Category Archives: Change Management

Are you compelling enough?

Are you compelling enough?

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The dogs two doors down were barking, so my 75 lb yellow lab decided it would be fun to join in. She was having a grand time barking and running back and forth across the fence line. So when I called her, she really was not interested in coming. She was having too much fun and was enjoying herself. My offering of a treat was just not that compelling.

That’s the thing with motivating people. If they are having a great time with what they are doing, and are enjoying themselves, doing something different is not compelling. Even if they aren’t having a blast, if there is no promise that doing something different will be better, there is no motivation to make that change. Change has to offer something better—people need to understand why they will be better off. It has to be compelling.

How are you making change compelling in your business?

 

Have you actually established trust?

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are you establishing trustEach time I head out of town, I take my 75 lb yellow lab to the doggie hotel. They do a great job there and she is well cared for. But, she is a rescue dog and I’ve only had her a year and a half. I don’t know her history, but clearly she was abandoned. The last two times I’ve dropped her off, she shrieked at the top of her lungs while I walked out the door. I know I’m coming back. And even though I have eight or so times, she doesn’t yet trust that I will. Each time I drop her off, that trust is broken a little bit and needs to be rebuilt.

It takes a long time to establish trust—much longer than you think it will. And it is really easy to lose. As a leader in business, your promises and actions either establish trust or break it. And even though you state you promise to do something, it takes keeping that promise a number of times before people actually trust that you will. How are you establishing trust in your business?

Take a deep breath and don’t panic

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Don't panic and take a deep breathAs I write this, the Dow just dropped more than 1,500 points and it is happening quickly. This following significant declines last week—on good news (jobs growth and higher wages). Concerns about inflation and the impact of a new Fed chair are getting a lot of focus, as is the impact of electronic trading. Opinions vary between “there is a lot of upside in the year” to “a correction is overdue.” Sometimes it is better not to panic and just take a deep breath. The thing is, it will eventually go back up. And there may be a few opportunities along the way.

In your business there will be times when panic and inertia take hold. The key is to keep focused on the fundamentals and not to panic. As a leader, you can bring calm. And in that calm, you may find a few opportunities. How are you making sure panic doesn’t gain hold in your organization?

Finding Success in a Belly Flop

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the belly flopIt was one of those moments where you watch in slow motion, make a face and think “that must have hurt.” My 75 pound yellow lab was running full speed toward the stairs to take a flying leap. She hit the rug at the bottom of the stairs just wrong enough to make the rug slide. Her legs slid sideways and she hit the stairs on her chest and belly at full speed. She stood up, took a few deep breaths, looked me in the eye then took another run at full speed and accomplished her mission.

Launches don’t always go right. Sometimes there is something that goes a bit sideways the first time. If you take a look at your approach, you may just find that course correction that is necessary to make it a success. How are you creating the conditions in your business to drive success?

Getting a word in

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can you get a word in?It was meant to be a discussion around the table, a dialogue to further the understanding of the group. The discussion leader asked people not to raise their hands, rather, just ask a question or throw out a thought. It always seems like a good way to handle a conversation, rather than making it an academic exercise. As the discussion proceeded, people began to ask questions or further the point before the person finished speaking. He wasn’t rambling and was concise. To get a word in, you had to stop listening and think about what you were going to say.

How often does this happen in your meetings? Are you getting only the thoughts of the people who jump in first? Or are you making a conscious effort to include all of the people who have something to say? If you don’t let people finish their thoughts, you may not get key points. How are you creating an environment where everyone get a word in?

Don’t screw up what you just bought!

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Don't screw up what you just boughtIf you know me, you know I like shoes. When the news came out this week that Michael Kors is buying Jimmy Choo for $1.2 billion, it caught my attention. Jimmy Choo is a prestige brand primarily focused on womens shoes. It has a cult following and many top celebrity loyalists. The shoes start at $500 and rapidly increase from there. Jimmy Choo shoes are not just a product, they are an experience.

