Leadership
When you think of your company’s values, what comes to mind?
Do they serve as guideposts for how your team behaves and makes business decisions? Are they feel good words posted on your About Us website page? Or worse, is your organization’s behavior so misaligned with your stated values that it reeks of hypocrisy? After all, the stated values according to Enron’s 2000 Annual Report were Communication, Respect, Integrity, and Excellence.
When organizations underperform, leaders often try to fix the problem by shuffling people around or investing in new technology. But when its culture and values are misaligned, no amount of shuffling or software will address the underlying problem. The importance of building on a strong set of core values and standards of behavior that align with your core values cannot be overstated.
As Patrick Lencioni wrote in Harvard Business Review, “Empty values statements create cynical and dispirited employees, alienate customers, and undermine managerial credibility.” When organizations get this right, the culture is empowering. When they get it wrong, the culture is toxic. Either way, the effects show up in the bottom line.
So, how do you create a set of core values that will help align your employees and drive performance? In 2015, Greg Koch and Steve Wagner, the Co-Founders of Stone Brewing, came to us after enjoying 20 straight years of success. After hearing us speak at a leadership event, they realized that they had been so focused on survival followed by scalable growth that they had neglected their culture. “We needed our inside to match our outside,” as Steve Wagner put it. Here’s how we worked with Stone Brewing to create a culture of performance.
Be Aggressively Authentic.
We started by asking to look at Stone’s core values. As it turns out, they had never taken the time to capture any core values. So, we sat down with Steve and his hand-picked team of five people, and began reverse engineering what values differentiated Stone from the competition. We took the team on culture field trips to companies like WD-40, Patagonia and Taylor Guitars to give them a peak inside organizations whose values and performance were strongly aligned. We challenged them to create values that would act as a distinct blueprint for employee behavior and business decisions – one that would be used for attracting employees who fit the values, and for holding themselves and fellow employees accountable to.
Own the Process.
Not only did Steve Wagner handpick his Culture Action Team. He chaired it. He went on the culture field trips. He even amended his title to include Chief Culture Officer. Wagner realized that he needed to make culture and values alignment a priority. Early in the process, Wagner wrote a TED-like talk and made his way to every team meeting to let them know about what he and the Culture Action Team were working on and to get feedback from Stone employees. As he made the rounds and saw the excitement build, Wagner’s conviction and dedication to naming and claiming Stone’s values grew.
Let it Brew.
From the first meeting of Stone’s Culture Action Team to the day the core values were officially rolled out took just under five months. Wagner and his team knew that rushing the process could result in values that would not play out. They had to consider how the values could be put into action by the full complement of team members – from brewers to drivers, from sales reps to restaurant staff, from marketing to accounting. How would the values be interpreted from San Diego, CA, to Richmond, VA, to Berlin, Germany, and in countries where Stone had yet to make its mark? In the end, the team landed on these four core value: Fearless Leadership, Creative Risk Taking, Revolutionary Spirit, and Team Stone.
We left Wagner and his Culture Action Team with a roadmap for integrating the core values into Stone’s culture. That was 18 months ago. Today, the Culture Action Team has grown from 5 to 30 members, with culture ambassadors at every location, including its newly opened brewery in Shanghai. Stone’s marketing team created a special values logo, and the values are proudly displayed by Stone team members on everything from t-shirts to coasters. More importantly, everything from the hiring of new employees to how business decisions are made are put through a values fit test.
Stone’s connection with its core values – its competitive differentiator – was a much needed boost to employee engagement. In 2015, employee engagement was at 60%. In 2016, employee engagement rose to 73%, and in 2017, it rose to 86%. Those scores impact innovation, productivity, turnover costs, and bottom line performance.
Many leaders would not have the patience for the time and effort it takes to create and implement a solid alignment between values and culture. But for those who do, fortify their organizations with long-lasting, aligned success.
Question: What organizations do you know that live by an authentic set of core values?
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, subscribe to receive CEE News!
Leadership
The idea for this post came to me a few months ago during an executive coaching session with a client. I saved it until today, because it makes a nice preamble to Father’s Day coming up this weekend. During our discussion about becoming a better leader, my client reflected on his approach to fathering his children.
When his daughter, Rachel, was in 9th grade, she was a star player on the basketball team. One day, she told her coach that she wanted to play on the soccer team too. Her coach told Rachel that she couldn’t play both basketball and soccer. She wouldn’t have enough time to practice and be good enough for both teams. He told her that she needed to stick with basketball. Rachel thought about it for a minute, calmly told her coach that she chose soccer, and left her star spot on the team. The coach was infuriated by her answer. He called Rachel’s father to plead with him to talk some sense into her. Instead, her father said, “If that is Rachel’s decision, then she has my full support.”
