. They both bring several people to the meeting, maybe even lawyers. They even sit on opposite sides of the table. Both parties are convinced they are right and are not willing to back down. Look at the body language, crossed arms, negativity. One party states their case, and they have hardly completed the first two sentences when the other party interrupts, 'that's not how it is', 'let me tell you the facts.' That is the cue for arguments, disagreements, a lack of progress.
The best that can ever arise from that situation is a compromise, and that is usually because both sides are worn down so much they just want to put the matter to bed, and compromise is better than it dragging on, possibly into the courts. But that compromise almost invariably fails to fully satisfy either party. When we compromise we typically give something away. There is always something better.
But imagine a different way. Both parties still believe their position is right, but they are willing to have an open mind. They are secure enough in their inner strength to be willing to listen and explore alternatives. They approach the meeting with a mindset of 'win-win.' They do not want to lose, they want to win, but they want to create a win for the other party as well. Their positive attitude is demonstrated in the approach to the meeting, they no longer sit glaring at each other and their body language is no longer negative. Now they listen first and do not seek to debate until they both deeply understand the other party's position. Then they begin to work together to find solutions from within a spirit of deep collaboration, they are creative and respectful, and better solutions begin to emerge.
This approach is practiced every day across the country by people in all sorts of teams and organisations with stunning results. But someone has to take the lead and be determined to make it happen. One of the best examples of synergy in action that I have come across involved an international construction company I worked with a couple of years ago. They had won a massive project to re-generate an inner city area in London with a combination of local housing, businesses and services. They have a deep-rooted belief in the need to build communities (and these are not just words, they make it happen.) Ahead of commencing the extensive construction works an early team work on site to build community relations. I spent a fair amount of time with the head of this team and grew to understand the enormity of their task and the approach they adopted. Their experience in London mirrored others around the world. They came across at first a diverse range of community interests ranging from the local authorities, government agencies, statutory bodies and community groups. What each of these bodies had in common was a deep distrust of each other (based on years of bitter experiences), and a massive amount of self interest. The company set up a series of meetings to bring the groups together and discuss common interests. At first relations could not have been more tense or views of each other more negative. Trust was very low. The Company knew that change does not happen quickly but were also determined that if they worked hard and consistently enough that they would prevail. They approached the whole situation with patience, an open mind, a win-win mentality and consistent engagement, and slowly, over time, attitudes began to change. Confidence began to build up, barriers to come down, and mindsets to shift. Eventually people started to work together, to realise they had a common purpose around building a great community and creating local jobs for local people. The results today, a vibrant local community, justify the difficult process many times over. True synergy in action.
And of course the principles also apply in relationships outside work. If we are willing to value differences, to respect the other person, to have an open mind, to be creative and to believe better solutions can be found we can solve even the most deep rooted of issues.
Right at the heart of synergy lies the ability to be creative, to come up with innovative solutions. Creativity is something that should be far more consistently taught in school and at University. I was really impressed recently that Lindsay, my daughter, was invited through her University alumni to attend an enterprise and creativity programme in Scotland, four days working with experts in the field, along with 60 others from across the world, and all for free. She has emerged reinvigorated, with lots of ideas for starting her own business, and with lots of frameworks and models to help her bring her ideas to reality.
So I look forward to the televised debate this week and will watch Clegg's continuing fortunes with interest. He won't be getting my vote (long held principles determine where that will be going) but deep down I do believe this election may be of historical proportions in offering new hope for political collaboration.
Sunday 11 April
Bringing management theories to life, the start of a leadership journey, some reflections on democracy and drinking, and why rabbits make gardening a dangerous pass-time.
I realise that I fall into the trap sometimes in my blog of going on and on about the theory of some leadership idea I am passionate about. Last week was a case in point as I banged on about empowerment. Theories are all very well, but an example of something working in reality is much more powerful.
I was therefore delighted last week to come across such examples during a coaching session. I had been working with managers in this organisation for a few months and we had examined the principles of empowerment as outlined last week. It all starts with giving absolute clarity, providing the framework for the person you are empowering, and I saw some great examples of this coming to life.
Once was the leader of a department responsible for sales of a discount card. He is targeted with selling half a million cards next year (a significant growth) and with delivery of gross profit and customer satisfaction measures. He has a team of seven people working with him, and he has set each of them their goals and targets for the year ahead, using the 'Power of 3' principles of a clear role statement and just three simple and measurable goals per person. He has been able to set out the goals of each person on one piece of paper, providing overall clarity and line of sight for every person in the team.
Of course they now need to translate this clarity into action, no easy task, but this platform gives them an excellent chance. It also makes empowering each individual in the team so much easier. With this amount of clarity on what they are to deliver they can now be released, be given their freedom within a framework, and then supported and enabled to deliver. Powerful stuff.
I work with people at every level in organisations, from front line to Chief Executive, but possibly my most satisfying assignments are when I get to spend time with young leaders taking their first step onto the management ladder. This is because I know how difficult it is to change attitudes in those people who have been in management for a long time, (very difficult but not impossible), but with young leaders there is an opportunity to seek to influence them at the start of a long journey of managing others.
I had the privilege to work with two such emerging leaders last week. They are both in their twenties, and are enthusiastic and positive people. One is about to manage a team for the first time and the other has just been promoted to her first management role. Best of all they are both so eager to learn, to explore and understand what makes a good and great manager and leader.
The person about to manage a team for the first time sought advice on how he should go about it. For me there is no magic formula, each person needs to develop their own unique leadership style, but I do think this can be within a proven framework of what gets the best out of people. We discussed that framework, and I share it below, but the other thing I asked him to consider is how he wants to be led by his line manager. Doing to others what you want done to yourself is not a bad starting point for developing your own management style.
I do have great hopes for the future of organisations as the next generation of leaders come through. For far too long conventional management practice has been about an autocratic style, telling people what to do. I am convinced that this is slowly changing, more and more people and organisations are realising that treating people with respect, trusting them, giving them clarity and freedom, then supporting and enabling them is what is needed to unlock the amazing potential so many people at work have.
I am certain that leadership is something that should be taught more in schools. The more that we can be challenged and given responsibility at a young age the more we are likely to develop our leadership skills later on. That's why I was so disappointed this week to hear that NASUWT, one of the teaching unions, was opposing the opportunity for school students to be involved in things like teacher recruitment panels. This seems to me to be such a backward step, their active participation should be actively encouraged, not only because as a principle users should be involved in the review and development of any service but also because it provides such great opportunities to participate and engage.
There's a direct link here to the General Election and democracy in general. I am more and more persuaded by the argument that the age of voting should be reduced to 16. At that age young people are as perfectly capable as the rest of society to use sound judgement and it would be such a positive way to engage young people in the political process.
The problem at the moment, with the election approaching, is that so many people, particularly the young, seem to be turned off by the whole process. The scandals which have brought MPs and Parliament into disrepute over the past year or so obviously lie at the heart of this. But although that might have been the tipping point this disinterest and belief that it is not relevant have been there for a long time and must be addressed. I personally believe this election will see a record low turnout and also a record high in the percentage of votes for minority parties. I know a lot of people who say they cannot be bothered to vote. Sometimes I feel like that in my own constituency, where in Bill Cash I am in the unfortunate position of being represented by someone who must be the most arrogant and locally anonymous MP in the country. He also needs to do nothing and will still be re-elected with a large majority. But I will still vote because it is so important to do so and I value democracy so highly. I think we forget how much of a gift democracy is. You only have to visit a country which had lost its democracy for an amount of time (in our case it was to Grenada) to understand how much the people cherish having regained it. I also know far too many people, particularly younger people, who are not even registered to vote. I try to explain why I believe it's so important. They only have another 9 days!
I don't want to go on here about the General Election (although I am going to seek to provoke a debate on the leadership capabilities of the main three party leaders on my Leadership Group) but I guess if there is one thing that depresses me above all else it's the lack of vision. I spend so long working with organisations to help them build their vision of the future, and just about every leader I work with understands why it is so important to have a destination to head for, a prize to focus on. Why is it then that the political parties and their leaders seem so bereft of vision, or of any picture of the future that looks beyond the date of the election. They all agree that things need to change, but that's as far as the message goes. What I want is for the leaders to set out their vision of what they want Britain to look like in 2020 say, or at worst 2014. What will our place be in the World, why will Britain then be a better place than it is today, what can I look forward to in 2020 as a 63 years old citizen? Or is that asking too much?
Enough about politics and elections, my favourite story of the week is about the Carlsberg drivers in Denmark who are threatening to strike because their free beer is being withdrawn. This is such a throw back for me to the late 1980s when I joined Bass, and entered a world I didn't know existed. In my first week I was given my induction plan which involved days with the brewers, technical services, sales and various support departments. Each day followed exactly the same pattern, a quick meeting at 9.30 before I was thrust into the role of chauffeur by various brewers, technicians and managers for what they almost reverentially called 'trade visits'. For the next four hours I would drive them from pub to pub where at each one they would insist it was their professional duty to sample a half of one of the company's products. This would often involve up to ten pubs in one lunchtime.
The only exception were the brewers. They started even earlier. At 10am each morning they would meet in the brew house and with almost religious zeal commence a tasting session of each of the products they were brewing. This would last for an hour, before they headed out to trade to continue their sampling.
I know it's a very different world now, but all of that is true, as was the legendary drinking capacity of the draymen.
Finally, and on a very different subject, does anyone know how dangerous and what a pain rabbits are when you are trying to garden? I spent much of today in the lovely sunshine digging over our vegetable patch ready for planting. Firstly I found that rabbits had eaten nearly all of our Jerusalem Artichokes (yes I do hope they artichoked them). Then Jakkie kindly brought me a cup of tea and I sank onto a garden bench. Next second I was pirouetting through a slow motion backward summersault as one of the legs of the bench slipped down a rabbit hole. You will be relieved to know that the only casualties were my cup of tea and my dignity and why Jakkie was so overcome with laughter she was unable to help me up is quite beyond me. I think I might need that pint of Carlsberg tonight.
Sunday 4 April
How growing tomatoes is a powerful metaphor for empowerment, a search for Easter chicks brings shocking results, my Facebook Leadership Group is launched, and avoiding controversy at the Easter Bonnet Parade.
Happy Easter! I trust you are having a great weekend, whether you have escaped to the sunshine or ski resort, or are spending it closer to home. We have chosen the latter option, although we are heading off to our cottage in Wales next week, where I expect neither sun nor skiing.
I spent a fascinating afternoon last week with a group of clients exploring the idea of building a high performance culture based on empowering people. What a buzz word empower is. I thought it might be useful to check out a dictionary definition. My trusty Oxford English Dictionary (Compact Edition) veteran of many a scrabble and upwords healthy debate, defines it as 'to give power to, to make able.'
However much it sounds like management speak, I believe that empowerment lies at the heart of a high performance culture. To me it simply means being able to release your people, to give them the freedom to perform without constantly simply telling them what to do. Of course there are many different levels of empowerment, and the level to which you can give freedom varies from person to person and from task to task.
Think of it in the context of a continuum (something I use frequently because issues like this are never black and white. At one end of the continuum is where we simply tell people what to do. Often we come across this in the form of an autocratic management style, where bosses simply issue instructions and expect their people to obey. At the opposite end would be a very high level of empowerment, where people were truly released and given a large amount of freedom. Right along that continuum are varying levels of empowerment, from giving people small amounts of freedom growing progressively larger as you move along the continuum.
I spent a long time trying to arrive at a definition of empowerment that would work for me, and eventually I settled on 'freedom within a framework.' It is absolutely pointless giving people freedom unless you give them a framework in which to operate as well. Unless you set that framework, the boundaries people cannot cross, at best people will not want to be given the freedom, because it is not safe, and at worst you risk abandoning people. True empowerment is never about abandonment. 'Freedom within a framework' is like a child playing in a garden, as long as they are clear they cannot leave the garden they are free to do what they want within it (within reasonable accepted rules of course, digging up plants is not good.)
One way I describe empowerment to people is to carry out an exercise asking them to write down the steps for growing tomatoes. After much enthusiastic debate they normally end up with something like this:
1. Buy seeds and seed trays. Place in greenhouse. Fill seed trays with compost and plant seeds.
2. Carefully watch the seeds grow during the first few weeks, tending to their needs, providing sticks to enable the new plants to grow.
3. Continue to water regularly, ensuring sunlight and chasing away bugs
4. Talk to the tomatoes to encourage their growth (yes, groups say it every time!)
5. Enjoy the fruits of your labour.
I then try to make the link by suggesting that this process is a superb metaphor for empowerment. We first provide the framework (the seed trays, the compost, the seeds), then we gradually step away, allowing the plants to grow, but never abandoning them, ensuring they are healthy and protecting them from interfering bugs. Through this process we see our people grow, flourish and bear fruit. I know it's a little tenuous if not corny, but it does seem to work.
I believe that there are three distinct stages to empowering people, as follows:
1. Provide the framework. Give people absolute clarity on what you expect the results to be from a particular task and activity, and what the boundaries are. Best of all explore those together, including developing a truly clear joint picture of 'the end in mind', what you want the outcomes to be.
2. Then provide the freedom, step back, release them.
3. But never abandon, check in as necessary, whether it's a weekly formal review, a daily catch up, a monthly written report, or whatever is appropriate.
The level of empowerment is directly linked to a balance of risk and confidence, both for the person and empowering and the person being empowered, but as a general rule we should push people as much as we feel is reasonable to take empowerment. We should always want to provide it to the greatest extent we can. Sometimes we need to take people out of their comfort zones if we are to enable them to really perform. I love this quote, the origin of which I have sadly mislaid.
''Come to the edge' he said. But they refused. 'Come to the edge' he said. So they came, and he pushed them, and they flew.'
In a high performance culture empowerment is essential, but on it sown it is never enough. With empowerment must come accountability. They have to exist hand in hand. And by this I mean joint accountability, the person taking the empowerment must be accountable for delivering the agreed results, but the person giving the empowerment is accountable for providing the right level of support, for enabling, for clearing the path.
Empowerment and joint accountability, a powerful combination.
I listened to an interesting discussion on the radio last week on the amount to which the internet has penetrated the UK population. Apparently there are still upwards of 2 million people who have no internet access and about the same number again who seldom use it. The non-users include two specific groups, the most elderly in the population and the most socially disadvantaged. As more and more of our day to day lives become dependent on, or at least made easier by, on line access this is a great concern which the Government have put plans in place to address.
One of their ideas is simply to encourage everyone who uses the internet to teach one person who does not. I know this depends on access to computers but the idea has real merit. Jakkie has been doing jus that, teaching her Dad not just how to use the internet but how to use the computer. George is one of those many people who allowed computers and the internet to pass him by. He is now in his late seventies and retired long before computers became common place in the workplace. He and many others fall into the trap of thinking they are too old to learn. But Jakkie has other ides and they have made great progress. However, it is not without mishaps. This week they were putting together an Easter card and Jakkie got George to search on-line for appropriate images to download. Unfortunately his search for 'female Easter chicks' produced startling if predictable results! I'm hoping it's not put him off next week's lesson.
There is such a good link between access to technology and empowerment, summarised in this extract from a speech by Barack Obama in 2008.
'Imagine a future where every student in a classroom has a laptop at their desk, where research is not just done by taking a book out of a library but by e-mailing experts In the field, and where teachers are less a source of knowledge than a coach of how best to use it.' For teachers read leaders and managers everywhere.
I have now launched the planned Leadership Group on Facebook, and we have our first 50 members. It is very exciting, although, talking of technology, I am still working out how best to use the group. I want to encourage participation and discussion, but equally don't want to bombard people with messages constantly. If you have not yet received an invitation to join, let me know. I am intending to contact clients I work with and have worked with across a wide variety of organisations and am every excited about the potential of the group to spark discussion on leadership issues, share experiences and make contacts between many different people across all three sectors. I work with some amazing people and have been searching for a way to join them up. Maybe this is it.
So our quiet Easter weekend at home included the Village Hall coffee morning yesterday, complete with Easter Bonnet parade for the children. I was once more thrust into the unenviable role of judging the best bonnet, with usual combination of expectant gazes from children and threatening gazes from parent. We survived again due to the proven strategy of giving prizes to everyone and then announcing the winner quickly with the car already running!
And finally, speaking of the Village Hall, great news. Our outline planning permission to build a brand new hall has at last been approved (after 10 months of waiting, an incredible condemnation of local authority bureaucracy). Now the fund raising and the real fun begins.
Sunday 28 March
A lost cricket stump restores sanity, some reflections on 30 years of work, and brothers are reunited as the sun shines.
This week marked a significant anniversary in my working life, with last week being 30 years to the day since I started my first 'proper job'. Of course I had done plenty of things before that, but always on a part-time or temporary basis while at school or as a student, but on 24th March 1980, at the tender age of 23, I started work as the General Manager of the Students' Union at Preston Polytechnic.
Even Polytechnic seems an old word now, this was a cross between a technical college and a University, a higher education institution either for those without good enough grades to make a 'proper' University or those favouring a more vocational qualification.
At Preston I became responsible for about 12 full time staff, a turnover of about half a million pounds, and more debt and problems than you could shake a stick at.
It was a baptism of fire for a young, inexperienced manager, still surprised to have been appointed. There was no-one to mentor or guide me (my boss was an elected 20 year old student officer), and our relationship with the Polytechnic authorities was completely antagonistic, based on mutual mistrust.
In those situations you learn very quickly. Our main income stream (a grant from the Polytechnic) had been frozen, and we had to act quickly before we went bust. Although I knew so little about management and leadership youthful enthusiasm and determination took over. We entered into intense discussions with the Polytechnic, began to build relationships and to demonstrate we could be trusted to be financially sensible, negotiated a bank overdraft, and started to put policies and plans in place to move forward.
There was plenty to smile about as well. I was surrounded by equally young and enthusiastic people. I also remember one day soon after my arrival very clearly. It had been particularly difficult. We had a torrid meeting with the Polytechnic's Director, I had sacked someone for gross misconduct (not easy when you are 23 and have no HR support) and a difficult meeting with our bank. Then I drove to our smaller annexe, where we had an office and bar, to be met by our one staff member on site, a desperately harassed looking secretary, a lovely woman close to retirement. She was rushing around her office in a state of high anxiety. After the day I had endured I feared the worse, maybe she had received bad news from her site Principal, maybe worse. 'What's the matter?' I asked her. She gave me a look of sheer desperation. 'I've lost a cricket stump' she said.
Sometimes you need moments like that to bring balance and perspective back, and although I underwent a steep learning curve in the weeks and months ahead I loved that time at Preston, and it served me well in the variety of jobs I undertook in my future career.
I often think how amazing it would be if you could combine youthful exuberance with experience. Over the last 30 years I have learned so many lessons about leadership and about life in organisations, many of which have been hard learned.
So here are some reflections on the main things I have learned.
1. Shouting at people, and creating a climate, even a culture, of fear will bring results. People will deliver. But it is never done willingly and will never deliver as good results as are possible through a different approach. Through my corporate career I saw so many managers who behaved in this way, who, frankly, were bullies.
2. In their own special way every person is amazing, and can offer so much if only their potential is unlocked. Find how to motivate an individual, within a climate of trust and mutual respect, and they will do amazing things for you.
3. The saying 'if you have them by the balls their hearts and minds will follow' is just that, it's balls. An authoritarian, macho and even threatening management style will never capture hearts and minds or deliver sustainable results.
4. The simple saying that is true is 'happy cows give good milk.' Create an environment where your people are happy and they will deliver for you time and time again.
5. Just because your boss, or the person at the top of the organisation, behaves in a certain way to their team does not mean that you have to. It's tough to create your own different behaviours, to be determined to do things your way, but it's worth it every time.
6. Sometimes you just get blocked in an organisation. You just cannot move forward because of the attitude to you of someone above you. When that happens, move on. Accept it, and seek pastures new. This happened to me twice and I know that on each occasion I was right to move.
7. Ultimately you cannot really connect with an organisation unless its values mirror your own values. If you believe deeply in trust and fairness and you do not see it demonstrated around you, you are in the wrong place.
8. Whenever you are faced with a challenge, no matter how difficult, decide on the right way forward and act decisively. There are no prizes for indecision. Use what evidence you have available, listen deeply, but then make your decision and act. Too many teams and organisations are in a state of paralysis, calling out for decisive leadership.
There was a neat link on Friday spanning those thirty years when I met up with a potentially new client for the first time and found out that her next door neighbour had been one of my first appointments in Preston all those years ago. I have no idea how they found that out over the garden fence but it's a wonderful coincidence.
A couple of years ago I tried to put together some leadership groups of people I had worked with, with the aim of sharing leadership material and experiences. For one reason or another they were only short lived, but I am sure the opportunity is still there, so I am going to try again.
Last time I tried to do them by e-mail, but this time I will try and set up a Facebook group and invite people to join it. That will provide flexibility and opportunities for discussion topics as well as posting articles and materials and sharing information. I'm planning to have it up and running by the summer at the latest. Watch this space!
Yesterday was one of those days I love at this time of year. The daffodils are appearing at last, and I was able to cut the grass for the first time and get the garden furniture out. I also took JUT and Shorty, my two classic Landrovers, out of winter storage, and gave them their first drives of the year. Best of all, the clocks changed last night, and I'm writing this at 7.30 on Sunday evening and it's still light.
Okay, so the weather forecast for the coming week is rubbish but who cares, summer is on the way!
Sunday 21 March
Hitting the brick wall, a wonderful character passes away, a quiz night with the farmers, and lessons from a humble but happy ant.
I am writing this on Sunday afternoon, officially the first day of spring, and it has been such a beautiful day with warm sunshine making doing some gardening outside a real pleasure. It has been a long, hard winter, but maybe we have a beautiful spring and summer ahead. Wouldn't that be great? Mind you, I tend to think this every year at about this time, making promises to live outside as much as possible through the summer and planning BBQs, walks, picnics, and dinner outside most nights, and the sodden reality is too often so different! Maybe this year?
A session this week was a stark reminder for me of how hard it is in organisations to achieve meaningful change. There are so many hurdles to overcome and just when you think you are winning you can hit a brick wall. I have been involved at this private sector industrial site for a year or so now, working with the Managing Director and senior team to build a high performance culture in a very traditional environment. We know we have made real progress, evidenced and measured in a variety of ways. Across many parts of the site attitudes have changed, trust has built up and a positive atmosphere has developed. We know that this has been a contributory factor towards a robust financial performance and a safe site, two of the primary objectives for the company.
But this week we did hit that brick wall. We met with the team leaders responsible for the shift working operational teams, and it was like turning the clock back thirty years let alone one year. Low trust and negativity was once more the order of the day with so many barriers to change being put up. But we will get through this. These team leaders are decent people, who want to do a good job. There is just so much baggage and ill feeling which we need to overcome.
Later that day the Managing Director and I pondered what to do next. We know that we are doing the right thing, in the right way, and that the prize of a great place to work for everyone is too important for us to fail. We also know that years of negative attitudes, poor management practices, significant reductions in the workforce and the almost constant threat of closure have inevitably taken their toll. This week's set back made us even more determined to succeed. Transformational change is really hard, it always is, but if it is the right change for the right reasons it is always, always worth it.
A tough and challenging start to the week was more than made up for by two stimulating days working with front line NHS staff. I have run a lot of programmes in this particular NHS Trust. These people face so many frustrations as well, often based around focus on targets, lack of resources and a feeling of being undervalued. But over two days it is almost always possible to turn their thinking around, because once more they are nice, decent people who just want to do a good job. That's what gives me such confidence that we can do the same at the industrial site. And if I needed personal satisfaction as I started a long journey home it came from Bridget, a 65 year old health service worker when she told me 'this is the best training course I have been on in over 30 years.'
I just find the British Airways cabin crew strike so unnecessary and damaging. It's not so much to do with the various rights and wrongs, I am sure there are legitimate grievances on both sides, with the airline's management style being described as threatening and gung ho, while on the other side the cabin crew seem to have no grasp of how well they are relatively actually paid. For me, as ever, it's simply that this is no way to solve a dispute. I do not believe it is not possible for mature, sensible people to sit down and find a way forward through dialogue and exploration. Of course I understand that for that to happen there needs to be open minds, mutual trust and respect and a 'win-win' mindset on both sides. The problem is that as this dispute rumbles on it pushes British Airways, a once great company, further and further to the edge of at best irrelevance and at worst distinction. It's one of the saddest examples I've ever seen of turkeys voting for Christmas, and it's so unnecessary.
This kind of industrial dispute has no place today, it belongs in the seventies and eighties. Eventually the penny has to drop that great organisations will only prosper if leaders at every level work together in a culture of mutual respect and mutual trust.
I was saddened this week to get news of the death of a former work colleague. I worked with Paul twenty odd years ago when he looked after twenty or so pubs in the Birmingham area for Bass. It's difficult to describe what Paul was like to work with, he was unique. He was completely larger than life. When he visited any of his pubs it was more like a major event. Paul knew everyone, not just the staff but seemingly every customer as well, and he would spend hours working his way round the bar shaking hands with everyone. The managers and staff who worked for him absolutely adored him, even though his standards were second to none and he would be the first to pull them up if he found a dirty glass or an out of date notice. His staff would have done anything for him, and because of that his pubs performed brilliantly. To me he was the perfect example of everything I now try to teach. Paul would not have understood the first concept of leadership theory, but he did not need to. He just did it so naturally. He led by example, and people did things for him not because of what he was (their boss) but because of who he was.
His sense of humour and practical jokes were legendary and as a younger colleague who shared an office with him for a year I was the victim of many of them. But one of his outside work stories is even better. His daughter had a new boyfriend who did not meet with Paul's approval. So, when he was at their house one evening Paul dressed in his wife's clothes, came downstairs, and without saying a word sat down and read the paper. The poor boy beat a swift exit and was never seen again.
Friday night was quiz night at Fradswell village hall, together with fish and chip supper. I was feeling very positive about the quiz, because my children Lindsay and Chris were visiting for the weekend together with their partners? How could I fail to win the quiz with the benefit of four University educated assistants. Strangely though University education seems not to prepare people for rounds on geography, history and science & nature, and even less so for the round on farming methods over the ages. We also made the mistake of playing our joker for the 'Great Events in Fradswell since 1880' round, which was a disaster, because there weren't any, apart from the great 'Daisy the Cow incident' of 1931. Seventh out of ten teams was not a memorable result, but it was another great community night and an eye opener for my children on what country folk get up to after a few too many ales. And it's not a pretty sight.
Finally, I don't often pay much attention to the plethora of tongue in cheek material I come across on leadership, but this one caught my attention, both because it was given to me by the team leaders I talked about earlier and also because it is unfortunately an accurate parody of the issues I encounter in some organisations.
It's called 'The ant?a fable.'
'Every day a small ant arrives at work early and starts work immediately. She produced a lot and she was happy.
The boss, a lion, was surprised to see the ant was working without supervision. He thought if the ant can produce so much without supervisor, wouldn't she produce even more if she had a supervisor.
So he recruited a cockroach, who had extensive experience as a supervisor and who was famous for writing excellent reports.
The cockroach introduced a clocking in system. He also needed a secretary to type his excellent reports. He recruited a spider who assisted him and answered his phone for him.
The lion was delighted with the cockroach's reports and asked him to produce graphs to describe production rates and to analyse trends, so he could use them for presentations at board meetings.
So the cockroach bought a new computer and a laser printer and recruited a fly to manage the IT department.
The ant, (remember her?), who had been so productive and relaxed, hated this new plethora of paperwork and meetings which used up most of her time and stopped her getting on with her real job.
The lion decided he needed to appoint a manager for the department where the ant worked, to line manage the cockroach. The position was given to a cicada, whose first decision was to buy a carpet and an ergonomic chair for his office. He also needed a computer and a personal assistant to help him prepare his strategic optimisation and review plan for his new department.
The department where the ant worked is now a sad place where nobody laughs anymore.
So the cicada convinced the lion of the need to carry out an employee attitude climatic survey to get to the bottom of what was wrong.
The lion recruited an owl, a prestigious and renowned consultant, to carry out the survey. The owl spent three months studying the department and came back with an enormous report which concluded: 'the department is overstaffed.'
Guess who the lion fired first?
The poor ant.'
Now I am not suggesting this could happen in your organisation. Could it?
Sunday 14 March
Involving people and coaching to unlock potential, reflections on an undiscovered world, and a trip home brings back memories, happy and sad.
I hope you don't mind if I return to a familiar subject in this week's blog, which is the opportunity that exists to unlock the potential of people wherever they sit in an organisation.
This is a familiar subject just because it is one I am deeply passionate about and this time I'd like to explore two aspects of unlocking potential, being the engagement and involvement of people at all levels, and the opportunity coaching offers people.
Both have been prompted by real examples in my work over the past week or so. Last Monday I was lucky enough to be asked by an organisation to facilitate a workshop which was focussed on coming up with ideas to build alternative streams of revenue. This successful organisation has recognised that in order to continue to thrive it needs to find ways of diversifying its income. Typically this would have involved the senior team, or at least line managers, coming together to share ideas. But this imaginative client has recognised that it is not just the people towards the top who can have good ideas, they exist everywhere, we just have to tease them out. So they had pulled together a group of people from throughout the organisation, with strong representation for the front line, those who deal with customers every day. The people had been especially selected because, in the words of the manager organising it, they were 'bright and sparky.'
If you'll excuse the pun the results were electrifying. The group recognised the opportunity they had been given, and ideas quickly began to flow. They were also charged with planning ways to seek and develop ideas from and with their peers, their teams and their customers, and some imaginative plans quickly emerged.
I think this was a real example of how to unlock potential. If you are a manager do not assume you have all the answers. It takes time and willingness to involve your people, to listen to them effectively, and to encourage their ideas, but the energy and creativity it unlocks justifies the effort over and over again.
I do a fair amount of one to one coaching as part of my portfolio of work, and this last couple of weeks has seen a real concentration of coaching, with maybe twenty or twenty-five individual sessions.
These have taken place at all levels within a number of different sorts of organisations, as identified and required by my clients, and have varied from the Chief Executive of one of the UK's leading charities to the manager of a ten person warehouse. The content of course differs, with the Chief Executive we were exploring her contribution to environmental change on an international scale, and with the warehouse manager we were planning the efficient deployment of labour, but with both, and with all other sessions, the principle was the same, working with an individual to challenge, guide and support them to build their effectiveness and that of their people.
I believe that coaching should be one of the support tools available to managers everywhere, but sadly there are still far too many organisations who do not recognise its value, who would regard it as an unnecessary luxury.
Now, you'd expect me to support the concept of coaching (after all it allows me to put food on our table at home) but I want to stress that it does not have to be provided externally. I come across many instances of highly effective internal coaching, carried out either by the line manager or a peer or other manager.
In fact I believe that coaching of subordinates by their line manager lies at the heart of a high performance culture. The role of a great manager is to provide absolute clarity for their people on what is expected of them, then to release them to perform (giving them 'freedom within a framework') and then to check back with them, and to support them, through formal and informal reviews, which are, at their most effective, coaching sessions.
But this can equally be supplemented by peer coaching, or by external support. And remember that coaching is not about giving answers, telling people what to do. It's exactly the opposite, its about prompting and supporting the individual to develop their own solutions. As a coach you do not need to understand the complexity of the issues facing the individual (what do I know about international environmental issues or warehouse management) but you can still ensure that the individual grows through developing and implementing their own plans and solutions.
So I guess my challenge to you this week is to consider how well you currently unlock the potential of your people, and to what extent you have built a high performance culture around coaching. Have a think about it and make some plans to do even more of it that you do already.
I had quite a bit of travelling time again last week, and had one of those notebooks where the inside cover handily lists information. At school that used to be how many furlongs were in a mile (or in my day perches and rods in an acre, always useful). But on this occasion it was fascinating because it listed all the 190 odd countries in the world. Now I believe I have travelled fairly widely in my 50 odd years and so I took a few minutes out to tick off those countries I had visited. But still it only came to 39. This figure will grow slightly over the next year with visits planned to Turkey, Egypt and Jordan, but it's still far too few, there is so much of the world still to explore. So much undiscovered, and so little time, or so it seems. I even coloured in the accompanying map with the countries visited and South America in particular, a continent which fascinates me, stared out as a yawning gap. Time to make plans.
Talking of travelling, a few weeks ago I commented on a visit to the Caribbean just after the horrendous tragedy in Haiti. This week I heard that the amount the earthquake appeal raised in this country alone was in excess of £90 million. I think that is an awesome figure.
Finally, we have just got back from a short weekend break in Nottingham, the city where I grew up. It still has so many memories for me, and wandering round the city on my own on Saturday morning (did I really want to go shopping with three women?) I had the chance to relive those memories, including my cider drinking days by the left lion in the market square, the Bell Inn and the Flying Horse (which had scandalously been turned into a shopping centre and even worse is now derelict.)
