A Local Resource for Small Businesses

This morning Sara and I attended a seminar on Developing Strategic Communications, hosted by the the Alexandria Small Business Development Center here in Old Town.  The informative and concise presentation by local communications firm Reingold underscored how small businesses can have a global reach with the right strategy and tools.  If you are local and would like more information about upcoming workshops sponsored by the ASBDC, check out: www.alexandriasbdc.org.    

Help Explore Rob's Observation about Teams

At the recent launch of my new book, HUM, I invited participants to raise questions they would like to see addressed by me and blog followers in the coming weeks.  One friend, Rob, wrote in a follow up email:

With the best team on which I ever had the privilege to serve, my biggest concern was that I would let my teammates down. There was an inherent understanding that everyone supported a common purpose, as well as each other. However, it seems that is becoming increasingly rare. It seems that over time we value organizations/teams/communities less and less.  The sense of common purpose, community, and mutual responsibility to each other seems to be eroding in favor of individual performance and accomplishment.  In our neighborhoods, we know our neighbors less than previous generations did.  In our professional careers, we move from company to company vs. established careers with a single company.  How do we instill that common purpose to make our organizations "hum" if some partners simply weren't raised in an environment that emphasized shared purpose (or at least not to the same extent as others)?

Boy, Rob, you identify a really deep issue. It does seem that our parents and grandparents lived in a world where relationships lasted a very long time, including those with employers.  My own grandfather was able to raise a family and retire comfortably after 50 years of service with Ford Motor Company. 

One of the reasons I felt driven to write HUM is because we no longer live in that world of long-term relationships in which loyalty and trust develop over time.  Although we still yearn for that feeling of connectivity, we find it missing in our work, social, and personal relationships.  Why should we be loyal to an employer who would let us go without a moment’s thought if they needed to, regardless of how well we had performed for them?  Why should we pick up the pile of mail from the steps of a vacationing neighbor when we don’t even know him?  The world around us discourages connectivity while we continue to naturally crave it. 

Look around your workplace and among those your business touches for “kindred spirits,” then find ways to build connections with and among these individuals.  We have to be intentional about building these connections, not counting on them to develop naturally over long periods of time.  In fact, isn't this why Friday happy hours were invented?

Ideally, trust and respect are modeled by the leaders of an organization or team, creating a connective culture. If that is not the case where you work, then build a support network of people with whom you can feel that sense of mutual trust and loyalty.  Not only will you feel better about your work, but your team’s performance will dramatically improve.

Let’s hear from others about Rob’s observation that organizations don’t inspire long-term loyalty.  What are your thoughts about how to increase connectivity in an increasingly disjunctive world?

Friends and colleagues really connected last night at the launch of my new book, HUM!

Last night was one of the most memorable evenings of my life—the launch party of my new book, HUM: Using Connective Change to Lead Your Organization to Greater Purpose and Harmony.  Thanks to the many friends and colleagues who joined me at the Center’s new offices for cocktails and a lively conversation to explore some questions examined in the book:

·       What are the traits of the best (connective) and worst (disjunctive) organizations you’ve experienced?

·       If everyone can recognize and wants a healthy, connective organization, why aren’t more organizations healthy, fun, and productive?

·       What are the keys to creating and sustaining a healthy, connective organization?

People talked about how trust, respect, and clear purpose are among the traits everyone’s experienced in a healthy, connective group.  Some of them talked about how a toxic person can contaminate an entire team if not dealt with.  There was a good discussion of whether private and public organizations have different “default” cultures, and many believed that it depends on their leaders and what they model and expect of others.  Someone asked about “charismatic leaders” who are disjunctive with their own people while shining to the outside world—a topic that stirred up a lot of ideas about how to work with and around them.

Participants in last night’s soiree wrote down questions they want me to explore in future blogs.  Some promised to email additional comments and questions, which I will be sharing in my blog in coming weeks.  You can add to the conversation about healthy and unhealthy organizations by emailing me your stories, questions, or comments.

I am so grateful to the friends who have become clients over the years, trusting me with their organizations’ health.  And I’m grateful to the clients who, over the years, have become close personal friends and supporters.  I’m even grateful to those rare “difficult” clients—perhaps they taught me the most.  So many contributed to the experiences I’ve had and lessons I’ve learned that resulted in this book. A big thanks to all of you—for trusting me as your partner in connective change, and for having the courage to make the tough decisions often required to create an organization that works with greater purpose and harmony.

