![Simon Sinek Explains the Trust Gap in Your Organization]()
Uncategorized
In the third most popular TED Talk of all time, Simon Sinek inspired leaders to reconnect with their organizational why. In just 18 minutes and with a rough sketch of concentric circles on a flip chart, Sinek shared what he said was “probably the world’s simplest idea.” Most organizations focus on what they do and how they do it. But only the most inspired organizations have leaders who start with why they do it first. And for companies like Apple, and people like Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Wright Brothers, starting with why was the fundamental difference between success and obscurity.
In a less popular but equally profound TED Talk, Sinek turned again to the flip chart. In “First why and then trust,” Sinek illustrates why organizations must clarify and codify their why. Imagine a simple x, y graph. At the (0,0) coordinates, where x and y meet, is the genesis of an organization. At (0,0), x equals what and y equals, well, why. At that genesis, the what and the why are perfectly aligned. When a company launches, the founders are inspired by a big idea. They put some money together, and off they go.
At first, it’s easy for the founders to share their vision with their handful of employees. Customers are soon attracted and life is good. The what and the why lines grow in parallel on the chart. But, as Sinek explains, “the single biggest challenge that an organization will ever face is its own success.” Here’s why. The more successful an organization becomes, the more people it has to hire based on what they do. The company’s what keeps growing. “The problem is,” Sinek explains, “why they do it starts to go fuzzy.” And as the what and why lines separate, a trust gap occurs.
Consider this example that Sinek gives about trust in America since World War II:
The country rallied together to fight in a war in which they were united and unified behind a common cause. After the war, veterans took advantage of the GI Bill to get low-interest loans or cover tuition to attend college or trade schools. When they entered the job market, they applied the same sense of loyalty to their companies as they had to their country. “The problem is,” says Sinek, “as we started to become more affluent, and the wealth of country started to grow, that sense of purpose — that sense of trust — didn’t grow with it.”
Sinek goes on to describe how trust continued to fall through the 1960’s (the hippie movement), the 1970’s (the Me generation), the 1980’s (think greed is good), and the 1990’s (the dot.com bubble). Over the decades, the country became more and more affluent, but lost touch with its sense of purpose.
Here’s the key takeaway for your organization: the answer to why your organization exists can no longer be simply, “to make a profit.” If you don’t codify, clarify and deploy your why, you’ll have an unsustainable business model and no competitive advantage.
Question: Do you know your organization’s “why”?
Do you know how to codify, clarify, and deploy your organizational purpose? Get 15% off our 2-hour workshop on What’s Your ROP? (Return on Purpose) between now and January 31, 2017. Get a list of available dates and learn more about the program by emailing me directly at snasim@executiveexcellence.com. [Read more about our Purpose Alignment services.]
CEE News is designed to help you with the challenges you face every day by sharing infographics, white papers, best practices, and spotlighting businesses that are getting it right. I hope you’ll subscribe to CEE News and it becomes a resource that continually adds value to your walk as a leader.
![Simon Sinek Explains the Trust Gap in Your Organization]()
Leadership
If you ask a third grader what she knows about President Lincoln, she might draw you a picture of a tall, lanky, bearded man wearing a black suit and a stove top hat. If you ask a ninth grader the same question, he’ll likely recall that Lincoln was America’s president during the Civil War. When pressed, he may add that the Civil War was fought between the north and the south over the issue of slavery.
But, if you turn back the pages of American history, you’ll find that President Lincoln saw the Civil War in a much larger context. Not only was America wrestling with the question of slavery, Lincoln felt the Civil War was nothing short of a test of whether a country was capable of governing itself. The world was watching and waiting for the experiment to crumble. The republic set forth by the founding fathers was on the brink of failure – an asterisk in history – an 80-plus year rebellion that would inevitably revert to rule by monarchy.
Lincoln knew that preserving the union could only happen by tapping into the power of diversity. Here are three lessons in diversity that today’s leaders can take from Lincoln’s playbook:
1. Assemble a Team of Rivals. In her book, Team of Rivals, author Doris Kearns Goodwin describes how Lincoln brilliantly assembled a cabinet from his Republican opponents to preserve the Union and win the Civil War. None of these men had high regard for Lincoln. But, Lincoln did not want a group of “yes” men to agree with his every decision. He wanted a cabinet of passionate advisors who could shed light on the complex issues facing the country, were free to question his authority, and who were unafraid to argue with him.
The Lesson. Surround yourself with smart people and encourage them to challenge your ideas. Relying on people who think just like you can lead to group think and rubber stamp leadership. Neither you nor your organization will benefit.