Saddest of all though was the discovery that Selectadisc, the independent record store where I bought my vinyl in the seventies, has finally closed its doors. I guess it was inevitable, how can an independent record store hope to survive these days, but last time I was in Nottingham, before Christmas, it had still been open almost forty years after I first used it. I realise I'm part of the problem, I download most of my music now along with everyone else, but it was still really sad to see it shut. And I didn't even bother looking for the Kardomah coffee shop where we used to sit in our afghans putting the world to rights, a long time before Starbucks was even heard of. Milky coffee, cigarettes and big, big dreams. Happy days!
Sunday 7 March
Peeling the onion, understanding what great leaders do, 25 ways to be different, and a spinning wheel and a dog show take centre stage as the Fradswell fete takes shape.
Amongst his much criticised strategy to close Six Music, the Asian Network and half the website (please not the weather page), Mark Thompson from the BBC dropped a great quote into his speech last week when he said
'we must have the courage and clarity to stop doing things as well as start doing things'
Regardless of individual views on the rights and wrongs of their strategy (and the license fee and the BBC as a whole for that matter) I think this statement is really important and could be usefully applied across teams and organisations everywhere.
I constantly come across people in all kinds and levels of jobs who are just totally overwhelmed and frustrated with how much they have to do in their roles. There exists an organisational disease in the UK whereby we do add new things to do constantly without stopping doing other things. A new opportunity emerges, some finance becomes available, the Chief Executive has a new idea and suddenly everyone is running off in a new direction, almost always without additional resource being allocated.
One person recently described their organisation to me as being like an onion. But instead of peeling back the various layers they were adding new ones constantly, so the onion was getting bigger and bigger.
So why does this happen? I understand that when new opportunities or finances become available there is a natural inclination to grab them. But far too little thought is put, up front, into the relevant questions. Is this something we really need to take on? Does it fit into our purpose and strategy? Or is it a diversion for us? Have we got the resources (people, time, money) to be able to do it successfully, while still trying to spin all our other plates? What will we stop doing if we take this on?
So often the main reason is a lack of clarity for the organisation or team on why it is there and what it's most important things are. This means there is little to evaluate the new opportunity against. I've referred to it several times before in previous blogs, but the work by Jim Collins in 'Good to Great' on the 'hedgehog concept' is the most powerful tool I know for clarifying purpose.
This simply asks three questions of any team or organisation:
1. What are you truly passionate about?
2. What can you be best in the world at?
3. Does it make economic sense?
Any team or organisation, if it devotes enough disciplined thinking time to it, is capable of answering these questions. From that should emerge clarity of purpose. This can apply to the world's largest organisation or smallest team. The principle is the same. But once that purpose is established, new opportunities and requests can be sense checked back against that core purpose. If they are not central to it why should they be taken on?
But it's not just about new stuff, I also guarantee that if your team or organisation was to critically review everything you currently do you would begin to challenge many things. And again it's not about just big strategic stuff. What about the report your team produces every week or month, which takes several hours effort, but, frankly, is never read or used. Just because you've been producing it since 1988 doesn't mean you should carry on doing so. What about the meeting you attend that adds no value? Why do we keep going back every week, it's time to challenge it. There must be a better way.
This is all based on the fact that we are all busy people, who must also retain a work-life balance, and therefore have to be as productive as possible during every hour of the working week. Evidence suggests that typically we spend 55% of our week at work on non-productive activities.
So my challenge to you over the coming week is to commence a 'stop doing list' and encourage the rest of your team or organisation to do the same. Review it at then end of the week and take decisions. Start peeling back that onion!
My passion and focus in my working life is around leadership, or more specifically doing what I can to help people to become better leaders, and through that to unlock the potential of their people.
All of us have the opportunity to be leaders, in work or outside work, and it's nothing to do with organisational hierarchy, leaders can and do exist at all levels of organisations. I love this quote from Warren Blank.
'What does it mean to be a leader? The first natural law of leadership answers this fundamental question: a leader has willing followers. No leader exists without gaining the support of others. Yet this core element of what it means to be a leader is typically overlooked.'
To me this encapsulates the difference between being a leader and being a manager. When we are leading we inspire people to follow us because they choose to. We set out a vision, enthuse people and engage them. We provide clarity and direction. We do things in the right way. Management is about getting the job done, allocating resources and ensuring deadlines and targets are hit.
Both are noble professions, we desperately need effective managers as well as effective leaders, and in reality it is of course the same person who can and does do both, we all should spend part of our time leading and part of our time managing.
I had a fascinating discussion about leadership with a client last week. This person has just been promoted to the number two role in her organisation and is one of the most capable and inspiring people I know. She has many challenges over the next year and recognises that it is only through truly effective leadership that she will be successful. It's always difficult as a leader to know where to focus energies and efforts, especially when the challenges are so huge, but we drilled down to three things that just might provide the framework for success:
Create a sense of urgency: I think this is a critical role for leaders. When there is so much to achieve, when major change needs to be delivered, in any team or organisation, creating a sense of urgency in those around you is essential. You must develop a compelling need to change.
Build clarity and focus: but it's not just urgency for the sake of it. That urgency must be directed into action on the most important things. This happens when we build real clarity and focus, when everyone is clear about the big picture, the prize to be achieved, and their role in delivering it.
Do things in the right way: never forget this one, and always strive to behave in the right way, to treat people with trust and respect, to do things with the right motives.
Finally, that same client shared this list with me. It's called '25 ways to be different.' It works for me. See what you think.
1. Care as if it's your own
2. Do your daily work with a passion
3. Build strong relationships
4. Dream BIG
5. Set the right expectations
6. Ask for help
7. Celebrate small victories
8. Set higher standards
9. Live your values
10. Give praise
11. Help people help themselves
12. Be a reader
13. Plan by outcomes
14. Think long term
15. Embrace uncertainty with ease
16. Ask the right questions
17. Engage with a coach
18. Be relevant
19. Get back on your feet fast
20. Lead a volunteer effort
21. Innovate
22. Learn to sell
23. Choose your attitude
24. Challenge beliefs
25. Influence the influencers
I'm going to try and focus on one or two of these a day this week. Why not have a go as well?
Finally, amongst much excitement, the first ever Fradswell fete is beginning to take shape. Here in our small village (just 180 people) a small but enthusiastic group of us have been trying to help build a sense of community with a series of events based around our poor old village hall and our parish field. Over the last couple of years we've held two mid-summer events, a village picnic and a rounders match, with really good attendance. This year we've decided to go one stage further and organise a fete. I'm really excited, I think that the village fete lies at the heart of English country life.
I see a really traditional event, the sort I grew up reading about in the wonderful 'Just William' books, held in the grounds of the vicarage with bunting, cream teas and traditional games and stalls. I also hope this will be the start of an annual event, there is no reason why it will not still be taking place in 50 years time (and as I am pushed around in my bath chair I hope grand children and great grand children will recognise my contribution!)
So far we have a diverse range of ideas, including stalls, games, a picnic, a dog show, tug of war, a hog roast, a classic vehicles parade (Dennis the fire engine in pride of place) and a demonstration of traditional country crafts, including a spinning wheel. You certainly can't knock the enthusiasm, although daisy chain making (serious suggestion)has been placed on the back burner.
Saturday 19 June is the date, so write it on your calendar, and if you're not doing anything better that day why not come along!
Sunday 28 February
Bullying, fun with fish, the amazing Mika and empty toilets
I'm writing this on an impossibly early Saturday morning train on my way up to Newcastle for a birthday lunch with my son Alex. Trips to the north-east have been a very regular feature of my life for fifteen years or so now, but this is one of the first times I've tried the train as an alternative to driving. It's meant to be an attempt to regain balance a little but a broken car park ticket machine in Derby as the minutes ticked away was not a great start. 'Luckily' the train was late so I even had a chance to grab a coffee and as I look out of the window and see the outskirts of industrial Sheffield bathed in early morning light I could be on one of those amazing train journeys of the world. Or maybe lack of sleep has made me a little delusional?
I think my comments last week on building and maintaining balance struck a chord with people judging from some of the feedback I received during the week. I noticed that Friday was 'work your proper hours day' with a trade union campaign encouraging people to spend at least one day taking a proper lunch break and leaving work on time. Their research suggests that on average British workers put in an extra seven hours twelve minutes a week on top of contracted hours. I don't dispute that figure and expecting people to work long hours can be a real issue. But it's important to draw a distinction. I am equally opposed to a clock watching culture, where the whole office empties at exactly five o'clock and if you weren't careful you could be bowled over in the rush. Also I hate the situation where people demand they are paid overtime the minute they step over their contracted hours. We come back once more to the word 'balance.' It's also about choice. As long as we are making a choice in our jobs to work additional hours, and as long as that's not demanded of us, and we feel we are doing so for the right reasons within an overall balanced life then there is nothing wrong with that. Many people love their jobs and happily put in extra time when it is needed. But as ever it's a fine line to tread which managers should never exploit.
Of course there's a fundamental lesson of leadership and management behind all of this. If you treat your people with respect, look after them fairly, and build a culture of high trust of course you will get more back from your people in return. It's simple really.
But sometimes it breaks down catastrophically, as demonstrated in the report released this last week into the horrendous goings on at my local hospital in Stafford. A situation was allowed to develop there where there was a complete absence of leadership, and managers focussed on delivering targets and gaining their precious foundation status with a blatant disregard for the needs of patients or the well-being of their staff. The report makes it clear that the cost here was human lives. That's as bad as it gets. While feeling separately sorry for the relatives I also have enormous sympathy for the staff working there. These are decent, ordinary people who no doubt wanted to do a good job, but were let down by the failings of a mis-guided and wrongly motivated management.
In the vast majority of circumstances where this occurs it does not literally cost lives, but it can still lead to suffering and stress. And it can so easily be avoided.
The issue of work based bullying has also been high on the agenda this week. So Gordon Brown is accused of being a bully? No surprise there. There is no doubt that bullying exists in the work place, in many forms, and even the expectation and demand that people work excessive hours is a form of bullying. But again we have to keep things in perspective, there is a fine line here also between bullying and robust management.
This is such a gray area, in my corporate past I experienced and witnessed behaviour from various managers which walked that fine line between the two.
There have been many examples of high profile bullies at the top of organisations. Maybe one of the most infamous was Sir Fred Goodwin, late of RBS, who had an appalling reputation for bullying those around him. As arrogant as it is possible to be, this is one person who certainly got his just reward, and I suspect is missed by nobody.
But of course bullying can take place throughout organisations, and most often it is middle managers who display this trait. There will be many reasons, to do with their own workload, inadequacies and insensitivities but none of this is an excuse. Crossing the line from robust management to bullying is never acceptable.
There's loads of advice around for people who are being bullied but most importantly do something about it.
But it is a fine line, and in the most effective organisations high performance is absolutely demanded. But managers do it in the right way. They set out clearly what is expected, they provide the framework in which to operate, they build trust and mutual respect and they ensure sufficient resources. But they then also expect delivery, and quite rightly people should then be held accountable if they fail to deliver.
In great organisations leaders do demand high performance, but they also ensure that coming to work is fun. If you want people to excel at anything they have to enjoy what they are doing, and leaders can create an environment where fun exists even within a serious business.
I work with one Chief Executive in particular who really does get the need to create the right environment based on having fun. He ensures that in so many aspects of his interactions with his people, walking the building, in meetings and in communications events, he injects that fun. If that sounds contrived its not, great leaders instinctively know how to do it. And it quickly becomes infectious.
The training film 'Fish!' is really old now but its still the best example I know of building a highly effective culture based on delivering amazing customer service and built around people having fun.
And you can do it in any organisation no matter how serious the business you are involved in. A while ago I did some work to build a highly effective culture in some newly developed bank branches. Banking is a serious business, but the people who work in those branches are the same as everyone else, if they enjoy coming to work they will give their best every day. We based the cultural work around 'Fish!' and around having fun. We measured results through customer surveys, seeing how good they felt about their interactions with members of staff. And the results were amazing.
So what's the culture like where you work. Where is your organisation on the continuum between bullying and a high performance culture based around trust, mutual respect and fun? And what can you do to build the right culture?
After my less than generous comments on Eric Clapton last week (I am still smarting over paying £100 and not getting 'Layla'), I had a brilliant time last Thursday evening seeing Mika. I am able to use the excuse of taking daughter Charlotte and her friend, but I love Mika and it was just the most brilliant show, full of energy, colour and fun. And only £25- take note Mr Clapton.
Watching Mika is like having a ringside seat at some psychedelic circus, with the audience singing and dancing along to every song. Charlotte was delighted that I chose to stand at the back well away from her so as not to embarrass her.
Having been to see all the 60 something years old artists over the last couple of years it was good to be back amongst a predominantly young audience. You can tell the average age of an audience at a concert by how crowded the gents gets. Strange but true. The older the audience the longer the queues. As I made my fifth visit Thursday night I realised I was the only one who kept popping out. Oh to be young again!
Next up is Rod Stewart in May, so back to the toilet queues. And don't you dare not do 'Maggie May' Mr Stewart!
Sunday 21 February
Nurturing the goose to build balance, clarity in action, and a rock God disappoints but retains integrity.
A lot of my time with clients is based around building effectiveness- of organisations, teams, and also of individuals. And right at the heart of personal effectiveness is the ability to maintain balance in our hectic lives, ensuring that we are fit and healthy enough to meet the demands placed on us inside and outside work. If we are to deliver results over and over again we need to ensure we devote sufficient time to looking after ourselves, nurturing the resources that enable us to continue to deliver those results.
On personal effectiveness programmes I illustrate this by referring to Aesop's fable of the Goose and the Golden Egg. If you'll humour me for a minute or two it goes something like this.
There was once a very poor farmer. He lived in a far off land in a tumbledown cottage with his family. They really were down on their luck, their last remaining possession was a goose, who each morning provided the egg which fed the family for the day (hardly a balanced diet.)
One morning the farmer goes to the shed and reaches beneath the goose but this time there is something strange there. It's egg shaped, but is golden in colour and hard. What could it be? The farmer takes the egg thing, wraps it in a cloth, and walks 10 miles to the nearest village. In the village square is a Goldsmiths (like there would be!) The Goldsmith looks at the egg and tells the farmer his goose has laid a golden egg.
The farmer cannot believe it. He walks home and tells his family and friends. They are now rich. Over the next week, each morning, the goose lays another golden egg. Now the farmer has seven golden eggs. He is rich beyond his wildest dreams. But now the farmer becomes greedy. He doesn't just want seven golden eggs, he wants every golden egg inside the goose and he wants them now. So he grabs a machete, kills the goose, cuts it open and looks inside (okay, this is the squeamish bit.) But there are no golden eggs inside the goose. Why? Because the farmer has killed the goose that laid the golden egg.
In that simple fable lies the secret of building and maintaining balance. If the farmer wants to continue to get golden eggs over and over again (his results) he must look after the goose (his resources). He doesn't just need a love goose, he needs one which is fed, watered and nurtured.
Think of it in the context of a see-saw, where we need to maintain balance between results at one end and the resources necessary at the other end.
And it's the same in every aspect of our lives. If we want to be fit and healthy, if we want a balance between our working lives and our lives outside work, if we want to minimise the chances of becoming ill, we have to look after ourselves, whether its ensuring we have sufficient sleep, that we work sensible hours, that we don't worry about things which are outside our control, that we eat sensibly and drink moderately.
All of this is of course blinding common sense, but we would all accept that common sense is not always common practice. Of course we can always allow the see-saw to become slip out of balance for short periods of time, that's inevitable, it might be because we are really busy delivering a project at work, or have a period of hectic social life outside work, but unless we take steps to regain the balance things can quickly slip out of control.
I'm well aware that my see-saw has slipped out of balance since just before Christmas. I seem to have been in a perpetual state of tiredness, bordering on feeling stressed. A really heavy work schedule has been the main cause, but I don't think the weather or loads of travelling, has helped either. Even a week in the sun, which should have provided a solution, hasn't seemed to have helped. So now I am taking conscious steps to re-build the balance. I am writing this from a long weekend away in the Peak District, and I've been scanning my diary, trying to ensure that I'm building in balance in travelling, days at home in the office, client commitments and weekend activities.
I was prompted to write about this subject not just because of how I've been feeling, but also after picking up on a couple of news items during the week. The first was about Bill Clinton, who has just been back in hospital for more heart surgery. He recognises that his hectic working life, where he has led the response to the earthquake in Haiti, has been a major cause and commented on the need to get sufficient sleep and take enough exercise.
There was also an article about research showing that people who have the opportunity to work flexible hours feel they have achieved a much better work-life balance than those whose hours are rigid and dictated by their employer. I am certain that the more control and flexibility you have over your time at work, the more effective you will be. It cannot apply in every job, but taking the opportunity, for example, to work at home or at least away form the office on occasions when completing specific assignments can be really valuable.
I recommend that anybody just takes a little time out to consider their see-saw, has it slipped out of balance, and what can you do to regain it?
After last week's blog about absolute clarity it was brilliant to spend time with a team this week and see my theory brought superbly to life. I was working with the Chief Executive and senior team of a large and vibrant third sector organisation. They are a newly formed team, anxious to ensure they continue to drive their already successful organisation forward. They have a compelling vision of the future, but are conscious of the need to translate that vision into action.
Last week they identified the eight streams of work they need to focus on over the next eighteen months or so, to ensure they will be on course to delivering their vision. These streams of work were really clear, and they identified individual responsibilities and accountabilities within their team of three, so none of them had primary responsibility for more than three areas (the 'Power of 3').
They also decided on the communications routes which will ensure that this absolute clarity is passed on to all of their people, so everyone understands what they are required to do, and how it will contribute to the bigger picture and ultimately to the delivery of the vision. This is how you build real line of sight, and a feeling that everyone is involved in important and worthwhile work. Very impressive.
Last weekend Jakkie and I made our first visit to the O2 Arena in London. That's not quite true, I did go there when it was the Millennium Dome, and I have to say that I thought it was really good, a worthwhile effort. The Dome received a lot of politically inspired negativity which I think was unfair.
Anyway the O2 is just amazing, a massive entertainment complex of bars and restaurants, a very impressive venue. I was equally impressed with how they manage to disperse people at the end of the concert, a smooth transition back onto the tube beating the normal hour's wait in the car park at the NEC.
We were there to see Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. We've spent the last two or three years going to see those artists who are now in their sixties and beyond, and we may not have the chance to see again, people like Tina Turner, Tom Jones, the Eagles, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan (mind you I have seen the Eagles farewell tour twice now, three years apart!)
I was expecting great things from Eric Clapton, but have to say I was very disappointed. I've always seen him as a cool rock God, but he looked more like an aging grandfather in slippers ( a great review in the Telegraph last Saturday described him as 'more cotton socks than cotton fields').
The same review mentioned that the audience gave him 'dutiful respect and attention' and again I can only agree. There were highlights ('I Shot the Sheriff') but no 'Layla' (no 'Layla'!!!) and at £100 a ticket (venue income £2 million for the night) I was just expecting a bit more.
But at least he retains his integrity with me. As far as I'm concerned if he says he only shot the sheriff not the deputy I believe him.
Still, all will be redeemed because daughter Charlotte and I are off to see Mika this week. Now there is one amazing showman.
Saturday 13 February
Building absolute clarity, why 3 is an amazing number, and treats galore for Valentines Day.
If I was to carry out a straw poll amongst my clients as to the phrase I use most often I suspect 'absolute clarity' would be pretty high on the list.
It's something I've become increasingly passionate about as I work with people at all levels and in a variety of job roles in all sorts of organisations. Time and time again I come across people who are not as effective in their roles as they can be and so often, when you really begin to dig deep and to understand why, it is because they lack clarity on exactly what they are there to deliver.
The result of this is confusion over priorities, trying to do too much, a feeling of spinning plates and an inability to say no when asked to carry out a new initiative or other piece of work. They also have no idea of how their work is contributing towards the wider goals of the team or organisation.
But all of this can be fixed so simply, and where it does drop into place there is a quantum leap in effectiveness, of the individual, the team and the organisation.
There is a simple model of 'absolute clarity' that can be applied in every team and organisation, whatever its size, and it breaks down into the following steps:
1. The organisation has 'absolute clarity' of purpose, or why it exists. This can be easily and simply articulated and is communicated brilliantly, so that wherever the individual is in the organisation they can understand the purpose, and can relate to it whatever their role.
2. The organisation has a clear, compelling and stretching vision, where they are trying to get to, their future 'prize'. Again this is relevant to the individual, and clearly communicated.
3. The organisation then can set out a clear strategy for the achievement of the vision. This is the 'how we will get there.' Strategies are so often complicated documents (I used to work in an organisation who had made the creation of strategies an art form, there was a whole department dedicated to doing nothing else. The result was a carefully crafted master plan which remained just that, it was quietly stuck into bottom draws by us operators and never turned into execution.) But at the top level they should be as simple as possible and capable of being easily communicated, just a clear set of strategic themes. The best example I have is Tesco. Europe's biggest private sector employer has managed to articulate its strategy into just four simple statements. Look at their corporate website if you don't believe me, its simplicity is awesome.
4. Now is the time to link the individual to the organisation. In a smaller organisation this is a direct step, in a larger organisation it will be by team or department or function. Each team or department or function can follow the exact same process as above. They will have a purpose, vision and strategy of their own which is a sub-set of, and consistent with, that of the organisation.
5. Every individual then has a clear role statement. This is their own 'purpose' setting out why their job exists. I do not believe this should ever exceed 25 words as an absolute maximum. Any more than that and it becomes a job description, not a role statement. This gives the individual 'absolute clarity' on why their job exists and (this is the crucial piece) it should be consistent with the purpose of the team, department or function and that of the organisation. Now we begin to create 'line of sight', enabling any individual to clearly understand how their role is an important contribution to the success, ultimately, of the whole organisation.
6. This then translates into the final piece, but possibly the most important of all in the whole process. Each individual should then have clearly identified goals that they are responsible for delivering at any one time. Ideally there should be only three. This is because there is ample evidence that if we only have three things to focus on at any one time the chances of achieving all three with excellence is high. Any more than three goals and achieving any of them with excellence will greatly reduce. Three really is the optimum number, that's why it's called 'The Power of 3.' And these three goals should broadly equate to about 70% of what the individual does every day, week and month. If it's much less than 70% these are not the most truly important things, much more than 70% is unrealistic, there are always other things that have to be done.
These three things should be measurable, and indeed progress towards them and their achievement should be constantly monitored and measured, so that any individual knows constantly how they are doing. It makes boss and subordinate reviews so simple, they are about a review of progress against the goals and a commitment by the boss to 'clear the path', removing obstacles to enable delivery. It's also the final piece in achieving true 'line of sight', linking individual goals to the strategy of the team, department, function and ultimately the organisation.
Many clients I work with have achieved this 'absolute clarity' and joined up their organisation from top to bottom, creating a clear line of sight. This means they have individuals who really feel valued, who feel their roles and truly important and who know they are making a difference. This gives them the platform from which to execute superbly, and to deliver amazing results.
If you want to know more about this have a look at the 'Power of 3' under the programmes section of my website.
So tomorrow is Valentines Day. And what a romantic day I have planned for Jakkie. We begin with Valentines Breakfast at the village hall, which for £15 for a double ticket (double ticket, romantic or what) we get a cooked breakfast, croissants and champagne. Okay so there are 18 of us sharing one table and Jakkie gets to cook the sausages and tomatoes for all 18 while my job is to pour the champagne, but I still think it's a pretty good effort.
And it gets better, because after that we are off to London and tomorrow night we are seeing Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck at the O2. Cooking sausages to 'Layla' and 'Heigh Ho Silver Lining' in the space of 12 hours. Who said romance was dead. I can assure you, with absolute clarity, that it is not.
Sunday 7 February
Integrity, morals, amazing women and a soap opera nightmare
Having spent a week in the sun already this year, I don't expect a moment of sympathy when I tell you that I am tired and need a break. But the truth is that a combination of hectic days, lots of travelling and the weather left me really tired at the end of last week.
I know I'm not the only one. I flew back from Edinburgh on Wednesday evening and everyone on the plane just looked so weary. I do think it's something to do with the time of year, but it's also possibly because those who have survived the recession in jobs have maybe been working even harder than in the past, perhaps because there are less people to do the work now. Or because chasing business is harder, or because of continuing concern over their own jobs.
As I said I don't expect sympathy but after a busy weekend last week I finished Friday exhausted and really looking forward to a quiet weekend. I managed to get home early enough on Friday to enjoy some beautiful winter sunshine, and then Jakkie and I headed to the Green Man for a well-deserved early evening drink. I've blogged about the Green Man before, it is the most brilliant country pub, still managing to combine local drinking and socialising with a growing but proportionate food trade (great home cooking) and I think that early Friday evening is the perfect time to visit. There's a real end of the week, start of the weekend feeling, and the Draught Bass was excellent.
Then it was home, looking forward to maybe some relaxing television, but I had momentarily forgotten that Jakkie's elderly aunt is staying with us for a couple of weeks. Almost ninety, she is an amazingly astute and active person, but she does have one vice, an obsession with soap operas. Do you know that when she stays I have discovered that it is possible to watch the soaps non stop from Home & Away at about 4pm through to Coronation Street's second episode which finishes at 9pm? Unbelievable, considering also that every soap seems to have identical characters and story lines.
But after keeping well out of the way until the marathon drew to a close I did then sink down with a glass of wine to watch the news. The three main stories were the intended prosecution of three MPs and one peer, followed by the settlement to avoid further prosecutions at BAE Systems and John Terry's removal as England captain. What obviously links all three stories are the questions over integrity and morals in each case. Now I'm the first to admit that I'm not whiter than white (one or two expenses claims in previous lives were open to some interpretation) but compared to the collective wrong doings of MPs, BAE Executives and Mr Terry I feel a paragon of virtue. Perhaps worst of all is the lack of contrition and guilt that is all too familiar these days, and the desperate attempts to avoid responsibility for individual and collective actions. For the MPs to consider a defence against prosecution by claiming immunity under parliamentary privilege is beneath contempt, BAE have settled to avoid investigation into far more serious allegations and I didn't see John Terry offering up his head on the block before Capello stripped him of the captaincy. Incidentally Capello just impresses me more and more every time he acts. He is a leader who quietly demonstrates incredible authority and seems unable to put a foot wrong.
I guess all of this is a sign of the times, but it is indicative of the obsessive media driven celebrity world in which we now seem to live our lives, and a culture where integrity and morals seem to take a back seat. Perhaps the bankers and then MPs scandals of the past couple of years may, with the benefit of hindsight in the future, be seen as the turning point when a new era of morals and integrity starts to emerge. I hope so but at the moment I am not holding my breath.
But through all of that, and despite my weariness by Friday I continue to have the privilege to work with some amazing people who constantly restore my faith in human nature.
One of those is the Chief Executive of a major environmental charity, who I held a mentoring and coaching session with last week. She is currently being headhunted for a role which pays twice as much as she currently earns. But such is her commitment to her cause she is flattered but not tempted to move on. There is still so much she is determined to deliver in her current role. I was, incidentally, impressed that when I saw her on Friday she only had two appointments in her diary for that day, me and Oliver Letwin. It did make me feel a little bit important, even if just for the day!
The other person is the UK's leading expert on the care and recovery of traumatised children. I have had the privilege of supporting this woman for three or four years now and I never stop being in awe of what she does. She is the head of and owner of an organisation which offers a home and the chance of recovery to children who have endured and experienced things in their short lives which are beyond our understanding or comprehension. She also has established the world's leading body of work for the recovery of these children, offers degree and masters courses in conjunction with a UK University, is the author of several books and inspires people across the world with the work that she does.
On Thursday she took me through her company's business plan for the next five years. It set out new challenges, with development into new areas of work, including secure units and homes for young prostitutes. But it was also a fantastic example of how to join up a business plan, to link purpose, to vision, to strategy, to goals and measures, and then to translate all the theory into action. A very impressive document.
All this and this woman has just celebrated her 65th birthday. We are currently working on her plan to relinquish day to day control of her organisation and to assume the role of Chair soon, but she is already planning for well beyond that retirement. She is determined to ensure the health of her organisation, the transition of day to day leadership and a focus on what she will do to enable the continuation of her life work.
Next week is just as busy again, with trips to Liverpool, Bristol, Northampton and Edinburgh to work with clients and then off to London next Sunday to see Eric Clapton at the O2. Lots of travelling and challenging assignments, but the inspiration those two women and other clients continue to provide me with make it all worth while.
Sunday 31 January
Back from the Caribbean, with thoughts on Haiti, island life, and a challenge to our comfort and complacency.
What a weird few days. White snow to white sand and back to white snow. I'd like to say it's good to be back, but?.
No reason to complain though, it was a wonderful and much needed few days of sunshine and escape from our winter weather. More about some Caribbean experiences later but first I just need to try and explain something that made me very uncomfortable throughout our week away. We flew into the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. The horrendous and devastating earthquake occurred four days before we went away, causing loss of life and destruction beyond our comprehension. And I do mean it's beyond my comprehension.
At first I wondered if our holiday would be cancelled, not because of any personal safety reasons (although on the same island the earthquake hit an area a fair distance form where we were flying to) but because I assumed that the whole of the region would be focussed on a gigantic rescue and aid effort. But when I understood we were still going, I appreciated that is because tourism is so crucial to the Caribbean as a whole, and when a disaster strikes it is essential to the local economy that tourists keep coming or there is a double whammy effect. That was certainly the case in the far east after the Tsunami a few years ago.
So off we went and as we flew across the Atlantic I kept waiting the Captain of our Thomson flight to say something about the disaster, maybe to organise a collection on board, but nothing. As we landed in the Dominican Republic I expected to be greeted by an airport and a country focussed on rescue efforts. But again there was nothing to see, and even more bizarre than that people were behaving as if nothing had happened. We were being welcomed to a sunshine paradise while a few miles up the road 150,000 people had just died. It just felt all wrong, I know there is no love lost between the Dominican Republic and their neighbours but I was left with this uncomfortable feeling that the desperation to keep the tourists coming manifested itself in an extraordinary denial. It was like flying into London with central Scotland having just been destroyed and finding life going on a normal. Not right.
And then on the ship, and again nothing. I would at least have expected announcements, a fund raising event one night, maybe discussions amongst passengers but it was like we were sailing in a parallel universe. I suspect half the people on board had no idea Haiti was even in the Caribbean. And it was the same on every island we visited, no mention, no fund raising.
My other thought was how much courage would it have taken for Thomsons to cancel our cruise and send the ship up to Haiti to act as a floating hospital ship or relief vessel. There was certainly no shortage of supplies on board. I realise that it would probably have been inappropriate with the USA and NGOs have been co-ordinating the aid effort, but I wonder if it was ever even considered or would have been regarded as commercial suicide.
Having got that off my chest we had a fascinating week experiencing Caribbean culture on six different islands. Once you get beyond the obvious tourist trappings (just how many diamond stores can you ram onto one quayside) the Caribbean is an amazing chaotic colourful hotch potch of life and I love it.
Our experiences and observations included:
1. Arriving into the middle of the St Kitts general election where politics is just still so noisy and so fun and seems to engage the whole electorate. How unlike Britain today with our record levels of cynicism, distrust of politicians and disinterest. And Labour were even winning, which seems strange at the moment as well!
2. A fascinating visit to a museum on St Kitts, exploring the history of the island through ancient settlers to the slave trade and sugar plantations and onto today's tourist based economy.
3. Such a difference in culture between the various islands, from Dominica's 70% unemployment rate to 100% employment (yes, really) on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.
4. The pride throughout the Caribbean in the education of their children, with smart school uniforms everywhere whatever the relative levels of poverty.
We also had a lot of much needed sunshine and fun, including a boat trip to visit the island Robert Louis Stevenson used as his inspiration for 'Treasure Island', and 'Dead Man's Chest' island and visits to cricket grounds on Barbados and St Kitts.
I guess what I really took out of the week, along with relaxation, arose from a combination of being so near to and yet so far from the Haitian situation, experiencing the relative poverty of the Caribbean behind the tourist façade, meeting amazing, positive people on the islands and cringing sometimes at the attitudes of fellow passengers who compared everything to their blinkered views of home. From that I have three observations, and challenges for you and myself, as we enter a new decade:
1. We are so relatively lucky to live in our country (okay apart from a bit of snow!) but we often don't seem to appreciate the opportunities we are given, whether it's with education or at work or in our life within our local community. We should break through our complacency and our complaining and stretch ourselves every day. We fall into the trap of living so much of our lives in our comfort zone.
2. In doing so we should resolve to go out and make a difference somewhere every day. This could be at work, at home or in our local community. It doesn't have to be an earth shattering action, just so at the end of every day you can reflect and know something you have done has made a positive difference to somebody
3. We should commit every day to challenge our beliefs, and of those around us. Our beliefs condition what we do and the results we get. Unless we challenge those beliefs about certain people and situations, even about ourselves and our perceived limitations, we can never make sufficient progress on the two points above.
And it's February tomorrow, with spring not too far away.
Saturday 16 January
Reflections on flying to earthquake island, on the reinvigoration of a leadership team and on the trials and tribulations of football management.
So we seem to have survived the snow and ice of the past few weeks, although Wednesday last week in Sheffield was as dangerously icy as I have ever known it. I was sat in traffic jams Wednesday morning watching people who were finding it impossible to even stand upright on pavements let alone walk. The roads were almost as bad, I sometimes face criticism, and even a touch of conscience, over the love of my Land Rover, but, relatively, I have felt so safe over the last couple of weeks.
