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A story of unknown origin tells about a man who visited a construction site during the Middle Ages. He approached one worker and asked, “What are you doing?” The man replied, “I am laying bricks.” The man walked further and posed the same question to a second worker. The answer: “I’m building a wall.” Approaching a third worker, the man asked the same question and got this response: “I’m building a great cathedral that will last through the ages.” Context is critical because it shapes how people see the world, think about issues, and make decisions. Imagine the difference the three workers’ perspectives must have made in how each one approached his job every day! Which perspective would you prefer that your employees and customers have? As a leader, one of your most important responsibilities is to provide a context that inspires your employees to do their best work, and compels your customers to become advocates for your products or services. You can’t do that by laying bricks – i.e., focusing on activities or methodology. While both are necessary, neither is inspirational or compelling. You can’t even inspire people by building a wall – i.e., talking about the products you make or the services you deliver. The way you create your “great cathedral” is to create a compelling “big picture” that clearly demonstrates the value your organization delivers when people purchase your products or services. For example, while FedEx’s early success depended in part on its hub-and-spoke delivery system, that’s not what inspired people to use its service. What caused the company to become wildly successful was the competitive advantage it created by adopting and implementing its slogan “absolutely, positively overnight.” Employees were inspired to meet that standard for every package, and customers gained peace of mind knowing that their important packages would be delivered safely and on time to their intended destinations. Once your employees and customers see that big picture, the logical next question is, “How do we get there?” Instead of looking for what CAN’T be done due to real or perceived obstacles, people who see a compelling context focus on what CAN be done to make the desired picture a reality. With that mindset, they will find the answers they need to achieve their desired outcome. Although it won’t happen overnight – even today, great cathedrals take time to build – they will get there. And if you keep that picture alive by referring to it constantly, by “connecting the dots” between what you do and how it impacts that outcome, and by making the picture the touchstone for employees’ and customers’ decisions, your competitive advantage will last for the ages. What context are you providing for your employees and stakeholders? Are you asking them to help you lay bricks, build a wall, or create a great cathedral? The success of your organization depends on your answer. To see examples of how to distinguish between what your organization does and the value it provides, take a look at our article What is Your Business? To find articles and resources that may be of value to you, I invite you to visit my web site at www.BusinessAlignmentStrategies.com and my blog at www.OptimizeBusinessResults.com. Alignment Solutions is a concise, bi-weekly newsletter written specifically to help organizational leaders optimize their business results. Your e-mail address is never shared with anyone for any reason. You may unsubscribe by clicking the link on the bottom of this e-mail.
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© 2015 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved. |
Alignment Solutions Newsletter: Partnership or Team? Knowing the Difference is Key to Success
May 27th, 2015
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Partnership or Team?
A recent conversation with two colleagues led to a discussion about the difference between partnerships and teams. Whereas a key characteristic of teams is having a common goal, they said, partnerships don’t require a shared goal to achieve outcomes of value for each party. That is, while partners must share a purpose or vision, their respective expected outcomes from the collaboration may be very different. The example my colleagues used is the partnership between Starbucks and Barnes and Noble. Consistent with its mission to “inspire the human spirit one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time,” Starbucks’ goal is to sell lots of coffee. To achieve its mission of operating the best specialty retail (bookseller) business in America, Barnes and Noble’s goal is to sell lots of books. By creating a partnership for the shared purpose of enhancing customers’ shopping experience, both companies increased their sales when Starbucks started selling its coffee in Barnes and Noble book stores. Because each company brings something to the table that the other doesn’t have, they are able to provide greater value than either one can offer on its own. Think about some of the partnerships in which organizations engage. Although partners share a common purpose, their respective goals, as well as the roles they play in achieving that purpose, are different. Here are likely goals of some common partnerships: Public agency and university faculty collaborate on a research project University and corporation create a center for technology on campus Non-profit organization and corporation co-host a 5-K run in the community Here are five ways to set your organization’s partnerships up for success:
The bottom line: a partnership can be more effective and rewarding for both parties if you remember that there are different, legitimate routes to the same destination. To find articles and resources that may be of value to you, I invite you to visit my web site at www.BusinessAlignmentStrategies.com and my blog at www.OptimizeBusinessResults.com. Alignment Solutions is a concise, bi-weekly newsletter written specifically to help organizational leaders optimize their business results. Your e-mail address is never shared with anyone for any reason. You may unsubscribe by clicking the link on the bottom of this e-mail.
