The Discrimination We Don’t Talk About in the Workplace

People

Nineteen months from now, 50% of the global workforce will be made up of Millennials (75% by 2025). This year, Baby Boomers are retiring at the rate of 14,000 per day. Per day. The knowledge and skills gulf between the two generations is enormous.

While that is daunting, what is even more daunting is the overt lack of respect that Baby Boomers often show Millennials in the workplace. They say things like — “Millennials don’t know what hard work is,” “Millennials want recognition without earning it,” “They’re snowflakes!” – while Millennials are sitting in the same room!

Instead of taking advantage of the unique contributions of a cohort that could give their organization a competitive advantage, Baby Boomers either openly berate Millennials, treat every Millennial like tech support, or ignore them altogether.

In a recent study published in the Harvard Business Review, every employee, regardless of age reported wanting their work to have meaning beyond a paycheck. At the same time, each generation reported feeling that “the other generations are only in it for the money, don’t want to work as hard, and do not care about meaning.” How can this be? Negative stereotypes.

Many Millennials believe that “Baby Boomers are stuck in their ways,” “They can’t learn new skills or keep up with the times,” and “They’re too old to be included as someone I’d like to get to know better.” Think not? This “What Age Do Millennials Think Is Old?” video is an eye opener.

Whether you’re a Baby Boomer or a Millennial, I urge you to take a moment to consider any biases you have about the other generation. How might your words and behaviors be contributing to the negative stereotyping of each other? What’s one thing that you can do today to get to know a colleague from the other generation and begin closing the generational divide and leverage this opportunity for competitive advantage?

Question: What are some ways that you might be contributing to this workplace discrimination issue?

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!

Herstory: 4 Women Who Changed the World

People

Picture a leader. Do you see a woman? If not, you aren’t alone. A recent study published in the Academy of Management Journal confirms that getting recognized as a leader is more difficult for women than for men.

Yet, history is filled with women who defied the norms, like the four women below who persisted in claiming their leadership role – though you may have never heard of them.

1. Eliza Scidmore, First Female Writer, Photographer and Editor of National Geographic. When she began her career as a journalist, Eliza Scidmore (pronounced “Sid-more”) submitted articles using only her initials to avoid the common bias of her day against female journalists. Her passion for travel took her to the Alaskan frontier in 1883. She took the trip solo at the age of 20 and published the first Alaska travel guide. At 26, she journeyed to Japan and submitted an article for the September 1896 issue of National Geographic, introducing readers to the Japanese word tsunami.

When you think of who was responsible for the Japanese cherry trees planted in Washington, D.C. during the Taft Administration, President Taft should not be the first person who comes to mind. It should be Eliza Scidmore and her two decades of persistence.

2. Nonny de la Peña, Founder/CEO of Emblematic Group. Another norm defying woman who started her career in journalism is the enigmatic Nonny de la Peña. Like Scidmore, de la Peña has relied on her storytelling skills to launch her career and her company. Emblematic Group is a digital media company focused on immersive virtual, mixed and augmented reality. In laymen’s terms, it’s a company that produces films in which the viewer is virtually immersed. In her 2015 TED Talk, de la Peña describes how she created the first virtual reality documentary Hunger in Los Angeles that made its way to the Sundance Film Festival.

When you think of CEOs who are leading the way to use technology to connect humans to one another, Mark Zuckerberg should not be the first person who comes to mind. It should be Nonny de la Peña, the godmother of virtual reality.

3. Dolores Huerta, Civil Rights Activist and Co-Founder of the United Farm Workers. Dolores Huerta was born into the activist movement. Her father Juan Ferånández, was a union activist who ran for political office and won a seat in the New Mexico legislature in 1938. Huerta’s mother, Alicia, was an active participant in community affairs, involved in numerous civic organizations and the church in the Stockton, California community.

By the time 20-year old Huerta met César Chávez in 1955, she had founded the Agricultural Workers Association, set up voter registration drives and pressed local governments for barrio improvements. In 1962, Huerta and Chávez launched the National Farm Workers Association (now known as United Farm Workers). Her adept lobbying and negotiating skills were a vital part of the growth of the farm workers’ movement. Yet, the challenges she faced as a woman did not go unnoted. In one of her letters to Chávez she joked, “Being a now (ahem) experienced lobbyist, I am able to speak on a man-to-man basis with other lobbyists.”

When you think of the motto “Yes. We Can”, President Barak Obama should not be the first person who comes to mind. It should be Dolores Huerta, from whom Obama borrowed the phrase ― a fact that he acknowledged when he awarded Huerta the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.

4. Shirley Chisholm, Educator, Author, First African-American Congresswoman, and First Major-Party Black Person to Run for President of the United States.

Shirley Chisholm was the first African American woman in Congress (1968) and the first woman and African American to seek the nomination for president of the United States from one of the two major political parties (1972). Her motto and title of her autobiography—Unbossed and Unbought—illustrated her outspoken advocacy for women and minorities during her seven terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Discrimination followed Chisholm’s quest for the 1972 Democratic Party presidential nomination. She was blocked from participating in televised primary debates, and after taking legal action, was permitted to make just one speech. Still, students, women, and minorities followed the “Chisholm Trail.” She entered 12 primaries and garnered 152 of the delegates’ votes—despite an under-financed campaign and contentiousness from the predominantly male Congressional Black Caucus.

