Made to Stick: Post #5--Credibility

Credibility: Most of us know that experts carry credibility and that such credibility generalizes. That’s how Michael Jordan can sell Hanes underwear! But there are other ways to get credibility, such as, offering… concrete examples, riveting demonstrations, analogies and context, and personal stories. I recall a memorable “sticky” ad about drugs. They showed a raw egg and a voiceover said, “This is your brain.” Next, someone fried the egg and the voiceover said…”This is your brain on drugs!” The image was literally seared into my brain and FAR better than a raft of statistics about how drugs can hurt us. Another example can be found on page 144. Stephen Covey (in The Eight Habit) writes about a study of 23,000 people concerning understanding company mission and goals. He first provides an impressive list of statistics, but then puts it into a soccer team analogy that makes the statistics come alive. For example in the statistical recitation he talks about only 37% of people have a clear understanding of what an organization is trying to achieve. In the analogy, he explains it this way: ‘If say a soccer team had the same scores, only 4 of 11 players on the field would know which goal was theirs.” Now that’s compelling and memorable—sticky!

PEAK and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

Maslow was the father of human potential theory. He believed that man was a striving animal, who had needs to be satisfied, and when satisfied at one level of needs, who seeks to attain the next level on the hierarchy of needs. So if #5 is at the base and #1 is at the height (peak) of Maslow’s hierarchy, the pyramid often used to depict the hierarchy, it looks like this:
1. Self Actualization—The “peak” experience (in the “zone”) when all other needs (#5-2) are finally met.
2. Esteem—The feeling of deep self worth.
3. Social Belonging—Being accepted as part of a group or organization.
4. Safety—Free to roam about without fear of danger or threat.
5. Physiological Needs—water, food, air, and that which sustains life.

Conley refashions Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to what he calls the “Transformational Pyramid” and holds that people and organizations that have only accounted for levels #4 (Safety) and #5 (Physiological) create a level of development that he calls “Survival.”

Organizations that take it up a couple of notches to the #3 level (Social Belonging) and #2 (Esteem) create a level of corporate development he calls “Success.”

And finally, those few that make it to the highest level #5 (Self Actualization) attain what Conley calls the “Transformation.” This final level or zone of rarified air should be the aspiration of all companies, despite the fact that many companies may start and operate at the survival level.

Conley uses his Transformational Pyramid to analyze the basic motivations of a company’s important stakeholders: Employees, customers, and investors.

Drive by Dan Pink: FINAL Post

Dan Pink’s attempt at helping hands-on people “get it” is contained in the section of the book called “The Type I Toolkit.” Note: Type I people are those motivated by intrinsic, not extrinsic, carrot-and-stick motivators. I’ll admit that this section seems a bit tacked on—often the requirement of a publisher to make a hardback page length. However, I especially enjoyed some of his examples about how to apply it in daily life as a leader and as a parent—the ultimate leader.

I don’t know that Motivation 3.0: Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose will become the 21 Century’s Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs—but it comes very close for me. For one thing, it explains some of the extreme generational differences we’re seeing in the classroom and workplace.

In short, Dan Pink has just helped us understand a powerful emerging theory in a simple, straightforward manner. Kudos, Dan. Keep writing.

The Three Laws of Performance

Law #2: How a situation occurs arises in language.

A. The feeling of being “stuck” in a relationship (personal or professional) develops into a “complaint, such as, “he treats me like dirt.” The authors explain that such a complaint, as it festers, develops into a Racket.” It looks like a legitimate complaint, but it’s much more than it first appears—like mafia backed restaurants (rackets) that are money laundering havens. According to Zaffron and Logan, a racket has 4 aspects to it:

i. Complaint (“He treats me like dirt.”). This is how all rackets start.

ii. A Pattern of Behavior : You avoid her or snap at her, or look stiff and uncompromising. Note that the nonverbals are often far more powerful even than what you actually say. Thus, you might say “I’m fine,” when every bone in your body is leaking nonverbals to the other person that, in fact, say saying I’M REALLY PISSED!

iii. The Payoff: One of the results of a racket is that we get to be smug about our perceptions….”See, she did it again!” Our friends agree with us (as they always do) and we keep up the rant. We translate even the slightest action as a snub, which supports our thesis that “He treats me like dirt.” And finally,

iv. The Cost: Unfortunately there’s a huge cost to such rackets. They can cost you happiness, joy, and the satisfaction that you should get from doing your job. Note that we all are engaged in rackets—some more destructive than others. But if you don’t stop the cycle and move from a vicious cycle to a virtuous cycle, life’s not much fun.