2. Allow Your Ideas to Evolve. Lincoln was unsure what to do if slavery ended. For most of his career, he saw slaves as a group of people who had been uprooted from their own society and unjustly brought to America. He saw no way for freed slaves to live peaceably among white Americans. Instead, Lincoln advocated for colonization – sending a majority of the African-American population to settle in Africa or Central America. In the last two years of his life though, he began to see the possibility of diversity. Freed slaves were joining the Union Army and serving in the Navy by the thousands. Black leaders argued that African-American were as much natives of the country as whites. By the time the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863, all mention of colonization was eliminated.
The Lesson. When you take a leadership position, you become privy to information that you did not have before. Don’t let your bias keep you from holding onto outdated opinions when presented with new facts from diverse sources.
3. Listen Intently, Then Be Decisive. Lincoln’s cabinet often debated slavery late into the night. Finally, he made up his mind. He brought the cabinet together and told them he no longer needed their thoughts on the main issue, but he would listen to their suggestions about how best to implement his decision and its timing. Some members still did not support Lincoln’s decision, but they felt they’d been heard.
The Lesson. If you wait to make a decision until you have perfect information, it’s no longer a decision, it’s a foregone conclusion.
The most successful leaders know how to leverage the power of diversity. They seek out diverse perspectives, evolve their opinions as they get new information, and know when to stop collecting input and be decisive.
Question: Which of these lessons in diversity can improve your leadership journey?
Join us at our next Re:Imagine Leadership Summit April 27 in San Diego! Success doesn’t happen by luck. It’s intentional. Without a leadership roadmap, your team will wander aimlessly through shifting priorities leaving them confused about the purpose of their jobs. Come to a one-day immersion in transformative leadership crafted to inspire and engage you.
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CEE News is designed to help you with the challenges you face every day by sharing infographics, white papers, best practices, and spotlighting businesses that are getting it right. I hope you’ll subscribe to CEE News and it becomes a resource that continually adds value to your walk as a leader. If I can be of assistance in any way, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
Uncategorized
Can you feel it in the air? For the past few weeks, everything around us has been changing. Temperatures are falling and the sun is setting earlier. Leaves are changing in color to vibrant reds and deep yellows. There’s no denying that fall is here and winter is just around the corner. As humans, we are hard wired to accept the inevitability of seasonal changes. Though we can manage extreme weather changes of four seasons a year, why are we so resistant to organizational changes?
If you’re engaged in the effort to set a new direction, orchestrate innovation, or mold a culture, here are six universal truths that can guide you along the way.
1. People don’t resist change. They resist being changed. As management guru Peter Senge suggests, resistance is greatest when change is inflicted on people. If you can give people a chance to offer their input, change is more likely to be met with enthusiasm and commitment.
2. A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. Big goals can seem overwhelming and cause us to freeze. This simple truth, attributed to Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, is a reminder to get moving. Take the first step, however small it may seem, and the journey is underway.
3. If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there. Many change efforts fall short because of confusion over the end goal. In the Lewis Carroll classic, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alice asks the Cheshire cat which road she should take. The cat’s response reminds us to focus on the destination first, then choose the best path.
4. Change is a process, not a decision. It happens all too often. Senior executives make pronouncements about change, and then launch programs that lose steam. Lasting change requires an ongoing commitment to the process reinforced by constant communication, tools, and rewards.
5. Do not declare victory prematurely. In his book, The Heart of Change Field Guide, author Dan Cohen suggests that short-term wins do not necessarily equal long-term success. Cohen writes, “keep urgency up and a feeling of false pride down.”
6. Be the change you wish to see in the world. These famous words attributed to Gandhi reminds us all — executives with associates, political leaders with followers, or parents with children — that one of our most important tasks is to exemplify the best of what the change is all about.
Any form of change requires an adjustment period, and some are easier than others. While seasonal changes are predictable and tend to go over smoothly, organizational changes cause more chaos. Leaders trying to implement changes in the workplace can take heart in these truisms, settle in and enjoy the journey.
Question: Chances are, you’re going through a change effort now. Which of these truths can you apply today to help achieve success?
![Simon Sinek Explains the Trust Gap in Your Organization]()
Leadership
Over the past 10 years, I have been honored to explore and debate the essence of power with Dr. Tony Baron. Specifically, how power impacts leadership, how leadership impacts culture, and, ultimately, how culture impacts performance.
With a double doctorate in psychology and theology and decades of executive coaching experience with Fortune 100 companies, you can imagine the depth and breadth that Tony adds to the subject. We are currently co-authoring a book that combines Tony’s scholarship and my straight talk about the challenges faced by today’s leaders. Meanwhile, I will be sharing guest posts by Tony over the next several months to give you a taste of what it’s like to have an amazing colleague and friend like Tony Baron. – Sheri Nasim
Breaking Bad, is a universally acclaimed award-winning drama built on chemistry, cancer, and crime. It’s also the story of the erosion of a man’s soul as he gains power. As the protagonist, Walter White (played masterfully by four-time Emmy Award winner Bryan Cranston) is a mild mannered high school chemistry teacher who is struggling financially.
