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The Most Powerful Skill You Need to Succeed in the C-Suite

Demetri Argyropoulos Avant Global CEO and Founder

Whether you’re CEO of a multi-billion-dollar brand, or a start-up working towards Series A, there is one thing every executive has in common; you want to get to the next level and expand your customer base. Unfortunately, for most companies, it can be extremely challenging to keep up with change.

At the speed of light, corporate cultures are transforming and innovative technologies call for new leadership skills.

The upside is, regardless of how fast the world moves around you there’s one thing that will always stay the same, the most important skill you need to master to prosper in business.

Visionary entrepreneur Demetri Argyropoulos is well-known from New York to Silicon Valley as the king of connections.

His investment firm, Avant Global, has generated over $10 billion in revenue for clients and created strategic relationships for the world’s wealthiest, including Bill and Melinda Gates, Lady Gaga and Bill Clinton.

 

Argyropoulos was an early investor in Twitter, RedBull and DocuSign, and his Venture Capital fund, AG Venture Capital & Investments, has seeded over 50 diverse start-ups.

 

Argyropoulos credits his success to one invaluable skill…Networking.

 

C-Suite TV Correspondent Nicole Sawyer caught up with Demetri to talk about the most powerful skill you need to master to succeed in the C-Suite, and the biggest mistakes executives make when trying to build a strategic relationship.

 

Nicole Sawyer: What is the most powerful skill to have at the C-Suite Level?
Demetri Argyropoulos: The ability to bring value to your clients and your team. Typically, this value is brought forth through introducing and fostering unique relationships. All businesses and CEOs, despite how powerful they may be, depend on access to strategic relationships. These strategic relationships should monetize the company’s ecosystem, strengthen its platform and give a competitive edge over others with sustainable differentiation in the marketplace.

 

Sawyer: What personality traits do successful C-Suite Leaders have in common?
Argyropoulos: The most important trait we all have in common is the ability to know what the market wants before it actually happens. This comes from an innate understanding of one’s customers or clients. From there, you must be able to make decisions quickly, execute that vision, while staying one step ahead of the rest. All great CEOs are forecasters and firefighters.

 

Sawyer: When it comes to managing your own career, how do you prepare yourself to reach the next level?
Argyropoulos: I always have my ultimate end goal in mind. If you understand your end-game, you are able to manifest that into a reality. I always measure progress against this end goal and quantify it along the way with revenue, timelines and objectives.

 

Sawyer: How do you know who the right connections are for different types businesses?
Argyropoulos: The key here is to understand the objective at hand – what are you trying to accomplish? What is the client trying to achieve? Once you understand that objective, you need to dig deeper to understand the context. This is done through research and by understanding the current behavior at hand to figure out the next important introduction to make. And always remember, relationships only work if there’s equal or greater value on both sides.

 

Sawyer: You’ve worked with anyone from Bill Clinton to T-Boone Pickens, what is the secret to get their attention and maintain a business relationships with well-known people who are in high demand?
Argyropoulos: When you bring value to a relationship, even if it’s the busiest CEO on the planet, he or she will still make time for you. However, following-up is key, especially for those who are extremely busy. Most people don’t follow-up, which in business, can lead to distrust. You have to always do what you say you are going to do. It’s that simple.

 

Demetri Argyropoulos, Avant Global Founder with client T-Boone Pickens, Chairman and CEO of Hedge Fund BP Capital.

 

Sawyer: Where do business leaders fail when trying to create a relationship?
Argyropoulos: Oftentimes, their approach may be too aggressive and their message may not be clear enough.

 

Every successful relationship and every failed relationship is a consequence of one thing: how well, or poorly, you communicate. Clear communication is important to set from the beginning.

 

Put yourself in the other person’s shoes and ask the question, “Why do I want to work with this person?” Again the answer comes down to the value you can bring. Deliver value and these problems go away.

 

Sawyer: What are some of the biggest mistakes people make when following up?
Argyropoulos: They’re not entirely truthful. Be impeccable with your word. Just do what you say you’re actually going to do. This is so important when building trust in an influential relationship and so few actually do it.

 

Sawyer: What’s your advice for dealing with people you don’t like? Difficult people ?
Argyropoulos: Try not to. Seriously. I have a no a-hole rule. I’ve fired billionaire clients before because it just wasn’t worth it. At the end of the day, a billionaire is not better than someone starting out, and vice versa. You have to always respect others and the unique qualities and differences we all have.

 

Sawyer: If your personality is more of an introvert and networking doesn’t come natural to you? How can an individual make connections if they really don’t like talking to people?
Argyropoulos: For starters, that’s where companies like ours, Avant Global, come in handy. Sometimes we partner with, or get hired by executives who are not very social so we help to manage new relationships and introduce them to the businesses they need to get in front of. Let’s be clear, we’re not a social firm! But for those who are more introverted, we simply want them to be the best at what they excel at and we’ll do the rest. We can’t all be great at everything.

