Changing Organizational Culture One Person At A Time

In yesterday's New York Times (July 26, 2017) there was a startling article by Kevin Quealy “Trump Is on Track to Insult 650 People, Places and Things on Twitter by the End of His First Term”.   For a leader to be in a place where he feels that he constantly has to attack, and is under attack, means that he is constantly under stress, and we all know that elevated cortisol and norepinephrine levels have a negative effect on bodily functions like the immune system, the metabolism as well as the mental health of the individual, such as memory and mental illness .  High levels of norepinephrine, means that the President is constantly in a state of fight or flight response.  It is no wonder then that there are so many reports of leaks, blame, hostility and silo’d thinking coming from the White House, let alone the competitive and short-term behaviors that are defining the Trump administration’s rule.  This is classic Red Zone behavior (in Radical Collaboration lan...

25 years ago, the CEO of a company where I worked, offered to pay for Transcendental Meditation classes for any employees who wanted to try it.  He spoke of the benefits to health, the increase in mental productivity, and longevity.  At the time I thought the idea a bit 'flakey', but was interested enough to give it a try.   Over the years, the return on that single investment, has been invaluable.  As a consultant with a hectic travel and client focus, I have been able to spend a quick 20 minutes in busy airports, on trains, in parks or with a quick time out on client site having worked hours on a big deadline.  Yet 20 minutes for some may be too long a time.  I have learned several different approaches in recent years, which can be practiced in a 5-10 minute time-frame, including halted breathing; grounded thinking; and tri-focus (belly, heart, mind) energy , which can help me to refocus my mind, stop the pestering internal talk, and bring me back to a...

Recently, I found myself in a situation where I become the unwitting focus of a poison email copied to eight other people.  I was stunned.  My immediate reaction was a knee-jerk response, wanting to send a smarting reply that would put him down, and show how I was the unwitting victim of his surprise attack. Instead, I chose a different route, and decided to slow down.  My Radical Collaboration training has taught me that taking a breath and stepping back from something when I notice a physical or emotional reaction, gives me the ability to try to understand my own “need” behind my reaction.  In this situation, my need was to be seen as competent and in control by others.  As a result, I had to own that it was MY interpretation of his email which fed MY own feelings of incompetence, and I had to manage that, not him.  He did not intend my reaction. By understanding that about myself, it allowed me to divorce my reality from an attempt to interpret hi...

The challenge with KPI's and hard numbers is that not only can they lack relevancy, but they frequently do not invite collaboration. Instead they create the opportunity for individuals to protect, reinforce, or enforce thinking. Unless there is a corporate culture which enables collaborative thinking a pure focus on KPI's encourages secrecy around mistakes, a lack of accountability in individuals, and a complete lack of awareness of the priorities of others. This then requires hierarchical decision making as people pass the buck up the line. Yves Morieux of BCG gives a wonderful TED Talk on the old and 'new' ways in which organizations need to work, much of which was originally put forward by one of my favorite business gurus and writers, Ricardo Semler in his book Maverick, back in 1988.

I recently read this HBR article  by David Maxfield, on How a Culture of Silence Eats Away at Your Company. No surprise, there were some shocking statistics in the article such as:' 90% of nurses don’t speak up to a physician even when they know a patient’s safety is at risk. ....  93% of people say their organization is at risk of an accident  waiting to happen because people are either unwilling or unable to speak up."  or that the costs of these silences was so high ' The average person estimated the cost of silence at $7,500, and 20% of our sample estimated the cost of avoiding a difficult conversation to be more than $50,000.  " While these numbers are shocking, this syndrome is decades old.  I see this as a solid leadership problem.  As the article suggests, there are ways to overcome this problem.  However, the solutions are not instinctive, and really need to be learned and practiced.  Individuals and teams need to learn how to cr...

When overcoming issues of trust in a relationship, the greatest successes are seen when all parties go in with a positive intention to collaborate.  This includes the desire to remain open and truthful, and to take accountability for unintended consequences, as well as to work to resolve all issues, not only your own.  Being truly able to listen, understand, and problem solve together, along with a commitment to be transparent and to collaborate, will create a strong bond and an even stronger outcome for all parties.  The outcome will be that all parties will feel their needs have been both understood and met. Radical Collaboration is a great approach for teaching leaders how to achieve this collaborative approach. This blog article by  Horacio Falcão at Insead  talks to exactly these points.

In recent years, increasing numbers of clients are asking for help mediating disputes between individuals whose relationships are having a knock-on effect with their teams, the wider organization, and inevitably, their clients and customers. Most frequently, these conflicts result from a confusion of roles and responsibilities, thereby creating tension in decision making, agreeing the scope of responsibility, and taking accountability between individuals.  This confusion, coupled with tight deadlines, large work loads and functional and cross functional accountabilities, leads to chaos and frequently, poor leadership.  Yet it is in this state that individuals can choose to make successful or disastrous decisions, or be guided into previously unthought-of realms of possibilities and solutions.  It is here that the role of mediation or if possible, self-mediation (a core leadership skill) is a requirement. The cost of conflict in companies often goes unrecognized as...