All in Communications
This month's podcasts focuses on the mental aspect of how we work - on the why we get started, how we get caught in ourselves and the mental mindset needed to succeed.
In this episode, I talk about confidence, how it's difficult to gain but easy to lose. I also spell out the key behaviors, thought processes and tactics we should deploy to get it back. Our futures depend on it.
Have you ever removed a connection on LinkedIn?
I did recently, for the first time ever. This was someone I’ve known for a while, with plenty of shared experience and common connections. The reason I did it was because of his relentless negativity. There wasn’t a single post he made that was positive. Nothing that was uplifting. Instead, he’d ridicule, make fun and generally denigrate others (including his own employer).
We tend to have this view that science is a ‘fixed’ subject, in the sense that we think of it as defined and permanent in nature. That once scientists have done their thing, that once the facts surrounding a specific topic have been gathered and a perspective has been reached, then that’s it. We’re done.
Of course, that’s not actually the case. Science evolves, it changes and is subject to refinement. That’s actually the value of the scientific process - that as more data is captured, as we see the interplay of different variables over time, we learn more.
I’ve talked before about how technology has democratized access to the tools that help us create. This is as true in fields traditionally considered to be creative as it is in those that are more commercial. We have options in terms of how we do our work, how sophisticated we want its production to be, and where and when we distribute it.
Early in my career, I was staffed on a project with a senior consultant who had developed a stellar reputation as a “real people person”. Someone who was focused entirely on the individual and their needs and, as someone who could blend that perfect balance between what was needed for the client, the project, the firm and the individual.
I had never met this consultant, but given the ‘word on the street’, I was looking forward to it.
When I was in Business School, I was asked to take part - along with another student - in an experiment run by a couple of PhD students. We were given a store of currency and had to decide - over multiple rounds - how much of that currency we would give to the other person. (We might even have been given some rules as to how to do it, but I don’t quite recall.)
You are not the hero.
That’s right, you’re not. And the sooner you get used to that idea, the better.
You’re not the one who’s going to move the customer’s business across the line. You’re not the one who’s going to help them gain extra market share. And you’re certainly not the one who’s going to achieve their vision for them.
So in recent weeks, I’ve hosted or moderated virtual webinars, panel discussions and happy hours with people all across the world (separate from the countless virtual one-on-ones and small group meetings that have become such a mainstay for us all now).
I approached these events with some trepidation, unsure of the how the back and forth that’s necessary would happen in the virtual world, given the normal back and forth of in-person conversation (versus the sequential nature of videoconference technology) or the pronounced nature of (awkward) silence in such settings, especially ones where not everyone knows each other.
The world has changed! The old order is out! Things will never go back to the way they were!
There’s no shortage of pronouncements about how the coronavirus has fundamentally changed the way we live, work and play. No more cruises, no more constant flying, no more of the large scale social gatherings that we’ve become so accustomed to. It’s (apparently) a whole new world out there.
And so it goes with Working From Home (WFH).
I’ve written before of my distaste for meetings (here, here and here) and specifically, meaningless meetings that should actually have been emails or a phone chat - or none of the above!
I’ve seen companies where meetings are the norm and the work of actually getting things done (time for deep thinking or focused work) becomes the exception, something that gets done after-hours (or worse, not at all). In fact, I’ve often wondered if there’s a correlation between the percentage of time that executives spend in meetings and the performance of the company.
In times of uncertainty, we want to look for comparisons. Situations that are analogous to what we’re going through so that we can identify trends or find indicators - some sort of sign(s) - that allow us to better predict what’s going to happen. It’s a natural thing to do. We want comfort. We want certainty. We want to see a way out.
But, of course, that’s not how things work.
For every comparison to previous pandemics, there are several others that can point to how this one is different.
Episode 27 of the podcast is now available and today I close out this month’s focus on Management Consulting war stories by talking about Starbucks Lemon Loaf Incident - an incident that taught me a little bit more about this idea of character and who we are.
I don’t think there is anything or anyone that operates at one polar extreme versus another. Sure, some folks veer more in one direction than another, but rarely, always and only at the extremes.
But you wouldn’t think so from most of the public rhetoric which, by definition, is driven by a desire for attention and alignment (with a predefined ideology - ours or someone else’s).
It seems to me that there are two kinds of people when the going gets tough. Those who panic and freeze. And those who manage their emotions and keep doing. This latter group is the group I think we all want to be part of.
Now, note that I didn’t say they stay calm, rather that they manage their emotions. Getting emotional and stressing out is, at least to me, a pretty natural human emotion. I’m not sure we can completely eliminate that response reflex. But I do think we can learn to manage those emotions, and thereby keep them in check.
Episode 26 of the podcast is now available and this episode continues this month’s theme of Management Consulting war stories, specifically the lessons I learned working with difficult people.
If there’s one thing that social distancing has re-emphasized, it’s the power and value of social connection. That community matters - and not only does it matter but it’s, frankly, more important than it ever has been. We’re all experiencing that, regardless of whether or not we’d conceptually bought into the idea before.
In fact, I’ve been heartened by the virtual outreach that I’ve seen everywhere - from family to friends to celebrities, in real life and across social media.
There’s that old saying that it’s easy to have principles until you have to practice them. Well, it’s the same thing with partnerships, especially when it comes to buyers and suppliers.
We like to throw that word around, especially during the early days of a relationship, during a QBR or during renewal times (by both sides). And that’s easy to do. It’s no sweat off anyone’s back to do it then. And we probably believe it, too.
In any business, you have to deal with odds on a day to day basis. Nothing is for certain, so you do the numbers, work out the scenarios and then take a call. Some of those times, things will go better than expected, some will go as expected, and other times, things will be worse than expected.
But however things end up, not taking action is NOT an option. You have to act and do.
If there is any consistent counsel, it is that we need to make decisions on the basis of facts. Hard, objective, scientifically-based information that provides us with a solid understanding of the situation at hand, the magnitude of the issue(s), the possible actions we can take and the relative weightage or prioritization of each.
This type of information ensures that we minimize the impact of emotion - subjective ideas based on our fears, our histories, our prior baggage and “what others are saying”.