 

Sawyer: What’s one example of a major acquisition Avant Global made that transformed its valuation and what can business leaders learn from this example?
Argyropoulos: In the case of Owl Biomedical, we took its technology that had been developed and in existence for ten years and formed a new company with this technology in mind and capitalized on it. We sold it to a multi-billion dollar medical device company in Germany called Miltenyi.

 

From this example, business leaders can learn that if you know how to assemble the pieces of a company/deal: IP, human capital, and usually a combination of both, you then have all the key pieces … it becomes about execution and creating value to the market.

 

Sawyer: Your investment portfolio includes more than 50 diverse startups. What sectors are you watching to find value now?
Argyropoulos: We want someone who is ahead of the curve in terms of where the market is heading- who is that next big game changer? Right now we like the sectors of machine learning, data science and big data for startups. We’re also always looking for disruptive investments in high-growth companies in tech, energy, real estate and consumer products.

 

Sawyer: What qualities do successful entrepreneurs have that make them stand out from the herd?
Argyropoulos: All successful entrepreneurs are tenacious and never give up. Stay focused on your mission with your goal in mind. Successful entrepreneurs also aren’t afraid to fail because they have the ability to see things others may not. It’s okay to have bumps along the way, but that fresh perspective is what’s going to set you apart.

 

Sawyer: What advice do you have for a startup to break down barriers when approaching a well-known brand about a strategic partnership?
Argyropoulos: It’s a great time to be a startup. We’ve never seen so many large corporations working with startups. I’d advise a startup to think about how its technology could actually benefit the large brand it’s approaching. Many big companies realize that if they don’t change quickly with the times, and evolve, their number may be up. Startups should appeal to the larger brands to evolve with them.

 

Sawyer: You run a very successful VC Fund, what’s the best way for an entrepreneur to network with you if they are seeking funding?
Argyropoulos: Think to yourself “Why would Demetri and the Avant team want to meet with me? How can I bring value to their firm?” If you can clearly answer those questions, you’re already ahead of the curve.

 

Thanks for reading! We’d love to hear from you. Like us on Facebook, Follow on Twitter @NSawyerTV and comment below.

 

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Growth Management Operations Personal Development

Why Customer Centricity Needs to be Woven Into the Fabric of Your Organization

It seems like everybody is using the term “customer-centric company.” But what does the phrase really mean?
Let’s start off our discussion by turning to the authority when doing online research – Google. When you Google the term customer centric (or centricity), you will find many definitions from many different sources, yet they all are remarkably similar. I like to use the term customer-focused instead of customer-centric. Most people would agree that a general definition of a customer-centric or customer-focused organization is one in which everything that is done is centered around the customer. In other words, before any decision is made, it is the customer who is foremost in each decision maker’s mind. The customer comes first in every new system being developed, every new line of merchandise being designed, every new location that is being discussed, every website change that is being considered – in one word, everything – will first merit a discussion about how it will impact the customer. In addition, all employees understand their role in creating the customer’s experience, even those employees who may never have direct contact with a customer.

Consider the following two examples.

After receiving multiple requests from its customers, a manufacturer decides to add a new splash of color to an existing line of merchandise. Why? It won’t cost much to set up for the new color and it’s a reasonable request. Thus, the customers are pleased because they now have an extra choice. The company’s decision was made easy because they knew their customers were asking for it. The company listened to their customers and then acted. The company knew that the decision to add another color to the line would make a positive customer impact. This one was easy.

But, what about a tough decision that a company knows will not be received well by the customer, such as a price increase? How do you make a decision like this while remaining customer focused?

Raising the price may not make the customer happy, but what might happen if the company doesn’t take this action? If the price doesn’t go up, something else may have to go down. Not raising the price might result in a drop in quality or service. The company may simply need to raise prices, even knowing the customer will not be happy. Or maybe the decision is about something behind the scenes that may be invisible to the customer, but may still may have a negative impact on the customer. An example might be a discussion to switch to an inferior supplier. If the correct decision is not made, it may affect the customer in an even greater way than a price increase.

Customer centricity shouldn’t be a concept that is just given lip service. It needs to be woven into the very fiber of the organization’s culture. The employees need to become the threads of the fabric, which is the culture that permeates throughout the organization. The best companies are like this. So, if you haven’t acted already, make the decision for your organization to be customer-focused. As a result, you will positively impact your customers, your employees and your bottom line.

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Best Practices Growth Management Skills Women In Business

What does Your Body Language Say?