Complaints about our weather, however, were brought sharply into perspective on Wednesday with news of the dreadful earthquake hitting Haiti. Horrific beyond any imagination, not least seeing the first television pictures with dazed and injured people staggering around some hours after the quake and not an emergency service of any kind in sight. It certainly brought it home to me that we are so lucky to live in this country with such minor inconveniences as a fall of snow.
I mentioned last week that Jakkie and I are off to the Caribbean tomorrow. What my 'O' Level geography had failed to appreciate until the end of last week was that Haiti shares an island with the Dominican Republic, our first destination. Having rebutted worried calls from various elderly aunts (one of whom was convinced a volcano had engulfed the island) I did suffer significant pangs of guilt over flying off on holiday to an island where such devastation has taken place. But that guilt is eased with the knowledge that the Dominican Republic's economy is highly dependant on tourism, and like at the scenes of so many natural disasters and terrorist atrocities in the pat maintaining that flow of tourist income is essential. It's still such a horrendous thing to have happened to Haiti though, and it will take many years and loads of international support for that country to recover.
What I do with organisations pales into insignificance compared to the rescue missions underway in the Caribbean, but I do seem to spend a lot of rewarding time with leadership teams who have lost their way and are in need of reinvigoration. It is all too easy for this to happen, and often a previously successful organisation can far too quickly hit a downward curve. A Chief Executive I work with regularly recognises this and articulates it superbly. She likens it to climbing towards the peak of a mountain. A successful organisation scales the peak, but must prevent slipping down the other side. They must understand that when they achieve the summit, rather than standing still they must focus on a new mountain with a new summit which lies ahead. They must begin climbing again, set new aspirations, a new vision, a new strategy and new targets, before they start to fall down the slippery slope. It's a powerful analogy with no link intended to those poor pedestrians in Sheffield on Wednesday.
I worked with one such team last week. Their organisation probably reached their pinnacle, the top of their one mountain, in 2008, when they won a prestigious national award which recognised their enormous success and achievements in their sector. Since then I do believe there has been a period of stagnation, not helped by a perilous financial situation which required urgent focus and attention. It's not so much that the organisation was missing a vision and even a route plan for climbing the next summit, it is just that there was a leadership vacuum at the top of the organisation which has been holding back progress.
However, in my work with the leadership team last week I saw some really great signs of progress. The team has been reduced in size and reformed, with three Directors taking over new or enlarged roles, and even these changes seem to have stimulated new life. We spent time reflecting on what had gone on over the last couple of years since that award, and the team recognised that a new era of dynamic leadership for the organisation from the top is essential.
We spent time mapping out how to approach the challenge, and have settled upon just three principles to underpin the work of the leadership team over the next few months. They are to build a culture based around empowerment, values and superb communication.
We believe an empowering culture can really galvanise the organisation and build levels of engagement throughout. An empowering culture is based on adherence to three simple steps. First, leaders at every level commit to ensure their people are completely clear on what is expected of them, this is called setting the framework. Then they step back and release their people, giving them the freedom to operate and the space to deliver within that framework. Finally they give those individuals just the right level of support, which is different in every case, but includes regular structured reviews, being informally available and ensuring that progress is recognised.
The organisation already had a set of values, and the team simply resolved, from the top, to put even more emphasis on ensuring they operated within those values, referring to them regularly, challenging contra behaviours and basing decisions on their values framework. Simple words but incredibly powerful when it comes to life.
Finally the team were painfully aware of how open communication had been neglected during the period of uncertainty over the past year or two. They resolved to put open two-way communications back at the heart of what they do, creating a communications culture supported by robust processes.
I left a two day engagement with this rejuvenated team convinced that they can get their journey back on track and focus on their new peak.
One leader in desperate need of reinvigoration is poor old Rafa Benitez, the beleaguered manager of Liverpool. I was lucky enough this afternoon to be entertained at the Stoke v Liverpool game, although I must point out that the entertainment in question was in the hospitality suite rather than on the pitch. Both sides were very ordinary, although the game did come to life in an exciting last five minutes. Liverpool had a late very good penalty appeal turned down and you could see in Rafa's body language that he must think the world is against him. Inevitably the constant rendition of 'You're Getting Sacked in the Morning' from the Stoke fans did nothing to lift his spirits!
Rafa is one leader with an enormous mountain to climb and it looked like it might all be a bit too much.
So that's it, no blog next week, just Caribbean cruising with cocktail in hand. I'll be back in two weeks, when hopefully it'll be almost spring.
Sunday 10 January
Reflections on the great freeze and on great leadership.
So the Great Freeze of 2010 (as I am sure it will be known in years to come) continues. I have to say that as much as the snow was fun to start with I'm a bit fed up with it all now, especially icy pavements, but I guess it's important to just get on with it.
I am old enough to remember the Great Freeze of '63 (as it is still known.) I was only six at the time but recall walking with my parents into Banbury in Oxfordshire to buy a new car battery (yes we did have cars then before you ask) and then crying with the cold so much that we had the never experienced before or repeated after luxury of a taxi to take us home. I also remember my Dad trying to tow out the electric milk float which was stuck in a snow drift outside our house. Needless to say our Ford Poplar was not up to the task! What I do not remember is my school closing (we had an amazing cresta run ice slide running the length of the playground) or my Dad being off work (he was a postman and was out delivering whatever the weather.)
I do think it's all become a bit soft now. Schools seem to close at the first opportunity, partly because I suspect the teachers are desperate to be at home despite the chaos it causes for working parents and partly because of health and safety concerns. That legislation has reached ridiculous proportions now, as someone said on the radio this week if the Winter Olympics were held in the UK they'd probably be cancelled because of the ice and snow.
Shops and offices are also closing at the first opportunity, I walked through my local town at 4pm yesterday afternoon and virtually every shop was shut (except Costa thank goodness!) And tomorrow I was due to be at a University in the south of England tomorrow and I have discovered that the whole University is going to be closed because of a gritting dispute! I'm delighted to say that my clients are far more resourceful than the University authorities and we have relocated our meeting to a local hotel.
I guess that a well-led motivated work force who really cares about its customers is far less likely to shut the doors at the first sign of snow and ice, but will find ways to cope and to stay open. Motivating people and unlocking their potential lies at the very heart of leadership. As does getting the right people onto the bus to start with, and the wrong ones off.
As I've battled my way around the country over the past week I've been lucky enough to begin 2010 working with three Chief Executives who really do understand the importance of getting every aspect of their people right.
The first has recently taken over as the head of a large voluntary organisation in the north of England. He and his organisation have developed a really exciting and compelling vision, and also a clear strategy to deliver the vision. He knows though that having a strategy is not enough. To deliver it effectively he also needs a highly motivated work force who want to be part of the journey. He needs to ensure that he develops the right cultural conditions to allow them to thrive.
Culture is one of those really nebulous things, I define it as 'what it's like around here.' We have identified that there are five strands to the culture that he wants to create, as follows:
1. One where leadership at all levels is based on the principles of servant-leadership. I'll write some more about this another time, it's a concept I'm fascinated by, but its based around the idea that the first role of a leader is to serve those around them.
2. Where people are truly engaged, so that they want to give their best every single day. They feel that their contribution is valued and that they have the freedom to give their best.
3. A culture based on constant and effective performance management, where people are quite clear on what is expected of them, then are released to deliver, with the right level of support in place, freedom within a framework. A leadership style based on monthly one to ones and a highly effective appraisal process.
4. One where people work together effectively across the organisation, regardless of where they sit and which team they are in. Where 'silo mentality' between teams and departments is abolished, and groups of cross functional people come together constantly to address issues.
5. A culture based on discipline where (to quote our old friend Jim Collins) disciplined people engage in disciplined thought that precedes disciplined action. This culture of discipline must never be confused with authoritarianism or the stifling of creativity, it just ensures that people focus constantly on the most important things.
So an exciting year lies ahead as we build the right culture in that organisation that will enable the strategy to be delivered and the vision achieved.
The dealings with the other two Chief Executives have been around getting the right people on their buses, or, in both cases, specifically getting the wrong people off. Both of these Chief Executives lead large third sector organisations and both are highly effective charismatic leaders in their own right.
But being highly effective and charismatic does not mean that you don't occasionally make a mistake with a people issue. This has happened in the first example. This leader had recently recruited a Marketing Director to her organisation, a crucial role in delivering their strategy. This person had been in post just a few months, they are certainly not a bad person, but the fit was just not there. Both intuitively, and backed by an increasing amount of evidence, tit was clear that the appointment was not going to work out. This caused much heart searching for this Chief Executive. She had recruited the person after a lengthy search, and to admit failure so early was tough. But far more tough, for all sides, would have been to allow the situation to continue. So just before Christmas she took decisive action, firmly but fairly, and the individual concerned left the organisation. I have absolutely no doubt this was the right decision for both parties, and was a wonderful example of leadership in action.
The final leader heads a large charity in the north of England. She has been in post just a few months and is still learning about her organisation. She has identified that a radical fix needs to take place within one of her departments if she is to be able to make progress. Again, having made the decision, she is not fudging the issue, she is not willing to put it off. She is seeking professional advice and will make the necessary changes happen sooner rather than later.
Each of those interactions this week re-enforced for me that there are some great leaders out there who just understand intuitively that successful organisations are built around their people. We often hear the adage that 'our people are our greatest asset.' Actually that should read 'the right people are our greatest asset.' Getting people decisions right, and creating a culture in which they can thrive, is a daunting and time consuming challenge, but it lies at the very heart of highly effective leadership.
Sunday 3 January
Your opportunity to make 2010 an audacious year!
Happy New Year!
I hope you had a good break over the Christmas period. I love the beginning of January and the start of a new year (probably helped by the fact that we're off to the Caribbean in two weeks time!)
I've just spent a very therapeutic two hours outside chopping wood on a beautiful, sunny, icy morning. It was a good chance to reflect on the past year and think about the year ahead. Now, armed with coffee and brandy to recover from the cold I can turn my attention to the first blog of not only a new year, but a new decade.
I enjoy reading the Sunday magazine reviews of the year over the holiday period and am once more amazed at how much happened in 2009. Its easy to forget how many momentous events occur in just twelve short months.
Remember all these from the past year?
Barack Obama took office
England won the Ashes
Dubai 'went bust'
Thierry Henry's hand denied Ireland their chance to go to South Africa
The Lockerbie bomber was released
MPs expenses scandal
Sir Fred Goodwin's pension scandal
Cumbria floods
Chesley Sullenberger crash-landed on the Hudson river (no-one ever seems concerned about the geese)
British forces formally halted operations in Iraq
Michael Jackson died
North Korea started nuclear missile tests
Jade Goody, Keith Floyd, Danny La Rue and Bobby Robson died
There is a saying that goes something like this. 'We always overestimate what we can achieve in a day and underestimate what we can achieve in a year.' I think this is so true, and there is no better time to make plans for the year ahead, and to resolve that this year you are going to achieve some really big goals.
But first you need to set them. How about resolving, at the start of January, to set two really huge, challenging goals to achieve in 2010, one in your professional life, and one in your life outside work? Two goals that will really take you forward during the year.
People talk about these goals needing to be smart, and I go along with that, providing that you substitute the normally used 'A' in the acronym for something much more challenging. I am happy enough that goals need to be Specific, Measurable, Realistic and Timely (commonly used SMART definitions although there are similar alternatives.) But do not make the 'A' 'achievable' it's too close to 'realistic' and is frankly boring. How about using 'Audacious'? I love that word. It's dictionary definition is 'daring and bold' and that, alongside realistic, is what I believe these goals should be.
The problem is that if we don't set these goals for ourselves we are in danger of underachieving during any year. And the years do fly by. It only seems like yesterday that it was the start of the new Millennium. How many people dreamed dreams and made big plans in January 2000 who look back now with a tinge of disappointment over how few of them have been realised?
So maybe take some thinking time out over the next week or so. Thinking time is another thing we sacrifice in our hectic lives (I can strongly recommend wood chopping as an opportunity to do that thinking, just be careful of your fingers.) What are the really big goals outside your job that you want to achieve in 2010? Is it to do with your family, travel, a new job, voluntary work, a hobby or your personal well-being? What about at work, maybe it's a project, promotion, a new challenge, the development of your team? Make sure the goal is SMART, but in particular audacious, and then resolve that in 2010 you really will deliver on those goals.
Of course, setting the goal is only a small part of the challenge. Now you have to get on and achieve it. And there are only 365 days (or 362 now) in which to do so. This will require thoughtful planning on a weekly basis and disciplined execution every day. What can you do this week to get your goals underway? Which days will you do those things? And how will you be disciplined enough to ensure you do devote enough time and actually get on with them?
So be inspired. You are a special person who can achieve so much this year, for you and for those around you. Go make it happen.
One final thought, if we underestimate what we can achieve in a year, imagine what we could achieve in a decade? Time to start thinking really big and creating a vision and goals for the next ten years? Maybe another coffee and brandy first! Sunday 20 December
In this last blog of 2009 join me for a cautionary Christmas tale. It's the night before Christmas, but all is not well in Santa's workshop.
It was the night before Christmas, but it was eerily silent in Santa's workshop. It should have been a hive of frenetic activity, with the last toys being finished and the sleigh being loaded. You would have expected to hear music, shouting and laughter, and see elves rushing here and there but instead the large room lay empty, half finished toys on the workbench and a large sleigh with just a sack or two carelessly thrown onto the back.
High above the workshop, in the executive board room, Santa angrily paced the floor, looking at his large gold pocket watch. 'What is going on, where is he?' Santa bellowed, his face as bright red as his suit. 'Calm down dear' Mrs Claus said nervously. 'What do you mean calm down dear, this isn't an insurance commercial' retorted Santa, continuing his incessant pacing, 'it's the night before Christmas, there's so much to do, and all the elves and reindeer have disappeared, where is Frosty?' Shaking his head angrily Santa went and warmed himself by the roaring fire at the end of the room.
At that moment the door flew open and Frosty the Works Manager burst into the room. He was well named because he was well known for being frosty by nature as well as by name. 'Frosty, what's going on' shouted Santa, 'why has worked stopped? Come over here and explain.'
'I won't get too close if that's okay,' said Frosty, 'I don't want to melt, I've got enough problems with that lot downstairs as it is.'
Santa banged his hand angrily on the table, 'what's going on? It's Christmas Eve, I need to be airborne in a few hours.'
'They're refusing to work', said Frosty, 'they say they won't finish loading the sleigh or go out tonight.'
'Damn them, what's the matter with them' roared Santa, his face now redder than his coat.
'They've invoked the grievance procedure.'
'Grievance procedure, I'll give them grievance procedure'
'Calm down dear, you'll have a heart attack' said Mrs Claus, a worried look on her face.
'They've got a list of complaints', went on Frosty, 'they say the sleigh is unsafe the way it's being loaded, they want a risk assessment before they agree to take it out. They say you haven't honoured the increase in their carrot allowance, and you've removed the free coffee machine from the works canteen.'
'Carrots, carrots, it's the stick they need not carrots'
'You're quite right' continued Frosty, 'we need to stay firm, we're too good to them, they need teaching a lesson. They're to blame for all of this mess. They're lucky to have jobs at all what with this credit crunch stuff.'
'But what about tonight' said Mrs Claus, 'it's Christmas Eve, what about all those children?'
'Never mind the children', roared Santa, 'this needs sorting once and for all. Frosty, get them up here, we're going to have a meeting and I'm going to tell them what I think of them.'
One floor below, in the works canteen next door to the deserted workshop, the reindeer and elves sat round a table.
'That's it' said Blitzen, the oldest of the reindeer, who was fast approaching his 500th year of service, 'he's gone too far this time, the free coffee is the final straw.'
'Can't we negotiate?' asked Comet, one of the younger reindeer.
'There's no point' retorted Blitzen, 'we tried it in 1842 and it didn't work then so it's not going to work now, we have to take a stand.'
The other reindeer and elves nodded in agreement,, with various comments of 'bloody management', 'there's no way', and 'they never listen.'
There was a knock at the door. 'Yes, what is it', roared Blitzen. The door opened and Rudolph, the office junior, slipped quietly into the room.
'What do you want Rudolph?'
'I've got a message from Frosty, he wants you to come to a meeting in the Board Room'
'Right lads' said Blitzen, standing up and gathering his various papers, 'this is it, come on Comet and Prancer, lets go and tell them what we think of them, this needs sorting once and for all.'
The reindeer delegation entered the Board Room. Santa, Mrs Claus and Frosty were already sat along one side of the long table, arms crossed. Blitzen, Comet and Prancer came and sat opposite them, curtly nodding heads in greeting. Rudolph busied himself nervously serving tea and biscuits.
'Sit down at the end there Rudolph' said Santa,' you can take notes.'
'Right then' said Santa, opening the meeting, 'we're here to sort this nonsense out, and I'm going to tell you why you are wrong with these ridiculous demands. For a start?'
'Stop right there' said Blitzen, raising his front hoof, 'we're not wrong you are, you said back in 1952.?'
'No I didn't'
'Yes you did'
'Let me tell you what I think' said Frosty importantly.
'We're not interested in what you think' retorted Prancer angrily.
There was a babble of angry voices as each side tried to make their points, each voice getting louder as they attempted to make themselves heard about the general roar. Tempers were rising. Only Mrs Claus remained silent, while Rudolph, who had never been to one of these meetings before, looked on in disbelief and tried to take notes.
'Stop' roared Santa, standing up and raising his hands. 'This is getting nowhere.'
'Of course its not' shouted Blitzen, 'it never does with you lot, you never listen'
'I don't listen, I don't listen?.'
'That's right, you never do'
'That's it' shouted Santa, 'I've heard enough, either you lot get back to work now, or else.'
'Not until you carry out that risk assessment, and honour the carrot increase, and give us back our free coffee.'
'Never'
'Right that's it, the sleigh doesn't go out tonight'
'And that's your final position.'
'It is'
'Right, this meeting is over, you can all go home.'
There was a general murmuring and moaning and shuffling of papers. Then a quiet voice at the end of the table said 'no, it's not right.'
All heads turned towards Rudolph in disbelief. 'Shut up, who asked you to speak' said Frosty menacingly.
'Yes be quiet Rudolph' said Blitzen, 'you're only here to take notes, this is important stuff, what do you know about union and management business.'
'Nothing, but I know this just isn't right.'
'Santa, Blitzen, let him speak' said Mrs Claus, 'it can't do any harm, let's hear what he has to say.'
'Go on then Rudolph' said Santa, 'what is it?'
Nervously Rudolph looked around the table. 'I'm sorry but this just can't be right. This is too important.'
'What do you mean?' Santa and Blitzen asked in unison. (Actually Blitzen was in the National Association of Reindeer and Elves, not Unison, but you get the point.)
'What's the most important thing at stake here?' asked Rudolph, looking scared but determined.
'That we get our carrots and coffee back' said Blitzen, looking defiant.
That they come to their senses and agree to our modernisation agenda' said Frosty, glowering across the table.
'No its not'
'Yes it is.'
'No, listen to me, what's far more important than that?'
Santa, Frosty and the reindeer looked confused, but it was Mrs Claus who broke the silence.
'That the children all around the world get their presents?'
'That's it' said Rudolph, 'and I'm listening to all your arguments, but nobody is focussing on what the most important outcome is, and surely that's one thing you can all agree with.'
'Well yes I suppose'
'Now you put it like that'
There was a general nodding of heads. Only Frosty glowered, but he didn't like children anyway.
'So' continued Rudolph, growing a little in confidence, 'surely you can come to some kind of agreement that means the children get their presents.'
'Well I suppose?.' said Santa
'Maybe?.' said Blitzen
'If we were to move forward on some of the issues'
'Perhaps we could compromise, and get the presents out on Boxing Day, it'll only be a day late.'
'That's settled then.'
Even as Santa and the reindeer started to stand up, a small voice said 'no.'
'What do you mean no, Rudolph.'
'You can't compromise on this. It's too important, Boxing Day is too late. The children will be expecting their presents on Christmas morning.'
'There's no way.'
'It just can't be done.'
'It's your fault.'
'No it's your fault.'
'Please listen to me' said Rudolph. Even though he spoke quietly, the shouting ceased and those around the table looked at him thoughtfully. All except Frosty, who just glowered.
'Go on Rudolph' said Mrs Claus.
'Please stay focussed on what's really important' pleaded Rudolph, 'that the children get their presents on Christmas morning, that's the goal we can all agree on.'
There was a general nodding of heads, apart from Frosty, who stood up and glared at Rudolph.
'It just can't be done' he shouted. 'Santa, we have to take a stand, it's time these lazy good for nothing reindeer were taught a lesson.'
Even as Blitzen opened his mouth Santa spoke.
'No you're wrong Frosty, I'm sorry, but Rudolph's right, the children have to get their presents.'
'Damn those children' roared Frosty, and stormed from the room.
'Go on Rudolph, you need to help us here.'
'Okay' said Rudolph, 'now you are all agreed on the goal we can try and find a way forward.'
'We can never agree with them' said Santa and Blitzen together.
'You don't have to' said Rudolph, 'I'm not expecting you to agree with each other, just to respect each other and your different views.'
'Okay.'
'And to be willing to believe there could be an outcome which is a win for both of you.'
Santa and Blitzen looked doubtful, but they had heard enough common sense from Rudolph to want to hear more.
'Go on' said Santa
'And to be willing to listen to each other rather than interrupting with your point of view. To listen to each other until you really understand each other.'
'Okay' said Santa and Blitzen 'we'll try.'
'But not here' said Rudolph, not in the board room, please come with me.'
And he led them all down to the workshop, where some comfortable chairs were gathered around the Christmas tree and a fire burned brightly. They sank into the chairs, sitting next to each other rather than across the board room table.
'Now' said Rudolph, 'are you willing to focus on the goal, to treat each other with respect, to think a win for both of you might be possible and to listen deeply to each other for understanding?'
After a moment's pause Santa, Mrs Claus and all three reindeer nodded in agreement.
'We'll try' said Blitzen, 'will you stay and help us Rudolph if it all goes wrong?'
Rudolph nodded, and haltingly at first, but then with more confidence they began. First Blitzen laid out his position. He talked of his concerns over the safety of the sleigh, how he felt upset when the carrot increase was refused and why the free coffee was so important to them. At times Santa seemed indignant and wanted to interrupt, but he glanced at Rudolph and forced himself to hold back. When Blitzen had finished Santa repeated back the main points he had heard until they agreed he understood.
Then Santa did the same, setting out his views, and the reindeer listened deeply.
It took a long time, far into the night, but gradually, with a new spirit of wanting to move forward, wanting to understand and to focus on their common goal, progress was made. Occasionally Rudolph would intervene, but more and more he found he didn't need to. There was a new-found respect, and they also began to realise that they were not far apart in their views.
Bit by bit they reached agreement. The reindeer would work with Santa to load the sleigh and make sure it was safe, a small carrot increase would be introduced in stages in the new year, and a new coffee alternative was explored.
Finally Santa and Blitzen stood up and shook hand and hoof warmly, and then embraced Rudolph.
'Come on' they said, let's go to work.'
And because Santa's workshop is a magical place time stood still as everyone worked together to finish the last minute toys, to load the sleigh, to put on warm clothing for the journey ahead and to programme the sat nav for countless roofs and chimneys. The renewed sense of purpose and shared commitment was wonderful to watch.
Finally, with a cry of 'come Prancer, come Blitzen' the sleigh shot high into the sky, Santa holding on tightly to the reins and sipping from his hip flask. He turned and smiled, waving at Mrs Claus as she watched far below. Thanks to Rudolph it was going to be a wonderful Christmas morning for children across the world.
Meanwhile, up in the board room, next to the dying fire a colourful scarf lay on the ground next to a puddle of water. Sometimes you can be just too full of hot air.
Okay, so I know it wouldn't really happen quite like this. Change in mindsets and attitudes of this kind takes time, but they have to start somewhere. And when these changes do happen magic occurs, and amazing solutions emerge to previously intransigent situations. There's a Rudolph somewhere in every organisation. They're called 'natural leaders.' They just need to build up the courage to speak up, to understand that, however lowly they feel they are, they can make a difference.
Imagine what Rudolph could achieve at British Airways, at Royal Mail, even in Copenhagen. Or maybe in your organisation?
Thank you for reading my blog during 2009. I really appreciate it. Have a wonderful and magical Christmas. See you in the New Year.
Sunday 13 December
Unlocking the potential that drives change, values-led decisiveness, a proud day in Newcastle and my failed contribution to sensible drinking.
Regular readers will remember how proud I am to be working with the Managing Director of a traditional manufacturing site. His desire and challenge has been to transform the negative culture built up over many years to one where people enjoy coming to work, feel they can and want to give their best every day, have freedom to act, are held accountable and have some fun.
The last year has been very hard work but also very rewarding. This Managing Director and his senior team understood that the journey started with them and they have worked hard on their own behaviours and actions, role modelling the type of behaviours they wanted to see in others. A year on and there are real signs of progress, evidenced by measured improvements in staff satisfaction and by a significant move forward in financial results. Although this financial performance is by no means all down to culture change we know it has been a contributory factor.
But what we also know that it will take two to three years to deliver the changes we want to make and to transform the site, and that this leader and his senior team cannot do it on their own. Now is the time to engage more people on the site directly in the journey.
The 'normal' route to do this may have been to work with the next level down of managers, (and we will do some work with them later in the year), but instead we have started off by identifying a group of people across the site whom we believe are 'natural leaders.' These are people from every level in the hierarchy, drawn from operations, maintenance, the laboratory and finance. Several of them have no line management responsibility. What they all have in common is that they demonstrate leadership every day, not through the position they hold but through who they are. They are 'natural leaders.' They already display positive attitudes and energy. In their own way they are already making a difference every day. We know that if we can harness this positivity and energy they can make a real contribution to our journey.
We met with them at the end of last week and explored with them how they could help. It was a superb session. Although they obviously have a certain amount of trepidation (peer and colleague leadership is not without its challenges) they are really behind the changes and welcome the chance to play their part. Critically they have already seen the difference the senior team has achieved over the past year.
They realise that part of their roles will simply be around demonstrating positive attitudes, and challenging negative behaviour but that they may also be able to do more. They will meet in the new-year and consider what else they could arrange or orchestrate as a group.
It is so exciting and satisfying to watch this kind of change in action, to understand what can be achieved when you involve, engage and empower the right people. Those 'natural leaders' are there in every team and organisation, including your own. Sometimes we just need to dig a bit deeper to find them and to understand how we can unlock their immense potential. I'll keep you up to date with what they get up to in 2010.
An experience last week vividly demonstrated to me the very different approaches managers have to dealing with poor performance in their teams. I understand how difficult it is to deal with under performance, sometimes it feels far easier to ignore problems in the hope they will go away, but they very rarely if ever do.
I was coaching two managers in a large company and both have problems with one of their team. The first manager's approach is, I am afraid, typical, and one I was definitely guilty of on occasions in my previous corporate life. They have a member of their team who is simply not performing. He is a nice enough person (which makes it all the harder) but he is not delivering the required results. This has been going on for some months and the manager knows it needs to be addressed. But for a variety of reasons (and excuses) it has not been tackled. Instead I suspect the manager is hoping the problem will go away somehow ('perhaps he will look for another job') and has fallen into the trap of taking on some of that person's work themselves, because they are so anxious to deliver for their stakeholder. Sound familiar? The result, of course, is that the problems have not gone away, indeed they have got worse. We spent tile last week talking through what needed to be done and putting an action plan in place to begin to address and resolve the issues. This starts with setting really clear measurable deliverables, and then reviewing progress regularly. This lies at the heart of effective performance management.
The second manager works in the same organisation and has similar issues with one of their team. The difference is their absolute determination to deal with the challenges. They are not willing to let the matter rest, or to ignore it. They want to find a way to address the issues quickly and effectively. This is only a young manager, and she needs support and guidance in taking her actions, but this does not mask her determination. The other thing that I find amazing is that she wants to do things in the right way. She wants to ensure that her approach and the action she takes is both firm but also fair. I find this rare in so young a manager and was interested to find what was behind this approach. We had a fascinating discussion over who has been the role model for her when it comes to doing things right, and it is her father. She spoke about how she has learned so much from him, about life and about doing the right thing in business (he runs a successful business of his own.) She might not have used the words but her approach is totally values-led, based around deep rooted beliefs about firmness and fairness she has learned from her father. She is a pleasure to work with and, if she chooses to, I believe she has the ability to build a very successful business career.
Which brings me through the most wonderful of links to my own eldest daughter, Lindsay, who graduated from Newcastle University last week. I hope I have played some small part in the person she is today (as every Dad does) and graduation was the opportunity to feel so proud. I think that the graduation ceremony is a really important recognition of achievements at University, academically and in very other way. I actually love the pomp and ceremony that accompanies it. It was a relatively small graduation ceremony ( a 'mop up' mainly, Lindsay had been travelling in the summer and missed graduation with most of her course mates and friends), but great nevertheless. My only disappointment was that the Pro Vice Chancellor's speech was all about the University and its future. While that's no doubt important (alumni donations I would cynically suggest) I think it would have been far more appropriate to focus on the graduates themselves and what the future holds for them.
The best example of this was at Jakkie's son Lewis' graduation a few years ago at Durham. The Chancellor there is no less than Bill Bryson, one of my favourite authors and all round good person. He gave an absolutely superb speech in the grand surroundings of Durham Cathedral, but that he managed to direct personally to every one of the hundreds of graduates in the room. It really was about them as an individual and the contribution they could make in the future.
Connections abound because I am currently reading Bryson's book 'Made in America.' If you are familiar with his writing you may agree with me that he is a superb author, with a truly funny and engaging style. I am so jealous! If you haven't read any of his books start with 'Notes from a Small Island', an irreverent trip round the UK and just brilliant. I thought I had read all his books but then came across 'Made in America.' Bryson is fascinated (as I am) with language and its origins and this book is a six hundred page dip into the origins of hundreds of words and particularly sayings in everyday use. And it really is more exciting than I have just made it sound!
Take three examples, all in a chapter on politics, the terms 'left and right', 'filibuster' and 'gerrymander'. You may already know where these terms came from, but if you don't I hope you will humour me as I explain.
'Left and right' emerged from France when, after the 1789 French Revolution, the French National Assembly was formed. It was customary for more radical commoners to sit to the left of the President and more conservative nobility and clergy to fill the seats to the right. These labels transferred to British and American politics even though the terms did not reflect actual seating arrangements.
'Filibuster' began as the Dutch 'vrijbuiter' meaning 'pirate.' By the time it had morphed into the British word 'filibuster' it was used in America to describe those who formed private armies with a view top taking over Central American countries, as was the vogue in the nineteenth century. From there it was a short leap to describe any vaguely disruptive debating tactic in Congress and on to its present sense of a willful delaying action designed to thwart the passage of a bill.
'Gerrymander' is, however, my favourite and most obscure. Meaning to re-draw electoral boundaries to favour a particular political party it dates from 1812. Governor Elbridge Gerry was engaged in an 'audacious cartographic manipulation' (Bryson's words) to preserve its grip on the state assembly. Noticing that the outline of one district now resembled a reptile in shape someone sketched on to the map a head and legs and called it a salamander. 'No', cried an onlooker, 'it's a gerrymander.'
So there!
One other connection from Newcastle was that Jakkie and I stayed in the same hotel Monday as Joe and Cheryl from X Factor, who had been appearing at the Sage. Unfortunately we did not see them. I am writing this on Sunday afternoon, half way through the X Factor final, and am hooked, as I have been throughout the series. The obscene amount of money involved in the show amazes me, not least the fortune being amassed by Simon Cowell himself, who I have not forgiven for saving the misfits at the expense of Lucie. Apparently there are 96 adverts over the course of the two programmes, at a total cost of £18 million, or £187,500 per advert. And some of the adverts are only ten seconds long, but I assume people at Oxo and X Box consider it value for money.
I was amused to see regular adverts for Crabbies alcoholic ginger beer, which I suppose demonstrates how lucrative the alcopops industry is. But it all could have been so different. Back in the early nineties I was asked to be the sales representative on a top secret new product development team in Bass. In hush-hush discussions, something akin to MI5, they told me they were developing Hooch, an alcoholic ginger beer, and had plans in place for an alcoholic lemonade as well. They asked me my views. My salesman's nouse and insight leapt into action. 'Alcoholic soft drinks. Don't be stupid, they'll never sell' I said.
The rest is history, but at least I would like to think I played my small, if unsuccessful, part in trying to save society from the problems alcopops would cause in the almost twenty years since. Funnily enough I was never invited to another meeting.
And finally, if you recover from the excitement of X Factor in time, join me next week for a cautionary Christmas tale. For it is the night before Christmas, but all is not well in Santa's workshop?.
Sunday 6 December
Chaos at the heart of education, dream boards, board women and the horror of a six foot singing Santa.