When you think of African Americans who have made a political impact, President Barak Obama, again has a woman to thank for paving the way.

To close with a quote from Shirley Chisolm, “Tremendous amounts of talent are lost to our society just because that talent wears a skirt.”

QUESTION: What women have you known who have changed the world despite the odds?

The Culture Equation: 3 Critical Factors You Can’t Ignore

People

Culture. What does that word actually mean? Though many have tried, no one has ever landed on a fixed, universal definition for organizational culture. The subject has been vigorously debated from the pages of the Harvard Business Review to the halls of MIT Sloan. What is not debated is that culture is part of the DNA of every organization. Whether your organizational culture is empowering or toxic depends greatly on two factors: shared experience and modeled leadership.

Consider this. When new employees join your organization, they step in on Day 1 with a set of preconceived beliefs based on past experience. They may believe that markets are finite and there is only so much business to go around. They may believe that success happens only when we beat our competitors. That in order to for us to win business, others must lose. Some have been taught that ethics and morals can be bent. Others have relied on the strict dictates of policies and procedures. That makes up the experience half of the equation.

The other half comes directly from modeled leadership. If the leaders of the organization are fixated on business development, channel expansion, and market domination, they are not likely spending any time intentionally trying to shape the culture. Unintentionally, however, they are sending very clear signals about what is important to them. They are the cultural architects of your organization and contribute these three very important things to the culture equation:

1. What is measured. Let’s face it. Culture can be hard to measure. Senior executives tend to shy away from anything with a fuzzy ROI. Yet, whether you measure it or not, your culture is showing up in your bottom line. Skilfully managed cultures can be a performance multiplier. Recent research by the Great Place to Work© Institute found that companies that actively invest in workplace culture yield nearly 2x the return over their competitors. They also typically report 65% less voluntary turnover, saving an average of $3,500 per employee in recruiting and training costs. If culture isn’t part of your KPI mix, you’re sending the signal that it’s unimportant.

2. What is rewarded. A recent study by O.C. Tanner found that employees report being recognized for their work as their most important motivator, over 20 times more than salary. Employees study what behaviors and achievements get rewarded, and naturally modify their work accordingly. Leaders who understand this connection create recognition programs that go beyond passing out paychecks. WD-40 CEO Garry Ridge proudly hosts the company’s annual People Choice Awards. Each year, heartfelt speeches are given by winners of coveted awards like “Best Mentor Coach” and “Best Team Player.” Leaders like Ridge know that coin-operated employees have no passion.

3. What is ignored. Leaders are bombarded with data, hold back-to-back meetings, and field urgent requests on a daily basis. When we need to respond to fast-moving competitive situations, it is tempting to tap only our direct reports for feedback. In his Harvard Business Review article “The Focused Leader,” New York Times bestselling author Daniel Goleman warns that this temptation is dangerous. He recommends that leaders practice expanding their focus of awareness. “A failure to focus on others leaves you clueless, and a failure to focus outward may leave you blindsided,” Goleman writes. What’s worse, leaders who ignore input from those outside their immediate circle are signaling to the rest of the organization that their input is irrelevant.

Leaders are the cultural architects of your organization. The key metrics they pay attention to, the contributions they reward, and range of their awareness directly impact both your organizational culture and your bottom line.

Question: What do you measure, reward and ignore? How is that impacting your organizational culture?

Great Leaders Recognize Their MVP (Many Valuable People)

People

If you’re one of the estimated 103 million people who tuned in to watch Super Bowl LII on Sunday, you may have seen the MVP award handed out to Eagles’ backup quarterback, Nick Foles. While Foles showed strength under pressure against the favored New England Patriots, recognizing quarterbacks of the winning team as Super Bowl MVP has become the norm over the 52-year history of the game.

Former NFL coach and New York Times bestselling author, Tony Dungy, offers a perspective on the MVP award for leaders who want to build successful teams both on and off the field. In The One Year Uncommon Daily Life Challenge, published in 2011 following Super Bowl XLV (45), Dungy wrote:

“Since the first Super Bowl was held in 1967, forty-six Most Valuable Player awards have been handed out, one for each of the forty-five Super Bowls and one with two.

In the first four Super Bowls, the quarterback from the winning team was selected as the Most Valuable Player. Green Bay quarterback Bart Starr was selected in both 1967 and 1968 as the MVP, and in 1969 Joe Namath was selected following the New York Jets’ historic win over the Baltimore Colts. In 1970 Len Dawson of the Kansas City Chiefs was selected after leading his team to victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV. Every year since, the award has been handed out to a member of the winning team, except in 1971, when Dallas Cowboys’ linebacker Chuck Howley won the award in the game against the winner, the Baltimore Colts.