My client knew his daughter. She was not making an emotional decision that she would quickly regret. She was making the kind of decision that he had groomed her and her siblings for since they were toddlers. It was a decision borne out of an accumulation of self-confidence and decision-making skills that were the foundation of his approach to fathership. He described his approach in three ways:
1. Meet them at their eye level. Towering over your children will only put them in a vulnerable and powerless position. Meet them at their eye level and let them know that they have your full attention. Being at their eye level also helps you empathize with their vantage point and perspective. The same applies to leadership. Regardless of your physical stature, your position on the org chart automatically gives you more power than those you lead. Instead of holding that power over their heads, show them that you are interested in seeing challenges and opportunities from their point of view.
2. Let them engage you into their world. If your son invites you to play trucks, play trucks. If your daughter wants to play chase in the yard, play chase. From dolls to dinosaurs — whatever world they are in — let your children know that you are ready and willing to let them create a safe space to play and begin to develop soft leadership skills. Nobody wants to be on a team where only the leader gets to be on the team, sets the agenda, makes up the rules as they go, then promptly breaks the rules themselves. Pass on the responsibility and accountability for agenda and rules setting to others on the team. It’s a fast track to learning both the hard and soft skills required to lead.
3. Help them build problem-solving skills. Life gets complicated at an early age. A parent’s job is not to clear their children’s paths of all obstacles. It’s to set boundaries of safety. Children should be given the freedom to navigate their own path within those boundaries. When the path looks unclear, and they come to you for help, ask, “What do you think you should do?” Don’t make the choice for them, but encourage them to explore their options. With time and repetition, they’ll grow to become accomplished problem solvers. It takes more time on the front end to let others explore choices and make mistakes that you could easily help them avoid. But, the investment of that time will yield long-term payoff – for your team member, for you, and for your organization.
Happy early Father’s Day to all the dads who are growing our next generation of leaders.
Question: What leadership lessons can you draw from fathers who were role models in your life?
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, subscribe to receive CEE News!
Leadership
Picture this. A father had three children. When his oldest child, a daughter, turned 12, he took her with him to the auto dealership. He told her, “I want you to pick out the car that you think I should buy.” Puzzled, his daughter looked at her father and asked, “Why me, Dad?” “Because, this is the car that I’ll be driving for the next four years. When you turn 16 and get your driver’s license, I’m going to hand the keys over to you.”
He repeated this offer with his other two children, and over the next 16 years drove a bright red Volkswagen Beetle, a yellow Honda Civic (for his second daughter), and a red Jeep Wrangler (for his son.)
“I have to admit,” the father said, “when my son asked for a Wrangler, I hesitated.” It was outside of my comfort zone. I had always driven cars, we’d always lived in the city, and I couldn’t see myself driving a Wrangler for the next four years. But, I had made a commitment, and couldn’t break it now.”
“What’s funny,” the father said, “is that I actually started enjoying the Wrangler. By the time my son got old enough to drive it, I found myself thinking about buying another one for myself. If my son hadn’t convinced me to change what I’d gotten used to driving all of my life, I never would have gotten out of my comfort zone.”
What this father knew intuitively serves as a model for passing on the leadership keys in the 21st century. Three themes emerge.
1. Trust. Any worthwhile transition is based on mutual trust. Future leaders need to trust the wisdom and experience of current leaders. Current leaders need to trust the potential of the next generation, their innovative approach, and the ability to handle the responsibility for the future. When there is an absence of trust, the process of a healthy and fruitful transition breaks down, and the passing on of the leadership keys stalls. Breaking down the trust barriers starts with building mutual respect and appreciation for what we each bring to the table. Here’s a short, compelling video that shows how quickly we can start to break down the barriers and build trust.
2. Teamwork. Once we establish trust for one another, we can begin to work together as a team toward the future success of our organization. The father in the example above didn’t arbitrarily decide what cars would be best for each of his children. He included them in the process and let them voice their opinions. When we include future leaders in the decision-making process, they move from obliged to empowered. That empowerment – knowing that the keys to the future are in their hands – gives them a greater sense of responsibility for making good choices to show that your trust was well placed.
3. Transition. One of the most significant lessons from car-buying father is how he adapted to the Wrangler chosen by his youngest child. Most of today’s leaders grew up in a time when decisions and influence came from the top and rippled down. But, the rapid pace of technological change is having an impact on generational influence. Research by the Center for Generational Kinetics (CGK) finds that influence is rippling up, rather than down. “The greatest predictor of older generations,” says James Dorsey, CGK’s Chief Strategy Officer in this TEDx talk, “is what the younger generations are doing today.” They influence how every other generation uses technology. Need more convincing? Think Facebook.
