All in Communications
A friend of mine once mentioned how, in discussions with a client, he came across and had to translate a business writeup for them.
The write up, which I won’t share in full here, included phrases that we see on business websites everywhere:
"…drive synergistic value through patented capabilities, strategies & roadmap approaches…”
I’ve been mulling over this tweet ever since it was posted about a week ago:
“Every time I have a programming question and I rly need help, I post it on Reddit and then log into another account and reply to it with an obscenely incorrect answer. Ppl don’t care about helping others but they LOVE correcting others. Works 100% of the time”
Culture matters. They define whether an organization will be successful or not.
But, as I discuss this in episode of the podcast, cultures aren't created overnight - they take intention, strategy and work to build. I share several strategies to help build great cultures.
There’s a golden rule that applies in all aspects of our professional lives:
Look for agnostics, not atheists.*
An atheist is someone who is convinced that there is no God, while an agnostic is someone who neither believes nor disbelieves that God exists.
That’s a meaningful difference in perspective.
As we continue on our long, meandering path out of the pandemic, one thing that (I believe) is here to stay is the idea of Work From Home (WFH). In fact, if anything has seen a tidal shift over the last two years, it’s the very idea that WFH can be a viable practice.
Yes, I realize that many folks had been practicing the concept for some time prior, but it really wasn’t an accepted practice before the pandemic.
There's an allure to the grand strategy, the flourish and ambition behind the work we do. We love the exciting, glamorous and sexy parts, because that gets noticed.
And while those aspects of our work are indeed important, of far more importance is the more detailed, granular executional work, as I discuss in today's episode.
In the list of priorities of any organization, and specifically the management team, keeping everyone happy cannot be high up there. Any mission and its related strategy will - if done with concerted intent, structured focus and ability to execute in mind - polarize. That is, it will have its proponents and its detractors.
And if you, as a leader, have done your homework and have determined that that strategy is fit for purpose and the best path forward, then bringing everyone along cannot be a priority.
One of the hardest but most valuable abilities we can develop is the ability to maintain strength in our convictions, our beliefs and our vision. This is true in all walks of life, but particularly so where you’ve been tasked with achieving a specific objective or leading a team towards a particular end goal.
In that quest, you are called upon to define the specific path, chart out how best to navigate it, and then, as you embark on the journey, bring others with you.
Judging someone's character is a difficult thing to do. A one-off incident or action shouldn't be taken out of context (with a few exceptions) and presumed to represent the entirety of who someone is.
But patterns are different. If the behavior is repeated, if it's recurring, it tells you something. Patterns matter.
A lack of a brand is a forcing mechanism.
There’s nothing to hide behind, nothing to protect you or carry you in a conversation.
A lack of brand requires you to be crystal clear about what you have to offer and what you represent. It forces you to do the work, to the point that someone decides to engage with you - because the value you offer compels that engagement.
The success of whatever we do depends, without question, on our people. It's a cliche but it's true.
So it's important when formulating our teams, to make sure we have the the right "ingredients" in place - not only technically but philosophically. The wrong ingredients will ruin the entire dish, which is the topic of today's episode.
Stock splits are a funny thing.
The fact of the matter is that when they are announced, the underlying fundamentals of the company haven’t changed and, if you happen to be an investor at the time (and when they actually occur), the value of your holdings hasn’t actually changed either.
We throw around the word "partnership" pretty loosely. And often, when we do, we're sincere about it. But it's easy to talk about partnerships when there's nothing at stake.
You really find out whether you have a real partnership (or not) when problems arise. And in those moments, there's one trait that matters above all else, as I discuss in today's episode.
There’s a peculiar thing about the internet, and social media, in particular.
While it is this incredible and unparalleled form of communication, with a versatility and reach we’ve never seen before, it’s not without its issues (and material ones at that).
Central among these issues is that, while it’s ostensibly an objective and ‘fair’ medium, it also has the capacity - conceptually and practically - to set the world (or at least some relevant, targeted universe) on fire.
One of the biggest issues with high performance in any team is when folks aren't aligned. This division is a problem not only professionally but at a personal level as well. Resolving any division within a team needs to be priority number one, as I discuss in today's episode.
LinkedIn is now giving people the option of adding a career break to their profiles. Instead of having an unexplained time gap between positions, you now have the option of adding a more specific (and appropriate) description of why you were in-between (traditional) jobs.
The options range from those we might expect (Full Time Parenting and Professional Development) to those we might not (Bereavement, Personal Goal Pursuit, Gap Year, Travel and Voluntary Work).
When we’re presented with change of any material scale, it’s not uncommon for us to hesitate, to be concerned.
We wonder what the change will mean for us, how our work will be altered, what ‘price’ we’ll have to pay.
All natural and normal reactions, because change can be scary and overwhelming.
When it comes to strategy and growth in an organization, of any size, the ability to create compelling, well thought-out plan is not the issue. Those are easy enough to pull together.
No, the key is always people. Who's involved, how committed are they and how we bring them along. How we do this is the focus of today's episode.
The “Armchair Quarterback” really is a thing.
In fact, it’s alive and well in each one of us. Time and again, we’ve all taken on that role in one form or another. Whether it’s politics, business or sports, we’ve watched, listened and assessed, and then provided our own commentary on what the answer should have been.
Change doesn’t arise of its own accord. It needs a catalyst. And that catalyst usually comes in the form of pain, problems and (material) discomfort.
Charlize Theron, when commenting on the origins of the #MeToo movement said, “I think at the beginning of every revolution, there’s this opening of a wound.” Intuitively, we understand that - wounds instigates change, and that’s certainly what’s happened there.