In the first episode of Season 1, White is stunned to learn he has inoperable lung cancer. Soon thereafter, his wife tells him she is pregnant. Desperate to make sure his family will not be financially insolvent after he is gone, White turns his chemistry skills into what will catapult him into becoming a meth lab king. A series of criminal circumstances rapidly moves White from valuing family above all to an earthquake-like destruction of his values as he gains more and more power.
Scott Meslow, The Atlantic writer, believes that “Walter White was always a bad guy.” Whether or not you agree with Meslow, you would likely agree that power has a psychological, emotional, and spiritual impact on all humans.
As someone with over 40 years of experience coaching leaders, including 75 of America’s Fortune 100 companies, the impact of power on the soul is a subject that I am forever dealing with. Here are five critical factors that I have identified that can propel people in power to lose their soul. Each one is progressively damaging and damning.
1. Transferring Status Affirmation
Power creates status. Status can lead to a sense of superiority. When the affirmation by employees is no longer enough, some leaders seek to transfer and expand their status affirmation to the public. They join elite clubs, they make showy donations to non-profits, they get write-ups in the media. The soul’s appetite for affirmation can be insatiable.
2. Increasing Social Disconnectedness
The research is definitive. Employees tend to withhold information from leaders out of fear. They fear their comments will be taken personally. They fear they’ll seem disrespectful. They fear they’ll lose their job. When people take leadership positions, they can become disconnected from their employees and, ironically, from the very group they are put in a position to serve. The soul is no longer nurtured by the truth.
3. Empathy Deprivation
U.C. Berkeley Professor Dacher Keltner documents how leaders can become deprived of empathy in his new book, The Power Paradox. Keltner’s research confirms the axiom that “absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The reason for this corruption lies in neuroscience. Under absolute power, the frontal cortex is suppressed by the neural transmitters that produce empathy. When we lose the ability to empathize, we treat people like tools or overhead instead of fellow human beings. We disconnect with them as people with dignity, families, and their own personal dreams. The soul is deprived of empathy.
4. Downplaying Personal Responsibility
Leaders with a growing appetite for power maximize the mistakes of others and minimize their own impact on performance. They launch activities for others without considering the resources needed to accomplish their ideas. They procrastinate then switch priorities in mid-project. When they learn about delays in progress, these leaders blame others and question the loyalty of their team members. The soul is separated from response-ability.
5. Reality Distortion
As the soul dies and nurturing relationships erode, the power-hungry leader begins to change the narrative to justify his actions. I have seen leaders fire highly qualified, loyal employees and accuse them of being incompetent rather than listen to their counsel to face reality. I have seen leaders constantly shuffle key players like a shell game to hide the reality that the person who needs to go or change significantly is himself. The soul loses touch with its why.
You don’t have a soul, you are a soul. Don’t let the need for power remove you from the critical care your soul needs.
Question: Is your soul dying a little bit each day?
Dr. Tony Baron is Distinguished Scholar-In-Residence at Center for Executive Excellence and an internationally recognized speaker, writer, corporate consultant, professor and the San Diego Director of Azusa Pacific University Graduate School of Theology.
Dr. Baron is the author of six books, including The Art of Servant Leadershipand a workbook manual co-written with noted author and business leader Ken Blanchard. Throughout his career, he has worked with hundreds of companies including Ford Motor Company, Coca Cola Company, Warner Brothers Studios, and Boeing, among many others.
Driven by the premise that excellence is the result of aligning people, purpose and performance, Center for Executive Excellence facilitates training in leading self, leading teams and leading organizations. To learn more, visit us today at www.executiveexcellence.com or subscribe to receive CEE News!
Join me and Sheri Nasim at our next Re:Imagine Leadership Summit April 27 in San Diego! Success doesn’t happen by luck. It’s intentional. Without a leadership roadmap, your team will wander aimlessly through shifting priorities leaving them confused about the purpose of their jobs. Come to a one-day immersion in transformative leadership crafted to inspire and engage you.
Letter from the Founder
Welcome to the fourteenth issue of CEE News!
It’s the season of change. In this month’s edition of CEE News, we bring you ideas about how to break past the resistance that comes with change and create a culture that can respond swiftly, communicate freely, and organize as a network of people motivated by a shared purpose.
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In a less popular but equally profound TED Talk, Sinek turned again to the flip chart. In “First why and then trust,” Sinek illustrates why organizations must clarify and codify their why. Imagine a simple x, y graph. At the (0,0) coordinates, where x and y meet, is the genesis of an organization. At (0,0), x equals what and y equals, well, why. At that genesis, the what and the why are perfectly aligned. When a company launches, the founders are inspired by a big idea. They put some money together, and off they go.