During the course of the forty-five-year span of Super Bowl Sunday games, the breakdown by position of the Most Valuable Player selected is kick returner-1; running backs-7; wide receivers-6; defensive players-8; quarterbacks-24.

In the forty-five-year history of the Super Bowl, not one offensive lineman has won the award. Yet try to play the game without them. Try to win a Super Bowl without a stellar offensive line. And as to quarterbacks – how many Super Bowl MVP awards do you think they would have won if they had been consistently hurried, hit, or sacked during a game, watching the game from the vantage point of their backsides?

I know of one in particular – Peyton Manning, the MVP quarterback in Super Bowl XLI – who couldn’t have won it without his offensive line. Or his running backs, receivers, and tight ends. Or his defense. Peyton’s a great player, but he needed the rest of the supporting cast.”

Whether or not you’re a football fan, Dungy’s thoughts about recognizing team effort applies to leaders of all winning teams. Yet, not all team members need a to hold a trophy over their heads to feel recognized. In an article written for Harvard Business Review titled What Great Managers Do, leadership author Marcus Buckingham noted that the best managers know what triggers each team member. They know that by far, the most powerful trigger is recognition, and that each employee’s standard of recognition is nuanced.

To excel as a leader, you must be able to match the team member to the recognition he values most. One employee might prefer peer recognition. The best way to praise him would be to point him out in front of his coworkers and give kudos for his achievement.

Another employee’s favorite audience might be you. The most powerful recognition would be a one-on-one conversation where you tell her quietly and precisely how you value her on the team. Still another employee might define himself by his specialized skills. He would most prize being recognized with a professional or technical award.

Great leaders understand that success requires recognition of a Most Valuable Team. Find the right recognition method, and you’ll unlock an inherent desire for continued high performance.

Question: Who are the unsung heroes on your team?

Interested in getting more content like this? Subscribe to CEE News!

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.

The 5 Levels of Listening

People

Picture this. The CEO needs to make a decision about a cost-saving measure, and has turned to your team for advice. In support of the initiative to go paperless, she wants to eliminate either pens or pencils from use by employees across the organization. The program will be considered a success if it is rolled out in 30 days from today, 100% of employees have converted from the legacy writing instrument, and employee morale does not drop.

As ridiculous as this initiative may sound, the scenario sounds all too familiar. Teams are often given limited time, little supporting data, and high expectations to make decisions that will have enterprise-wide impact.

What is also familiar is that teams are working on several other initiatives with compressed due dates. When the topic of pens versus pencils comes up on the team meeting agenda, only one member of the team has a strong position. Let’s call him the Advocate. The Advocate has studied the issue, has prior experience with a successful rollout of a similar initiative, and has drafted a plan to share with the team.

When the issue is brought up at a meeting, the team members are scattered in focus, and don’t practice the listening skills that would take advantage of the Advocate’s expertise and passion. Instead, they fall into four types of listeners: Ignore, Volley, Judge, and Apply.

Ignore. The Ignorer must attend the meeting, but obviously has other issues pressing for his attention. He’s buried in his phone, but throws out occasional comments like “Uh huh” or “Wait. What are we talking about?” from time to time. His guiding statement is, “You’re not important to me right now.”

Volley. This person doesn’t really agree or disagree with the Advocate about this issue, but wants to be a part of the conversation to get his own remarks on record. He’s preparing his comeback while the Advocate is talking, and interrupts in mid-sentence. His guiding statement is, “You think that’s right/wrong, I can top that.”

Judge. She strongly disagrees with the Advocate about this issue. She’s constantly fact-checking, and making assumptions and conclusions before she hears out the Advocate. Her guiding statement is, “Here’s your problem.”

Apply. This person considers the Advocate a subject matter expert and is here to learn, but not ask clarifying questions or offer feedback. She pays close attention as she downloads information from the Advocate and her other teammates. Her guiding statement is, “What can I take away and keep myself safe?”

Scenarios like this play out all too often. The ability for teams to share information, and make decisions gets bogged down by the inability to listen. Instead, we accept unproductive listening behavior. We let Ignoring, Volleying, Judging, and Applying pass for listening. But to truly hear one another productively, we must practice listening with empathy, as follows:

Empathize. Team members don’t initially agree or disagree with the Advocate, but are present to the Advocate’s words and, more importantly, are open to being changed by what is said. They give their full attention to the Advocate’s words and body language. They stay curious, make an emotional connection, and forget their own agenda. Their guiding statement is, “What are you experiencing?”

Listening with empathy takes practice. It requires being fully present to the thoughts and feelings of others, setting aside our ego, and being open to information that may change our paradigm about an issue. As you go through your workday, take note of how many of the five levels of listening take place among your team members, and how your team would benefit by practicing listening with empathy.

Question: Which of the five levels of listening do you hear in your team meetings?

Download our 5 Levels of Listening free resource. Ask yourself which of these 5 levels of Listening are you participating in. If you find yourself regularly falling into the Ignoring, Volleying, Judging, or Applying levels of listening, take some time to remember the prescription for that level, so that you can become a more Empathetic listener.

Interested in getting more content like this? Subscribe to CEE News!

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!