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© 2015 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved. |
Alignment Solutions Newsletter: How to Remain Focused in Pressure Situations
April 22nd, 2015 |
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How to Remain Focused in Pressure Situations
As a volunteer Disaster Action Team leader for the Los Angeles Region of the American Red Cross, I see a lot of people on the worst day of their lives. Typically we arrive on the scene of a residential fire or flood to find the residents dazed or in a state of shock, unable to think straight. They have no idea what to do, and often they are so overwhelmed that the simplest decisions are beyond them. Our job is two-fold: to provide immediate assistance for their physical needs, and to empower them to make decisions that will aid their recovery. The same type of scenario plays out every day in the workplace. Although employees generally have not suffered the devastating loss that results from a personal disaster, the pressurized situations in which many people work result in the same outcome: feeling so overwhelmed that they become incapable of making decisions. If that stress feeds on itself, the situation can become truly dysfunctional. Here are four techniques I’ve learned by helping people move from victimhood to empowerment that can help you stay focused and remain functional under duress.
Next time the pressure begins to build and you feel that your ability to focus on the project or task at hand is slipping away, try the above techniques. Sometimes taking a momentary break and engaging in some deep breathing will allow you to center yourself. Other times you may need to ask others to help you put the situation into perspective. The point is, you can learn to function in a healthy way even in pressurized situations. To find articles and resources that may be of value to you, I invite you to visit my web site at www.BusinessAlignmentStrategies.com and my blog at www.OptimizeBusinessResults.com. Alignment Solutions is a concise, bi-weekly newsletter written specifically to help organizational leaders optimize their business results. Your e-mail address is never shared with anyone for any reason. You may unsubscribe by clicking the link on the bottom of this e-mail.
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© 2015 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved. |
Alignment Solutions Newsletter: There’s More than One Approach to Solving Problems
April 10th, 2015 |
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There’s More than One Approach
Years ago when I was in graduate school, I rented a duplex near the university that was owned by the wife of a marketing professor. Whenever repairs were needed, she sent her husband to fix them. No matter what the problem, he would show up with his trusty roll of duct tape. The day he taped up my oven because it wouldn’t get hot, I had to wonder why in the world an otherwise intelligent person thought that duct tape was the solution to every problem. The answer came in the form of a familiar adage: “When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Although he was very competent in the marketing arena, outside the classroom, the professor’s only tool in his toolbox was duct tape. Something similar plays out in the workplace every day. In the U.S., most people are taught to resolve problems using a standard approach: identify the issue, determine its cause, and find ways to solve it. Although this process works well in many situations, it falls short in others. Just as a hammer sometimes is the wrong tool for the job, so too there are times that the traditional problem-solving framework is an ineffective option. Imagine this scenario: you’ve just gotten a call from a major customer, who reported that a series of mistakes by your sales team enabled a minor incident to become much more serious. When the team returns to the office, the questions begin: “What went wrong? Who messed up? What happened? Why did you do X instead of Y?” Team members become defensive. Perhaps fingers are pointed and blame is assigned. The heated discussion ends on a very negative note, setting the tone for the rest of the day and beyond. Now imagine an alternative problem-solving approach to the same scenario. Focusing on strengths and past successes, an appreciative framework builds on them to identify ways to improve in the future. The discussion begins with, “What did you do well during that sales call? What or who enabled you to do exactly what you needed to do?” It goes on like this: “Let’s talk about a time when you faced this same situation and you aced it. What did that look like? What did you do then, and how did you do it? How can you repeat that success in the future? What will that look like?” Instead of feeling like they are on the defensive, team members are energized. Asking them about their strengths and their successes reminds them of what it feels like when they are working as a highly effective team. They want to re-capture that experience. Focusing on a desired future instead of on an unchangeable past inspires them to do whatever is necessary to reach that positive outcome every time. In fact, they are highly likely to end up with a much better solution than would have resulted from the traditional problem-solving approach. I am not advocating that you discard the standard problem-solving approach. It remains a valuable tool in many situations. What I am suggesting is that when the oven isn’t heating, you forsake the duct tape for the best tool for the job. The key is to identify which problem-solving approach is most appropriate for a given situation AND to have the skill to shift from one to the other as needed. To learn how you can use the appreciative approach to problem-solving in your organization, take a look at my article An Appreciative Approach to Problem-solving. To find articles and resources that may be of value to you, I invite you to visit my web site at www.BusinessAlignmentStrategies.com and my blog at www.OptimizeBusinessResults.com. Alignment Solutions is a concise, bi-weekly newsletter written specifically to help organizational leaders optimize their business results. Your e-mail address is never shared with anyone for any reason. You may unsubscribe by clicking the link on the bottom of this e-mail.