Are you holding onto the leadership keys with a white-knuckled grip? It may be time to shift your view about future generations. When you can break down the trust barriers, give them true ownership and responsibility, and be open to their influence, you’ll be inspired by some of the most hard-working, eager-to-learn, and motivated people in the world today.
Question: What is your view about handing over the leadership keys?
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, subscribe to receive CEE News!
![6 Leadership Books to Add to Your Summer Reading List]()
Leadership
Looking for some titles to add to your reading list this summer? We’ve gathered our own top picks and included some that our readers have found life changing. Here are six titles we recommend that you pack along with your picnic basket.
1. Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility by Patty McCord
What it’s about: Named by The Washington Post as one of the 11 Leadership Books to Read in 2018, McCord shares lessons she learned as Chief Talent Officer for Netflix about recruiting, motivating, and creating great teams.
Why pick it up: For road-tested advice, mixed with humor and irreverence, to help you create a culture of high performance and profitability.
2. How to Think: A Survival Guide for the World at Odds by Alan Jacobs
What it’s about: A masterpiece about treating thinking as an art, informed by the ancients in the humanities and religious traditions, Jacobs shares the techniques of clear thinking, and how to listen instead of defaulting into our stubborn mind bubbles.
Why pick it up: We live in contentious times when we all need to give the divisive issues we face some serious thought. That’s especially true when it comes to ideas and people we disagree with and those we label as the “repugnant cultural other.”
3. New Power. How Power Works in a Hyperconnected World by Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms
What it’s about: We live at a time when the captains of business and government are being taken on by surging currents of social media-fed sentiment. Top-down hierarchies where power is centralized in the hands of a few is ceding ground to bottom-up, participatory, peer-driven power.
Why pick it up: To learn how to tap into the participatory energy of your organization and create sustainable success.
4. The Little Book of Change: The No-Willpower Approach to Breaking Any Habit by Amy Johnson, PhD
What it’s about: Anything done repeatedly has the potential to form neural circuitry in the brain. In this light, habits and addictions are impersonal brain wiring problems that result from taking your habitual thinking as truth, and acting on that thinking in the form of doing your habit―over and over.
Why pick it up: Drawing on a combination of neuroscience and spirituality, this book will show you small changes you can make in your everyday life that will help you stop your bad habit in its tracks.
5. The World Without Mind: The Existential Threat of Big Tech by Franklin Foer
What it’s about: Over the past few decades, the world has rushed to embrace the products and services of four titanic corporations. We shop with Amazon, socialize on Facebook, turn to Apple for entertainment, and rely on Google for information. These firms sell their efficiency and purport to make the world a better place, but what they have done instead is to enable an intoxicating level of daily convenience.
Why pick it up: To learn how to restore your inner life, private contemplation, autonomous thought and solitary introspection.
6. Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone by Satya Nadella
What it’s about: Microsoft’s CEO tells the inside story of the company’s continuing transformation, tracing his own personal journey from a childhood in India to leading some of the most significant technological changes in the digital era.
Why pick it up: For a set of reflections, meditations, and recommendations presented as algorithms from a principled, deliberative leader searching for improvement—for himself, for a storied company, and for society.
If you’re an avid reader, you’re likely on a continuous journey for discovery and self-improvement. These titles will give you new insight about the changing definition of power, the impact of technology on our lives, and the ability to make immediate changes that will have a sustainable impact.
Question: What books have helped you along your leadership journey?
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, subscribe to receive CEE News!
![6 Leadership Books to Add to Your Summer Reading List]()
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 from time to time to give you a taste of what it’s like to have an amazing colleague and friend like Tony Baron. – Sheri Nasim
The world of work is going through dramatic changes. For the first time in history, five generations are working side by side. Baby Boomers are retiring at the rate of 14,000 per day. 18 months from now, 50% of the global workforce will be made up of Millennials. Today’s employees want more than a paycheck. They want work that has purpose.
At the same time, companies are more global and the workforce is more diverse than ever before. Today’s leaders are handling a tsunami of technological distractions that would have been unimaginable just 20 years ago.
Successful leaders of the 21st century tap into the fundamentals to guide their teams through an increasingly complex work environment. Consider these seven fundamental leadership virtues that transcend time.
1. Truth. The first requirement for every leader throughout time is the ability to assess reality correctly. Yet, we live in an age of “truthiness.” Bad news is shaven, shorn, and often completely misrepresented out of fear, or an unwillingness to deal with conflict. What are you doing as a leader to ensure that you are getting accurate information?
2. Beauty. Socrates believed that the purpose of education is to teach people to love what is beautiful. A radiant sunset. A grandmother’s smile. An act of kindness. These are the transcendental things that lift us from the de-humanizing aspects of life. How much time are you building into your schedule to contemplate and reflect on the beauty around you?