“A blur of blinks, taps, jiggles, pivots and shifts … the body language of a man wishing urgently to be elsewhere.” – Edward R. Murrow

You may know your content backwards and forwards, inside and out, and be completely confident in your subject, but is your non-verbal communication – i.e. your body language – undermining your authority in spite of your knowledge?

A little while ago, I was working with a client who didn’t realize that he was a “fidgeter.” After a first practice recording, he watched his video, and before offering any feedback, I asked him what he thought about his performance. He paused, and was quiet for a moment before very matter-of-factly declaring: “I’m going to cut off my hands.”

Running his fingers through his hair, folding and unfolding his arms, touching his face, hands in and out of the pockets, scratching his neck, lacing and unlacing his fingers… Not only did it distract the viewer from listening to the message, but more importantly, the “antsy-ness” (as my mother would call it) practically screamed of insecurity and discomfort, and this completely undermined his efforts to establish himself as a confident, competent leader.

What’s most important to realize is that before you even open your mouth to speak, your body has already communicated very specific messages to the audience, and those messages have one of only two possible effects: If aligned with your words, they strengthen your image and reputation; otherwise, they weaken it. That’s it.

The Importance of Alignment

This binary result is because when your words and body language are aligned or congruent, they reinforce each other, which is much more convincing to the audience. But when they are not in alignment – where perhaps your “script” seems confident but the delivery is not, or your words claim that you are caring and want to hear from people but you never smile and your voice is flat – it makes the audience question why, and this casts doubt.

When working with entrepreneurs preparing to pitch in front of investors, I always say, “Before anyone will buy your product or service, they have to buy into you.” Regardless of how well-composed the content of the pitch is, if the delivery isn’t in alignment, this will never happen.

Ultimately, alignment between verbal and non-verbal communication is the foundation of credibility. Lack of alignment destroys that foundation. Let’s look at ways to ensure that you are in alignment, in order to maximize your credibility.
Body Language – Do’s and Don’ts

Just about everyone gets nervous when speaking on camera (or in public without a camera), and in an earlier post I offered some strategies for calming your nerves ( insert hyperlink later). But that nervousness can come across as uncontrolled fidgeting and bad habits like touching your face or waving your arms around without realizing it, or on the flip side, you might come across as stiff, robotic and unfeeling.

In this video on body language, you’ll get a quick checklist with examples of non-verbal cues to watch for when speaking in public or on camera. I use the easy acronym P.E.G.S., which stands for Posture, Eye contact, Gestures and Smile.

Take a look at the examples for each category in the video to see how many of them you’re guilty of doing… then ask yourself how that might influence the success of the video’s overall objective.

In case there’s still a part of you that wants to argue that your position and experience speak for themselves, and your body language shouldn’t make a difference, I leave you with the immortal words of Ralph Waldo Emerson:

“What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.”

When the way you deliver meets up with the words you say you are speaking in unison. That is when your intended message is reinforced and your credibility shines through.

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Growth Management Personal Development

High Performance Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is often characterized as a scientific, analytical way of thinking. It helps us form more knowledgeable opinions and make better decisions. As a business leader critical thinking is not only necessary, but when you become a high performance critical thinker it will differentiate you from others. This is impetrative today in the business world we live in with much more complicated technologies, customer demands, and drive to go to market quickly.

High performance is defined as better, faster, or more efficient than others and we all know about high performance sports cars that are in a class of their own. High performance also applies to leaders and like the car is carefully crafted to be elite, so can you.

I have no doubt that you already have strong critical thinking skills, but you can learn how to improve and develop your mind and become a much higher performing leader.

Here are three steps to high performance critical thinking:

1. Ask the right questions

If you are going to be high performance in the critical thinking department you need to make sure you have a clear understanding of the problem you’re trying to solve. This begins with how you clarify the problem and what questions you ask. You cannot make assumptions or have ambiguous information, which may seem obvious, but how many times did you think you had a clear picture only to find out later you were missing critical pieces of information? Pieces that could have easily been uncovered if better questions had been asked or different people had been questioned.

You won’t be able to reasonably analyze a situation and locate a solution if you’re not completely clear on what you’re trying to accomplish!

The best way to get a clear understanding fast is to ask questions, but not just any question, the right questions. You want to ask open-ended questions. These cannot be answered with a yes or no. You want to start all open-ended questions with who, what, how, why, where, or when. Close-ended questions that allow the respondent to say yes or no are the wrong questions if you want to be a high performing critical thinker.

For example instead of simply asking will this change have an impact to the project, ask the team what impact will this change have on the project? Who will be impacted, how long will the impact take to overcome, what is the benefit of the impact, etc.?