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© 2015 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved. |
Alignment Solutions Newsletter: Opening Pandora’s Box: Prerequisite for Excellence
March 25th, 2015 |
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Opening Pandora’s Box:
Last week I had the pleasure of speaking at the Center for Public Excellence’s 2015 Excellence conference in Orlando. It truly was inspiring to be among people who are striving to ensure their fire departments provide the highest quality of service to their communities, and to be the best possible leaders. Here are three of my take-aways from that experience.
There are many reasons why you may decide against leading your organization through a formal accreditation process. However, there is no reason why you cannot establish a self-assessment process to identify what you must do to provide the level of excellence that your customers and your employees deserve. What steps will you take today to increase the level of your performance? To find articles and resources that may be of value to you, I invite you to visit my web site at www.BusinessAlignmentStrategies.com and my blog at www.OptimizeBusinessResults.com. Alignment Solutions is a concise, bi-weekly newsletter written specifically to help organizational leaders optimize their business results. Your e-mail address is never shared with anyone for any reason. You may unsubscribe by clicking the link on the bottom of this e-mail.
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© 2015 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved. |
Alignment Solutions Newsletter: How Do You Treat YOUR Internal Customers?
March 11th, 2015 |
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How Do You Treat YOUR Internal Customers?
Last week the fire chief of a department that has achieved and maintained his industry’s highest certification for performance excellence was talking with me about his agency’s strategy. As we got into a discussion about who his customers are, I shared a story about a work-related epiphany I had in 1989 that re-shaped my definition of customers. After the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was established in 1987 to promote organizational excellence, FedEx CEO and founder Fred Smith sent all employees a memo stating that we would be the first service company to win the Baldrige Award. We immediately went to work to learn how to evaluate our performance and establish processes for continuous improvement. At that time, I worked in FedEx’s Cash Management department. Part of our job was to make wire transfers to pay for large ticket items such as aircraft leases, equipment, fuel, and payroll. At the end of every month we would fight with Accounting over the same issue: they wanted us to make the journal entries for the wire transfers, and we believed that making those entries was their job. The relationship between our two departments was frosty at best. One day during a Baldrige-related training session, the instructor dropped a bombshell: performance excellence requires us to treat our co-workers the same way that we treat our customers – i.e., exceptionally well. In essence, our colleagues are our internal customers. I clearly remember thinking, “You mean we have to treat those folks in Accounting just like we treat our paying customers? You must be kidding!” No, he wasn’t kidding. And so began the transformation of how employees across the company viewed and interacted with each other. For many of us, this culture change was difficult. However, our collective unwillingness to disappoint our CEO was stronger than our resistance to change. I still believe that’s the only reason we were able to meet the high standards required to win the Baldrige Award, which FedEx did in 1990. How many of you lead organizations in which your definition of “customer” incorporates your employees and/or volunteers as well as your external customers? Are you sure THEY know they are included? Why is an inclusive meaning of “customer” so important? The way people think about each other informs the way they behave. Workers and/or volunteers who mistreat each other create a dysfunctional environment. Because unhappy employees cannot possibly provide high levels of service, your bottom line – and likely your organization’s reputation – will suffer. An organization that strives for excellence must foster and maintain a culture in which it treats all its internal customers as well as it treats its external customers. If asked, would your employees and/or volunteers agree that they feel they are treated like your external customers? Ask them. If they do, good for you! If not, you’ve got some work ahead of you. To find articles and resources that may be of value to you, I invite you to visit my web site at www.BusinessAlignmentStrategies.com and my blog at www.OptimizeBusinessResults.com. Alignment Solutions is a concise, bi-weekly newsletter written specifically to help organizational leaders optimize their business results. Your e-mail address is never shared with anyone for any reason. You may unsubscribe by clicking the link on the bottom of this e-mail.