Marshall Goldsmith: Reputation

#5.Reputation: Who Do People Think You Are?

Reputation is the third element in establishing your MOJO. It’s where
you add up who you are (identity) and what you’ve done (achievement)
and toss the combined sum out into the world to see how people respond.
Your reputation is people’s recognition— or rejection— of your identity and
achievement. Sometimes you’ll agree with the world’s opinion. Sometimes
you won’t. However, how people perceive you over time becomes your reputation. Thus, consistency yields reputation. What you do day in and day out establishes your reputation in the minds of others. Consistent trends, not individual events (consistency not single heroic events) establish a lasting reputation. When it comes to how others view you, consider that it took you a long time to create the problem, so it takes a while to solve it so others see the change. Even if you know that you’ve changed, it’s not enough for you to feel it—for reputation to change, others must see and feel it. His model of reputation depends on others “seeing” the change. So, a change in your reputation requires self awareness (do you really see yourself as other see you) and discipline (sticking with change long enough for others to see the change).

Executive Transition: The First 90 Days

This is the 2nd of several posts of the coming week based on my book review of The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leader at All Levels by Michael Watkins (Harvard Press).
Executives coming into a company fail at the rate of 40-50% at a cost of $2.7 million to the company.

1. Promote yourself: Don't get stuck trying to do your old job. Let go and move on and don't assume what got you here will get you there (what Marshall Goldsmith's latest best seller is all about).

2. Accelerate your learning: Get systematic and focused about learning first things first (akin to what Stephen Covey also suggests)

3. Match strategy to the situation: Diagnose whether the new challenge for the transitioning executive involves a Start up, Turnaround, a Reorganization, or Sustaining Success (STRS). This is a critical distinction made by the author.

How Executives Can Survive the First 90 days.

This is the first of several posts of the coming week based on my book review of The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leader at All Levels by Michael Watkins (Harvard Press).

**Startling Statistic: Executives coming into a company fail at the rate of 40-50% at a cost of $2.7 million to the company.

According to Harvard Business School professor Michael Watkins, an executive gets 90 days (three months) to move from a value consumer (costing the organization) to a value creator (value added)—and thus hit the break-even point. The faster this transition takes place the better off the organization is and the more likely the transitioning executive is to be successful. As mentioned, the failure rate for senior executive outside hires into a company is a whopping 40-50%, at a cost of $2.7 million per executive in both direct and indirect costs. Watkins does an excellent job setting up a new executive to succeed. He uses ten steps (PAMS-NAB-CRE)—I need mnemonics to help me remember things. I'll review each of the steps in the next week. You may want to buy this book if you're heading off to a new job--if just as an insurance policy.

One note: I've been working with transitioning executives for some time now--those coming into a new company from the outside, those being promoted from within, and those leaving the company. I've found the process of transition to be done exceptionally and uniformly poorly. In fact, I'd say with rare exception, it's never done well and the results are universally devastating for the employee, his family and the company. Truly, these transitions are the most blatant lose-lose situations I've seen.

Post your transition stories here.

Generational Leadership

Excellent Research from the Center for Creative Leadership
This is the first of several posts on a review of the book, Retiring the Generation Gap: How Employees Young & Old Can Find Common Ground (Jossey-Bass, 2007)

Jennifer Deal, researcher for the renowned Center for Creative Leadership, has written a very important book for leaders who want to understand generational leadership at a transformational level. Drawn from a database of 3,200 people surveyed from 2000 to 2005, this book challenges many of the assumptive differences between generations that she identifies (Silents (born 1925-1945; Early Boomers (born 1946-1954); Late Boomers (born 1955-1963); Early Xers (1964-1976) and Late Xers (1977-1986).