Inspiration from Mandela

For years, I have kept a file of my favorite Mandela quotes.  I use them in speeches and writing, but mostly to inspire myself to take risks and live fully.  I feel called to share some of my faves over the next few days.  For starters:

Tread softly,

Breathe peacefully,
Laugh hysterically.”
― Nelson Mandela

Meals and Connectivity

Have you ever thought about whether you use meals as an opportunity to increase connectivity?  Sounds crazy, but think about it.  Do you stop for a moment before eating to appreciate the meal and all those who were involved in getting the food to your table?  Do you select wholesome, nutritious food that will connect and sustain you to your healthiest self?  Do you eat in a mindful manner, savoring the flavor of each bite?  Do you connect with loved ones over meals, using meals as opportunities to have pleasant conversations, deepen bonds, and build positive memories?

Even if you're busy (and who isn't?), consider how you might be able to use mealtime to build greater connectivity in your life and with those you love.  It will not only nourish your body, but feed your soul.

Recognizing and Celebrating Natural Connectives

In my recently released book, HUM, I describe Natural Connectives as people whose nature is to connect with other people, connect people to one another, and connect people to good ideas and resources that would be of value to them.  

I was just with my friend Magaly, who, like other Natural Connectives, creates synergy in everything she touches.  Observing how eagerly she offers connections to new ideas and friends reminded me of how valuable Natural Connectives are in the workplace as well as in one's life.  

Wise managers encourage their Natural Connectives to cross pollinate in every possible way.  They put them on multi-team task forces.  They send them to professional development sessions, knowing they'll  apply what they learned as well as freely share it with others.  Savvy managers encourage Natural Connectives to train with staff in other departments, knowing they’ll come back with fresh ideas and a greater understanding of how the whole organization functions.  And they count on Natural Connectives to help formulate new ideas and innovative yet practical solutions, understanding that Natural Connectives have a "sixth sense" for knowing what will work. Natural Connectives' DNA seems to be programmed to help groups achieve purpose and harmony.

Who are the Natural Connectives in your life and workplace?  How could you tap into their talents to benefit others?  If you lean toward being a Natural Connective yourself, observe others who have unleashed their gift to learn what they do well, then practice it yourself.  Appreciate and recognize the Natural Connectives you know, as they are not people who seek power, status, or praise.  Your acknowledgement of their contributions will mean so much to them.

WHAT YOU CAN'T NOT DO: Identifying Your Strengths

I have just completed interviewing the staff members of a client organization.  One of the questions I asked was about their personal strengths and how they apply their strengths at work.  I learned during this process that many people don’t easily recognize their own strengths.  People often use the words “strength or talent,” as interchangeable with “skill or competency.”  I am not talking here about skills or competencies, of which you have many and which can be learned from scratch.  In fact, a competency is often interpreted these days to mean the minimum level of acceptable performance needed. 

What then is a strength?  How can we use them if we don’t know what they are?  I like to say that a strength is something you can’t not do.  For instance, for better or worse, I can’t stop myself from decorating.  I even rearrange hotel rooms, moving furniture, collecting and hiding the various promotional materials strewn about, and adjusting the curtains or blinds before I even unpack.  I recently found the 15 year old lyrics to a song written to poke fun at me, “The Sherry Schiller Renovation Blues,”—further evidence that our strengths are part of who we are. 

If you want to find your strengths or talents, think about those things you do so naturally that you really can’t NOT do them.  These are different from skills or competencies, which you may have, but are not fundamental to your nature.  If you need help in identifying strengths, there are many great resources online to help you discover them.  One free and fascinating inventory can be found at: http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Entry.aspx?rurl=http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/tests/SameAnswers_t.aspx?id=310

There is mounting evidence that organizations HUM when their people are given the opportunity to use their strengths and innate talents in the workplace every day.  There is ample evidence that the best managers recognize the strengths of each team member, and arrange assignments so that all can contribute based on their strengths.

Over the summer, explore your strengths and talents.  If they seem vague, give them names.  Ask those around you what they see as your natural strengths and talents, and how they see you performing when you’re using them.  Find ways to use your strengths more often in your personal and work life.  Lead with them when you have the opportunity.  You’ll find you hone them the more you use them, and the teams you work and play with will benefit as well.