Don’t ask can we implement this idea; ask how can we implement this idea? Rather than asking can we do this, ask how can we do it?

You will also need to make sure you have asked everyone the questions and not assume that someone in a different department does not have valuable insight. Just because the problem is in one area of your business or on one team or in one project, it does not mean that understanding the problem lies only within that area.

Talking to the business users who will use the solution might best solve an IT problem, but you will never know if don’t ask. Maybe the impact is not that big and assumptions are being made. What if the solution that IT is working on will have an even bigger production impact to the users? Are you asking everyone that might have insight or ideas; and how confident are you that the right questions are being asked?

Many corporate challenges are systemic and uncovering that is going to lead to even better solutions. When a project breaks down it may be a symptom of a much larger issue than just the specific project. What if the policies in place throughout the organization are no longer adequate?

Lastly on the topic of asking questions: Make sure those you ask are open to answer freely without any repercussion and that they know that it is safe to tell the truth. Without this it really doesn’t matter how good the questions are that you ask.

2. Identify possible solutions

If you want better solutions, high performance solutions, you need a different way to come up with them once you have clarified the problem.

Start with a core group of people who are familiar with the problem. These are most likely the people who helped you identify the problem in the first place. This means that they could be people from different departments and different areas of your organization if you followed the guidance in step 1 above.

One of the biggest mistake leaders make is assuming that the executive team is best suited at coming up with the best solutions. Or even worse thinking that they must be the one to come up with the answer and work in a vacuum. You do not have to have the answer and knowing this is a key factor in being a high performance leader. The answer is in the room, but it may not always come from you. High performance leaders understand this.

Make sure it is crystal clear that there are no bad ideas, nothing is off topic, and no one will be reprimanded for anything said. And then mean it! If you cannot say this and mean it there is a much deeper issue you must face and that is an issue of ego. Great leaders check their ego at the door and that is something to start practicing if it’s a new idea for you.

Remove emotional attachment to the outcome. This means remove the emotional attachment to wanting to be the one who comes up with the solution and remove attachment to what you think the outcome should be. Go into this stage of the process with an open, clear, and present mind.

You’ve got the right people in the room now it’s time to restate the problem clearly so everyone knows what they are working towards. Allow everyone to ask their own clarifying questions and then start brainstorming. It may be beneficial to bring in a facilitator who is not close to the challenge to help with the brainstorming and discussion process.

Take some time with a pen and paper to define all possibilities. Brainstorm without thought as to how the solution can be implemented. Be creative, be open, and just write; don’t delete or omit anything yet. Bring other people into the brainstorm if there is a team of people who will help implement the solution or benefit from it.

To improve and develop your high performance critical thinking skills, you must be open to new ideas, so try and incorporate as many solutions and ideas as you can into your list. It does not matter initially how they could be implemented or how realistic they are. Everything that is said must be included in the list.

3. Analyze the Solutions

You have your problem clearly defined and now a list of solutions, so it’s time to start analyzing and gathering more detailed information in order to support or refute each one. This is where you will start to weed out the solutions on the list that just don’t seem the most viable and get down to the top 3 – 5 that have strong merit.

Gather as much information as possible to support all the solutions you’re considering, as well as information you need to refute them. Include the benefits and challenges of each suggested solution.

Ask each team member to work on different solutions to gather this information and bring it back. Considering your solutions from all angles will keep you from making a haphazard decision, and don’t assume you know anything without the information that can support it.

Once you have the information that supports your 3-5 top solutions start talking as a group. Ask lots of questions, open-ended questions, and start asking how. This is where the rubber will need to meet the road. The solution will need to be realistic in both tec
hnology and cost, specific enough to implement, and you must have or be able and willing to get the resources needed.

Final Thoughts

By following these steps to high performance critical thinking your organization can become faster, better, and more efficient at not only solving problems but identifying them earlier, saving time, money, and energy.

Thinking critically in this way can help you with many aspects in your life. Keep practicing these skills on a regular basis and soon you’ll enjoy the benefits of high performance critical thinking.

Categories
Growth Human Resources Management Personal Development

Dissolving Problems: What Strategy Works Best?

Have you ever solved a problem only to see it return? We have all experienced this frustration. How can we reduce this frustration and make our best effort to prevent a problem from returning? What is the best strategy?

In March 2017 the United States Congress failed to pass a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare (Affordable Care Act). The media reported numerous reasons for this failure and most of them involve blaming a person or group of persons. Looking for the “culprit” is a popular strategy for attempting to dissolve a problem and it never really works. Focusing on who caused a problem is very popular but also very unsophisticated. It’s popular because it is easy and it helps us avoid personal responsibility. It is unsophisticated because it is a focus on symptoms and not root causes. How can we avoid blame and focus on the root causes? The answer, focus instead on the first 15%.