It's Sunday evening and I'm currently recovering at the end of a very sociable week (by my standards anyway.) The week gave me the opportunity to catch up with friends and ex work colleagues, and inevitably to get involved in all sorts of deep conversations putting the world to rights.
One particularly disturbing chat was with a friend who runs a business giving life skills training to school students. Over a few beers he explained his complete frustration with current education policy as it affects disadvantaged teenagers. It goes something like this. The Government has decided that it must increase the number of GCSE passes in English and Maths. As such (and this is so familiar from this Government) it has poured resources at this goal and introduced tough targets for schools to obtain. It has demanded absolute focus on achievement of these targets, at the expense of all else. It no doubt has put some pretty big penalties in place for those head teachers and schools who fail to comply or deliver. And I'm sure it waves an impressively large stick.
The result? I have no doubt that GCSE passes are improving (what gets measured tends to get done) but to what purpose and at what cost? While resources are focussed on these achievements they are being diverted away from the life skills development so crucial for disadvantaged teenagers.
The outcome is that many teenagers are leaving school, maybe having scraped a GCSE pass in Maths and English (and I know that is important), but completely lacking in the social skills, the personal responsibility, the values and the wherewithal to apply their new found academic success.
What I never understand about the education system is how little attention is paid to the development of life skills in our children. Of course it is important to focus on academic attainment . Basic Maths and English skills are crucial, as is an understanding (a common sense understanding that is) of history, geography and science, but just as important is the preparation of our teenagers for the social challenges that lie ahead.
That should include a significant investment in teaching such things as social responsibility, financial awareness, values, their role as citizens. If this was approached with as much rigour as the academic targets, and taught by specialist teachers or outside support, not as an additional burden for non-specialist or form teachers, we just might begin to see disadvantaged students leaving the education system with something really worthwhile, maybe even ready and willing to contribute to society.
And yes, I know the primary responsibility for this part of education should lie with parents. But where they are unable or unwilling to provide it, where their examples are not to be followed, teachers can become role models and fill that gap.
I am well aware from my friend at how frustrated head teachers are with this whole situation. They feel their hands are tied with this single minded drive for minimum academic achievement. They find themselves unable to divert resources to where they think it would have the most impact. Releasing head teachers from bureaucracy and government interference, giving them the freedom to allocate their own resources, is crucial.
Another conversation over a beer during the week was altogether more positive. This was with a friend who runs a large property company employing hundreds of people. Anxious to encourage people throughout the organisation to contribute to business improvement ideas they have introduced a fantastic concept they call Dream Boards. It runs something like this. Anyone in the company is encouraged to submit an idea for improving business performance. This could be anything; one that generates sales, reduces costs, improves efficiency, builds morale etc. Alongside that idea they can also submit their dream. Again there are no limits, it could be scuba diving in the Seychelles, climbing Everest, or volunteering in Africa. All business ideas are vetted and if they are valid (and by that I mean relevant, in whatever way, not necessarily ones to implement) the dream is entered into an anonymous ballot. Every six months colleagues throughout the company vote secretly for which dream they want to make come true. The company then funds the dream (to a generous expenditure limit.)
What I find so stunning about this scheme is its simplicity and attraction. They are generating hundreds of business ideas, many of which are implemented, and letting everyone participate in selecting which dreams they want to make happen. Brilliant.
Just as brilliant was the news this week that the French Government is seeking to introduce legislation that would require all French publicly listed companies to increase the number of women on their Boards to 50% by 2015. While I am not usually in favour of positive discrimination I think sometimes a problem is so deep rooted that only intervention can change it.
This may seem to be inconsistent with my comments above on targets for GCSE attainment, but I think it's all about balance, and picking the right cause. The problem is that without intervention real change will just be too slow, it will take generations, just because of the imbalance and inherent sexism that currently exists. Well done Mr Sarkozy (and I never thought I'd write that!)
I believe a similar approach would reap so many dividends in the UK. Maybe 50% is too high a target, but at least increasing representation above its current 12% level amongst FTSE 250 companies. Indeed one on four of those Boards are currently all male, which is appalling.
I guess there is still a long way to go though. It takes me back to a wonderful episode of 'Yes Minister' when Hacker tells Sir Humphrey of his latest plan, to increase the number of women in his department. Sir Humphrey is momentarily thrown into shock but quickly recovers, 'Oh Minister', he says. 'I don't think we have any vacancies for cleaners and tea ladies at the moment.' Priceless.
As I've already mentioned last week was a delightful mixture of great client days and socialising. My daughter Charlotte and I went to see James Morrison on Tuesday evening (that guy is a star, and so lacking in ego), then after a drink with friends on Wednesday evening and a Christmas night at a local stately home on Thursday (very festive indeed) it was off to London on Friday for a very alcoholic lunch with ex colleagues from Voyager Pub Group. It is eight years since we worked together but the camaraderie and story telling is still going strong.
All this has left me in a very amiable and even a bit excited Christmas mood, which was helped with a very warm and friendly Christmas Fayre and Coffee Shop at our village hall Saturday morning (even if I was a bit worse of wear after London!)
It was nearly all a bit of a disaster though when I got home Monday evening to find a six foot tall intruder in our lounge. Closer inspection showed this to be a singing Father Christmas, very amusing for about 15 seconds, but now the next few weeks stretch ahead. It's all very well but when you are halfway through a television programme and someone walks into the lounge we are subjected to a full minute's singing and dancing routine from a somewhat sleazy character in the corner.
A friend of mine, who was the least supportive of me buying Dennis the fire engine, did point out that I seem to make a habit of buying big useless red things. I have some sympathy with his view.
But another week begins and tomorrow Jakkie and I are off to Newcastle for my daughter Lindsay's graduation. I am going to be one very proud Dad.
Saturday 28 November
The challenge of mediocrity, assiduous measurement, dinner reservations on the Titanic, a perfect Christmas shopping morning, and the death of my tooth.
I had a fascinating insight during the last week to the extraordinary difference great leadership can make. There are two organisations in the same market sector and I have been watching the progress of both of them over the past three years. They are both membership organisations, providing a host of activities, services and support to a large membership base.
The first organisation was, by a whole series of measures, seriously failing three years ago. Staff morale was at rock bottom, performance was poor and it was spectacularly failing to deliver for its members. At that point it appointed a new Chief Executive, someone with a proven record of success. Many were surprised he took the job, seeing it as a poisoned chalice. Last week I met up with someone who knows that organisation very well today, and who had no hesitation in describing it as being truly great, delivering superbly across its wide range of activities. In my view the sole reason for the turnaround has been this Chief Executive, his leadership, clarity, vision and determination to succeed in the most difficult of circumstances has been amazing. They have made dramatic improvements in each of the last three years.
The second organisation has had the same Chief Executive for over fifteen years. He is a thoroughly decent and likable man. Three years ago I would have described his organisation as being mediocre. Not failing by any means, financially very sound and with high levels of involvement in certain areas, but simply not delivering at anywhere near the potential it has. Today it remains mediocre, it has 'flat lined' for the past three years, and is now far behind the performance of the first organisation. In truth it has flat lined for every one of the past fifteen years. Financially secure, doing one or two good things, but scandalously failing to deliver for its members in the way it could.
I had the opportunity to visit that organisation last week and could just sense the feeling of frustration amongst staff and trustees. They know they could be doing so much more, but frankly until there is a change of leadership at the top it is simply not going to happen. The trustees have some difficult decisions to take.
There is a word of caution here. The rise of the first organisation has been dramatic, and it can only be regarded as truly great if it is sustained. Most importantly the existing Chief Executive will leave at some point. He has much still to offer and will do so in bigger jobs. If he is a true 'level 5 leader' he will ensure he leaves his organisation in exactly the right place to continue its success. He will already have a succession plan in place.
Over the last few days I have run two workshops examining various aspects of measurement. I believe that the constant measurement of performance lies at the heart of a high performance culture. For me this is a culture in any team or organisation where people really know what is expected of them, they want to deliver, they feel enabled and supported to do so, their performance is regularly reviewed and a whole series of targets and measures are in place to make that a meaningful exercise.
There is no rocket science here, what gets measured gets done, and it would be pretty pointless watching a football match, for example, if no-one kept the score. Well I think it would, anyway.
My model is that everyone, in any team or organisation, should have a clear, unambiguous role statement. This should be capable of being written in no more than twenty words, it is not a job description. It should set out clearly why the role exists.
This should by a small number of clear objectives. I personally favour just three, there is ample evidence that if we are focussed just on three things at any one time the chances of achieving all three with excellence are pretty high. (See my stuff on 'Power of 3' elsewhere on my web site.) I believe these should get to the heart of what the job is about, and should not be add-ons to the day job. As such they should account for around 70% of what that person does in their role.
Ideally they should also give 'line of sight' enabling that person, wherever they work in the organisation, clarity that what they are doing is important because it is contributing to the overall goals, strategy and vision of the organisation. Where this works that line of sight can be awesome and compelling. I think that usually those objectives can be set for a full year, because they are at the heart of what the job is about. In certain roles, such as those responsible for delivering specific projects, the time scale may be shorter, and new objectives needed during the year.
Now comes the hard part. It is essential that those objectives can be measured and therefore they must be SMART. Most of us are familiar with that acronym for goal setting, but have slightly different definitions of the letters. I prefer 'simple, measurable, audacious, realistic and timely'. 'Audacious' is a strange one, people usually use 'achievable' but that is too close to 'realistic' for me, and I think that 'audacious' pushes us to set objectives which truly take us forward, that will make a difference, with 'realistic' providing a counter-balance.
The hard work is making them SMART, and particularly measurable, but you can get there and it is really worth the effort.
That makes a monthly sit down between manager and subordinate (which I think is at the heart of a high performance culture) such a simple exercise. The meeting is focussed on reviewing performance against the objectives, with the manager's role being to clear the path, to enable the subordinate to deliver.
I see the need to adopt an assiduous approach to measurement. Be relentless in setting objectives for your team that are measurable and then making those measurements happen. You will be repaid in great performance and results many times over.
A further sophistication as a measurement tool is the balanced scorecard, which I think particularly works well at a team level. A balanced scorecard is, as the name suggests, a tool for measuring a range of results instead of simply financial targets. It recognises that far more goes into a rounded performance by a team than just delivering numbers, and in fact achieving those numbers is an outcome of getting a series of other things absolutely right.
Typically I see a balanced scorecard as having four quadrants. One of those will almost certainly have financial targets within it, and another will have some other numbers, maybe some clear numerical non-financial targets. It is impossible to be more precise than that because there are so many variations depending on the team and organisation. I then believe that the other two quadrants should focus on staff and customer measures. These could include staff training, development, reviews and satisfaction, and maybe customer complaints and customer satisfaction.
As ever the hard work is in putting together the right things to measure, and then creating viable targets and measurements. I think that ideally there should only be two targets and measures per quadrant, no more than eight in total. And only ever measure the most important things. As the Titanic was sinking the number of bookings for dinner that night was somewhat irrelevant.
I'm just back from a really enjoyable annual Christmas shopping trip with my daughter Charlotte. I seem to have got this properly organised now as Charlotte has got older. Now she sets off on her own round town while I headed for Starbucks to while away an hour or so, followed by a quick browse around the market to buy some food, before meeting up for lunch. Perfect! Not a great trip for buying presents myself, but I have earmarked my one day in a couple of weeks where I will head out and complete all my shopping at one go.
I had some quite sad news this week. I suffered from a nagging toothache last weekend and booked an emergency dentist appointment on Tuesday. I hate the dentist (it's a long story and goes back to some sadistic treatment when I was a kid) but was anxious to be relieved of the pain (us men are not great at pain!) The dentist's verdict is that one of my teeth has died. Funnily I didn't know teeth died. I find it really sad because it's been a part of me for a very long time, almost as long as I can remember. Looks like it's going to have to come out before Christmas, and then I'm thinking a quiet funeral with close family only. No flowers please.
It must be getting near Christmas because there's a busy social week ahead. Going to see James Morrison on Tuesday evening, a night out on Broad Street with friends on Wednesday and then off to London for lunch with the old Voyager team on Friday. I'm hoping that toothache stays away!
Sunday 22 November
Why personal effectiveness lies at the heart of the leadership journey, two fat ladies prove to be a hit, a leaking roof and lots of ball scratching in the planning department.
I spent two stimulating and enjoyable days this week working with senior managers from a major environmental charity. They were participants on a leadership programme designed to equip them to deliver major changes within their world.
I have rarely come across a group of such intellectual and focussed people. They are deeply committed to their cause. But they also understand that in order to succeed intellect alone is not enough. They also need to hone their leadership skills in order to engage with their stakeholders, to set out their vision, and to execute their strategy through their people.
We began their leadership journey with two days focussed on building personal effectiveness. Sometimes people find this a strange place to start. They expect me to leap into a session in setting vision and strategy or empowerment or team leadership.
But I believe deeply that personal effectiveness is the only place to begin a leadership journey. By this I mean how effective leaders are within themselves, how they build mutually beneficial relationships with all those around them and how they model the behaviours they want to see in others.
When we are personally effective we have managed to build and to maintain balance in our lives. We understand that although on occasions we end up spinning a few plates this is not sustainable over a prolonged period of time. We know that we need to challenge beliefs, our own and those around us. Only when we challenge those beliefs, persuade ourselves and others to see situations differently, will we act and behave differently and get different results.
Truly effective people also understand that they always have the freedom to make choices, about anything. They exercise that freedom to choose whatever the stimulus, basing their choices on what they know is the right decision or course of action to take. They also constantly set goals, at every level, thinking out what they want the outcomes to be, whether it's a meeting, a project, performance review targets or a business plan.
They then have the ability to deliver those goals through the highly effective management of their time. This is the breakthrough point at which spinning plates ceases. They take control, understand what their most important things to deliver are, plan their time effectively every week, making sure they devote sufficient time to their most important priorities, and then execute daily with integrity and discipline.
Highly effective people then build great relationships with those around them. They understand that those relationships are important and that they have to be nurtured. They invest time in them. They seek win-win solutions through deep win-win thinking and take the time to always listen first, in order to truly understand other people. They also understand that there is always a better solution available to issues and disputes than simply compromising.
Finally highly personally effective people are role models. They understand that they cannot expect those around them to behave in a certain way unless they model those behaviours themselves, constantly and genuinely.
Personal effectiveness really does lie at the heart of the leadership journey. It's the only place it can start. When people are personally effective they have the inner confidence, the willingness and the ability to lead those around them, to build clarity, engage their people and influence their boss and colleagues. Through that they can then contribute to a much bigger journey within the organisation and beyond.
I'm sorry if this all sounds like a bit of a sermon, it's not meant to be. I hope you are still reading! I do believe that over the course of our two days last week the participants understood why personal effectiveness is where the leadership journey begins. Through combining superb leadership with their intellect they will be best positioned to achieve their amazing ambitions.
Talking of amazing ambitions, our plan to build a new village hall here in Fradswell continues, albeit very slowly indeed. Regular followers will be aware of the poor, even decrepit, state of our current hall. It is a tumble down wooden structure, over 80 years old, having started life as an army hut.
But over the past year or so a group of us have revived it, building a series of events, including a monthly coffee shop, which are now being attended by a wide cross session of our small rural community. Village hall meetings still resemble something out of the 'Vicar of Dibley', but we are making progress.
Last night we held a 'beer, burgers and bingo' evening, and it was fabulous. What I hadn't realised is how popular bingo is, with enthusiastic participation from all ages. I took on the role of bingo caller. This onerous responsibility was based on a part time job I had in a bingo hall while in sixth form many years ago. Lots of things haven't changed. Back then the bingo took place in a dilapidated hall patronised by a group of almost entirely female devotees, who seemed very old but probably ranged from forty upwards. I was scripted by management to open every session with the line 'good evening ladies and welcome to the Ritz. Does anybody want to shake my balls before we start?' Night after night the same audience would erupt into laughter with calls of 'I'll shake your balls anytime sonny.' This was quite a lot to take for an impressionable seventeen years old and probably scarred me for life. Funnily enough last night's response was very similar.
Our big problem at the moment is that our village hall roof has started to leak. Should we commit money to repairing it when we are going to build a new hall? What makes the issue more complicated is uncertainty over how long it will take before we can start building. I thought gaining outline planning permission would be quick and simple. How naïve I was. The great cogs of local government planning are turning, or to be exact barely turning at all. It has been some months since we submitted the application and it seems to have fallen into a great black hole of nothingness.
I guess that's the issue of local government. It reminds me of a friend of mine who once applied for a job in the local planning department. He was asked at the interview if he had any health issues. He explained that he had been in the army and on active service he had been injured in an explosion and lost both his testicles. He also explained that he was allergic to caffeine. He got the job and was told that the hours were 9am to 5pm, but he should arrive for work at 11am daily. When he queried this anomaly he was told 'this is local government, we stand around and drink coffee and scratch our balls for the first two hours every morning so there'd be no point in you being there.'
Monday 16 November
On taking a new leadership position, vibrancy, innovation, a rant at budget airlines, and on Barry, a fish with fingers.
Last week I spent time with the newly appointed Chief Executive and Operations Director of a large organisation. The Chief Executive took up his post some eight months ago and has already begun to come to grips with addressing the many challenges he inherited.
He has just appointed his Operations Director, and sees this as a crucial part of his jigsaw, for this person is inheriting the most dysfunctional part of the organisation. His areas have under-performed, there has been little evidence of leadership, systems and processes are poor, and a 'don't care' culture has, not surprisingly, grown up. There is also evidence of at least doubtful practices, due to lack of basic controls.
Sound familiar? The challenges this new Director faces are certainly not unique. The challenge we were chatting through last week is where to start. The problems are so many and varied, it is difficult to know how to begin addressing them.
I have a view that whenever a new leader is appointed to head up any team or organisation (and this could be through an internal move as well) they should not be tempted to rush in and try and solve everything overnight. Instead they should follow three distinct steps during their first months in the job.
The first step is to listen and to learn. This does not mean doing nothing. This process is essential if the new leader is to make informed choices about what to change. But it means really listening. Digging deep into the team or organisation, not just to the immediate reports. And it also means listening to understand, not thinking you already know the answers. Ask a couple of questions to everyone you meet with, maybe such as 'what are the best things that happen round here?' and 'what is the one thing you want me to do first?' This can build up a real picture of where to focus action.
There is no set time scale for this listening and learning phase, it depends on the size of the team or organisation and the extent of the challenge. But ideally it should take the first 100 days, and will require real discipline to stop you leaping in and taking action.
The next step is then to fix those things that just immediately need fixing. They are so obvious and so crucial that they cannot wait. It is important to stress that these first and second steps are sequential, but one will not neatly stop to allow the second to begin. During the listening and learning phase you will come across things that simply cannot wait and need fixing immediately. Some of these fixes will be quite small, an obvious process that needs to stop, a control that needs to be put in, but some will be much larger, and could even involve someone 'leaving the bus' who is so blatantly now going to be part of the journey.
Remember also that your people are watching you intently during these first two phases, they are studying your every move. The way you model your behaviours to them during this time be fundamental to the way they work with you in the future.
Now, and only now, is it possible to commence with the third step. This is the plan and execute change phase, where you take what you have learned and really map out how you are going to make a difference, how you are going to build a great team or organisation. Of course you will have been building up your ideas during the first two phases, and you will now be in the best possible position to get on and make them happen.
You will still need a robust framework for planning that final phase, and in our discussions last week I introduced the Operations Director to the 'Circle of Organisational Effectiveness', a model I use many times with leaders to help them deliver great things.
I don't even think you necessarily need to be joining a new team or organisation to make changes happen. Too often we have become a bit stale in a role, we know we need, as leaders, to provide new impetus, energy and direction. Begin your listening and learning phase now, even afresh in your current role. It can deliver amazing results.
I also spent a day last week with an organisation I have been proud to support for three years or more now, one who is at the other end of a journey of change. They have a challenging and exciting vision in place and are well into the execution phase. What has been really special is how the senior leadership team have involved so many people right across the organisation in the planning and execution of the vision and strategy. Last week we ran a workshop where around forty people drawn from all levels came together to present their ideas for achieving the vision. Their vibrancy, energy and enthusiasm was amazing. They had also come up with some really innovative ideas that went beyond any thinking the senior leadership team could have developed on their own.
It re-enforced my firm belief that people throughout organisations have so much latent potential, and that if you take the time and effort to unlock it they will deliver amazing results for you.
So no sooner did I blog last week on the decline and fall of British Airways that they announce their merger with Iberia. This is a great example how, even when a mighty company falls, it does not have to be terminal. I shared with you last week Jim Collins' views on the five stages of decline, and how, with new thinking and the right strategy, it is possible to arrest that decline (see below to remind yourself of them.) However, only time will tell if, for Willie Walsh and his colleagues, this is a bright new, well thought out dawn, or if it is simply a grasp for salvation.
And while on the subject of airlines a flight to Edinburgh last week reminded me of how, in my view, budget airline travel has gone too far with its 'low fare, add on everything else' model. This flight was with BMI Baby, an airline I quite like, who until recently have avoided the policy followed almost evangelically by the likes of Ryan Air and Easy Jet. Not any longer. First of all I had to check in on line to avoid paying at the airport. I would quite have liked to sit next to Jakkie on the way up, and assumed checking in at the same time would allow this. But we were allocated seats 19F and 20A, which might be sequential according to the strict laws of logic, but resulted in us travelling up several seats apart. A cynical ploy to make us pay extra to guarantee we could sit together. Then on the way back we had to pay the check in booking fee. They assured me I could have found the option to do so on line, but I hadn't seen it.
I would far rather we returned to a slightly higher flight cost with at least a basic level of service included.
I do understand that the simple answer is not to fly, but when I have to travel that far flying is still the most efficient way to do it. And the final part of the approach to Edinburgh, over the Firth of Forth in the early morning sunshine, is one of my favourites and almost made up for my simmering discontentment.
I had a very pleasant weekend with my children in Newcastle while Jakkie and her daughter headed off to London. I enjoyed a few drinks on Saturday evening around the bars (an unusual way for me to spend a Saturday evening these days but it allowed me to get my X Factor boycott underway) and a walk round the market on the Quayside yesterday morning. I was slightly less enamoured to get the following text from Jakkie 'On Carnaby Street, been to Libertys, off to Harrods now then the Ritz.' I'm looking forward to the next credit card bill with some trepidation!
Finally, I have blogged in the past over my continual frustration that whenever a character who shares the name Barry appears in a film of on television it is always given to the village idiot character. Honestly, it happens all the time and its outrageous. What is wrong with such a fine name that it obviously causes hilarity amongst script writers. I have been putting together a list of heroes who share my name and have so far come up with McGuigan, White, Blue, Manilow, Sheene and Cryer. Even 'Brummie Barry' in 'Auf Weideisein Pet' is a kind of hero.
Imagine how pleased I therefore was to come across a children's book the other day called 'Barry the Fish with Fingers.' The hero of the story is a fish called Barry who, well, has fingers. And he is very brave, using his fingers to great effect to save his fishy friends. Can I propose it as a Christmas stocking addition for you this year?
Monday 9 November
A week full of stuff- the Berlin Wall, the fall of the mighty, thoughts on poppies, a wonderful teacher, the shocking discovery of a 112 years old relative, and a slight incident involving Dennis and a gatepost.
Blogging a day late this week. I was due to post yesterday evening, but ended a great weekend absolutely apoplectic over Simon Cowell's decision (or non decision to be precise) to save the moronic John and Edward on the X Factor. What a hypocritical, ratings obsessed idiot that man is. It doesn't help that I had a hot inside tip that Lucie would win the competition, but there you go.
Yes, I know there is more to life than X Factor and here on a cold, bright Monday morning I am just starting to calm down. That stupid man pales into insignificance next to the celebration of 20 years since the Berlin Wall came down. I actually passed through Checkpoint Charlie back in 1974 on a school trip (12 countries in 21 days on a coach but that's another story.) I do share the distinction, along with 50 other spotty teenagers, of being yelled at by an East German border guard who boarded our coach, just because we found his accent so funny and began mimicking him with typical 'we have vays of making you talk' and 'don't mention the war' kind of lines. Not sensible on reflection (he had a big gun) but, hey, we were young.
It seems to have been a week for fascinating and sometimes controversial news so let me share some thoughts on a little more of it. Continuing the theme of how the mighty fall the results announced this week by British Airways and the Royal Bank of Scotland may pale into insignificance next to the Berlin Wall but they are still worthy of comment. They have both posted massive losses at the half-year, and are a superb demonstration of how companies considered once great can disintegrate. Jim Collins analyses this very well in his new book 'How the Mighty Fall'. You could argue that the book is a chance for him to justify why it has gone horribly wrong for companies he featured in 'Good to Great' (Fannie Mae is the best example), and he does do this extremely well, but he does produce an excellent evidence based assessment of the five stages of decline typical in organisations that fail.
I will summarise these in more detail on my web site, but the five stages he identifies are as follows:
Hubris (or arrogance) born of success
Undisciplined pursuit of more
Denial of risk and peril
Grasping for salvation
Capitulation to irrelevance or death
You can see the recent stories of both BA and RBS graphically illustrated in the above five stages. Collins demonstrates that companies sometimes move quickly through the various stages (as with RBS) or the whole thing can take several years (as with BA). For me the decline at BA began when it started to believe its own publicity (that they were really 'the World's Favourite Airline.) That's then they moved into their opulent head office (complete with fountains) and messed about with their tail plane designs. What a great example of arrogance born of success. Now, several years on, they are grasping for salvation, cutting another 20% of their workforce, facing the prospect of a cabin crew strike, a pale shadow of their former selves.
And what about RBS? It's easy to argue that they were a small pawn in a much bigger picture, and that the global economic bubble bursting was the reason for their spectacular fall, but they were led by a Chief Executive who was the epitome of arrogance and bullying, they allowed standards and controls to fall out of the window in their greed-driven pursuit of more and denial of risk and peril. Once more a company grasping for salvation, saved from death only by you, me and a few million other tax payers.
Collins does have some good news though. The progress to stage five (capitulation to irrelevance and death) is not inevitable. Decline can be reversed in any of the previous four stages. But it takes enlightened leadership and new thinking to bring about those changes. I work with one client who is a shining example of this. She is the Chief Executive of a large third sector organisation (these issues are not unique to the private sector.) Although she had built up and was leading a highly successful organisation she did not allow this to turn into arrogance. She recognised that this success was not sustainable due to a myriad of external trends and factors. She did not allow her organisation to slip into denial, but faced the brutal facts and took the necessary action to deliver radical change. She describes the life cycle of organisations as being like a series of mountain peaks. When an organisation is at its most successful it is climbing towards the peak of a mountain. Too often, however, warning signs for the future are ignored, and the organisation finds itself past the peak on the downward slope. The secret is that before you reach the peak you take the necessary action to make the leap to the next mountain and a climb up the next peak. I wish I had a flip chart (groan) because I could draw that much easier than I can write it but I hope the analogy works for you.
So yesterday was Remembrance Sunday, a chance to remember all those people who fell in the many conflicts we have been engaged in, from the First World War to Afghanistan. The last week saw heightened and at times very emotional debate over the wearing of poppies as a symbol of remembrance. I listened to one exchange on the radio where someone was virtually being accused of being a traitor for choosing not to wear a poppy.
I feel really strongly about this (seriously much more strongly than about John and Edward.) I care just as much as the next person about the sacrifice those who have fallen have made for their country. I support the war in Afghanistan, we are there for the right reasons and it is the right thing to do. I have concerns about the way the war is being executed and about a lack of clarity on the ultimate goal but it is a necessary evil. But I will not have anyone telling me I have to wear a poppy in order to demonstrate my commitment and beliefs. Whether I wear one or not is a personal choice that in no way diminishes my beliefs.
And never forget that war is at best only ever just that, a necessary evil. There is nothing glorious about it. Just spend a day visiting the battlefields of the Somme to understand that. I am a keen student of the First World War and Wilfred Owen's poem 'Dulce et Decorum Est' sums it up far more powerfully than ever I could.
It has been a sad and thought provoking week in more ways than one because it also saw the death, at the age of 90, of a person who was a very special part of my life for a couple of years. Fred Lee was my geography teacher for my A Levels many years ago. He was in many ways a very ordinary man, but remarkable nevertheless. I though of him as being so old at the time, but have worked out he was about 55 at the time, not far from the age of me and my school friends, who have been reflecting on his death on Facebook this week. I think that great teachers leave an indelible imprint on you, that you remember all your life and Fred was one of those people. He also must have had a patient sense of humour. Every day me and my mate Richard would walk to school past his house ensuring we arrived just as he was leaving and scrounging a lift in his little blue camper van. I hadn't seen him for 35 years but this week I have missed him a lot.
It was also the week in which I made a rather shocking discovery. It appears I may have a 112 years old relative, living in Somalia. Imagine my surprise to be sent the following story from the BBC's website:
Hundreds of people have attended a wedding in Somalia between a 112 years old man and his teenage wife.
Ahmed Muhamed Dore, who already has 13 children by five wives, says he would like to have more with his new wife, who is 17 years old.
Mr Dore said he and his new wife, who is young enough to be his great-great-grand-daughter, were from the same village in Somalia, and he had waited for her to grow up to propose.
Mr Dore was born in 1897, and has a traditional birth certificate, written on goat skin.
Altogether Mr Dore has 114 children and grandchildren. His oldest son is 80 years old.
Remarkable. I am now hoping to get on to one of those genealogy programmes in the hope of discovering whether this Mr Dore is in fact a distant relative (we share an unusual name) or simply a role model.
And finally Dennis the fire engine was moved to winter storage in a friend's barn yesterday, but not without mishap. I donned the helmet, switched on the blue lights, and proudly drove it out of my gate. Or almost, just when I thought I was clear there was a horrible crunching sound and I noticed that my rear wheel was jammed against the gate post. At this point I was at a loss about what to do. And before you mock how many times have you had a fire engine wedged up against a gate-post? It's just no something you're trained to deal with. After frantically analysing the situation Jakkie and I decided that the only way was forward and with a crunching of metal we came free. The gatepost now has a liberal amount of red paint on it, and a slightly bedraggled Dennis is safely in winter storage.
The only good news is that the colour on the gate-post is the same as the local post van, so I think I can get away with blaming the postman. Sorted.
Saturday 31 October
Difficult conversations, expanding the mind at Christmas, back to the pub and cobwebs everywhere.
A common theme that often emerges when I talk with groups about their leadership experience is how much of a challenge so many managers find having difficult conversations with their people.
For many it is the hardest part of being a manager. They are painfully aware that there are issues with a member of their team, maybe to do with under performance or attitude, but they avoid tackling it, thinking, wrongly, that ignoring it, brushing it under the carpet, is the best thing to do.
Often this is compounded by the fact that these issues have existed for a long period of time, since well before this particular manager took over, and have never been addressed, therefore it is easier to avoid the difficult conversation in the hope the problems will go away.
The problem is that they rarely, if ever do, and it is the first conversation that is always the hardest.
Sometimes the issues are really serious. Using the bus analogy once more, these are those people who are sitting firmly at the back of the bus, wither through poor performance, or poor attitude, or a combination of the two. At worse, they are causing damage within their team or organisation, often through spreading negative energy. They may even be an assassin, placing nails under the wheels of the bus, a real threat to the journey.
However difficult those issues are they cannot be ignored. You cannot leave someone at the back of the bus, it has to be addressed. Even if the situation has been ignored before managers have a responsibility to take action. Take advice from HR by all means, but it is the line manager who must address it.
Of course there are many potential outcomes, but the approach should always be based around the principles of determination, honesty, consistency and fairness. And there's an important point here, all too often the person involved may simply be unaware of the impact of their ineffectiveness or poor attitude. They have never been told. After the initial anger or denial, once the person has had an opportunity to reflect, they may even begin to understand their impact and welcome guidance in moving forward.
In the most extreme cases, the first conversation will be part of a process of a person leaving the bus. And, critically, even though they may not recognise it immediately, in those situations it is nearly always the case that it is the right decision for the person concerned as well, at least in the longer term. No-one wants to be unhappy at work and often the person is simply in the wrong role or job.
I am often asked by leaders to challenge someone along those lines in my coaching capacity, and so often it ends with someone leaving the bus at their own volition, and it proves to be the best decision for everyone.
But of course in most situations it is not that serious an issue. An action plan, jointly agreed and executed, can lead to a resolution of the issue, and things can move forward. But engagement is critical, nothing gets sorted by being ignored.
So jus take a few minutes to reflect. Is there a conversation with one of your people that you know needs to take place but perhaps has been ignored for too long? Resolve to do something about it within the next week. With the right approach, based on the above principles, you will see positive outcomes.
So its getting closer to Christmas and you will be thinking of what presents to buy for those special people in your life. Can I promote the thought that, along with the latest DVD or packet of handkerchiefs or kitchen gadget, you consider broadening the mind with a leadership book or two?
Now before you put your head in your hands and groan (ok you are already) let me try and justify my suggestion. Over twenty or so years in 'corporate life' I never read a book on leadership or management. I was never encouraged to and in all honesty never saw the point. Maybe I thought I knew all I needed to know about leadership. How arrogant was that? Since working for myself I have read far more widely. Some books I love. Others are poorly written and a real struggle. But they do help broaden the mind. They are not there to provide the answers to the ancient mystery of leadership but they do encourage you to think about what makes a great leader and what kind of leader you want to be.
