All in Leadership
Many times, I think we’re so beholden to other people’s expectations of us, that instead of doing what we really want to do, we constrain ourselves with someone else’s expectations of us.
But it’s actually worse than that. More often than not, it isn’t actually what they expect of us, it’s our perception of their expectations of us.
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.
Episode 28 of the podcast is now available and this week, I tackle a topic that we all grapple with, something we all need to deal with and manage at one point or another - worry and how to get beyond it.
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”.
Episode 24 of the podcast is now available and this month, I share stories from my life in Management Consulting, where I spent a decade prior to my entrepreneurial journey. And some of my most interesting lessons from that time had nothing to do with the work and everything to do with people.
We’re in an age of division. Everything seems to be either one side or the other. Red or blue. Black or white. With us or against us. You can’t read or listen to the news without hearing about it.
But while the social and political divisions in our discourse feel so much more pronounced these days, the fact is that this type of ‘one or the other’ mindset has been there all along, not least in our economic and personal lives.
If you ask me for my opinion on a particular topic, I like to think I’m level headed enough to tell you if I have a perspective worth sharing or not. If I don’t know much about the subject, it doesn’t bother me to say I’m not up to speed, or it’s not really my area of expertise.
And the reason I do that is because I recognize - and am quite comfortable with the fact - that I don’t know everything. (Hard to believe, I know.)
Episode 23 of the podcast is now available and this month, I share stories from my life in Management Consulting, where I spent a decade prior to my entrepreneurial journey. And some of my most interesting lessons from that time had nothing to do with the work and everything to do with people.
The word “partnership” is used quite liberally these days, across just about all aspects of our lives - from the personal to the professional, whether we’re talking about our relationships, about our work colleagues or our suppliers and customers.
But what do we really mean, in any of these contexts, when we use that term?
I recently heard a talk by Bob Myers, General Manager of the Golden State Warriors, on leadership, values and culture in winning teams. It was a great speech and there were many points he raised that made sense, and really resonated with me. (I’ll write about a couple of them in future posts.)
Episode 22 is now available and this episode wraps up our discussion about Marketing and Sales - specifically, how we casually use terms such as "marketing bullshit" and why that points to a deeper, underlying problem within the company.