I painted a bathroom this past weekend. Taking extra time to carefully tape the trim allowed me to do a high-quality job faster and with less waste in the cleanup stage. I spent time on the first 15% of the job, namely the taping, and it helped me save time and to do better job overall. I focused on the first 15%.

“The secret for reduction in time of development is to put more effort into the early stages, and to study the interactions between stages.” (Deming, 1994)

The Butterfly Effect

A mild-mannered meteorologist professor at MIT was simulating weather patterns by entering data into a computer program. He decided to enter data dropping the last three decimals (ten thousand, hundred thousand, and millions) from the data seeing it as unimportant for his research. After the calculation, he was astonished to see how dropping those very small effects made an enormous impact on the outcome of the simulation. This effect came to be known as the “butterfly effect.” (Dizikes, 2011)

The metaphor of the butterfly is astonishing. The claim is a butterfly flapping its wings in New York will change the direction of a typhoon in the Pacific. Very small changes in the very beginning of a process will make an enormous change in the outcome. Focus on the first 15% to improve the outcome.

Typical managers use a different strategy. They ask questions about people such as “Who did this?” or “Who did that?” They also ask questions about fixing the issue, “How shall we fix it?” “When shall we fix it?” and/or “Who shall fix it?” They are assuming if they fix the problem they make progress. It’s not true. All they do is go back to where they started. The typical manager uses the typical performance appraisal to attempt to solve problems. This action rarely gets to the root cause because it does not focus on the first 15%. It focuses instead on the employee behavior which is most often not the root cause but instead the symptom. I could focus on being very careful not to get any paint on the trim in my bathroom and if I did, my wife could tell me to be more careful. But, because I had focused on covering the trim first my ability to be careful was less critical.

We must remove the root cause and we can only do that by looking in the right place. We must look at the beginning of the process. We must focus on the “0th” stage. To truly make progress we must improve the first 15% of the process.

Peter Drucker explained, “Progress is obtained only by exploiting opportunities, not by solving problems. When you solve problems, all you do it guarantee a return to normalcy.”

It is likely Congress chose the incorrect strategy in the first 15% of their planning and that poor choice damaged their ability to achieve their goal. What can we learn from these ideas? At the beginning of every project spend extra time to align the team members on the vision, the mission, and the action plan. Don’t be too quick to roll out the plan until this first 15% is clear.

When improving a process, identify all the steps that need to be completed to achieve the intended outcome and then spend most of your time on the first 15% of the process steps. This strategy will allow you to achieve an excellent outcome.

Wally Hauck, PhD has a cure for the “deadly disease” known as the typical performance appraisal. Wally holds a doctorate in organizational leadership from Warren National University, a Master of Business Administration in finance from Iona College, and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania. Wally is a Certified Speaking Professional or CSP. Wally has a passion for helping leaders let go of the old and embrace new thinking to improve leadership skills, employee engagement, and performance.

OptimumLeadershipTV

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Best Practices Growth Management Personal Development

CEO pov: 5 Insights for Leading Change

The not-too-distant past rewarded CEOs for stable predictability. But as most of us experience, “Market transparency, labor mobility, global capital flows, and instantaneous communications have blown the comfortable, predictable scenario to smithereens.” (10 Principles of Change Management, Harvard Business Review).
The only thing that’s predictable today is that more change is coming. Whether it’s in the form of a re-org, a change in product, strategy, leadership, or a merger/acquisition, the best leaders know how to effectively manage themselves in order to keep people motivated and engaged, re-build or reshape company culture and set a new course.

Similar to individuals, companies that struggle with these types of changes knock themselves out of the market. We see it all the time.

While many factors contribute to how well a company maneuvers change, success heavily depends on how executives prioritize its people and communication in the process. How open, transparent and frequent executives decide to communicate is a solid predictor of how successful the change will be.

During the last CEO Forum, I had the privilege of asking Steve Singh, CEO of Concur, Jean Thompson, CEO of Seattle’s Chocolates and Stan Pavlovsky, president of Allrecipes.com what was most important to them as they maneuvered change.

For context,
• SAP acquired Concur for $8.3 billion in 2014

• Jean Thompson became the majority owner and CEO of Seattle Chocolates in 2002

• Stan Pavlovsky became the new President of the world’s largest food brand, Allrecipes.com, a year after Meredith Corp. purchased it for $175 million in 2013

Here are my top 5 takeaways from the conversation:

1. Create Success. The role of the leader is to create opportunities for others to be successful.

2. Talk Less. Really listen, get feedback and have empathy. Change is hard for most people.

3. Pause. Take time to celebrate the success the team and company is having.

4. Decide. Don’t’ be afraid to make a decision. You can likely fix the bad ones, but being indecisive is the worst thing you can possibly do.