It just may be that dropping one or two into someone's Christmas stocking just could be a great investment of a few pounds.
Here are a few suggestions. Everyone is different and some prefer weighty evidence based texts, some like to be inspired by tales of heroic leaders and others enjoy books where theories are told as fables, so I've tried to include a variety of different approaches.
Servant-Leadership (edited by Ralph Lewis & John Noble)
The concept of Servant Leadership was developed by Robert Greenleaf in the 1950s. This book brings it to life with real examples presented in a thoughtful manner.
Leading Change (John Kotter)
An excellent framework for driving change in any team or organisation
Our Iceberg is Melting (John Kotter)
For those who prefer the fable approach and lots of pictures, the above book with cute penguins!
The Speed of Trust (Stephen M R Covey)
Stephen R Covey's son, makes a great case of the economic benefit of high trust in an organisation, and how to build that trust.
Gung Ho! (Ken Blanchard)
Once you get through the squirrels, beavers and geese, a compelling story of how to build a high performance culture
Head First (Tony Buzan)
The creator of mind mapping takes a look at our ten intelligences and how to develop them
All of these books are readily available from Amazon. Of course theory is all very well, but it's what you do with it that counts but these books just could provoke some resolutions on leadership styles and approaches as you enter 2010.
Yesterday marked the end of my alcohol free month, and last night I was dragged kicking and screaming (yeah, right) to the pub for a well deserved pint of Rod's excellent Adnams. I did receive some comments from one or two people (including my daughter Lindsay) as to why an alcohol free month finished on the 30th, and included one night off in mid month for a wine tasting evening at the village hall but overall I think it's a pretty good effort.
Tonight is a Halloween dinner at home with friends. How big a deal has Halloween become over the past few years? Luckily we live remotely enough not to be bothered by trickers and treaters. The worst I have to endure is a house that is completely festooned with decorations, there are bats, skeletons and cobwebs hanging from every wall. And this is the genuine article, I've checked and the cobwebs are real. My house full of women are obsessed with decorations, I worked out that with Christmas, Halloween, Easter and various birthdays there are decorations of some sort up for over 25% of the time. I always end up sounding like a grumpy old man here and I know decorations have their place but for example I would put them up for Christmas around the 23rd of December, not the 1st.
And, to emphasise my point, I went into my local Costa one afternoon last week and they were playing Christmas carols, and had mince pies and gingerbread Christmas trees on sale. In October! Ridiculous!
But time to stop moaning. Halloween is a fun time of ghosts and scary stories and I'm particularly looking forward to helping get rid of the spirits tonight.
Saturday 24 October
Bankers, morals, an amazing pitch to Richard Branson and slinking home with a pocket full of underwear.
As I left home at 5.30 one morning last week I tuned in as usual to one of my favourite programmes, 'Wake Up To Money' on 5 Live. For those not used to being up at such ungodly hours 'Wake Up To Money' is a business programme presented by Andy Verity, a knowledgeable and relaxed presenter, and Mickey Clark, an old business journalist hack who makes the dinosaurs seem like John and Edward on 'The X Factor.'
Normally they spend a lively half hour meandering through the markets and company results, but this time were trying to tackle the big and thorny question of whether banking and finance can take place within a moral framework.
This led to an extremely uncomfortable debate. I'm not sure Mickey understood the question, and the 'expert' guest, more used to reporting on Barclays pre-tax profit and the price of steel in the far east floundered around with the kind of vague bull?. that would have done full justice to a politician wriggling under the Jeremy Paxman spotlight.
The issue, of course, is that politicians simply cannot impose some kind of moral framework on the banking and finance sector and expect it to make any difference. It doesn't work like that. It especially can't happen if it is politicians who try to impose it. That is one group who the public hold up with as much contempt as the big bonus earning bankers. Gordon Brown's well-intentioned comments about having a moral compass looked ridiculous as soon as the expenses scandal broke.
The problem is that when the melt down in the finance sector occurred following the behaviours of the banks in pursuing their sub-prime lending strategies, and the sheer greed of the people involved was exposed, there was some kind of belief that things would change, that somehow a new order would emerge with new behaviours, based on responsibility not greed. But now the papers are full of stories of bonuses being paid again, and there's this sense that no lessons have been learned, and we'll just slip back to where we were.
But trying to impose morals can This could never drive the changes in behaviour that are needed. That is because behaviours only change when beliefs change. Of course its possible for the Government to legislate and to introduce a set of rules which, for example, limit bonus payments (and they probably should), but all that will drive is behaviours where individuals spend all their time looking for loopholes, how to cheat the system. And that's because beliefs will not have changed.
In fact Barack Obama has announced just this last week his intention to significantly reduce executive reward in bailed out companies. A timely move.
So there is no quick fix here, no easy answer. But there is some hope. I wrote some months ago about the need to develop leaders who genuinely believe in 'capitalism with a conscience' a free market which encouraged the making of money, but in the right way, with a principled approach, where rewards are proportionate. A second guest on 'Wake Up To Money', who makes investments on behalf of the Church, reminded us that there are a whole number of organisations who already pursue an ethical investment strategy, and also that through history there have always been moments when moral questions have triumphed over greed (the ending of exploitation of child labour would be one such example.) But it will take time and enormous commitment.
The journey has to start somewhere though, and here are a couple of thoughts.
Firstly it starts in the education sector. This kind of change can take a generation. We need to place values-based leadership, in society and in business, at the heart of the curriculum in schools and in universities. The culture of celebrity and greed must be addressed at a young age. We need to encourage volunteering, community awareness and social responsibility through a comprehensive and committed approach, not through paying lip service with an hour's lesson a week.
Secondly, put third sector leaders onto the boards of the major financial institutions. Legislate to make this compulsory. And give them real influence. Let them challenge beliefs and behaviours. It works the other way too. Get finance leaders out into third sector organisations, where they can learn, but also where their own expertise in the right fields could make a difference.
This is as tough a journey as there is but it has to start somewhere.
Compare this to the amazing group of people I worked with last week. This was part of a leadership development programme I am running on behalf of a large environmental charity, and the participants were senior managers from around the country.
Two things stood out. Firstly their absolute commitment to their cause, a truly emotional attachment. They are passionate about what they do and determined to instill that passion in their staff, their volunteers, their members and the public as a whole. And secondly their personal visions of what they each wanted to achieve in the future, dreams and plans that would make actually make a difference to the world around us. Their challenge is to turn those dreams into reality in the years ahead, and I am privileged to play my small part in helping them to realise those dreams. This was not a room full of bankers counting their bonus earnings.
We also shared a great example of how much is achievable if someone really sets their mind to it. One of the group attended a fundraising conference of 1,500 people at which Richard Branson was the star attraction. He was there to listen to ideas with a view to providing the funds to make some of them happen. This person was determined to get her idea to him, and succeeded against stiff competition in being given the opportunity to state her case. He listened, and the outcome is work in progress with 'his people' which promises to deliver real sustainable environmental benefit.
What a great night we had last Sunday in the company of Tom Jones. At the age of sixty nine he remains an amazing showman. Delilah almost brought the house down. Age has matured him, however, and no longer doe she encourage hoards of underwear to be thrown at the stage.
Which was a shame because I had to slink back home with three pairs of knickers still in my pocket.
Sunday 18 October
Values, camper vans, Newcastle Brown, and an underwear frenzy with a sex bomb.
I spent a day with a client last week running values workshops with a number of managers and supervisors. This client has recently taken the decision to seek to embed a set of values within their organisation as a framework for building the right behaviours.
A values based approach to leadership is nothing new, but so often it fails, for a variety of reasons.
Sometimes it is introduced into a team or organisation just because it is flavour of the month. I experienced this some years ago in my corporate life. Someone high up somewhere decided that 'purpose and values' was the 'new thing.' They drafted a set of values and instructed their divisional managers to launch them to their people. What followed was an uncomfortable and at times excruciating few months. Most of the divisional managers just didn't know what to do, and many didn't believe in this latest fad anyway. How could they possibly marry this 'soft behaviour nonsense' with their management style, honed over twenty years of experience, based on 'floggings continuing until morale improves.'
The result was predictable, a period of chaos and confusion followed by a swift return to 'normality' as soon as there was even the slightest hint of a hiccup in results.
Visiting a potential new client a few years ago, in a very traditional manufacturing set up, I asked if a set of values existed in their business. Most people gave me the answer 'no' but the Managing Director insisted they existed. Eventually someone pointed me to a framed notice on the wall, displaying a list of values, signed by the boss of the head office in Italy. They had been sent to their international subsidiaries some months before. Somewhat ironically the first value spoke of 'open and honest communications.'
It is just not possible to impose a set of values from above and expect them to be accepted by a work force, especially when so many examples of the behaviour they see every day from their managers are contra to the values. You cannot impose values in an attempt to change a culture that does not reflect them.
That is why it was so good to be working with my client last week. They have made a genuine attempt to involve as many people as possible in the creation of the values. This has take place over several months in a variety of forums.
The result is a set of five values as follows:
Treat people with trust and respect
Choose a positive attitude to work
Use creativity and innovation
Demonstrate professionalism and integrity
Consistently practice effective two-way communications
None of these are rocket science, but they have been created by the people themselves, and to judge by the comments and attitudes from last week's sessions there is at least a chance that they could make a real difference. Of course everything is not perfect in this organisation at the moment. At the sessions there was a real push back over the current lack of effective two-way communications, for instance.
But they do provide a framework to judge behaviours in the future, and as ever it starts with those at the top. Only when the people I worked with, middle and junior managers and supervisors, see their managers behaving consistently in line with the values will they be willing to do so, and their behaviours will have the crucial impact on their front line staff.
It's exciting stuff.
Values based leadership requires a really enlightened approach to employing people, and I've recently come across two instances in the same company of this in action.
Almost two years ago I was working with a management team in a large private sector company on their personal effectiveness, and did an exercise where people draw how they would like to spend one magical day, (it's a great icebreaker for any group by the way and not as daft as it sounds.) This one guy, in his mid twenties, drew a picture of a camper van in the Australian outback.
That morning was the stimulus for that person to realise he wanted to make that dream a reality. He chatted it over with his boss, who agreed to give him a year's unpaid leave with the guarantee of a job on his return.
I worked with those same managers again last week and this guy has now rejoined the group after an amazing year which has taken him and his wife to South America, where amongst many other experiences they lived with a Bolivian family for a week, to New Zealand for Christmas, to Australia, where they hired that camper van and spent two months exploring in the back of beyond, onto Borneo, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, and then to India and Japan before returning home.
He is back with life changing experiences, and a new motivation for his work.
This same boss has also recently faced the challenge of an excellent member of staff, with great potential, looking to leave because her partner, a professional rugby player, had joined a French team. Again this leader had the courage and imagination to work up a solution. For a trial period this person is now based in France for half the month and in the UK for the other half. Remote working in the extreme, but perfectly possible with modern technology and communications.
I met this leader one evening last week and explored why she had taken the decision to make these two things happen. She understands that there is a risk in both, not least with the blinkered attitudes of others, who will criticise and hope it fails. But she now has two talented but also highly motivated individuals who recognise the steps she was willing to take. I think both will repay her with loyalty and performance many times over. In fact the woman working from France half the month recognises that she will need to be even more highly disciplined and effective, and produce even more quality outputs, if the experiment is to be successful.
This is win-win thinking of the highest order, sadly missing from far too many employers I come across.
I'm not normally nostalgic about this kind of thing, but I did get somewhat depressed at the start of the week with the news that production of Newcastle Brown Ale is to move from Tyneside to Tadcaster. Heineken, the international drinks giant and owner of Scottish & Newcastle, have made the decision for economic reasons, stressing that the quality of the product will be unaffected.
To me that misses the point. I am sure I could not argue with the business case, clear black and white numbers, but this is about far more than that. It's about a black and white tradition, about a brand which is synonymous with that part of the world. There's just something deeply wrong with moving the brewing of Newcastle Brown away from its heartland of Tyneside (and yes I do know it relocated from Newcastle to Gateshead some years ago but that's still local as far as I'm concerned.). I hope drinkers of this fine product in working mens' clubs across the area and in the Bigg Market bars launch a campaign to stop this move, starting with a boycott of the ale. I just think this one is a step too far.
So tonight Jakkie and I are off to Birmingham to see Tom Jones. Over the past couple of years or so I've enjoyed catching up with legends of that kind of age (Tina Turner, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, the Eagles and the like), but I do approach tonight with a certain trepidation, not least because Jakkie's Mum is coming with us. Now Joan is quite a big fan of Tom Jones and last time she saw him, 20 years ago, she did throw a certain item of her clothing at the stage. In my worst nightmare I am sat there quietly foot tapping to 'Sex Bomb' when I am suddenly engulfed by various pairs of size 20 undergarments.
I did wonder if I was alone in being concerned about this, but apparently it's not unusual.
Sunday 11 October
So what have hierarchy, the Post Office, a care home warden and Barack Obama got in common? Read on.
I really enjoy writing a weekly blog, for two main reasons. Firstly, the discipline. Sitting down and writing between 1,000 and 1,500 words every weekend pushes me to think about what I want to write about and then to actually construct it. Secondly, I love the feedback, especially when someone I had no idea reads it comments that they have found something useful or thought provoking.
Some weeks its hard to come up with themes or subjects, but in other weeks things just occur during the course of the week which ring bells or link together.
This has been one of those weeks. One conversation and three pieces in the news just seem to interlink perfectly into a common theme.
The conversation came as part of some fascinating work I am doing with the Chief Executive of a regionally based third sector organisation. He has been leading work setting pout a vision for his organisation for the future, and the strategic themes which will deliver the vision. In order to shape the vision and strategy we set up a series of project teams. Typically those teams could have consisted of people who worked within that particular area but instead we chose to make those teams genuinely cross functional, to encourage wider thinking. We also decided to give those teams wide terms of reference, no interference from above and little supervision. To give them a high level of freedom within a broad framework.
The results have been outstanding, far better than we had anticipated. Free from shackles, and benefiting from the cross functional input driving new thinking, the groups have produced some outstanding results.
This led to us last week chatting about the future of hierarchical management (pretty big stuff for Tuesday lunchtime over a sandwich!) In terms of organisational leadership hierarchy seems to have been around for ever. Our current system is basically identical to the one that existed around the time of the industrial revolution. Factory or mill owners sitting in their big office at the top of their organisation (literally, usually high up on the top floor) telling their people what to do.
And nothing has really changed in many organisations. We still have industrial revolution structures and attitudes. In the worst instances (and I have experienced and witnessed this many times) we still have bosses at all levels who rule by fear and authority, with weak management who believe the only way to get things done is to demand and to bully. The result is a culture where people are scared to put their head above the parapet and challenge and where resentment and lack of trust is high. Of course these types of organisations still churn out results, but is it sustainable?
But you do get hierarchical structures that work. At best you still have a boss at the top, and managers throughout the organisation, but they make a concerted effort to lead in the right way by building trust and empowering their people.
I have no doubt (and ample evidence) that this approach produces better results than authoritarianism, but is it good enough? Is there a better way, a new way of thinking which challenges the traditional organisational structure?
One way it is done is through servant-leadership, which, at its best, turns traditional structures upside down. Leaders in those organisations 'invert the triangle.' They genuinely believe that the role of a leader is to serve others, and devote their efforts to making sure their people have the direction, resources, knowledge, skills, freedom and support to succeed.
Another way is to create self managing teams across the organisation (and I think this cross functional approach is crucial) who are given wide briefs, minimal interference, and the resources they need to deliver on a whole series of projects. These teams are given responsibility for delivering results, and are held accountable for that delivery.
I do appreciate that both of these ways of working fall within the broad principle of a hierarchical structure. To break that down completely could be seen as a recipe for anarchy. But I am convinced that it is a step in the right direction and that far more debate is needed on what lies beyond hierarchy. How can you truly unlock potential? What will follow the industrial age?
In the meantime the leader I am working with is planning to develop further the team working concept by giving those teams responsibility for delivering on the strategic themes they have created. I look forward to watching what results are possible through this enlightened and empowering approach.
Compare that with the current shambles that goes by the name Royal Mail (or is it the Post Office, I am even confused about that.) The Communications Workers Union have balloted successfully for a national strike, and there cannot be a more horrifying example in modern industrial relations of a complete breakdown in trust and respect between management and trade unions.
I am not trying to apportion blame to either side here (the mere fact I use the words 'either side' captures the heart of the issue.) What I am trying to say is that current beliefs, attitudes and entrenched positions and deep, deep bitterness will solve absolutely nothing.
The irony is that the management and the unions are arguing while their business dies around them. It's a pointless approach. It's like officers and crew arguing over how to patch the hole on the side of the Titanic even as the ship is disappearing under the water. Electronic communications or alternative ways of physically delivering mail, are taking over more and more, and entrenched disputes and strike action will only hasten the process.
And from a personal perspective what is the point of 95% of the stuff my cheery postman Steve delivers every day? Take last Wednesday morning for example.
I got: three letters asking me to donate to charities (no point, I have already decided who I donate to and do so on line, and their pens are rubbish)
A business stationery company writing to me as 'Mr B D Communications' (get my name right at least).
Various items of junk mail not even addressed to me but presumably pushed through every door (for a local discount supermarket and a double glazing company)
A letter for the person who moved from my house 12 years ago (12 years!)
It all just goes straight into the recycling bin, what a waste. (of paper, money and effort.)
The serious point I am trying to make is that unless beliefs and attitudes change, unless there is new thinking we are seeing two dinosaurs battling each other and on the slippery slope to extinction.
Which leads me on to the nonsense that is a combination of European legislation, a nanny state and lack of common sense. I'm beginning to sound like Mr Angry of Tunbridge Wells, and it gets worse because this is from an article in Saturday's Daily Telegraph. Let me hasten to assure you that I primarily buy the Telegraph at the weekend for the sport, business news and travel sections, not the news, and I am sensible enough to be able to strip out the bias, but this is article headed 'Unlock the door? I've done my shift' caught my eye because it says so much about the issues we face.
It tells the story of a vulnerable pensioner in her eighties locked out of her care home for several hours because a 'controversial EU directive allegedly prevented the live-in warden from opening the door.' According to the story the warden had just finished a shift, and was meant to take an 11 hour break between shifts. 'If she had walked downstairs and opened the door she would have been in technical breach of the EU working time directive.'
Now I am as pro European as you can get (I am one of the few people I know who openly believes we should adopt the Euro and get rid of the pound) but some of its legislation has become crazy, not in its principles but in its bureaucratic interpretation. But also, of course, her ewe have a complete breakdown of common sense. Would opening that door really have resulted in the combined weight of Brussels and her employer bearing down on the poor warden?
I do get the impression that an empowered culture is not at the heart of that particular warden's organisation.
And finally we leap from the Daily Telegraph and Europe to the wonderful news that Barack Obama has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. There are those (not least my appalled relatives in Texas) who think this has come far too early. Obama is only a matter of months into his Presidency, they argue, how could this prestigious award have been made so early.
My view is that it is entirely appropriate, well-deserved and a wonderful acknowledgement of how someone has already done so much to make a difference, not necessarily in results yet, but through new thinking and new approaches.
Take what happened just a couple of weeks ago. In the space of a few days Obama was fighting to pass health care reform which will give medical cover for the first time to millions of the most vulnerable people in his country, making a major speech on America's new commitment to the environment and throwing down the challenge to create a nuclear free world. Awesome. He has also made an enormous leap forward (taking the first step himself) to a new alliance with Russia by abandoning Bush's missile defense proposals.
This is a great example of where integrity and intent can be just so important. And it is on the basis of that intent that the Nobel Peace Prize is so richly deserved. After the unmitigated disaster of George W Bush, Obama offers such a positive hope to billions of people.
So what's the theme linking a challenge to traditional hierarchy with the Post Office, a warden following EU legislation, and Obama? It's simply that if we are to address the challenges and issues around us, be they local, national or international, to really make progress then we have to think differently about those issues. We cannot be bound by the constraints of the type of thinking which created those problems in the first place. Leaders everywhere have to take a new approach, to challenge their own beliefs and the beliefs of those around them.
And it doesn't matter if its you doing it in your 50 person organisation or Obama doing it on the world stage. The principle is the same. Without that type of thinking, everywhere, so much potential remains untapped. But it can be so different.
Sunday 4 October
Taking personal responsibility for realising those dreams (with inspiration from Joan Baez)
A postscript to my blog last week on taking personal responsibility. During the past few days I received the following note from one of the NHS front line staff I had been working with.
Well, what can I say, your training is great. I walked into work on Friday and to my great surprise, I have been poached by another department to help head up a national project, my line manager was quiet miffed and didn't want me to accept the challenge, but I positively jumped at the chance (which is not like me, usually I hide away in the background with my head down). Anyway, although I must admit to being a little concerned we won't meet the extremely tight deadline and I have only one member of staff to lead in my team, (normal for the NHS) we are motoring through the work and I am enjoying the busy workload. I finally feel I am being productive, motivated and effective. It's GREAT! Also people are noticing, I have had a comment of thanks from the Acting Director of Facilities and from the Maintenance Manager and we are not even a week into the project yet. I hope the results are as good as expected but I am being positive which is making my colleagues positive too.
Just thought you should know your course does have positive effects.
What a great note to receive, and a wonderful example of someone who has taken personal responsibility for seizing an opportunity (even against the wishes of their Line Manager) and spreading positive energy. To me this is about seizing opportunities and doing what you really want to do.
Last Thursday evening Jakkie and I went to see Joan Baez at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham (stick with this there is a link.) This woman is a legend, 68 years old and still going strong. She has been performing for over fifty years, having started on the folk circuit in Boston. During the concert she recounted her story of her upbringing. Her father was a famous physicist and was anxious for the young Joan to following his footsteps with an academic career. But she was determined to find her own way and to live her dream of a musical career. She began hanging out in coffee shops in Boston (with her father's permission who thought she would find intellectual conversation) and the rest, fifty years on, is history.
Receiving the note from the NHS staff member and listening to Joan Baez got me thinking about how many people have dreams inside them, things they really want to do, which they so often fail to realise. When working with clients at personal effectiveness workshops, or in one to one coaching, I explore these issues by asking people what one great ambition is that still lies inside them. There are a variety of answers, which often include travel, adventure, a change of career, voluntary work, running their own business. We then talk about the barriers which could prevent these achievements being realised. The list is at first predictable, money, time, other people, family commitments, their job, but then we dig a little deeper and other factors emerge, such as lack of confidence, fear of failure, lack of courage to take the first step. So often that first list are excuses, not real barriers.
Even when people are describing the achievements inside them they use words like 'I'd really like to do this but I know I never will'. Not surprisingly this is so often a self fulfilling prophesy.
But I also come across people who make it happen, like the friend of mine who has left a successful job in the leisure industry because she has a tremendous desire to become a teacher. This decision involves real commitment because of the financial hardship of giving up a well paid job to return to college for a year, but that is far outweighed by her wish to make a difference.
I guess the other connection from the past few days was the news that over half of all children now being born in the developed world will live to be over a hundred (and the revelation that the first person in the UK to live to 120 is female and already 60). Today we are living so much longer, and the traditional view of a full working life followed by retirement in our sixties has become outdated for a whole number of reasons. This gives so much opportunity to approach our working lives with a different mindset, maybe to experience a number of careers, and to continue working part time in our sixties and seventies.
So here's the challenge to you. Does what you do with your life truly fulfil you? When you look back in the future will you have achieved your ambitions? Do you dream of an alternative career, maybe doing something where you believe you can truly make a difference? Do you have a travel bug inside you or an idea for a business of your own? If so, please focus on what you can do to achieve those ambitions, not just on the barriers. And start to develop a plan for how to realise them. It's a well-worn cliché that the first step in the hardest, but it's true. And that first step does not have to be huge. If it's a desire to travel start to plan when it might be possible, and read up on the paces you want to visit. If it's to learn a new language go today and buy a book or CD. If it's charitable work, start by volunteering for just a few days a week. Haven't got time? Think again, is that a real barrier or an excuse?
I'm having just these discussions at the moment with my elder daughter, Lindsay. Fresh out of University with a good degree she has started to apply for graduate entry programmes. But inside her is a long held desire to run her own business. That is her dream, what she really wants to do. Her challenge is to make the plan which will enable her to realise that ambition within a realistic time-scale. That's about combining personal responsibility with big ambitions. Exciting stuff.
Each year I forget how much I love autumn. The colours out in the countryside are amazing. I am writing this on Saturday early evening having just returned from a walk with Jakkie. The wind was blowing and the sun was shining and the whole experience was so invigorating. I've also started a month of de-toxing and no alcohol (for the second year running and just so boring!) I know I'll feel better for it come November, but it sure is tough!
Sunday 29 September
The journey to greatness, taking personal responsibility, and Sarah Brown, Queen of Twitter
Two assignments over the last week enabled me to engage in the parts of my work that I find the most enjoyable and challenging.
One was a coaching session with the Chief Executive of a national charity in which we began to set out the path that can give her organisation the opportunity to become truly great. I have recently been working with a number of leaders across a range of organisations of all shapes and sizes on this challenge, how to turn an already good organisation into a sustainably great one.
The concept is, of course, borrowed from Jim Collins' book, and can only even be considered when the leader themselves recognises that their organisation could achieve so much more, and personally has the desire, energy and vision to lead such a journey. Where this does not exist, a good organisation will not improve, and therefore will not remain good for ever, at some point it will slip into decline, usually through a combination of complacency and neglect.
Even when a leader is committed to the concept of a 'good to great' journey the challenge is where to start. Often the challenge seems so big and is difficult to articulate and map out.
I use two pieces of material to enable leaders to commence the journey. The first is the 'Good to Great' book itself, it is based on the premise that breakthrough to greatness only occurs when the organisation has undergone a whole series of disciplined thought driven by disciplined people. The second framework I use is my 'Circle of Organisational Effectiveness', a holistic model that can be used by any team or organisation driving significant change.
There are then four absolute fundamentals which must be in place before the journey can begin:
1. The right people must be on the bus. It is impossible to commence this journey if there are a significant number of wrong people on the bus or if people are in the wrong seats. Leaders must ensure that they have in place a team capable of delivering greatness, and where there are changes to be made they must be resolved before the journey can begin.
2. Absolute clarity of purpose. This is the time to revisit the organisation's mission and purpose. Is it absolutely clear about why it exists? Is it focussed down onto a clear, simple, unambiguous purpose which makes absolute sense? There is a one off opportunity here before the journey begins to test that purpose, and this will often result in a direct challenge to some activities the organisation is currently involved in. The Hedgehog Concept from 'Good to Great' offers the perfect model to base these deliberations on. This demands that organisations only focus on things they are truly passionate about, and best in the world at, and make economic sense.
3. A clear and compelling vision. The organisation must be able to clearly articulate where it is going. What does 'greatness' look like? What will be different, really different, when you get there? How will you know you are there? What measures will be in place? Is the vision really audacious and stretching enough? Will it engage your people, and other stakeholders, so that they really want to be part of the journey?
4. Involving and uniting people across the organisation in a compelling reason for change. The leadership team can work on much of the above. But there comes a point when people throughout the organisation need to become involved, to immerse themselves in the need for change and the journey ahead. They must understand the compelling reason for the change if they are to fully buy in.
All of the above takes time to put in place. There are no short cuts. I believe it takes a minimum of a year from committing to the journey being worthwhile until it can commence in earnest, and it may often take longer. And of course while all this is going on the organisation must continue to deliver good results. There can be no eye off the ball.
The leader I coached last week is absolutely committed to the journey ahead and is very excited about the opportunities. She is under no illusions as to the size of the challenge, but the potential rewards are enormous.
My second assignment last week, and an equally challenging and enjoyable one, was a personal effectiveness programme with front line staff. This time it was a group from the NHS, but it could have been with anyone. I love working with front line staff, those who have day to day involvement with customers (in this instance their patients) and who are wonderful people, really committed to making a difference.
However, these people are not without their issues, usually connected to the way in which they are managed, and last week was a prime example. Among the delegates were a group of five from the same team who were extremely de-motivated. They had many stories to tell of feeling undervalued, not listened to and abused. They felt that they were far too short staffed and were expected to deliver the same amount as always with far less people. They felt powerless to do anything about their situation.
Although I find these situations challenging I spend a lot of time on the programme getting the group to think about and to understand what they can change, not what they can't change. I draw for them three concentric circles and propose that leadership takes place in each of the three circles. The innermost circle is about leading ourselves, in this circle we can decide how we deal with situations, we can challenge our own beliefs, grow our personal effectiveness (inside and outside work) and behave in a way we want others to behave. Although still tough this is relatively the easiest circle in which to drive change because it is the one over which we have full control, even if sometimes we don't recognise it. It's about us.
The middle circle is about how we lead and influence those immediately around us. In this circle are our boss, our work colleagues, our direct reports (if we have any), our family, friends and neighbours. It is more difficult to exercise change in this circle, because it requires influencing other people, but still possible because they are immediately around us. Metaphorically we can touch these people every day. My delegates boss lies in this circle, a tall order to change, but maybe they can at least work at influencing them.
In the outer circle is the wider organisation. This is where change is really tough. Out here lies decisions on staffing levels, other resources, organisation culture, systems and processes, and even, in last week's instance, government health policy. A lot of the issues these people face lie in this circle, that is why they feel so helpless.
But the point I try to get across is this. They can do nothing about most, if not all, of the stuff in this circle, so it is just not worth having sleepless nights about. They can influence some things in the middle circle, particularly how they interact and approach issues with their colleagues. But it is the focus on the innermost circle which is most important, here they can examine their feelings through self-awareness, they can make choices about how they deal with their situation, they can focus on things they can do, not things they cannot control.
It was a hard challenge last week but by the end of the two days I believe there was a light bulb moment for many of those attending, and they went away determined to focus on that inner circle.
And so Sarah Brown has overtaken Stephen Fry as the most followed person on Twitter. I think this is great, even if many of her followers are hoping for some insights about the struggles of her husband, the Prime Minister. If they are they are likely to be disappointed. Sarah Brown comes across on Twitter as a warm, generous, caring, intelligent human being who is deeply compassionate about the causes she champions. In short she comes across brilliantly, with none of the shallow back biting that inflicts the political world.
I love following her tweets, whatever fate the electorate deal Gordon next spring Sarah will emerge with her credibility intact. I believe after that, if she wanted to, she could go on to eclipse her husband on the world stage as a force for good and for change in whatever field she chooses.
Sunday 20 September
How a paperclip, not Poundland, can drive such incredible creativity, 'Shorty' comes home, and raising a glass to the greatest TV chef of them all.
The lead story in my local paper this week summed up everything there is to know about my nearby town of Stafford. Having agonised over the effects of the recession on the town which has forced a number of retailers out of business, the paper sees signs of things getting better because 'Poundland is opening up.'
Now I have nothing against Stafford, it is as quiet and delightful a county town as you could hope to come across, and Jakkie and I have just returned home from an overnight stay in a great hotel in the town centre, (a birthday gift from the children), but Poundland, come on! This just sums up for me the lack of imagination in a town which, with a creative approach, could rival places like Chester and Harrogate as a retail and leisure destination.
But that kind of vision, imagination and creativity is just so sadly lacking in all kinds of organisations, from councils to companies.
I had the opportunity last week to work with young managers in a major UK company, and to just see what could be achieved when creativity is released. I based a day's exercise on the idea behind the book 'One Red Paperclip' by Kyle MacDonald. The premise is simple, you start with one paperclip, and have to find a way to swap that for a 'bigger and better' item, and then swap the new item again for something better, and so on. In the book MacDonald managed to end up with no less than a house, but that was done over several weeks or months and my teams only had four hours to make their swaps.
When they were first given the brief the people involved were like rabbits trapped in headlights, but gradually their own light bulbs came on around the room and what followed was amazing. Over the next few hours, through phone calls, the internet and frantic dashes around the town they swapped their paperclips up and up and ended up with breaks in hotels, a spa weekend, race days, a flight experience, theatre tickets, restaurant meals, a fridge and (get this) a signed photo of Linda Lucardi! One team even got onto local radio to promote their cause. All of the goods were eventually donated to charity, and what had seemed like a daunting if not impossible exercise ended up being loads of fun as well.
How did this happen? Because people were forced to think differently. They were being pushed well outside their comfort zones and had to think creatively about what could be achieved. And this is my issue. At work we stifle that imagination, people are just expected to turn up and get on with their job, but so much creativity exists inside people, if only it could be released. Indeed, as I blogged a couple of weeks ago, it is one of the ten Intelligences each of us possess, and it is just waiting to be released.
So why don't managers release the creativity of their people at work? Maybe its because they are worried that chaos will result, or they are fearful that it might be a threat to their authority. Maybe they don't think they have the time to do it, there is too much work to do to be messing about with all this stuff.