3. Spirituality. Consider this. What if we are not human beings having a spiritual experience, but spiritual beings having a human experience? You don’t have to subscribe to an organized religion to acknowledge that our spirits soar in an environment where we are inspired, equipped, and encouraged. How can you create a culture that feeds the human spirit?
4. Relationships. Every human being has the need to love and to be loved. The decades of information that I collected on workplace violence showed that the most disturbed members of our society are those who are most isolated. Leadership is a relationship. What are you doing to broaden your relationships beyond your circle of direct reports?
5. Freedom. Coercion and manipulation are de-humanizing. They may produce short-term results, but eventually people will revolt against such behavior. To flourish, people need the space to make decisions, take chances, and course correct without fear. Are you creating an environment for sharing lessons learned – both positive and negative – with your team?
6. Justice. Spend an hour watching preschool children playing a game, and you’ll eventually hear one of them say, “That’s not fair!” The natural sense of justice that we have as children is part of our human ethos. Are you using your position and power to self-serve? Or, are you creating a culture of equal opportunity to benefit from a just system of rewards?
7. Power. A team at Berkeley recently showed through MRI studies that, when a person gets power, a hit of dopamine shoots to the brain. At the same time, the ability to empathize is suppressed. To counteract this effect, leaders must continuously, intentionally “think about what they are thinking about.” Doing so over time will burn new neural pathways in the brain. What are you doing each day to ensure that you are using your power and position as an opportunity to serve the needs of others?
Leadership is about more than power or strength. It is about being aware of the life you model and the lives you touch.
Question: Which of these virtues resonate with where you are as a leader today?
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 Leadership and 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.
Leadership
You know that feeling of dread you get when you’ve planned a big party, and you start to worry that no one is coming? That’s a feeling we get every year when planning our Re:Imagine Leadership Summit. This year was no exception. But, I’m happy to report that we packed the room to a sold out house!
Thanks to our generous sponsors, amazing speakers, honored guests, talented volunteers, and culinary artists, the day included many valuable takeaways. I’ve gathered these from our team members and clients alike to share with you.
1. Danielle Aguas, Director of Marketing for Center for Executive Excellence, kicked off the day with a story about the lessons she’s learned from buying a home with systemic root issues. Her leadership lesson? “Don’t fall into a book-of-the-month club training cycle for your team. Instead, find training that’s going to help you identify root causes. Otherwise, you’ll never truly address the issues that lie below the surface.”
2. From Dr. Tony Baron, our Co-Founder and Scholar-in-Residence, “Leadership is about relationships. Leaders who transcend best practices understand that every human being has the need to love and to be loved. People who are the most disturbed are the ones who are most isolated. Don’t isolate yourself as a leader. Don’t surround yourself with your own kind.” Be together. Not the same.
3. Kevin Kirkland, People Manager for Stone Brewing, shared, “Since we started taking our core values seriously in 2015, we’ve seen a direct impact on our employee engagement survey: 60% favorable in 2015, 75% favorable in 2016, and 86% favorable in 2017.”
4. Cheryl Kilmer, Founder and CEO of TERI, Inc., shared an inspirational message. “Since the age of 17, I’ve dedicated my life to changing the way the world sees the special needs community. If you think about it, who among us can say that we have not experienced one or more aspects of the disorder spectrum – including depression, anxiety, ADD, or a learning disability?” Watch this video to learn more about this groundbreaking nonprofit and its Campus of Life project.
5. From Strengths Coach and Trainer Matthew Veling, “When I want to turn away from corporate greed and a maniacal focus on power, I am reminded by the words of Max Stackhouse who said, ‘Business leaders are increasingly the stewards of civilization.’ It’s our responsibility as business leaders to use our power to make more than profit, but to make a positive impact on the world through the opportunity that comes with power.”
6. Gina Frasca, Director of Safety, Risk and Sustainability at California State University, San Marcos, reported, “When I experienced a major turnover of my team in 2015, we turned to Gallup StrengthsFinder training and coaching to help us learn to appreciate and leverage the strengths of our team members. Last year, the team reported 100% employee satisfaction, and our internal customer satisfaction ranked No. 1 among all six of our university peers.”
7. Michael Coffey, our Senior Executive Consultant, shared the following equation: Strategy X Organizational Development X Learning & Development = Organizational Effectiveness. “You’ll notice,” said Coffey, “that it’s a multiplication equation. That means, if any of the 3 terms are equal to 0, the result of the equation is 0.” How would your organization score?
Thanks to our generous sponsors, passionate attendees, and powerhouse team, the 3rd Annual Re:Imagine Leadership Summit was a success. What’s next? Two things: we’re donating profits from the Summit to TERI’s Campus of Life campaign, and we’re rolling up our sleeves to welcome you next year!
Question: What do you do each year to invest in your growth as a leader?
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, subscribe to receive CEE News!