5. Be Bold. Go create the world you want, and empower those around you to do the same.
I’d love to hear your perspective: What’s your best advice on leading change?

Teri Citterman coaches first-time CEOs, seasoned CEOs and high performers. Her latest book “From the CEO’s Perspective” provides a peek into the thinking of some of today’s top CEOs from companies like Alaska Airlines, JP Morgan Chase and Gravity Payments. She is a regular contributor to Forbes, a sought-after speaker and thought cultivator/founder of “From the CEO’s Perspective” leadership forum.

Categories
Growth Management Personal Development

Detoxing Corporate America

Organizations are not just names on the side of the building or a stock symbol. Organizations are made up of people, living organisms, and as such Organizations are also living. We have seen the birth of new organizations, their growth, and sometimes their death.

Because Organizations are made up of people and are indeed alive it makes sense that like people, organizations can become toxic. So what does it look like when an organization becomes toxic, why does it matter, and what can be done?

The signs of toxicity for individuals can be pretty apparent; weight gain, digestive issues, cognitive challenges, emotional distress, use of drug, alcohol abuse, and other coping mechanisms.

What about the signs of toxicity for an organization? These are not always obvious. For example I spent several years as a consultant in my previous life for a very large company. Actually this organization was a leader in its industry in terms of size. They spent years on the Fortune top 100 best places to work list so from the outside looking in it seemed like a really great place. Their mission is great and extremely important. Most of the people I worked with were really outstanding individuals. However when you pulled back the covers and became immersed in the culture you started to see toxicity everywhere.

The events that lead to the toxic environments included: inconsistent messages from management regarding expectations or priorities, resource constraints – leaderships goals being out of touch with what the team could support, redundant work effort because teams operated in isolation, management decisions that were made in a vacuum without input from team members that better understood the impact, tasks or assignments that were given to favored individuals, lack of feedback – employees learning about dissatisfaction from side channels and not from their management team, managers and executives who were bullies – yelling behind closed doors, Leadership appointing or hiring individuals into key roles who do not have the qualifications demanded for the role and then not removing them when it becomes obvious, projects that were always behind schedule, and obvious conflicts between departments that felt like they were at war. These were just some signs of corporate toxicity. Others include the fear to speak up, dysfunctional teams, political infighting, falling profits, high turnover, gossip, and low engagement.

It’s quite difficult to get good deliverables complete when management keeps changing their mind and even harder when they don’t remember what they asked for in the first place. When you work in an environment of CYA all the time it’s not a productive or engaging place to work.

When I looked around, one of the biggest problems was that the C-Suite was blinded by the fact that they kept making list after list of great places to work. I don’t believe they could see that there was actually an underlying toxic culture at work and that they were responsible for it. They only saw what they wanted to see, they never got out and asked questions or talked to the workforce, and it seemed that many of the issues plaguing the rank and file employees were systemic in the C-Suite as well.

Why does this matter? I mean for a global organization with over 13,000 employees, the biggest in their industry, and financially sound, why does it matter that under the covers things are toxic? It sounds like things are good enough doesn’t it?

I don’t think “good enough” is good enough. This organization could not only be creating more profits enabling them to do more for their customers, employees, and community, but they could also create an environment that lifts people up rather than tearing them down.

When employees are engaged, empowered, and inspired they do more, they go the extra mile, they provide more ideas, work together, see opportunities, create safer environments, solve problems faster, bring products and services to market faster while also creating more joy and ultimately more success for everyone. This is very powerful and not only is good for each employee, but creates an organization of unparalleled excellence that has a natural competitive advantage.

So how does an organization begin to detox and start to thrive?

When you hear someone say, “I’m doing a detox” most people don’t think much about it. We have all heard of a detox and some associate it with a cleanse around the food that goes into the body, some around removing drugs and alcohol from the body, and for others a detox can be one of emotional and mental cleansing.

A detox for an organization is not all that different except that it addresses more than one person and usually involves a close look at the company culture and the habits that make up the culture. It could be the entire organization that needs a detox or it could be a team of people, a specific department or location.

It starts with the acknowledgement from the top that something might need to change. While things appear okay, maybe a closer look is in order, especially if trends like failing projects, overrun budgets, high turnover, low engagement, or decreased worker safety have been seen. Sometimes the detox can be accomplished without external help, but often an expert is needed, at least for an initial consult.