But how can we really move teams and organisations forward without releasing that creativity? For me this is the breakthrough point to achieving amazing results, the kind of amazing thing that allows people to turn a paperclip into a flight experience in a few hours. Imagine if that same level of energy, thinking and imagination was focussed on your biggest challenges at work?
The most important thing we can do as leaders is to create the conditions that allow people to think creatively. Its so difficult to do in our normal day to day working environment. There we have become creatures of habit, beavering away doing the same things day after day. 'If we keep on doing what we have always done we'll get what we have always got'.
But maybe we could:
1. Create a different environment by taking your team away somewhere for the day. It needn't cost a lot of money. Find a location in the countryside, go and climb hills or walk on a beach together, go and volunteer together for a day. But then find time to run a session around a specific issue you need to move forward, and see what happens.
2. Put together a cross functional team who don't normally work together. Se them an issue to consider. It doesn't have to be something that many of them normally work on. This drives a different perspective, new thinking.
3. Don't get involved yourself, leave them to it, set them a brief but then stand back and let them get on with it. Be available to help, to support, to clear the path but give them the space to come up with ideas themselves.
4. It's essential to stretch people well outside their comfort zone. If I'd briefed the teams last week that they just needed to generate small swaps we may have ended up with a pencil or two. When people are stretched they have to think differently.
5. This takes a bit of courage but consider the pre-approval route. Tell a group that whatever the proposal they come back with to move an issue forward, it is already approved and will be implemented. The secret here is to ensure you have set an appropriate framework for the decision making, one they cannot step outside. But within that framework they have absolute freedom. This is an incredibly powerful way to engage people in creative problem solving.
So give it a go, if we want to turn good teams and organisations into great ones we must release the creativity that is bottled up in all of us.
So we have finally reached the end of Jakkie's 50th birthday celebrations. I feel rather like a marathon runner entering the stadium and passing the finishing line, although this particular runner is so full of food, drink and good living he feels he might burst! On Friday part of Jakkie's present came home in the shape of an ex military lightweight Landrover to add to the collection. Anyone who thinks this particular gift is for my benefit should be ashamed of themselves. These beautiful machines were built to tight specifications to allow them to be dropped out of planes by parachute over war zones. He has already been christened 'Shorty' and is magnificent.
Finally, let's raise a glass in a very sad week to Keith Floyd. Maybe his death at the age of 65 is not surprising, this is one person for whom abstinence was a word that passed his lips rather less than a glass or two, but as a TV chef he was an absolute legend. My favourite scene would be Floyd cooking chaotically in some square in Italy or France while bemused locals passed by, boiling up a fish soup and waiting for the clock to strike twelve so he could quaff contentedly from the glass that was always by his side. But along with the theatre this was a man who was a cooking genius, and who had decided to live his life according to his rules.
I will really miss him. I suspect at this very moment somewhere Floyd is creating a dish for George Best and Oliver Reed and the three of them are contemplating a hell of a night out.
Monday 14 September
How a combine harvester may just hold the key to perfect harmony (with a nod to the Wurzels)
I spent eight hours yesterday on a combine harvester. Now this may seem a strange way for me to spend a Sunday but I've been watching my friend and neighbour Colin spend weeks on end at this time of year on his big yellow machine and I've always wanted to see what actually happened. So yesterday I joined him for the afternoon and evening as we harvested a 20 acre field.
It was great. I'd expected it to be dusty, noisy and uncomfortable, but the cab is air- conditioned. Best of all was that we were still going long after it got dark, and there was something really exciting and special about watching the combine harvester, the tractor and trailer working with us, and further tractors doing the bailing, charging round the great big field with lights blazing like we were taking part in some crazy midnight pagan dance ritual.
I even got a chance to drive the combine although I was banned after a while on the basis that my wavy lines were creating havoc. It's not that easy. Most exciting of all was emptying the corn into the accompanying tractor and trailer, which is done on the move reminding me of an aircraft being refuelled mid-air.
It was fun but I also got a great opportunity to talk with Colin about what he does, and the following three thoughts have stayed with me.
Firstly, farmers work incredibly hard, especially at this time of year. I think we under-estimate just how hard they work. It is not unusual for Colin to put in eighteen hour days, day after day. Okay so it's a bit quieter in winter, but there's still lots to do in far less pleasant conditions. This re-enforced the tremendous respect I have for what they do.
In eight hours I was never remotely bored. It may sound a repetitive job going up and down the field but there is so much to see around you, beautiful countryside and loads of animals and birds. It also provides the perfect opportunity to spend time reflecting and thinking.
Finally, if you'll excuse the analogy, you can't cut corners. You have to do the job properly. You can make it as efficient as possible, and use the latest machinery, but every acre has to be properly harvested, or you will never maximise your income from the corn. If you take that a stage further, every farmer knows that harvesting a perfect crop is the result of a year long activity, not (like me) just turning up on the final day for a ride around. The field was prepared and planted last October, and was sprayed regularly throughout the year. Yesterday was the reward for those efforts.
And that's the link to becoming effective in so many parts of our lives. Following the model of the farmers, real effectiveness is not a quick fix, not something we can quickly learn through a few hastily taught techniques. True effectiveness is character based and lies deep inside us. It is based on deep roots of building and maintaining balance in all aspects of our lives, challenging beliefs and understanding that we have choices and how to make the right choices. Only when these roots take hold can we then set out with clarity what we want to achieve and how we are going to do it, and then build effective relationships with those around us to help us achieve our goals.
If we want to build perfect harmony in our lives maybe the combine harvester is the key, and no, I can't get that bloody Wurzels song out of my head now either!
I guess all of the above is about unlocking potential within ourselves, but in the work place even then not all our full potential is often realised. That is because it is far too often held back by authoritarian managers who stifle their people, who have to be in control at all times.
They do not realise that if they could unlock the potential inside all of us people would achieve amazing things. The buzz word for all of this is empowerment, but I still describe it to people as giving 'freedom within a framework.'
I worked with a client last week on how they could develop an empowered culture with their people. This senior team have set a challenging vision, and are currently implementing the strategy to deliver that vision. Historically they are the first to admit that their organisation's management model has been built around command and control. People at all levels have looked to the senior team for direction, to be told what to do. They understand this is no longer an option of they are to achieve the vision.
They have a lot to do to change that culture but we know so much potential to do so much more exists amongst their people. So we are looking for the senior team to take the lead by example, and to begin to demonstrate to their people that they will trust them and released them using a simple three step model:
1. Set the framework. Let people know what you are expecting them to deliver. Let them know the parameters in which they are operating. Set out the playing field. Make it as large or as small as necessary based on a combination of confidence and level of risk.
2. Then step back and release people, give them the freedom to deliver. But also ensure they are responsible and accountable for delivering. With empowerment must come responsibility and accountability.
3. But none of this is about abandonment. We need to regularly ensure that those we have empowered are able to deliver. This can take many forms, but would often include a scheduled series of meetings based on giving support, recognising achievements, clearing the path and coaching.
Continuing the agricultural theme I often use growing tomatoes as an analogy for empowering people. When we grow tomatoes we first provide the right conditions (the framework.) We plant the seeds in the right place, ensuring there is sufficient sunlight and the right soil. We then allow the seeds to grow into plants, but we do not abandon them. We regularly check they are okay, and free of bugs. We water them. Sometimes we even talk to them. Over time, in the right conditions, the plants prosper and we can enjoy the fruits of their labours. Maybe corny but the analogy does work.
As George Washington no less said 'Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.'
The final farming connection of the week is the produce auction we held in the village hall on Friday evening. A superb auctioneer made all the difference and the evening was both hilarious and successful, with rogue bidders pushing up the price and being caught out once or twice! I have no idea what we are going to do with the various jars of jam and chutney we somehow accumulated!
Saturday 5 September
Our Ten Intelligences, your opportunity to tap into your natural genius (via a doughnut or two)
My holiday reading this year as we floated across the Atlantic was a book I picked up from the Queen Mary's library called 'Head First' by Tony Buzan. I'm a great fan of Mr Buzan anyway, he being the 'inventor' of mind mapping. I was first introduced to the concept of mind maps about fifteen years ago, and it is no exaggeration to say that this simple tool revolutionised my ability to organise presentations, take notes when with clients and to plan just about anything, inside or outside work.
If you haven't tried using them (and they are so simple, but a really powerful way of working) then grab any of Tony Buzan's books on the subject, or try his web site www.mind-map.com, or drop me a note and I'd be delighted to give you an introduction, because it really works.
Anyway, back to the point of the blog. In his book 'Head First' Buzan explodes the myth that intelligence is all about your IQ. Too often, especially at work, that is how people are judged or measured. Often promotion, the chance for high office, seems to be completely dependent on the number of letters after a person's name and the level of their IQ.
But how many times have you come across seemingly intelligent people in big jobs who are just so poor at organising themselves, at leading and managing others, at building relationships, at taking decisions. I certainly came across so many people like that in my corporate life and I continue to do so as I work with all sorts of organisations.
As I began to work for myself I came across the concept of EQ, or Emotional Intelligence, our ability to build relationships through empathising with people and truly understanding them. At that point so much fell into place, and I perhaps began to understand what had held me back in my previous working life. I had been working in a culture where the very existence of EQ was not even recognised, let alone valued.
But Buzan takes it a whole stage further by proposing that as a human being we each possess no less than ten intelligences, and if we choose to we can expand and develop each one of these intelligences, transforming our abilities and tapping into our natural genius.
I'd love to briefly introduce you to these ten intelligences, but if you are interested to know more, get hold of the book, it is very readable, well laid out and contains a load of practical ways in which you can develop each of the intelligences.
Buzan divides the ten intelligences into three groupings: creative and emotional intelligences, bodily intelligences and traditional IQ intelligences.
Each group then sub-divides as follows:
Creative and Emotional Intelligences:
1. Creative Intelligence: this is about our ability to think in new ways, to be original. It includes the speed and ease with which we can come up with new ideas, our ability to challenge beliefs and to see things from a differing point of view, our originality and our ability to build upon ideas. Buzan gives Richard Branson as an example of someone with high creative intelligence, someone who was severely dyslexic and struggled through his academic career, considered to be not bright by his teachers. Look what happened to him!
2. Personal Intelligence: this one is about understanding ourselves, and our own personal effectiveness. It's the sort of stuff I train regularly with my Breakthrough Personal Effectiveness programme, the kind of thinking and material in the personal victory part of Covey's 'Seven Habits of Highly Effective People'. Its about our ability to take control, make the right choices and organise ourselves. Christopher Reeve is the very powerful example of someone who has managed to do this despite the most horrendous of physical disabilities.
3. Social Intelligence: this is the one which comes the closest, for me, to the concept of EQ. This is about our ability to build highly effective relationships with others, to understand them, to build empathy, to be at ease in social situations. Nelson Mandela is Buzan's very interesting example of this, the way in which he conducted himself and influenced others after three decades of imprisonment.
4. Spiritual Intelligence: I guess this one takes a bit more explaining, but for me it's about our personal values, the things that are deep inside us, our beliefs, how much at peace we are with ourselves. Mother Teresa is perhaps the predictable but nevertheless powerful example quoted.
Bodily Intelligences:
5. Physical Intelligence: so we move on to the three bodily intelligences, and the premise here is that the more healthy you are, the more balanced and physically fit your body becomes the more balanced and mentally fit your brain becomes. The two work in harmony, as in the saying 'a healthy body is a healthy mind.' I guess we all understand and appreciate the link, it's just doing something about it, through regular exercise that's the tough bit! Michael Jordan is the quoted example but there would be many we could all think of.
6. Sensual intelligence: this is about using each of our five physical senses (and intuition, our 'sixth sense') to the full extent of their quite incredible powers. Walt Disney's work in translating the senses into film is a great example. The opportunities to look, listen, smell, touch and taste, as well as to use our intuition, are around us every day. And did you know that research has shown that when we act on our intuition it is the right decision more than 80% of the time?
7. Sexual Intelligence: this was the one I didn't expect to find here, and the chapter was so interesting that I read it three times! So what is it that makes us live longer, has inspired many of the greatest works of art, music and literature, makes the skin glow, has inspired renaissances and revolutions, reduces stress and is the main reason the human race still exists? Yes, the answer is sex! By the end of the chapter Buzan had convinced me of the link between a healthy sex life and the development of the brain. Mind you, it wasn't hard! And yes, Marilyn Monroe was the quoted example.
Traditional IQ Intelligences:
8. Numerical Intelligence: back to earth with a bump as Buzan examines the traditional IQ intelligences. So many people rank their numerical intelligence as the least developed of their intelligences, but we all possess it and we can all develop it. A Cambridge mathematician is the quoted example, but as with all the examples it doesn't have to be about famous people. We all know people around us who demonstrate or more of the ten intelligences brilliantly. Sad to say I love numbers, I wasn't that great at Maths at school but it's not about algebra and logarithms, who needs those anyway?
9. Spatial Intelligence: this is another fascinating one. Spatial intelligence is about being able to see the relationship of shapes to each other, our ability, for example, to read a map and to turn the information it gives us into actions. It's our ability to understand and use the space around us. Michael Schumacher is the example given.
10. Verbal Intelligence: the last of the ten and again a very traditional one. It's about our ability to use language effectively. Don't forget that we have managed to learn the language we speak and our brain is therefore far more intelligent that the world's most intelligent computer! Here's another intelligence we can really develop. Did you know that the average person writes, speaks and recognises only about 1,000 words! Shakespeare is the inevitable example.
I guess the main point that comes through for me in the book is that we each possess all ten of these intelligences, it's just that some are more developed than others. So even if you claim you are not creative, or no good with numbers, it doesn't mean you don't have the potential to be so, you have just not developed that particular intelligence.
So get working on all ten and unlock your unique and enormous potential!
I'm writing this blog on Friday afternoon, in the arrivals hall at terminal 5 at Heathrow (in Krispy Kreme Doughnuts to be exact, but that's another story) as I await the return of my daughter Lindsay and her boyfriend Danny from three months working and travelling in the USA. There will be lots to catch up on during the journey home. Then tomorrow we are off to Newcastle for the first of Jakkie's 'Big Zero' celebrations, this one with the 'northern relatives.'
Time first though to put my spatial intelligence to the test and see if I can fit in one more doughnut.
Saturday 29 August
Reflections on a grand Atlantic voyage, on being an Englishman in New York, and on unlikely connections between the Big Apple and Stoke-On-Trent.
Well I'm back. A few pounds heavier (oh the food!), many pounds lighter (in the pocket) and totally relaxed after an amazing couple of weeks.
The first of those weeks was spent in the most beautiful and luxurious of surroundings, on the Queen Mary, as we crossed the Atlantic on the most traditional of voyages from Southampton to New York.
If at this point you just want to delete this blog because doing this sounds like the most boring or pretentious thing imaginable, just stick with me and let me share with you ten reflections.
1. There were 2,500 passengers on the voyage, and of course that included a whole number who had their heads up their own arses or were just bigoted and obnoxious. Breakfast companions shared their views with me on everything from their dislike of Germans to their even more racist views on immigration. But these people were in the minority, and are around wherever I go.
2. There were also many fascinating people, and in seven days at sea I had some great conversations, including meeting a German who claims to be a distant relative (via several bastard encounters) of Prince Charles. I think he was a little disappointed to find that my comments on the monarchy were not particularly supportive. There was also the funny, including over hearing a delightful elderly couple packing away Trivial Pursuit with the words 'we're just no good at these new-fangled games.'
3. What is most amazing about crossing the Atlantic in this way is that feeling of timelessness. We flew back in less than seven hours while the ship takes seven days. The clock going back most nights increased this sense of time standing still.
4. Along with the timelessness is the vastness of the emptiness that surrounds you. Day after day besides seeing no land (obviously) we also saw no other vessels, it was just us, a pin prick on an unimaginably large ocean. I found walking round the decks in mid-Atlantic staring into the distant nothing to be a really strange experience.
5. And although we were just a pin prick it was a pretty big pin. The Queen Mary is the World's largest ocean liner, and to put it into some kind of context the four pods under the hull which steer the ship (technical term) each weigh 250 tons, which is about the same as a fully laden jumbo jet.
6. Being in the middle of nowhere also gives you time to think and to attend stuff I would not experience normally. I went to lectures on subjects ranging from the Vikings, to architecture, to the Bermuda triangle. My only complaint is that they were dumbed down a bit (which I assume is for the Americans).
7. We passed over the spot where the Titanic sank. I did find this quite thought provoking. We passed the spot on a calm sea in the middle of the day in the middle of summer. I cannot imagine what it must have been like as the Titanic sunk. I did spend a nervous few minutes scanning the horizon for icebergs, and the waters below for Leonardo DiCaprio but fortunately neither made an appearance.
8. On reflection, nothing much has changed from the Titanic to the Queen Mary (except the number of life rafts I hope.) There is still that sense of grandeur in dressing for dinner, and the sense of timelessness adds to the comparison. Maybe the main difference for me is one of communication, no need for morse code telegrams, I could wander down to the computer room and use Facebook or check the cricket score (missing the final Ashes test is another story.)
9. The level of customer service is extraordinary. It's not just about the staff to customer ratios (which I know you are paying for) but about the way they deliver perfect service time and time again. Cunard have a service framework called 'White Star service' and it is brilliantly executed. All my frustrations of UK service surfaced once more, watch out for a future blog. And I just wish I could adopt the gay French guy running the champagne bar. Outrageous, camp and hilarious. But enough about me, he was pretty good too.
10. Of course all good things come to an end and as we got within 100 miles of fortress America the first military plane started to buzz us obviously under the impression that the Queen Mary represents a significant terrorist threat, and as we picked up the pilot early on the final morning he was accompanied by a small platoon of machine gun totting homeland security operatives. It was quite a way to break the spell of a wonderful voyage.
And so to New York. What a city. I just love it and can even forgive the unrelenting heat and humidity (well I chose to visit in August). As I mentioned above arriving was a little onerous, in addition to the armed guards on board we were buzzed constantly by a military helicopter. I understand that life changed dramatically for New York (and America) in September 2001, but this was like arriving in North Korea or Burma. In fact it made my entry into the Soviet Union from Finland and my journey through Checkpoint Charlie in the Berlin Wall when I was seventeen seem like a walk in the park in comparison. Once we left the ship I can only liken the customs experience to what it must have been like arriving at Ellis Island, but without the niceties.
I'm being a little bit harsh, the arrival into New York by sea remains undoubtably the most magnificent experience with the majesty of the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan skyline as the sun rises.
Talking of a walk in the park, I adore Central Park. It's fun to wander round, but for me the best view of it is from up above. We went to the Top of the Rock, which I think is as good a view of Manhattan as you get from the Empire State Building without the queues. It is only from up there that you get a true picture of how grand Central Park looks, perfectly symmetrical, surrounded by tall buildings on every side. Awesome. Visiting Central park was also my first chance to see the Dakota building where John Lennon was shot back in 1980.
We also did a few different things this time, including spending time in Harlem, which is a fascinating neighbourhood. I also saw Ground Zero for the first time, both my previous visits to New York were long enough ago to have included a tour of the twin towers. I understand arguments are still continuing on what to place on the site. It seems straightforward to me, leave it as empty as possible with a suitable monument and space for people to reflect and think. What could be better than peace gardens? I think that the Vietnam memorial wall in Washington could provide a perfect model.
On to much more mundane things, how many places to eat must there be in New York? And how much do these people manage to eat? We set out on a personal mission to eat every thing we could think of that was traditional to New York, but after grits (the most disgusting things ever), pretzels, doughnuts, cheese cake, hot dogs, hamburgers, breakfasts of eggs over easy and bagels we had to give up. And yes, the service was just as amazing (in a very different way) to that on the ship.
Perhaps the last word on New York should lay with Jakkie, who was on her first visit. I was explaining to her that New York consisted of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx etc. 'Oh', she said, 'you mean it's made up of lots of different towns, a bit like Stoke-on-Trent.'
How can you compare the greatest city on earth with a 1960's back water? It's time New York dragged itself into the 21st century.
We flew back with Continental, and that's where the bubble burst. I'm not saying it was cramped but even the sardines on board were quoting their human rights. And getting back brought my service illusions crashing back into reality. Quite why we have to wait for half an hour in the baggage hall before the handlers can start working is beyond me. I guess it is something to do with custom and practice and possibly the fact it was raining.
So after a month off it's back to work next week, which will be a shock to the system, but actually I'm really looking forward to it. While I was on the Queen Mary I read an amazing book on our various intelligences, which made so much sense to me, and I'll share it in next week's blog as well as putting something onto the web site. I also am dying to get on with my piece of work on the Characteristics of Great Leaders, and have some great new work with clients about to commence.
But before that there's the small matter of my birthday, and a trip to Chester to celebrate over the Bank Holiday. It really is good to be back.
Saturday 15 August
Hands off our amazing NHS, Peter Pan and the voyage commences.
How dare they! How dare a group of right wing, reactionary, gun loving neo-conservatives criticise our wonderful NHS. And if it wasn't bad enough that conservative MEPs are doing it, the Republican right in America are at it as well.
How dare Sarah Palin describe the NHS as evil. This from the least credible candidate in American history (except possibly Dan Quayle, and George W). How dare Daniel Hannan (who!) state that it's a 60 year old mistake or that he wouldn't wish the NHS on anyone.
What this unholy alliance of Republicans and gravy train riding Tory MEPs have done is to galvanise support for the NHS across Britain in a way Gordon Brown and Andy Burnham can only have dreamed of. The Twitter campaign has been immense and a great example of how political mobilisation has changed for ever with the arrival of social networking sites.
Over the past couple of years I've regularly blogged about my respect for the NHS and the people who work in it. Of course its not perfect, but it is the envy of sensible people across the world. The basic principle of universal health care based on need, not on the ability to pay, remains as important and as amazing today as it was in 1947.
I would go further. I would say we are so fortunate to have a universal health care system free at the point of delivery augmented by a range of private health care options for those with the ability (through money or employment benefit) to access them. To me it's the perfect combination.
Loads about the NHS is far from perfect, but at least it covers everyone and does not deny 15% of the population the right to basic cover in the way the American system does.
But of course this wonderful institution could be greatly improved. Picking up on my theme of two weeks ago, it too could achieve greatness. Here are my five basic steps for that journey.
1. Stop government interference. Of course the government want to ensure improvements when they are putting in so much cash, they want a return on their investment, but a top down target driven approach, centrally controlled, is not the answer. Back off, set basic principles, and then let the NHS manage its own affairs.
2. But it cannot do so as one enormous monolithic organisation. It is simply too big for any sustainable change to be driven from top to bottom. Focus autonomy for decision making at a lower level, into existing Primary and Acute trusts. But demand accountability along with that autonomy.
3. Invest massively on building highly effective leadership at every level, from the Chief Executives and Chairs of Trusts to the front line. This is the single biggest breakthrough piece. I would say this wouldn't I because it's what I am passionate about and what I spend my life doing, but every experience I have of the NHS suggests that poor leadership is the biggest barrier to achieving greatness. Develop leaders who will take responsibility, inspire and deliver.
4. Then let those leaders genuinely involve and empower their people. The NHS employs thousands upon thousands of amazing, caring, talented people, who's creativity and drive is currently stifled by poor leadership. Give these people the skills and tools they need to do the job, given them a clear framework to operate within, then step back, release them and watch the magic unfold. Build a sustainable high performance culture where people are given freedom with accountability.
5. Do all of this within the biggest cultural change of all, one which puts the patient at the centre of every single thing the NHS does. Work tirelessly to promote this principle at every level, with every Trust, everywhere. Base every single decision, from Government to the front line, around this principle.
Change of this magnitude will take a lot of time, probably a decade, but it is achievable, if the willingness and drive is there to do it. It can also be delivered whether it is a Labour or Conservative government that is in power. I do believe that David Cameron is being genuine when he speaks of his support for the NHS. In fact its possibly the case that Cameron would be more likely than Brown to devolve power in the way that must happen to achieve greatness. He just needs to deal decisively with idiots such as Hannan.
August continues to be a relaxing month, apart from the angst at England's performance in the last test match. We are just back after a week at our cottage in Aberdovey. I wrote last time about memories of similar holidays when I was a child, and I did reflect last week on how I seem incapable of growing up once I get on the beach. Why is it that when I walk out to bat when playing cricket on the beach with the children I still pretend I am opening the batting for England at Lords and am about to face Lillee and Thompson or Marshall, Garner and Holding? I can almost hear the anxious murmur of the crowd as I take guard , although asking my son to move the sightscreen is probably over the top! I even record my score, and the beautiful cover drive to the boundary off Lillee is greeted with thunderous applause and the chance to doff my imaginary cap.
But it doesn't stop with the cricket. To the left of our cottage is an 18 hole links golf course and I will still announce I am off to play golf before turning right instead and heading for the slightly more modest putting green. And holes in one are still celebrated with a lap of honour. I love ringing the bell in the castle on that final hole though!
Thinking about it, growing up is going to be really boring and something to be put off for a few more years at least. Especially since the hook over long leg into the Mound Stand (okay the sea) is still eluding me. Anyway what's wrong with wanting to be Peter Pan?
And that's it for another fortnight. Tomorrow we are off to Southampton to celebrate Jakkie's 'big zero' birthday in style with a voyage on the Queen Mary to New York. Seven days of luxury await, made all the more civilised by the fact that the clocks go back one hour every night, creating 25 hour long days for almost a week. We have allocated the extra hour as 'casino time.'
And at the end of the voyage is a few days in New York, my third visit to my favourite city, with Central Park, Greenwich Village and Ellis Island top of the agenda. I'll let you have some reflections on the Big Apple in a couple of weeks.
Saturday 1 August
The humble hedgehog at the heart of greatness, an amazing Ashes day and some thoughts on the Great British Summer
In the course of a year I work with several dozen clients on a variety of issues. Some assignments are short-term interventions, but increasingly I am working with clients over a sustained period of time. This is really important to me, and just where I want to be, because it is in these assignments that I feel I can make a real contribution in assisting an organisation on their journey to achieving greatness.
That term 'achieving greatness' may well sound a bit cliched, but I believe that any organisation, of any size, (or indeed any team) should always be striving to better itself, should develop a clear picture of where it wants to get to, and then focus daily on the plans that will make that happen. If you don't have an aspiration to become great then you are just treading water, and that delivers nothing long-term for your stakeholders, whoever they may be.
But of course its not organisations that do that, its leaders within that make it happen, and this week was a breakthrough point on the journey with one leader. This woman is the Chief Executive of a large national charity. She has already been in post for five years and in that time has delivered many good things. She has brought stability to her organisation and has been focussing on getting the right people in place (the essential pre-requisite to a greatness journey.) Now she knows it is time to drive forward, to lead her organisation to achieve amazing things. She wants to set out a journey over the next five years to greatness.
Obviously any journey like this requires a picture of the future, a vision, one that sets out clearly what greatness will look like, one that can capture the hearts (and minds) of everyone involved. But there is a stage that sits even before that, which is about the organisation defining its purpose, understanding why it exists, where its areas of focus are.
In 'Good to Great' Jim Collins and his team found that one of the significant points of difference between sustainably great organisations and those that did not achieve greatness was around this absolute clarity of purpose. Every great organisation they studied had achieved this clarity. He calls it the Hedgehog Concept. Every great organisation had answered the following three questions:
What are we truly passionate about?
What can we be best in the world at?
What are the essential resources we will need to deliver in order to achieve greatness?
Collins demonstrates that only those organisations that achieve and deliver absolute clarity in all three circles can make that transformational leap to greatness.
The reasons are easy to see once you study the evidence Colllins uses to back up his arguments. A team or organisation may be deeply passionate about something, but if they cannot be best in the world at it they are unlikely to prosper. Equally they may be superb at something but without the passion they will fail to deliver. But even when those two are in place, if they cannot deliver the necessary resources everything else falls down.
So great organisations do not try to be over complicated. They drill deeply down until they arrive at the centre of the three interlocking circles of passion, best in the world and resouces. If they cannot be best in the world at something they don't do it. If they are not passionate about something they don't do it. And if the resources are not available they don't do it. They get right to the centre of their Hedgehog Concept and pursue it relentlessly.
Incidentally, why it is called 'the Hedgehog Concept' is not really important, but it's based on the fact that when under attack hedgehogs have one simple defence mechanism, they curl up into a ball, with their prickles warding off attackers. And no matter how cunning the fox, however varied the attack, the hedgehog always does the same thing, ensuring the fox gets a bloody nose.
Having been introduced to 'Good to Great' this leader intends to use the Hedgehog Concept right at the start of her journey. She is sharing with the principle with her stakeholders and will lead an engaged process over the next few months (because it can take months) to develop the Hedgehog Concept for her organisation. It will be the essential starting point on her journey to greatness.
What an amazing day I had yesterday (Friday) at Edgbaston. I have been looking forward to that day for a whole year now, and the weather could not have been kinder, a rare oasis of sunshine in a dreadful summer. A keenly fought Ashes contest is surely the pinnacle of sport, and Edgbaston looked superb. I was there with good friends, the sun shone, the beer flowed and England were superb. Is it possible to ask for more? Luckily I was in my seat in time to watch the first two balls of the day or I would have missed the first two Australian wickets, and after that great bowling by Anderson and Onions, an obdurate knock from skipper Strauss made sure it was England's day.
Test cricket is one of those few sports where you don't need to be present for the beginning or end of a contest to enjoy an absorbing day, and it also gives such an opportunity to socialise with friends, and do a little business as well. An excellent day.
Which is more than can be said for this summer as a whole. What a disaster! August 1st today and the rain is falling heavily. And to cap it all the Met Office has just admitted that their prediction of a 'BBQ summer' was mistaken. We now have a month of rain ahead. I feel particularly sorry for those thousands of people who changed their plans this year and decided to holiday in the UK. Stories of wash outs are everywhere and there is a last minute scramble for cheap flights anywhere!
Apparently long-term weather forecasting is incredibly difficult, even with the gadgets and gizmos available today, so I'm not sure they should even bother. It would certainly prevent expectations for a hot summer being unnecessarily raised and plans spoiled. I read the other day that there is only a 50% chance of being accurate when forecasting the weather for the next day, let alone several weeks hence. But get this, you have a 70% chance of accuracy if you simply say that tomorrow's weather will be the same as today's was. It may put Michael Fish (or whoever does it now) out of a job but it sounds like a better approach to me.
I've fallen into the trap recently of believing that all those summers when I was young were much warmer and sunnier and drier than they are now. That may or may not be true, I suspect it's one of those myths. But I do remember that we used to holiday every year in the UK when I was growing up. We used to load up the tent and make marathon journeys overnight from Oxfordshire to Weston Super Mare or Tenby or Great Yarmouth, distances that seem astronomical then but that we would do there and back in a day now. My dad used to talk in reverential tones about Porlock Hill and its sandy escape routes, and we would stop at the top to test the brakes.
Over the years we progressed to a trailer tent and then to a camper van. Horrendous when I look back but such fun at the time, and all I have fond memories of is days of sunshine playing cricket on the beach.
No blog next week because we are off for a week to our cottage in Aberdovey. No tent, thank goodness, but I suspect no sunshine either. Better load up the wine. See you in a couple of weeks.
Sunday 26 July
An unhappy postscript, re-enforcement of the right people message, debriefing the London pub crawl and advice from the swine line, but only after 11am.
Following my thoughts in the last couple of blogs over people who are unhappy at work I received the following e-mail, which I think sums up the situation much better than I can.
'I've been reading your blog over the past few weeks and have to say it rings so may bells. I find myself in a tricky situation at the moment, working for people who I feel lack the foresight to give people underneath them the opportunity to show their talent. As you said in your last blog, they tend to rule by fear and hide behind the power they have.
It's all rather sad really and the effect on morale is telling, lots of people I know here are sick of it, they are leaving, I myself feel little choice but to move on. The most frustrating thing for me is knowing I'd do it differently, treat people with respect, harness their ideas and really give them the support and training to reach their potential. That is how an organisation like this will flourish in these difficult trading conditions.'
How depressing. I don't know this guy too well, but I know he is part of an organisation that could be doing great things, The situation he finds himself in is so typical.
The one ray of light I would offer, to him and anyone else in a similar situation, is to remember that as human beings we always have choices, about anything. We must never allow ourselves to become victims of a situation like this and to believe we can do nothing about it.
I think this person has three choices. Firstly they can resolve to leave the organisation, because they can. With this action comes consequences, particularly in the current job market, but that choice exists. People who truly exercise that choice will ensure they move to a role in an organisation where the right leadership will ensure they are treated with respect and that their potential is unlocked.
Secondly they can choose to work from within to do something about the situation. They can use their influence to manage upwards and to try to change the way things are. I am not naïve, I completely understand that this is a very difficult option, but sometimes it is made more difficult when we cannot see the woods for the trees or we believe anything we do will make no difference.
Finally, they can accept the situation they are in, because these things happen, but resolve to do the right things for their own team, to create a model of how things should be done within a wider organisation that is far from perfect. Again this takes effort, persistence and courage for there will be many knock backs along the way. But leaders can exist at any level of organisations and can make a difference for those immediately around them even in the most dire of circumstances.
It's a tough choice, but I do hope he just doesn't jump ship into the first alternative that comes along.