Michael Kors is down the main with a wide product offering ranging from shoes to clothing. MK shoes start at $50. A much different market than Choo. MK sells through both retailers and company stores. Amidst declining sales, 100-125 stand alone stores are being closed. MK is also looking to sell less through retail channels that heavily discount to move inventory. In other words, revenues and earnings have been declining rapidly. The appeal of Jimmy Choo is the global reach and high end design. MK plans to expand Choo beyond shoes and leverage a higher online presence.

The reality is, most acquisitions fall short of their expectations. The investment thesis does not adequately capture what made the company successful and appealing to its customers. As changes are made with the intention of growing earnings, the point of distinction is lost and customers drift away. And so to does the value of the acquisition. Will Choo maintain its high end design sense? Will the brand get watered down? Time will tell.

In your quest for growth, how do you maintain an eye on the point of distinction of your latest acquisition? Do you really understand what makes the company successful? How are you making sure you don’t screw up what you just bought?

Change only sticks if everyone is better off

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change only sticks if everyone is better offChange only works if it leaves everyone better off. Too many times a change initiative makes one area in the business better, but leaves another area worse. When that happens, the organization rejects the change through active and passive means. Change that leaves everyone better off is the only change that sticks.

Finding the Light

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Finding the lightIt was eight or nine years ago. I was relatively new to the area and was at an event. I didn’t know anyone there and found myself in a conversation that sticks with me to this day. He was an oncologist and talked about how much he loved his job. There was a lightness to him and it was clear his work was very meaningful. It surprised me. Wouldn’t that be one of the toughest jobs out there? But, he talked about how he saw the best in humanity. People realized what really mattered. It was fascinating listening to him. He could have looked through the lens of negativity and seen everything that was bad. He chose to see and focus on the positive side of what he does and his ability to help people see the best in their relationships and life.

That lesson is a good one for every part of life. The lens you look through defines what you see. From a business perspective, you’ll run across all sorts of people and situations every day. It can be easy to write off a coworker, customer or supplier based on a perceived negative interaction. But if you look through and try to see their intent, it may cause you to change the lens you look through to see that the way a message was sent and the way it was received were entirely different. How can you make sure you are looking through the positive lens of good intentions every day?

Are You At An Impasse?

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Are you at an impasse?It was 5:30 in the morning. Light enough to see clearly, but not yet at the point where the sun had fully emerged. My dog was quiet in the backyard. When I looked out to see what she was doing, I was surprised. She wasn’t sitting on her normal spot on the deck. She was locked in a standoff with an opossum. There they sat for twenty minutes, staring, not moving, undistracted by anything else going on around them. They were at an impasse.

How often do you find yourself in an impasse in business? It could be with a customer, different departments within your organization, or between individuals. Many times the resolution is either a loss of business, or one party being happy with the result and the other disappointed. The key to resolving the impasse is finding the motivating factor for each party, not what was initially asked for. It is possible to break through an impasse and find a win/win situation. How are you breaking through your impasse? And more importantly, what approaches are you putting in place to ensure you don’t wind up in an impasse again?

Was figuring it out worth it?

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is it worth figuring outHas this ever happened to you? You get asked a question and think “I need to find the answer to that,” or you start a puzzle and just have to figure it out. It takes longer than you thought it would. Much longer. After hours dinking around trying to figure it out, you realize you just burned valuable time. It just wasn’t worth the amount of time you spent trying to figure it out.

Before you get stuck in this trap at work, ask yourself:

  • Is figuring this out worth it?
  • Am I the right person to figure it out?
  • Would you pay the amount of money out of your own pocket that the time costs?
  • If the right person is someone else, is it worth disrupting their efforts to figure it out?
  • What is the real value to figuring it out?
  • Can it lead to innovations in your business?

Sometimes figuring it out has significant value. Many times it doesn’t. How do you assess whether it is worth it to figure it out?