A corporate detox will also take longer than an individual detox because more people are involved so this is not something that will be done in a week and it will take fortitude to complete. It may not be easy, but it will be worth it. Because when people love what they do, how they do it, who they do it with, and who they do it for, they will be the biggest advocates for the organization. They will do more, expect less in return, bring in more business, be more efficient, stick around longer, and be a catalyst for the organization. That means reduced turnover, better engagement, greater customer satisfaction, new customers, returning customers, more employee engagement, and higher profits.

While many companies say that employee satisfaction is their goal or even go as far as to say it is a non-negotiable component of their workplace, how many are really walking the talk?

How well are your employees engaged? Are you doing better than the 32% engagement that Gallup reports? How much is low employee engagement costing you? Are you retaining your top talent or losing them to organizations that offer the connection that your employees are missing?

I know I’ve posed a lot of questions and by giving them some real heartfelt thought you may just realize that your organization is due for a corporate detox.

Categories
Growth Human Resources Management Personal Development Women In Business

Knowing What Great Leaders Do and Doing What Great Leaders Do Are Two Different Things

The other day I heard a leader speak to his team of fifty. He was sharing that he wants his managers to walk the floor and identify ways to improve processes and procedures and to identify a person who should be acknowledged for giving their all to the job.

After his talk a group went to lunch and he invited me along. He shared with us about his desire to grow his managers and encourage them to lead. He shared about his speech. One of his friends laughed and asked, “when was the last time you walked the floor and told someone ‘good job”? I know it wasn’t lately” The whole table laughed.

Sometimes leaders talk a good talk but don’t walk the walk. When you don’t walk the walk your reputation is diminished, people don’t trust you and even your friends know when you are just giving lip service.

To be a great leader who has influence, impact and the ability to inspire others cultivate the following:

Have Integrity – Do what you say you will do. If you can’t do it say so. If you don’t know something, say that. Integrity is about follow through and commitment. This is especially true for those who follow you. They are watching you and they know the person you are by how you follow through.

Model The Behavior You Want Others To Have – if you want an enthusiastic, energized workforce set an example. If you want helpful, customer focused culture you have to emulate that in everything you do. That also means that you find teaching moments to share how you would do it and people can model you. Think about how you greet people in the morning, are you inquisitive, are you sincere? It is okay if that isn’t your style, just don’t demand that from others. You are the one who sets the standards of behavior. If you can’t behave in a certain way then shift your vision of what you want or move on.

Standards – This is so important and so often missed. Missed because you, as the leader, take it for granted. You have standards for yourself, have you ever written those standards down? Have you shared your standards of behavior to your new hires, your executive team, even to your family? Too often leaders assume that others know, that others have the same standards. They don’t. Every single person comes from a unique, distinct and diverse background compared to you, including your children. They have different perspectives of the same event, location, or person than you. It is normal. That is why it is critical that you write down your standards, your values and be clear about them.

I have a friend who is a local politician with a great career ahead of her. When we worked together we worked through these three key components. It became such a strong foundation for her new career in politics that she had two works of art commissioned that reflected her standards and values. They hang in her office. Her core team has her value statements and standards on a card on their desks. Her meetings with her executive team start with reading her standards and values so that everyone is on board, with clarity and focus.

Everyone can be a leader. It takes focused action to be a great leader.

Categories
Growth Management Personal Development

C-Suite Essentials on Employee Engagement

Employee engagement has become a term that’s been so over used, some leaders have become desensitized to its concepts or beneficial outcomes. If you’re a leader who wants to be successful, read on. If you’re enjoying your status quo…you may still want to take a few tips into practice. Don’t be numbed by the overabundance of articles, apps and services that can increase the engagement in your workplace and subsequently your bottom line.

Here are a few ideas about what employee engagement is and what it’s not!

1. Employee engagement is people getting up in the morning and having the desire to come to work

There are many reasons why people start their day not wanting to come to work. You may think you don’t have any influence over someone’s attitude before they walk in the door. That’s not true. Once known as soft skills, communication, collaboration and change management, are truly essential skills. The organizations who take the opportunity to increase these skills will create an environment that exudes success.

2. Studies show that people who feel positive about their work culture can increase their productivity by 20%

Just how much would that save you in dollars? Some studies show that with just 50 employees, you could increase your bottom line by over $ 500K! First of all, positivity helps them show up for work. They work harder and smarter. More often than not, when they come upon an obstacle, they can assist in creating a solution. This affects the quality of their work as well. The good news? Positivity can be taught.

3. Engaged personnel are better problem solvers, sales people and customer service representatives

Having the skills to communicate, collaborate and navigate change, alleviates a lot of stress in people’s lives. Less stress leads to more tolerance and patience. Can you see where sales might increase? And, a grouch doesn’t make for good customer service either. Unless you don’t have any competition, increased sales and superior customer service is going to make a big difference in your bottom line in more ways than you might think
4. The best employee engagement techniques are related to the relationships they produce.