Right at the heart of any organisation lies the right people. It is people within organisations who develop the plans and strategies, build great teams, delight customers and deliver results. Without the right people no organisation or team can sustain success and there is probably no more important thing that leaders do.
Last week this simple message was brought home to me time and time again in discussions with clients and in a book I have been studying.
The first session I had was with the newly appointed Managing Director of a company. He has inherited a senior team of three and has the opportunity to appoint three others to the team, from within and outside the company. He knows the crucial importance of these choices, not least because he has concerns, to a greater and lesser extent, with each of the three existing members of the team. He has promoted two people from within and already has seen the early impact of their enthusiasm, their positive attitude and their new thinking. He is currently recruiting the final member externally and will ensure it is absolutely the right choice. As Jim Collins tells us in 'Good to Great', 'if you are in any doubt don't recruit.' He then has to address the differing issues with the original three members of the team, some of which are more urgent than others, but getting absolutely the right team in place is top of this new MD's agenda, and crucial to the success of him and his company.
This issue was brilliantly re-enforced this week when I caught up with the Director of another company. He leads a large sales team supplying the pubs, bars and restaurants industry, as hard a business as you could be in at the moment. When I last worked with him just over a year ago things were far from good. His business was in decline, he was lacking in energy and was questioning his own drive and ability to continue. We identified that he did have issues, for differing reasons, with each of his three direct reports. The whole senior team, including this Director, had gone stale, and it was time for change.
What a difference a year has made. All three senior team members have left, one to a competitor and two to internal moves, all of which were right for them. In their places are three new people, who again have arrived with new energy and enthusiasm, and are thinking differently about the business issues they face in the most challenging of market places. Performance has been turned around, with both sales and profit in growth.
As importantly the difference in the attitude of the Director was amazing. He had regained his enthusiasm, his desire to succeed. Again its all about the right people.
I ended the week by meeting with the Chief Executive of a large third sector organisation. He sits at the centre of a federal structure, and therefore so much of his leadership is based on influence and legitimate power, not through the position he holds. Along with others he is driving major change through his whole movement. He knows that building an organisation based on finding and developing the right people is absolutely crucial. At a major conference speech recently he used Jim Collins' findings in this area to throw down a challenge to his whole movement to focus on this area as a central plank of their mission to build greatness. Powerful stuff.
One of the issues I find when introducing the work in 'Good to Great' with public and voluntary sector organisations is that all the research is based on private sector companies (and American at that!) Although I am convinced it's messages are absolutely transferable to the other sectors this is about creating great organisations wherever they may be) it is nevertheless useful that Collins has published a short 'monograph' to accompany 'Good to Great' focussing on the social sectors. This again re-enforces the need to build an organisation around the right people, but understands that in the social sector there can be formidable barriers to delivering change. One inspiring story in this short book (I guess that is what a 'monograph' must be) is about a physics teacher at a high school. He was not a the top of his organisation, but understood that his school could be so much better. He could only influence so much. In his own words 'I couldn't change the whole system but I could change our 14-person science department.'
His challenge was made even more difficult because of the 'three year tenure' systems that existed and the fact that re-appointment for the next three year terms was virtually automatic regardless of performance. He had to break that culture to make progress, but through relentless determination, and an absolute commitment to the principle of finding the right people he succeeded.
The other message there is that you can change things wherever you are in an organisation, you do not need to be at the top. A neat link back to the challenges facing the guy at the beginning of this blog.
Jakkie and I finished the week on Friday with the tough task of exploring London's '10 best pubs'. Now this is obviously a highly subjective list, whether we like or don't like a pub is such a wonderfully personal thing, but we took these recommendations in a London guide book at face value and set out on a voyage of discovery. Fortified by breakfast in Borough Market we spent the rest of the day and evening wandering the Streets of London (meeting Ralph McTell a couple of times along the way.) We got soaked on Hampstead Heath, found that one pub had disappeared completely, sat on a balcony by the Thames in Docklands and braved the West End on a Friday night after work.
The pubs were many and varied, here for those who are interested is the full list we visited:
The George, Borough High Street (17th century coaching inn)
The Grapes, Narrow Street, opposite Canary Wharf (overlooking the Thames, our favourite of the day)
Spaniards Inn, Hampstead Heath (where allegedly Dick Turpin planned his raids and Byron wrote poems in the beer garden, yeah right)
O'Halloran's, Clerkenwell (except we didn't because it is no more)
The Eagle, Farringdon (great gastro pub)
Jerusalem Tavern, Farringdon (fantastic Suffolk ales served from the barrel, highly recommended)
Cheshire Cheese, Fleet Street (is there a more overrated London pub?)
Zebranos, Soho (yes there is, this one)
Dog & Duck, Soho (excellent, small rooms, rammed)
Lamb & Flag, Soho (good place to finish)
We did manage an eleventh, Skinkers, a great wine bar at London Bridge, which has long been a favourite of mine.
An arduous and great day, and all of course in the name of research into the health of the UK pub industry!
Finally I was delighted to learn that my son Chris was looking for a part time job this week along with his friends to supplement his income during the University vacation, but I was somewhat horrified when he told me he was being interviewed to be part of the Swine Flu advice line. Apparently a couple of his mates have already got jobs there. Now Chris is a great lad, charming and friendly (like me you say) and has developed a great entrepreneurial spirit, but the Swine Line? I guess they will be trained well, and maybe it is no different in principle than fielding questions over car insurance or a mobile phone but I am not absolutely convinced I want to put my future well-being in the hands of students on vacation.
And please don't ring before 11am, because even if Chris and his mates are up the chance of a coherent reply rather than a tired mutter is extremely unlikely!
Sunday 19 July
Hopes and fears for an amazing year, defining leadership in a soulless box and plans for a wonderful summer.
I was lucky enough to spend a day last week working with the newly elected board of trustees of a large youth organisation. This young team have been elected to serve as trustees for one year. This is a unique opportunity for each of them and they really want to make a difference over the year, to the organisation, to its members and for themselves as they get as much out of the experience as possible.
We looked at their hopes and fears as they begin the year and some common themes emerged. They hoped to make an impact, to deliver some specific improvements, to learn new skills and to deliver their plans.
However they feared they would let people down, they would lose sight of their objectives and forget why they are there. As one of them brilliantly articulated, 'I don't want to make any bad decisions that will last a generation.'
Perhaps above all they feared that they would lose clarity on what they were trying to achieve because of how much there was to do, not knowing where to start, where to focus. They didn't want to end the year by looking back at a mass of lost opportunity.
That is why I spent the day working with them on creating focus around a limited number of really clear objectives. We worked on goals they want to deliver as a whole team, I return in two weeks and we will work on their personal objectives.
I guess the reason for this is obvious but it cannot be overstated. If we do not know what we are trying to achieve how can we be successful at anything? Also, even when we do have an idea of where we want to get to we try to take on too much, setting countless objectives. The result of this is that we deliver none of them with excellence.
People who work with me know I am a great believer in the power of the number 3. In this case setting just three objectives will give that team the maximum chance of delivering all of them with excellence. Those objectives must stretch them. They should be audacious, challenging stuff that will make a difference. But they must also be realistic, capable of being achieved. They need to have absolute clarity on what they are trying to deliver and the compelling reason why. Measures of success, and an action plan with clear targets and interim measures along the way must be in place.
Over the course of the day this team, having accepted the principle of focussing on a small number of challenging objectives, did some great work and came up with things that will really make a positive difference over the year.
We had a really great day together. As I have said on countless occasions in this blog I love working with young teams, their energy and enthusiasm, and their determination to make a difference is infectious. This team in particular have bonded very early in their time together, and this, together with their clarity, will be their abiding strength.
Working with young people such as this, and the conversation I had later that evening with two of their predecessors from two years ago, both in their early to mid twenties and starting their careers, continues to give me real hope for the future leadership of our organisations. I do believe a generation is emerging who will want to lead differently, to move away from the poor practices of so many managers I come across who hide behind the authority they believe their position in the hierarchy gives them and try to lead by fear, control and through the stifling of creativity. I think this new generation will sweep away management practices that frankly haven't changed much since the industrial revolution.
Talking of which I have at last begun work on a piece around the characteristics of great leaders. I am really excited about this, it is an attempt to bring together so much I have observed and experienced in terms of leadership over the last thirty years. I have spent the last seven years working with leaders in all types of organisations and I have seen so much that is good, loads that is mediocre and some behaviours that are frankly appalling. But I have seen and read enough of the good now to have my first stab at characterising great leadership.
I locked myself away on Friday to commence the work. I needed thinking time and space in an inspiring environment. Quite why I therefore chose a grey box of a hotel room in the middle of Sheffield as the rain hammered down outside is beyond me! I sense that as Jim Collins and his team put together 'Good to Great' or as Stephen Covey mused through his 'Seven Habits of Highly Effective People' they were looking at mountains or lakes or forests. I suppose at least I had the water part of it.
The rain was another reminder that we are in the middle of summer. We are already in the latter half of July and apart from the odd week or two the glorious forecast has failed to materialise. But I'm looking forward to the next couple of months, there's a load of good stuff happening. In September Jakkie 'celebrates' a 'big zero' birthday (and I mean big zero.) Plans are in hand for a party or two with friends and relatives. I'm of to the Ashes Test at Edgbaston in a couple of weeks, and then am again taking almost all of August off. We are going to our cottage in Wales for a week or so then as part of Jakkie's birthday present we are sailing to New York on the Queen Mary. It sounds very glamorous and we are really looking forward to it.
Now that Dennis is safely home I am also turning my focus to something else for Jakkie, which is a wonderful 1981 ex military lightweight Land Rover. It's currently in quite a state of disrepair at my friend Pete's but the pressure is on for it to be ready for mid-September. How lucky Jakkie is! I think it will go down better than the set of mixing bowls I bought her on the first birthday we were together. It even still has the brackets where the parachute was attached when it was pushed out of aircraft, which should be jolly useful.
And next Friday we are off to London to join Jakkie's brother and his friend for a tour of 'London's top 10 pubs.' I look forward to describing some of them to you next week. If you are a fan of Twitter tune in next Friday for live updates!
 Sunday 12 July
Dennis comes home, fun and potential unlocked as Dragons Den meets The Apprentice, unblocking toilets at 30,000 feet, and a Poet Laureate in the family.
There was great excitement this afternoon as Dennis the fire engine finally came home. Since I purchased him some weeks ago he has been living at a friend's truck business, and undergoing welding, repairs, registration and an MOT. But last Friday he was finally ready, just in time to provide transport for another friend's daughter and her friends to turn up at their end of school prom in style.
Then this afternoon he arrived home, and I had my first drive before a ribbon was cut and he was carefully reversed into the position outside the house. He looks magnificent. I have spent half the evening sitting in the cab operating the lights and sirens much to the chagrin, I am sure, of our neighbours. It's pathetic really, but I love it!
Now all we've got to do is to decide what to do next with him. Getting him home, safe and legal, was the challenge and now that's over, what next? We have investigated all the wonderful compartments and worked out opportunities to use him as a mobile bar and BBQ. We are also going to try filling the water tanks, which would be very useful if the BBQ got out of control. Any suggestions for other uses are very welcome.
I had an excellent day with a client last week as we experimented with a format for a workshop loosely based on Dragons' Den and The Apprentice. (I stress loosely based to make it clear that we did not infringe any copyright laws). I was working with the Marketing team members of a large company. The idea was to challenge them to work in teams and for each team to come up with a proposition for a new product or service connected to their industry, and then to present their ideas to a panel of dragons. The Marketing Director and colleagues from across her business came along to act as the dragons (and played their parts very well!) We were looking to judge the teams against four criteria, creativity, business acumen, clarity of presentation and teamwork in putting their ideas together.
What was amazing was the sheer quality of the ideas that each of the teams came up with. These are young people, typically in their mid twenties and in their first roles after graduating, but they came up with some brilliant stuff, which far exceeded the expectations the Marketing Director had for the session.
None of the participants found it easy, in fact for many it lifted them well out of their comfort zone and stretched them but they really went for it and produced some well thought out and excellent and original ideas. Most tellingly the Marketing Director believes that each of the propositions has a genuine chance of being implemented within the business, something she was just not expecting.
It just proved to me once more that when people are given the right encouragement and environment they are capable of doing extraordinary things. People rise to the challenge and it is possible to unlock so much potential, more than we realise exists.
We also had a lot of fun during the day and in the afternoon we moved on to look at team work, feeding back on how the morning had gone. This allowed me to live another fantasy (not fire engine driver this time) and play the roles from The Apprentice of Alan Sugar, Nick and Margaret all at once. 'So who was your team leader?' 'Good team leader?' Brilliant! I am delighted to report no-one was fired.
I worked with another client this week who is the Chief Executive of a charity which finds employment for people with disabilities. She is a very special person who is an inspiration every time I meet her. She does struggle sometimes, however, to balance all the demands placed on her as Chief Executive, dealing with a Chair and Board of Trustees, her staff, future funding challenges and her various clients and other external stakeholders.
She has developed a new three years strategic plan for her organisation, and has real clarity on purpose, vision and strategy. She also has a well-established and deeply rooted set of values which genuinely permeate her organisation. It is translating that plan into action, getting on and executing that, as with so many people, provides the challenge for her. There is so much to do and so little time.
We spent some time together re-visiting the principles of highly effective management of time, central to which is focussing on those things that are truly important. Sometimes we need to step back and take stock, thinking through what they really are, and what else we think is important, but is just getting in the way.
Only when we are clear on what they are can we ensure that we spend sufficient time on them every week, and every day. When you are at the helm, even in a fairly small organisation, you cannot do everything. You must delegate, or sometimes just stop doing things that are adding little or no value.
During our discussions this Chief Executive recounted to me an experience on a long haul flight. Most people in the cabin were asleep when the captain (identified by lots of braid on his uniform) made his way through towards the toilet. She was sat in the adjacent seat and the captain confided in her that he as on his way to unblock the toilet! Now I know that those at the top of organisations sometimes have to get their hands dirty, I am just not absolutely convinced that this fell into those most truly important things for the captain of a 747, thirty thousand feet above the Atlantic!
We had a very proud evening during the week as we attended a BAFTA style award ceremony at Charlotte's school. It was a really well run evening as a number of children collected awards across the subject areas. Charlotte received an award for English, and in addition a poem she had written won her the Poet Laureate award for the whole school.
I was particularly pleased the awards were for English, to me still the most important subject on the curriculum, and I also was able to share with her my Headmasters Prize from 1968, a copy of Tom Sawyer which still resides proudly on our book shelves. I tried to get across to her my pride that she is following in my footsteps but for some reason she just didn't get it!
Sunday 5 July
The stifling of potential, the 1% mind set, a ladybird incident, the Ashes, Hazel and Dennis.
I was in the pub on Friday evening (or in the pub garden to be precise, a beautiful summer evening) talking to someone about their experiences of work. This person is in his mid twenties and has just started out on their career as a research scientist.
His story was just so typical. Just commencing his working life, one that could span over fifty years, he is already frustrated and disillusioned. He has so many good ideas about how things could be better at work, from scientific solutions to the organisation of the office, but he already feels that no-one is listening. His manager is disinterested in his suggestions and is already also taking credit for this guy's work. A negative culture exists where people seem to focus on picking out what is going wrong, not right, where praise is non-existent and morale low.
This is the situation so many thousands if not millions of people find themselves in everyday at work around the country and is just tragic. I come across it all the time, whichever sector or type of organisation I am working in, and it is just so reminiscent of a lot of my corporate career. And so often the problem can be traced back to the same root cause. I call it the clay, middle managers who, having climbed the greasy pole to their position of assumed power, are now determined to exercise their authority and stifle creativity in those around them. They exercise the control they have to really negative effect. The outcome is a dis-empowered workforce who are not listened to and rapidly become disillusioned and cynical.
Bit it doesn't have to be like this, and I spend a lot of my working life challenging leaders at all levels to think differently at the way they treat their people. So much potential exists throughout organisations and where it is harnessed, where people are treated with respect, listened to and encouraged to think for themselves they will do amazing things with amazing results. It takes courage for leaders to unlock that potential but stifling it is a recipe for disaster.
As George Washington said, 'liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.'
But even when people feel powerless to change the attitudes of those above them in organisations there is another way to deal with it. I was considering this issue last week when I worked with front line staff in the NHS. (Incidentally, having blogged last week about the right environment being crucial for learning it was somewhat ironic that I spent two days in perhaps the hottest training room in the world!) These people, who as ever in the NHS were amongst the nicest and the most committed you could ever hope to meet, have just the same frustrations. They want to change things in their organisation but feel they have so little influence.
My work with them challenged them to think not about what they can't change, but what they can. Imagine three concentric circles. In the inner circle is the person themselves. The middle circle consists of those people and things with whom they come into day to day contact (in their case their manager, their colleagues, their patients and maybe people in other departments or agencies.) The outer circle consists of the organisation itself, with its hierarchy, policies, procedures, systems and culture, and even beyond that into Government health policy.
So often we get frustrated because what we want to change lies in the outer circle, where we have little or no influence. We need to change our mindset, and not worry about this outer circle stuff. Start in the inner circle, by changing things about ourselves, such as how we deal with our feeling sand frustrations, how effective we are every day and how we need to constantly behave ourselves in a way we want those around us to behave. It's the easiest circle to make changes in, because it's about us (and it's still really hard sometimes even in this circle!) When we have begun to make progress in the inner circle we can move to the middle one, and begin to influence and work for small changes in those around us. We cannot make significant changes here overnight but over time, maybe by influencing our boss and their attitudes, or working with our colleagues, progress starts to occur. It's called working within our circle of influence.
The other thing I urge people to focus on is making 1% improvements all the time, making small changes happen, not expecting to make 100% improvements. This journey is possible by making 1% improvements 100 times.
I began an important new assignment this week, coaching the Chief Executive of a major wildlife charity. I have been looking forward to this for a long time, as I see it as a real chance to make a difference to someone involved in amazing and worthwhile work. We met for the first session in the courtyard of a hotel on a lovely afternoon, and all was going well until I felt an irritation on my face. My natural instinct was to swat it away, at which point I heard an anguished cry from the other side of the table as she dived on the floor to rescue the ladybird that was now writhing in mortal agony beneath the table. A tense five minutes followed while she nursed it back to life, and when its little legs were moving properly she gently placed it on a nearby plant. How was I to know it was a ladybird or that they are an endangered species? Not a great start and a somewhat tense period of time followed as I strived to re-establish my wildlife aware and caring credentials.
But I did feel better by the end of Friday evening. A little frog (or toad, who knows) hopped in through the open door to our lounge and I supervised proceedings as Jakkie and Charlotte performed a rescue mission. I felt a bit like David Bellamy and quite proud of myself.
Along with what seemed to be most of the UK population I agonised on Friday evening as Andy Murray lost his Wimbledon semi-final. What I cannot stand is the media frenzy every time Wimbledon comes around. Poor old Andy Murray is hyped up to such an extent that losing is seen as a national disaster. We did it with Tim Henman and look what happened there. The difference is that Murray is the real deal, a brilliant tennis player, and already, at 22, the third best tennis player in the World. At 22! In some ways I am pleased he lost in the semis, the frenzy today would have been horrendous. Murray will win many Grand Slams, including Wimbledon, very soon. Just get off his back and leave him to get on with it.
Now that Wimbledon is over the real sport of the summer gets underway this Thursday. The Ashes is just the most amazing sporting contest. I'm biased because of how big a cricket fan I am but I have always loved England v Australia test matches and a long time before it came to such prominence with the superb 2005 series. As long ago as 1968 me and my friend David would spend days on end playing out complete test matches between us. We would go to the local cricket club complete with pads, bat, ball, all the kit and create the most extraordinarily complicated rules to decide when we were out or not as we made our way through four innings games for hours on end, recording it all diligently in a scorebook. Arguments about whether or not an edge from Boycott had been taken at second slip by Redpath off Mackenzie would go on for hours!
In those days my heroes were Edrich, Snow, Underwood and above all Basil D'Olivera for England and Walters, Redpath, Cowper and a young Ian Chappel for Australia. Today it is Strauss, Ponting, Hussey, Broad and Anderson but my love of the game is no less. I have a ticket for the second day at Edgbaston at the end of July and can't wait.
Yesterday here in Fradswell we organised a 'paintathon', where we asked people to come along and help re-decorate our poor old dilapidated village hall. We now have submitted plans for a brand new hall to the council but needed to do something to brighten up the existing building. Around twenty five people turned up and we had a great day. The results were staggering, it's amazing what a bit of paint and de-cluttering can do. The stuff we threw out dated back fifty years and had to be seen to be believed. As important as the painting was the sense of community during the day, people who rarely see each other in our busy day to day lives giving up a few hours to do something really worthwhile. Have a look at www.fradswellvillage.co.uk if you want to see the resuls.
During the morning I got talking to a lady called Hazel who, for many years, and tried to run the village hall virtually by herself. When we got involved last year it was with the mission to revitalise the hall, plan the new one and build a sense of community in our village and I had fallen into the trap of being cynical and dismissive about what had happened before. Over a half hour chat I changed my beliefs. Hazel had done a sterling and so often thankless job over so many years with little support, and was so pleased to see it pass on a generation with new enthusiasm. What might have seemed to us were old fashioned events, like a whist drive, harvest supper and Ray entertaining on his organ (yes, really) were absolutely right for their time. They were just as appropriate as our plans for wine tasting, a Christmas fayre, coffee mornings and a beer, burgers and bingo night (yes really again!) Every community needs people like Hazel who worked selflessly over many years and I'm glad I now appreciate it.
Finally Dennis is almost ready to come home. My 1983 beautiful red fire engine has his MOT on Monday and it won't be long before it is gracing our house. Even though my initial burst of enthusiasm when I bought it has been tinged with some reality (what am I going to do with it, I don't even have the HGV license I need to drive it) I can't wait. And as my enthusiasm has waned slightly Jakkie's increased when she finally saw it. She has worked out that champagne buckets will fit neatly into the holes that originally contained the breathing equipment and already sees its party potential! Watch this space for more blues and twos news very soon!
Monday 29 June
Some amazing leadership experiences, and thoughts on sexism in sport, egg and spoon races and Parliamentary traditions.
A day late with the blog this week due to a very hectic weekend including a trip to see the children in Newcastle and the annual village picnic.
The weekend also came on the back of a very busy week with clients. Possibly the thing I enjoy most about my work is when I can see the leaders I work with succeeding in building effectiveness and unlocking potential. Last week was great, it was just one of those weeks when things seemed to fall into place, and included the following:
1. Agreeing and scoping a new leadership programme for senior managers across the country who work for a major environmental charity. I know if we get this right it will significantly enhance the charity's efforts to raise money and to deliver its goals.
2. Commencing a coaching relationship with the Chief Executive of the same charity as it enters a crucial phase of its development.
3. Discussing plans for his first hundred days with the newly appointed Managing Director of a technology company.
4. A great workshop with the leadership team of a chemical company, where we were able to celebrate significant progress on culture change.
5. A day with a young management team in a building supplies company working together on developing leadership skills
6. Facilitating an induction for the new Trustees Board of a major youth organisation, where the excitement of participants at the start of a new journey was infectious.
As much as I sometimes despair about the state of leadership I often encounter there is also so much good going on as these examples testify.
The other thing that was re-enforced during the week was how important the right environment is for a meaningful thinking and learning experience. I find that too often training programmes and strategy sessions are held in completely inappropriate venues. This is particularly the case when sessions take place in the normal office environment. The issues here are obvious, if you are still in your day to day setting the chances of thinking deeply and differently about issues will be significantly reduced, and you are also far more likely to be interrupted, or succumb to the temptation to check e mails and deal with problems all day yourself.
Using an external training venue or hotel can help, but again it has to be the right environment (I have found myself in some very small hotel rooms!) I also understand that when times are tough the cost of these facilities can be prohibitive. That is why this week we held two events at homes and they really worked brilliantly. I worked with the chemical company at my house, and we ran a whole day's workshop outside, which was very different and really worked, and with the building supplies company we went to one of the team members house's and met round the dining room table. This very different environment was very stimulating and really worked, creating a much more informal atmosphere than even a hotel training room would have been.
Finally the week ended with the Trustee Board induction in a hotel, but the choice was excellent. This was a small, inexpensive and very friendly venue in the countryside, next to water. Again the environment was really conducive to learning with plenty of opportunities to sit outside and to walk in peaceful surroundings.
So if you are going to commit time and money to training your people, or need to spend time as a leadership team considering the future make sure you select the right venue. The more different you can make it to your normal working environment the better, and it does not need to be expensive. You also discover hidden talents, our host on Wednesday made stunning soup for lunch.
So last week we won the World Cup. Now this just might have passed you by because, unlike the football triumph in 1966 and rugby victory in 2003 it got very little coverage, but our England cricket team did win the World 20-20 Cup on 21st June, beating New Zealand in the final at Lords. And what is more this was their second World Cup victory in just three months, for in March they beat the same opponents in the final of the longer format of the game. The problem is that the coverage of this amazing achievement was almost non-existent. The following morning it was only the fifth story on the Radio 5 sports bulletins, behind the start of Wimbledon, Formula 1, the USA golf open and the men's cricket final. For me this just re-enforced the sexism that is alive, well and rampant in sport still, and particularly in the media's reporting of sport. Winning World Cups are amazing achievements and should be properly acknowledged and celebrated.
Without wanting to castigate the Radio 5 sports bulletins further, I was also surprised this morning that there was no mention of this weekend's greatest sporting achievement. This was not Andy Murray's progress at Wimbledon or the Lions bloodbath in South Africa, but the egg and spoon race at the village picnic here in Fradswell yesterday. The picnic was a quintessentially English event, with marquee, bunting, egg sandwiches and Pimms, but it was the obstacle and egg and spoon races that stole the show. Great fun!
Some things quintessentially English are just so good, and this was a great example, but sometimes they desperately need updating, dragging into the 19th or 20th, let alone the 21st Century. A really good example was the election of the new Speaker in the Commons last week. What a laborious process it became with voting over several hours. No doubt its full of tradition and theatre, but simple electronic voting could have completed the election in a fraction of the time. I guess it's the same argument for so many of the traditions of Parliament. These are highlighted at events like the Speaker's election but are there all the time with the way people are addressed, what people can say, the Speaker's robes and a host of other archaic traditions. And don't even get me started on the House of Lords! I sit in the camp that believes that so many of these traditions are outdated and just need to be swept away and consigned to history. I have some hopes that the new Speaker will make some progress in doing this but it will be slow. We need a modern Parliament with 21st century ways of working.
Finally, the death of Michael Jackson this week was traumatic for many. What it did remind me of was where we were when we heard these significant events unfold. There have been many comparisons made to the death of Elvis and I remember learning of that when I boarded a train to find a number of people crying. I was in New York when Diana died, and all that day random people would come up to me, ask if I was British and then place a consoling arm around me.
Incidentally I learned of Michael Jackson's death on Twitter which demonstrates how technology has revolutionised communications.
I am also just old enough to remember where I was when JFK died. I was leaning out of the window of a book depositary in downtown Dallas. But that's another story for another day.
Sunday 21 June
Building a high performance culture through coaching, a Caribbean Calypso and life at Pigeon Towers.
Last week I spoke at the annual conference of a national environmental charity. My brief was to talk about the value coaching can play in an organisation, and I used the opportunity to dispel the myth that coaching is some sort of specialist skill which can only be carried out by so called experts who have discovered some mythical formula.
My view is that the ability to build a high performance culture which unlocks the potential of people is what great leaders do. I put it up there alongside building absolute clarity and constant role modelling. In a high performance culture people know what is expected of them, they are treated with respect and are listened to. They are equipped to succeed, supported and empowered to just the right level of freedom within a framework. Their progress is regularly reviewed.
There is also nothing soft about a high performance culture, for poor performance is simply not tolerated. It is nipped in the bud, and dealt with, in the right way, fairly but firmly.
When leaders do succeed in building a high performance culture, in their team or organisation, they really do unlock potential, their people feel willing and able to give their best every day. And it is constant and consistent coaching, at all levels, which can build and maintain that culture.
The breakthrough point here is that coaching can happen all the time, and does within highly effective teams. But so many myths have been built up around it. You can buy many books or research it on the internet and you will find a myriad of advice, structures and questions which might suggest that only those with special training and skills can deliver it. But coaching is what great leaders do with their people every single day. Every time they sit down with one of their people and engage in a conversation about performance they are coaching.
I understand that a definition of true coaching is where the coach does not give answers but encourages and enables the coachee to develop their own, (while mentoring involves actually giving advice and answers), but I believe these definitions are too narrow. For me coaching is much broader, and those delivering it will vary their approach depending on the needs of those they are coaching. Sometimes they will help them find the answer, sometimes they will be teaching, sometimes mentoring and occasionally directing. Every coaching interaction is different and requires an individualised approach.
So I believe that in great teams and organisations it just happens constantly. It starts with the discipline of a scheduled monthly sit down between boss and subordinate. At this session the boss will let their people know how they are performing. They will set clear goals together for the next few weeks, and the boss will ensure they understand what they can do to clear road blocks.
But it is not just about a monthly formal sit down. Coaching can take place during a quick weekly catch up, or even in a brief daily conversation next to the coffee machine. That is when it becomes a constant process, a natural way of working, which of course is what you need to build a high performance culture.
Of course there are many variations of this, it can be supplemented by buying in external coaching, a system of peer coaching can be developed, but I believe these are add-ons to supplement the basic relationship between boss and subordinate.
And I emphasise again that this is not a soft approach, coaching is at the bedrock of dealing with poor performance. And dealing with poor performance does not always have to be through a disciplinary route. I have often been involved in coaching relationships where the interaction has enabled us to pursue the reasons behind that performance, which often will not be connected to work at all. Sometimes people are at the back of the bus because it is the wrong bus, and coaching can help them to arrive at their own decision to leave the bus at the next stop and find a more appropriate journey.
So I would urge you, if you do not do so already, to develop a way of working and build a culture where coaching lies at the heart. Over time you, your team and whole organisation will reap the rewards.
Yesterday afternoon I held a party at home to say thank you to my clients. This is turning into an annual event, last year the theme was Lazy Sunday Afternoon, with a jazz band, this year we moved to a Caribbean Calypso, complete with a steel band.
Last year the sun had shone brightly all afternoon (a rare great day in a lousy summer), this year was not as nice, but the rain stayed away and we had a great day nevertheless, with significant amounts of rum punch, champagne and jerk chicken consumed. I particularly like bringing together clients form all sectors and types of organisations who would normally never meet, and watching them chat during the afternoon.
We had some rather unusual visitors at the house over the last few days (and I don't just mean one or two of my clients yesterday!) Early in the week a racing pigeon suddenly appeared, presumably resting during a long trip. To say it was tame is putting it mildly, after a few hours it had virtually moved in. (I refer to it as 'it' because my talents do not extend to the sex of pigeons if you see what I mean). At one point it made it's way into the lounge and settled on the settee next to Jakkie, it spent most of its time under the verandah or following us around the garden, no more than a pace behind.
After a couple of days it moved on, but whatever the equivalent of an internet bulletin board is in racing pigeon world obviously has been working, because today another one appeared displaying many of the same behaviours. If this goes on we'll need some kind of reservation system and maybe a loyalty card.
Sunday 14 June
Star gazing, ignorance, cloning the Apprentice and as one great adventure begins another one ends.
I spent some time last week gazing up at the stars and contemplating on how little I know about anything. I was in the planetarium of the Centre for Life in Newcastle, and the exhibition we were watching was telling the story of the discovery of planets, stars and galaxies over the centuries by astronomers.
It really brought it home to me that I now so little. Maybe I wasn't listening the days we learned about space at school, but frankly I don't even remember the lessons. I do have a vague memory of being in the school hall watching a crackling black and white television set as Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, but to be honest the historical enormity of it passed me by, I was too interested in getting the chewing gum off the bottom of the seat in front to flick at David Gibbard.
Now I was laying back listening to scientific terms that made no sense at all as computer generated images flashed across space, and realising the depth of my ignorance.
But of course it's always been the case. Four hundred years ago even the great astronomers of the time believed that the Earth lay at the centre of our Universe, and that the sun and all other planets revolved around us. Today we know so much more. Or do we? I wonder if in four hundred years time people will gaze upwards in planetariums (or whatever the equivalent will be then) and marvel at how little we knew in the early years of the Millennium.
The experience did bring home to me the level of my ignorance. And it's not just about space, it's about everything else around us. I consider myself to be a reasonably intelligent person (don't laugh) who tries to take an interest in things but there is just so much I don't know, about science, the arts, the environment, the world in which we live, other cultures, languages, history, the list is endless.
You may well ask why it matters, but ignorance is such a dangerous thing. It's why people vote for BNP members and elect them to the European Parliament, it's why so many people have such prejudiced views about other cultures and religions.
There is a view that we should know something about everything and everything about something. The one thing I have tried to explore and to learn about particularly over the last seven years is leadership. It's become my passion to try to understand the secret of what makes a truly outstanding leader. But even after reading dozens of books from so called experts and observing leaders of all shapes and forms in all kinds of organisations (and outside work) I'm still no closer to the answer.
And that of course is because there isn't one (although that did cause a mini riot on a leadership programme recently because people there, having paid to attend, were somewhat disappointed that I could not reveal the secret to them on the final morning!) Despite the best efforts of so many so called gurus there is no secret, no one model of a 'perfect leader'. And that's because it's forever evolving. As Sheila Bethel says:
'Leadership is not something you learn once and for all. It is an ever-evolving pattern of skills, talents and ideas that grow and change as you do'
Indeed if you were to think about the perfect leader you have come across in your life I suspect you would struggle. You may pick certain aspects from one person and some from another and so on. It also depends on the situation, leaders require different skills in the heat of a battle to they do when considering the development of a long-term strategy.
The leader I respect most on my search so far is the Chief Executive of a large voluntary organisation. I have observed her at work on regular intervals over the last two years, she just has this ability to inspire and engage people so they will do anything for her, together with a firm and clear grasp of the direction and strategy for her organisation. She also seems to base her leadership approach on deeply held values and to constantly role model the behaviours herself that she wants to see in others.
But my search goes on and I am excited, as I mentioned last week, that I am emerging with a set of characteristics that I believe, after seven years of study and thirty years of experience, are shared by great leaders. I'm looking forward to sharing them with you very soon.
While on the subject of leadership the latest series of 'The Apprentice' ended a week ago with Yasmin defeating Kate in a close final. However much I dislike so much about the format of the programme I remain hooked and the two finalists had very different leadership skills, and were impressive in their own ways, especially as they are both only 27. Yasmin was the entrepreneur, she had already opened and run her own restaurant (even though her grasp of the numbers was appalling.) Kate came across as an extremely structured and organised person (she has a 'ten year career plan' which is almost certainly colour coded.) If you could combine those talents into one person you would get an impressively rounded leader. But that's the point, both those individuals need to develop new skills to complement their existing ones.
Incidentally I hope that Alan Sugar's slightly ridiculous appointment into the Lords and Brown's team doesn't jeopardise the continuation of the Apprentice next year, I'm ashamed to say I would really miss it!
My daughter Lindsay and her boyfriend Danny came to stay for a few days last week before they embark on their latest summer adventure. They fly out this week for eight weeks at Camp America before travelling around the States, visiting New York, Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Chicago, Las Vegas and across the border into Canada. I pick them back up at Heathrow on 4th September and that seems a very long way away. Lindsay was in Australia, Thailand and Laos last summer and these are great opportunities for adventure, and to learn more about the World around them (and themselves.) I wish I had grabbed those opportunities at their ages.
Of course knowledge comes in many shapes and forms. You may recall that I blogged some months ago about the local farmer, still working in his late eighties, who, however busy he was, always found the time to stop and talk to Jakkie and me whenever we met. Not for him the ever present Blackberry and the dash to yet another meeting. He just knew so much about what was around us, about the seasons, his crops, his animals, wildlife, the weather. To me that was real wisdom. He passed away this week after a rich and fulfilled life and I will really miss those chats.
Saturday 6 June
Why Sainsbury's missed a trick, icebergs, and words of wisdom from Sir Alan Sugar.
This blog may well be posted late this week, although I am writing it on Saturday afternoon, sometime after the England cricket team's shock defeat to the mighty Netherlands and a little before I hope there is no repeat performance from our football team in Kazakhstan. The reason it may be posted late is because once more our phone lines and therefore broadband are down at home. This is a regular occurrence, not helped because we still have overhead lines, which seem incapable of resisting even a breeze let alone a gale. We have enquired about wireless, but our charming BT engineer collapsed into laughter at the suggestion, explaining that we are so far from the exchange that it would be impossible. Meanwhile our broadband connection delivers us a snail like speed even when it is working. I am encouraged by Gordon Brown's commitment to provide much improved broadband performance across the country, although I fear he has enough else on his mind at the moment.
So we soldier on, although when I awoke this morning to find the power temporarily off as well as the phone lines it did feel a little like living in a third world country, and made my tongue in cheek comments about life in Europe's poverty zone in last week's blog seem somewhat portentous.
It was with great excitement that I tuned in to Channel 4's new reality TV series 'I'm Running Sainsbury's' on Tuesday evening. From what I could make out from the title and the trailers here was a great experiment, letting shop floor workers loose in the Boardroom and giving them an opportunity to make decisions that would improve the company. I have to say that by the end of the show I was really disappointed, and I think that both Sainsbury's and Channel 4 missed a great opportunity here. The title of the programme is very misleading. The people involved are not running Sainsbury's at all, but are simply participating in a company wide suggestion scheme, where the winners have the opportunity to trial their ideas. That didn't even work particularly well, the first week's 'winner' had what seemed like a good idea, but then was left entirely on her own to implement it, with a complete lack of head office (or 'store support centre'- yuck) support (such irony there). What may well have been a successful innovation was allowed to fail, which the producers may have thought was good television, but I just felt sorry for the obviously de-motivated shop assistant.
The series could achieve so much more if Sainsbury's had actually taken a group of front line staff and really gave them some opportunities to make changes at the top. In any organisation it is the people at the front end who really understand what works well and not so well, who know what frustrates the customers, what systems and processes are inefficient and what needs changing. But far too often they never have an opportunity to do anything about it. They are rarely listened to. At the top of an organisation, leaders would love to improve things, they genuinely want to communicate, to gather ideas and to listen. But it is the middle-management group that so often gets in the way. They tend to stifle ideas, communicate poorly and ignore suggestions. I call them 'the clay'. Now I am generalising, and I come across great people in these roles, but far too often I see the inertia this group creates. Maybe it is fear of being usurped by someone from below. Maybe they feel they have not got the time to listen, to communicate, but if they did, and if they could create a culture where ideas from the front line were welcomed, encouraged, listened to, and, where appropriate, acted upon, the efficiency and effectiveness of organisations would greatly increase.
This was a message brought home to me strongly at the start of this week when I visited the Chief Executive of a group of Co-Operative stores in the south-west. This man is an inspirational leader, who has spoken at a couple of leadership cohorts I am involved with. This was the first time I have had the opportunity to visit his business and to see if he does what he says he does, and he passed with flying colours. We toured his stores and I was astonished at how positive and involved the front line staff we met actually were. They really do seem to contribute what is a very successful business. In conversation I learned that this had not always been the case. When this Chief Executive first took over in his role he encountered that clay in his middle managers. He and his senior colleagues realised that they had to break through it if they were to get the best of their front line staff, and over the course of his first year they did just that, by persuading his middle managers of the need to change, by communicating directly to staff, often by-passing middle managers, and, where necessary, removing middle managers if they could not or would not change. The results are there for all to see, a vibrant, successful, customer responsive business where people at all levels feel they can be heard and can change things for the better.
That was a great start to my week, and it continued to go from strength to strength (unlike poor old Mr Brown's.) I spent the middle of the week working with front line staff in the NHS (wonderful people) and then ended it with a two day Workshop with a group of positive and enthusiastic commercial managers in leisure and retail roles. We have worked together in a leadership cohort for two years now, and I have seen each of the participants grow in stature, confidence and self-belief as the programme has developed. We have explored a mass of leadership material together, and culminated by compiling what we believed to be the characteristics of a highly effective leader, and the tools and frameworks that could support that leader. We ended the Workshop on Friday in a really exciting place, the characteristics are coming together, and I will look to share them soon via this blog and my web site.
I think the word 'characteristics' is really important because it recognises that true leadership is character based, it comes from deep inside us, and is based on values, self-belief and inner strength. Great leaders do not and cannot rely on their personality and on a few techniques. It is important to differentiate between character and personality. Even Sir Alan Sugar managed that this week on 'The Apprentice.' Or should I say Lord Sir Alan Sugar as he heads for the dizzy heights of Enterprise Tsar. After weeks, or indeed years, of cringing at his approach to leadership he came up with a gem out of the blue,
'Personality opens doors for you, but it's character that keeps them open'
I could not agree with this sentiment more. Think of it in the context of an iceberg. If there is one thing we all know about icebergs (along with the fact that they are cold) it is that we only see the tip above the surface of the water. It is the same with people. Above the surface is our personality, it is what you see when you meet someone for the first time. You may notice their appearance, the way they dress, their smile, their mannerisms. You may make certain assumptions about the person depending on what we see but we do not really know them. It is only when we know someone well that we understand what they are really like. Then we know if they are trustworthy, honest, sincere and genuine. These are character based attributes, and in exactly the same way great leaders display traits from deep within their character.
Finally, in a week of almost unprecedented turmoil in politics (and it's not over yet by a long way), one ludicrous action passed almost unnoticed. A Labour MP by the name of Tipping introduced a motion in the Commons to set a maximum wage, at a level ten times that of the minimum wage (which would be about £120,000 a year.) To make my position clear I am a total advocate of the minimum wage (I believe it is the most important piece of legislation introduced by Labour in their 12 years in power) but to suggest a maximum wage is completely ridiculous. I have no time for excessive greed, and I believe that reward packages (and company profits) should always be proportionate (I completely abhor the City bonus culture) but proposing a maximum wage is possibly the most stupid thing I have ever heard of. Great leaders should be paid a proportionate package related to their achievements, not governed by legislation.
I'd have thought that Labour MPs have enough to think about and focus on at the moment, like the future of their leader, the expanses scandal and their very survival.
Sunday 31 May
Life in Europe's poverty zone, the servant-leader and a plea for a Cash-less society.
Last week Jakkie and I went along to the Fradswell Parish Assembly. This fine sounding body has no doubt existed for hundreds of years. I can picture poor tenants using the opportunity to plead for lower taxes from the Lord of the Manor.
In some ways nothing seems to have changed. The Assembly was presided over by the Chairman of the Parish Council (who comes from the neighbouring larger village, Fradswell being small to be trusted with a Parish Council all of its own), and the Clerk read the minutes and Parish accounts in the formal and somewhat quaint way I suspect has been done over many years. Then, after reporting on such mighty matters as road signs and missing teacups the Chairman invited those parishioners present to raise any items of business.
And there was the problem. Unfortunately there were only the two of us there. The other 156 members of our Parish were noticeable by their absence. Which is not surprising seeing that, to the best of my knowledge, the Assembly had not been advertised at all (we had heard about it by chance.) Now it may be that after 400 years everybody knows that the meeting takes place on the fourth Sunday before harvest when the moon is full, or maybe the Clerk had simply forgotten, being tied down with more weighty matters like the teacups, but it still seems to me, a virtual outsider still having lived here only 11 years, that there must be a better way to go about these things.
But it was well worth attending for one reason. Also present was our local District Councillor who informed us that Fradswell is regarded, under EU regulations and measures, to be a poverty zone. Now I have to say I found that somewhat surprising, seeing that the 60 odd houses seem to have an average of about 3 cars each. And that even includes the farmers. Or should I say especially the farmers, if you ever hear the term 'poor farmers' do not be fooled, there's certainly no sign of that around here. But no, Fradswell is indeed regarded as a community suffering from poverty, placing it in the Euro zone somewhere alongside Romania and parts of southern Portugal. The reason, it appears, is our lack of facilities, we have no shop or pub or post office, and no public transport. (And I mean absolutely no public transport, there used to be a bus that ran once a week to the local town, taking an hour to do the six mile journey via every single other farm and hamlet on the way. Apparently it was a real community experience to take that bus, and I picture goats and chickens alongside farmers wives with shopping baskets, but it was stopped a couple of years ago due to lack of use.)
So the exciting news is that this newly found status entitles us to grants and funding from Brussels, maybe something for older people in the community or younger people. All we need now are some ideas. The Chairman and Clerk seem devoid of any so we have got our thinking caps on. Your suggestions would be most welcome. If you get a chance have a look at the village web site we have set up, www.fradswellvillage.co.uk where you can follow progress on the tea cups and post any ideas.
I was working with a client last week discussing the concept of the 'servant-leader.' You may remember that from time to time those at the top of organisations have spoken about 'inverting the triangle.' Often this is within the heady atmosphere of the annual conference or sales meeting, and the boss puts up a slide with an inverted triangle, showing him or her at the bottom, then their direct reports, then managers and supervisors, and finally front line staff right at the top of the diagram, often with customers shown at the top of the slide. The boss will talk about their role being to support everyone else in the organisation, with each level of management being there to support the front line in dealing with customers. It sounds inspiring, and apart from the surprised and worried faces of the boss's direct reports it's positively received, if with an air of cynicism.
And unfortunately too often the cynicism is well founded because the idea, even if it was proposed with the best of intentions, never lasts longer than the next mini crisis, when the boss and reports revert to type finding it easier to sit at the top of the triangle barking orders.
Maybe that is a bit unfair but unfortunately I find the true execution of the 'inverted triangle' very rare. But where it happens it can make an incredible difference to the effectiveness of organisations. It can create a culture where real empowerment takes place and where front line staff feel truly supported. This is the principle of the 'servant-leader' first coined by Robert Greenleaf, an American 'management development guru' (whatever that means) in 1970. As a recent excellent article in People Management Magazine pointed out, Greenleaf believed that great leaders are motivated by the desire to serve others, a refreshing break away from those recent leaders motivated by self-interest and the pursuit of power (step forward Sir Fred Goodwin and a host of moat cleaning and duck house building MPs).
Greenleaf goes on to say that the best test of a 'servant-leader' is whether those who are served grow as people. Now there will be a view that in these difficult times this is just too wishy-washy. That what we need is strong, decisive even autocratic leaders taking the hard decisions. But there is nothing weak or indecisive about being a 'servant-leader.' They still make the tough decisions but they ensure they are made for the right reasons and implemented in the right way.
A great example from the article of a 'servant-leader' is Chesley Sullenberger, the US Airways pilot who on 15 January safely ditched a passenger jet carrying 155 people into the Hudson River. After his aircraft hit a flock of birds and lost power in both engines soon after taking off from La Guardia airport Sullenberg performed a textbook emergency landing and ensured everyone was evacuated before himself, walking the aisles more than once to check.
In a 2005 essay, Larry Spears, who worked closely with Greenleaf, outlined the ten characteristics of a 'servant-leader' as follows:
1. The ability and willingness to listen to people
2. The determination to strive to understand and to empathise with others
3. The potential to heal (in organisational terms the ability to resolve issues)
4. Being aware and understanding issues involving ethics and values, knowing right from wrong.
5. Able to persuade, seeking to convince others rather than to coerce compliance
6. Able to think beyond today's realities and to conceptualise solutions to problems
7. Displays foresight, the ability to predict the likely outcome of a situation
8. Stewardship, playing their role in holding their organisation in trust for the greater good of society
9. Commitment to the growth of each individual in the organisation
10. Seeks to find some means of building a community among those who work within an organisation
Take a minute to consider your own role as a leader, whether you lead an organisation, or a team, or as a peer leader within a team or as a leader within your family. To what extent are you a 'servant-leader', how truly dedicated are you to serving others?
Which brings me neatly to the subject of my local MP, who, after 22 days of waiting with baited breath (me and probably him) finally made the front page of the Daily Telegraph on Friday. Bill Cash, 'Tory grandee and Euro sceptic', is accused by the Telegraph of claiming £15,000 in second home expenses to rent a flat from his daughter. Now I have no knowledge as to the validity of the accusations, but I do have a perception of Mr Cash as a pompous person who has probably had this coming to him. I say a perception because like probably 99% of the electorate here in the Stone constituency I have never seen or heard from Mr Cash in the 11 years he has been my MP. He truly is invisible. He has a huge majority, and the nearest I came to meeting him was when he sent one of his minions to our house on polling day in 2005. What irked me most was the natural assumption from his minion that I, and everyone else around here, would be voting for him. I think it is that arrogance that made me smile the most on Friday.
David Cameron says that Cash has 'serious questions' to answer, and I hope he means it. Cameron has been impressively decisive so far in dealing with his miscreants (much more so than the once more indecisive Prime Minister) and must see this as a one off opportunity to change the face of his party by getting rid of the grandees and the 'bed blockers'. I just hope he seizes the moment and banishes Mr Cash into obscurity. If we must have a Tory MP around here at least a young, energetic and visible one would be a welcome change. But preferably not Letita.
Sunday 24 May
Unassuming Lisbon, an amazing journey, an honourable man falls on his sword and a rant at a rag.
What a beautiful sunny Sunday morning. Just finished having breakfast outside, always a treat in this country. Hopefully it's the start of a great summer.
It was certainly a sunny start to the week, with three days spent in Lisbon. It was my first visit to the city, and I was really impressed by it. One thing that stands out, compared to a lot of European cities, is that it does not go out of its way to attract tourists. It has this very impressive laid back approach, if you are here you will be looked after without going over the top. I saw it described while I was there as an 'unassuming' city and I think it's a great description. A typical example was a restaurant we ate in, it had a superb write up in a travel magazine, but we struggled to find the non-descript entrance on a small back street. The food was excellent, the service low key and the price very reasonable.
Of course there are touristy things to do, the castle and cathedral are both magnificent and there are enough bars and cafes to keep you going.
I also learned:
1. Fado, the local music and dance, makes Leonard Cohen and Damian Rice seem upbeat. I understand it's deeply part of the Lisbon history and culture but my goodness the word dirge springs to mind.
2. Lisbon students can start out on a pub crawl to celebrate the end of exams at 3pm, and at 1am can still be well behaved, reasonably sober but still seem to be having a great time. Carnage it is not.
3. Mateus Rose is as bad as I remember it, although of course we had to try it. And the bottles did make great table lamps!
4. There are decent citizens everywhere like the businessman whose alertness prevented my pocket being picked.
Having recovered from our Lisbon excesses, (my ex work colleagues sure can still drink while moderate me struggles to keep up), I finished the week with a workshop at home with the senior team of an industrial site. We have been working for the past few months to bring about a culture change on the site, linking our journey to the principles of Gung Ho!, a true story of business turn around described in Blanchford's book.
Holding the meeting at home gives the team a chance to get away from the day to day issues on site and think creatively. It even creates a different environment to a hotel meeting room, and we were able to include a long country walk.
The best part of all was sharing some breakthrough moments as we reviewed the journey. This is a site where a combination of previous poor management, a long history of decline in a very traditional business and reductions in the number of people employed has, over the years, resulted in a very negative culture. This team have taken on the challenge of changing that culture and building an organisation where people want to come to work and give their best. It was never going to happen overnight, but, six months in, through a combination of their actions and behaviours, the first real signs of change are emerging. It really is an amazing journey and one I am proud to be playing a small part in. Best of all is how much this senior team is enjoying the journey, and the changes I have seen in them, particularly in how well they are communicating with each other and working together.
As the news continues to be dominated by the appalling behaviour and lack of principles of many MPs one story you may have missed last week was the resignation of Tim Clarke, Chief Executive of my old company, Mitchells & Butlers. Tim resigned after fresh losses emerged on financial instruments linked to a failed property venture. While the background to the issues are so complicated they make my brain hurt, for me this is a human story, all the more relevant because of knowing Tim. I first met him around 1990, when as a newly appointed Retail Director running pubs in the West Midlands I took Tim into trade in Walsall one evening in his capacity as head of strategic planning. Three things struck me about Tim that night, his immense knowledge of the pub industry, his local knowledge of my pubs (which was far better than mine) and his awesome capacity to drink pints of Highgate Mild!
Whenever our paths crossed after that my respect for him continued to grow and over the last few years he has built a formidable business which is the envy of its competitors.
Tim may well have been at fault in listening to bad advice over the past couple of years but I do know that he is a man universally respected and liked within Mitchells & Butlers and within the leisure industry as a whole. Most importantly he understood when he needed to do the right thing and has acted in a truly honourable way. If only so many members of Parliament would follow his example. Cheers Tim.
Finally, what on earth is the point of local newspapers? I am becoming increasingly depressed with the pathetic outputs of my local rag, the Staffordshire Newsletter. I blogged last week about it's ludicrous lead story about a petition to bring smoking back into pubs, and even took the step, for the first ever time, of sending a letter in letting them know my views. Needless to say it wasn't published, any criticism of the paper never is. It reminds me of a trip to a small hotel once where the comments book was there to sign, except that every negative comment in the book had been erased with corrector fluid! While there are real stories around (local MPs expenses for instance, or the reports on the horror stories that emerged from my local hospital in Stafford) this paper continues to lead with such world exclusives as 'Single Mother of Three enraged as Pizza Hut Opens Half an Hour Late.' You think I'm joking. I'm not.
With local newspapers losing circulation and going out of business all around us I do question the point and existence of this pathetic offering.
So it's relegation Sunday, and probably the only people not enjoying the hot sun this afternoon will be several thousand supporters of Hull, Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Newcastle. Sky and Setanta couldn't have wished for any more drama. For the neutral it's going to be great!
Saturday 16 May
Why the catastrophic breakdown of trust in MPs may just be good for leadership, no smoke without fire, and a short trip to Lisbon.
The extraordinary revelations over the last few days on MPs expenses has been well reported and much commented on, and who am I to add to that debate. But I would just like to give one or two observations, and then, much more importantly, make the link from there to leadership within organisations.
As each new revelation has appeared in the Daily Telegraph what has been fascinating is watching how the mood and reaction from MPs has evolved by the day. They began the week in denial ('we've done nothing wrong, we were only playing by the rules, it's just media hype'), moved swiftly through anger (amply demonstrated by the unbelievably arrogant Speaker) and onto acceptance, with a flood of members cheque books being waved before the cameras, and the inevitable posturing, sacking and resigning. Never can there have been such a woeful misreading of public opinion and anger.
As I said much has already been written (including Alistair Campbell's excellent blog) but just one or two thoughts:
1. The excuse that 'we were only following the rules' is indefensible. Who set the rules? Also rules are artificial laws, the far more important and powerful natural law is knowing what is right and what is wrong.
2. Of course we have all been creative in our expenses (although if my ex boss is reading this that 1998 claim involving the tin of Vaseline and a bottle of vodka was genuine) but not by elected representative who hide behind the word 'honourable' and display breathtaking arrogance.
3. Because all parties are more or less equally tainted it's been fascinating watching them being unable to attack each other for once but having their collective backs against the wall. This has just started to change, but the attempts to gain party political advantage are just seen through by an increasingly angry public.
4. Cameron has done an admirable job in emerging strongly but his fury must be because the claims have re-enforced the truth that for all his efforts his party has not changed at all, swimming pools, horse manure and, best of all, moats for goodness sake!
5. I am not suggesting solutions to the actual issue of MPs remuneration except to say that I actually believe they are underpaid for the job. Their current basic salary is about the equivalent of what, say, a regional manager might earn but these people are supposed to be running the country. I'd pay them a salary nearer to six figures, but then cut right back on expenses.
What is undeniable is that the catastrophic breakdown in trust of our elected 'leaders' is bad for democracy. At the very heart of a functioning and effective democratic system must be a basic trust that those we elect to high office will seek to do the right things for those they represent and to behave in an honourable way. A survey this week suggested that 83% of us now trust our MPs less. I can only assume the other 17% had no trust to start with. Rebuilding it is going to be a long and painful process.
But there is hope here. These events have at least started a debate about doing the right thing. An understanding that just because something is 'within the rules' does not make it right. People have begun to talk about a sense of fairness and about deeply rooted values. Maybe this is a signal of the beginning of the end of an era of greed and hypocrisy which began with Thatcher's legacy from the eighties, and doesn't just pervade politics but has sadly been all too prevalent in organisations as well.
Just possibly from this catastrophe leaders within all sorts of organisations may reflect on the lessons they can learn. Is it time to stop running organisations through fear, greed and arrogance, where results are delivered with scant regard for people, but instead for leaders to genuinely develop a leadership approach based on values, principles, care and fairness.
There is a wonderful and underrated book called 'And Dignity for All' by James Despain, which tells a true story of unlocking greatness with values-based leadership. In the book Despain tells a frankly honest story of being brought up and schooled in management in his early days in a way that led him to believe that the only way to get results out of people was to shout at them, use authority based on power, to threaten and to bully them. Through this approach he managed to rise from being an hourly paid worker in Caterpillar to the position of Vice-President and General Manager of one of the Company's biggest manufacturing facilities. But here it all stalled, this business was in serious decline and shouting simply did not work. Despain went through a massive transformation. He began to realise that there was a different way to lead. If he could treat people with respect and dignity and build their self-worth he could get so much more out of them, in not just productivity but also in new ideas, new attitudes and new ways of doing things.
He built an organisation based around a set of deep, meaningful values created by the employees themselves. And the secret was ensuring, however hard things got, when a decision had to be made it was made in line with those values. Over time together they transformed a seriously unprofitable division into one of the company's most important profit centres. And, as importantly, he tells the story of how, through the journey, he found his own dignity and self-worth.
Before you groan, give the book a go. Critically, it's not management theory, it's a true story of personal and organisational transformation in the heart of manufacturing industry, and it's principles can be applied by any leader, in any type of organisation, anywhere.
I already work with some great leaders who demonstrate every one of the qualities Despain developed and wrote about. They want to succeed, to build great organisations delivering great results, but they are determined to do it in the right way. They deeply respect and care about their people and are determined to deliver their results in the right way, to treat everyone, be they employees, customers, suppliers or other stakeholders fairly and honestly. Through this approach the great results they do deliver are sustainable. These are wonderful people who are a pleasure to work for and with. I hope and believe that the next generation of leaders will much more commonly display these virtues and attributes.
Just in passing, and building on the back of my recent blog on saving the Great British Pub, I notice my local paper's lead story this week is a campaign to re-introduce smoking rooms in pubs. This is simply an unbelievable knee jerk reaction to a downturn in fortunes in the wider economy. Banning smoking in public places was one of the greatest pieces of legislation in the last ten years. Since then pubs have become a delight to go into and food sales have risen sharply. Turning back the clock would be absurd, not least because of the clear argument of the effect passive smoking had on bar staff over the years. It's just the same as the proposal to abandon the minimum wage. These are examples of hard won progress which it would be criminal to reverse. While we are at it we might as well bring back child labour, abandon votes for women and maybe re-introduce slavery. Maybe that's next on the agenda of pub owners as a way of reducing costs!
So tomorrow I am off to Lisbon for a few days with my ex work colleagues. This is an annual trip which has already taken us to Barcelona, Palma, Nice and Brussels. It's a chance to put the world to rights over a few beers as well as taking in the local sights. I've never been to Lisbon, and know little about it so I am really looking forward to it.
But before I head for the airport I have things to do. I have noticed that my moat is silting up badly. Now where's that shovel and expenses claim form?
Sunday 10 May
Encouraging Alice in Wonderland to produce a business plan, tipping and Fradswell rocks
'Without clear goals we become strangely obsessed with daily acts of trivia'
I'm not sure of the origination of that quote, but it rings so true for me, and I use it when working with people in teams and organisations on the management of their time, and on the preparation of business plans.
Over the past couple of weeks I have been working with different teams on their business plans, some for the year ahead, and some as part of a review of strategy for the next three to five years. Different teams, different organisations and different time scales, but the principle in each case was the same; unless people invest the time up front to produce well thought out and crafted plans, based on clarity of vision and goals, the chances of them moving forward is remote.
But too often I come across teams and even organisations who seem to have no sense of where they want to get to. Without that sense of direction at best they are merely treading water, at worst they are heading off aimlessly in the wrong direction.
To borrow from Alice in Wonderland:
"'Would you tell me please which way I ought to go from here?'
'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat
'I don't care much where?' said Alice
'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat."
Therefore every team and every organisation should invest the time, at the start of a year, or a three year cycle, or at the beginning of a project, to produce a business plan, a carefully thought out picture of where they want to get to, and road map of how they will get there.
The problem is that can seem quite daunting. For some the challenge will be where to start, there are so many possible templates available. For others it will be finding the time to focus on pulling one together, there is so much to do, they are just to busy doing stuff (which of course is the problem). At the other end of the scale some organisations will just have turned business planning into such a bureaucratic nightmare that it will alienate everyone who becomes involved. The organisation I used to work for was one of those. Over the year many, many hours would be spent producing wonderfully detailed plans charting the year ahead. They even had a whole department which did nothing but develop strategies which they turned into business plans and on into operational plans. At the beginning of the new year us operators would be handed a thick file containing the 752 page long plan for the year ahead.
We would take it back to our offices, gaze at it in awe and slip it quietly into our desk draw, and that's where it stayed. It was not joined up, in any sense, to the real world in which we operated. Not that the department minded. They had produced the plan and ticked their boxes, and were now heavily engaged in producing the following year's plan.
I tell this story just to offer a word of warning, planning is essential if you want to succeed, but it needs to be timely, relevant, and produced by the people who are actually the ones charged with executing and delivering.
So I don't think plans need to be complex, and for a team should probably be never more than three or four pages long. They should be a simple guide to what you intend to do over, say, the next year, and then should be working documents regularly referred to as you progress through the year.
I said before that there are many templates available, but may I suggest the following as a simple framework for any team producing a plan to focus it for the coming twelve months:
1. Review of stakeholders
Who are your main stakeholders (customers, suppliers, team members, senior management, other colleagues etc.)? What do they want from you in the next year? How do you know? How do you interact with them?
2. Purpose
Why does your team exist? Unless you can state this clearly, in 25 words or less, you do not have clarity on why you are there, and therefore why should anyone else?
3. Vision
Where do you want to be one year today? Can you paint the picture which is compelling, aspirational, stretching but also realistic? Can you articulate that vision in a way that engages your stakeholders?
4. Strategy
Can you turn where you want to get to (the vision) into a simple top line strategy (how we are going to get there)? This is where so many teams and organisations fall down. Spurred on by MBA thinking they over complicate strategy, turning it into a document a hundred pages long full of graphs, figures and mind numbing detail.
But a top line strategy can be so simple. Tesco, hardly a small or unsuccessful company, summarise their strategy into five areas of core UK food, community, UK non food, retailing services and international growth. Each is underpinned by a simple statement of a dozen words or so and is easily accessible on their website.
Five simple statements under which lies a host of detailed plans but the point is that their strategy is accessible and can be understood by any employee, and even more importantly, wherever a person works in their company, on a till, behind the meat counter, in their financial services, or in a head office function, they can see how what they do every day can directly contribute to at least one part of the strategy. It joins up brilliantly. (They also communicate it brilliantly. I was running programme and mentioned this strategy. A women delegate recalled the statements. She said her son had stacked shelves at his local Tesco for three weeks over Christmas while a student, had been told the strategy and had mentioned it to her. Awesome.)
5. Roles and Goals
This is the crucial bit which turns the strategy in a plan into execution. Every single person involved should be aware of their part in delivering their part of the strategy, and be clear on their role (why they exist), and their goals for the year ahead. Although it may not form part of this short business plan they should now feel able to produce their own action plan for delivering their goals. As with the Tesco employee they should be able to see how delivering their goals will enable the team to deliver its strategy to achieve its vision. It's called 'line of sight.'
6. Targets, Milestones and Measures
The final part of the plan maps out the journey for the year into a series of targets, milestones and measures. What must be achieved by when? How will you know you have been successful?
That's it, just a six step process. I have used this framework countless times with teams in all sorts of all organisations, and I use it for my own annual business plan. It's simplicity and clarity really works.
I mentioned this briefly last week, but in a week dominated by the Telegraph's exposure after exposure on MPs expenses I was delighted to see some focus on the real purpose of Parliament with the passing of legislation outlawing the practice of using tips to make wages up to the minimum wage. This is a disgraceful practice, widely prevalant in the hotels, pubs and restaurants, and nobody should be in the least bit surprised that it leads to the poor levels of customer service that give our country and the leisure industry such a bad name. I have ranted on far too much in past blogs about poor service (and I become even more intolerant of it as I grow older) but for any person to offer great service they have to have the knowledge (what they have to do) but also the desire (to want to do it.) If there is no incentive to do so, why should they have that desire? Ensuring tips reach those who deserve them (not management) may be one very small step to changing the culture of indifferent and poor service that pervades this country. We shall see.
We had a wonderful Friday night here in Frasdswell with our first ever curry night in the village hall. If you have not picked this up from previous blogs (or from my updates and photos on Twitter) Fradswell is a small village of just 60 or so houses in rural Staffordshire. At the centre of the village is a decrepit village hall, an old army hut, over 80 years old, which leans alarmingly towards the road. The 180 or so inhabitants of the village fall roughly into three categories, those involved in local agriculture, retired people, and 'newly arrived people' (meaning in the last 15 years!) most of whom commute to work outside the village. Without a pub or shop it is difficult to develop a sense of community and a handful of us have been looking to build that through a rejuvenated series of events in the village hall.
Friday night was the culmination of our efforts to date. We organised a curry evening, brought in an Indian restaurant from the nearest town to provide the food, and 80 people crammed into the hall for a superb evening of eating, drinking, more drinking, dancing and, most importantly, talking and laughing. I ran the bar, worked hard all night, and enjoyed every moment.
Thinking about it I took £500 on the bar and didn't get a single tip. So what was the point of the new legislation?
A busy week ahead, including two days with Alice, the White Rabbit and the Teapot in a planning session before they go through the looking glass. Wish me luck. |