It might be, “Hawaiian Shirt Friday.” Maybe, it’s, “Catch a workmate doing something right,” day. In events like these benefits abound. First of all, it’s fun. There is plenty of research out there that shows when people have fun, they learn more and retain information for longer periods of time. Activities like these build greater bonds between team members. In a business where people work together this connection is priceless in terms of quality and creativity. Community projects done as a team have an additional element of raising your CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), score. This has become an important aspect of who people want to work for.

5. Employee engagement is not just giving a bonus and calling it a day

Money is no longer the most important criteria for why people work where they work. As you experience the future shortage of employees, this concept will become ever more important. Money will not be the deciding factor as to where someone works or who they stay loyal to.

6. Annual reviews do not create communication for crucial employee/leader growth

Most human beings have a need to be acknowledged and feel valuable. It used to be that continuous improvement programs were for those that needed to exceed or be gone. How about making a continuous improvement plan as a way of life for each individual and the company? People respond better and increase their usefulness at work when they know how they fit within the company’s culture

Employee engagement = higher productivity = greater creativity = Happier-Healthier place to be

Your workforce is your most important asset. Don’t wait. Don’t have a motivational talk and go back to business as usual. Lack of employee engagement will become a critical problem as our workforce becomes more sophisticated and discerning. We’re looking at a shortage of employees coming up very shortly. The latest figures project that there will be a shortage of 5 million workers in 2020. This is true for machinists, medical staff, lawyers, accountants, lawyers, nurses and IT personnel, to name a few. Don’t delay, because you can’t create a great place to work overnight. The most successful organization will realize it’s a journey, a constant and continuous journey. They will build ideas into the very fabric of their organization. You can create ideas that will become how you do business, both inside and out.

Want to share this with a friend, but they are an auditory learner? Use this link to listen to this podcast. http://www.julieannsullivan.com/engagement-in-workplace/

Julie Ann Sullivan is a professional speaker and trainer to influence, motivate and inspire.
For more information on Julie Ann Sullivan, visit Julie Ann’s website. Follow on Twitter: @JASatLNE
Julie Ann Sullivan is the host of Mere Mortals Unite and Business that Care, now streaming on C-Suite Radio.

Categories
Growth Management Operations Personal Development

Customer Service Lessons Learned from United Airlines Computer Outage

The problem lasted two and a half hours and caused 200 flight delays and six cancellations. No, this wasn’t just a single unhappy customer complaining to a gate agent at the airport. These were the results of a recent widespread computer outage at United Airlines. Thus, thousands of people were inconvenienced. I would describe a two-plus-hour delayed flight as a Moment of Misery™.

This outage resulted in thousands of passengers becoming angry. Yet, problems like this are seemingly unavoidable; just last year it happened to Delta and Southwest. Sometimes it may not be a computer glitch, but a weather problem that can cause airline delays. Yet every cloud can have a silver lining; this is an example of a mini-case study on how to handle a customer service crisis.

I did not witness what happened at the airport when passengers approached United’s gate agents for help, nor did I listen on the phone lines as passengers tried to reach their customer service representatives. I’m sure there were both long lines and long hold times. Those individual interactions turned out either good or bad because of the individual employees’ attitudes and how well they had been trained to handle such situations. Instead, what I am about to address is the overall response that United Airlines made, and how it was an excellent example of what to do in a crisis.

I teach a five-step process on how to deal with a complaining customer, and for those who follow my work, here is a short review:

1. Acknowledge the problem.

2. Apologize for the problem.

3. Fix the problem – or discuss how it will be fixed.

4. Do it with the right attitude – not just being nice, but acting accountable.

5. Doing all of this with a sense of urgency.

Well, you can extend how you should deal with an individual customer to the way you should deal with a service crisis that impacts thousands of customers.

First, United acknowledged and apologized for the inconvenience. They covered the first two steps. United responded to media inquiries and tweeted out to all of their followers: A ground stop is in place for domestic flights due to an IT issue. We’re working on a resolution. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Then they fixed it, accomplishing step three.

Step four was complete when they accepted responsibility. No excuses. Maddie King, a spokesperson for United, met with the press and told them they were working to fix the problem. In other words, United was owning the problem.

Finally, there was a sense of urgency throughout the entire process. Because United worked hard and fast, it took them just two and a half hours to fix the problem. The key to restoring confidence is urgency.

So, whether you have a single customer complaining or a major service crisis affecting thousands of customers, consider the five-step process, which not only fixes what is broken, but can potentially restore the customer’s confidence. And, done well, the process may even restore the customer’s confidence to a level higher than if the problem had never happened at all.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, keynote speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

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