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© 2015 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved. |
Alignment Solutions Newsletter: 3 Fire Ground Disciplines that Can Enable Business Success
February 25th, 2015 |
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3 Fire Ground Disciplines that
Last Saturday the Long Beach (CA) Fire Department held a graduation ceremony for its newest recruit class. Before they received their badges and were sworn in as firefighters, the recruits engaged in a number of drills to display to their families and other attendees what they had learned during twenty weeks of intense training. As I watched them participate in those demonstrations, I could see parallels between their newly learned disciplines and success in the workplace. Here is how three of the disciplines that help keep firefighters safe on the fire ground also can drive business success. Trust Trust is the foundation of safety for fire and rescue personnel. They must be willing and able to develop and place their trust in themselves, their co-workers, their training, and their leaders. Because they often work with public safety professionals they don’t know, they must trust that those individuals bring the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to keep themselves and their team members safe. Every day, firefighters experience situations that require them to put their lives in others’ hands. Without being able to trust that they will be safe, they cannot do their jobs effectively. Workplaces with high levels of trust enable people to solve problems creatively, leverage opportunities, take appropriate risks, and forge ahead even when they don’t know what’s around the bend. When the trust is mutual, people feel confident that their leaders and co-workers will do whatever is necessary to support them. Such organizations can maximize their success. Focus For firefighters, being fully present in the moment can mean the difference between life and death – theirs as well as others’. Whether extricating someone from a mangled vehicle, providing medical care, or cutting a hole in the roof of a structure that is burning below their feet, firefighters must have the discipline to focus 100% on the task at hand. Without focus in the workplace, leaders and employees become distracted. They may fail to observe important information or signals, make inaccurate decisions, and/or be unable to evaluate information correctly or in a timely manner. Especially in high stress/high stakes situations, individuals must be 100% present if they are to be successful. Those who are able to let go of everything other than what’s in front of them when necessary are those who can operate most effectively. Situational awareness From day one, fire and rescue recruits are taught to be alert to every aspect of their environment, and to anticipate what elements might be, or become, problematic. They must know at every moment where they are, what the mission is, and what role(s) they play in achieving it safely. In the workplace, being aware of the environment means not only being attentive to problems and challenges that exist, but anticipating those that may arise. It also signifies seeking the opportunities that may present themselves. People must be able to process and interpret information in the proper context. For the organization to be successful, leaders and employees must have a clear understanding of what the company stands for, where it’s going, and how they will help it achieve its goals. Even if your business doesn’t deal with life and death matters, you can enhance its success greatly by developing and practicing the disciplines of trust, focus, and situational awareness in your workplace. Alignment Solutions is a concise, bi-weekly newsletter written specifically to help organizational leaders optimize their business results. Your e-mail address is never shared with anyone for any reason. You may unsubscribe by clicking the link on the bottom of this e-mail.
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© 2015 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved. |
Alignment Solutions Newsletter: What Business Can Learn from Disaster Response Teams
February 11th, 2015 |
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What Business Can Learn from
Today’s complex, fast-paced world requires leaders and employees to be agile, resilient, resourceful, and effective. Often working in highly competitive markets, organizations aspire to serve their customers as effectively, efficiently, and quickly as possible. As a member of the Long Beach (CA) Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and as a Disaster Action Team leader for the Los Angeles Region of the American Red Cross, I’ve had the opportunity to help people immediately after disaster befalls them by working with team members in sometimes very chaotic circumstances. In the process, I’ve developed valuable skills and insights that are transferrable to the workplace. To help you optimize your organization’s performance, I’d like to share twelve of those lessons with you.
In summary, being able to serve your customers effectively, efficiently, and quickly requires skills that emergency response teams use daily. If you are interested in acquiring those skills while also helping your family and your community, consider exploring volunteer opportunities with your local CERT organization (typically run through the fire department) and/or your local American Red Cross chapter. Alignment Solutions is a concise, bi-weekly newsletter written specifically to help organizational leaders optimize their business results. Your e-mail address is never shared with anyone for any reason. You may unsubscribe by clicking the link on the bottom of this e-mail.
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© 2015 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved. |
Alignment Solutions Newsletter: To Lighten Your Load, Lead by Example
January 28th, 2015 |
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To Lighten Your Load, Lead by Example
How often do you refuse help from well-meaning, caring, and/or concerned individuals? The would-be helpers may be your peers, subordinates, friends, family members, or even strangers. They may offer to complete a report or task for you, pick up lunch because you’re busy, or do something that would make your life just a little easier. Whatever the offer, however, you respond, “It’s okay, I’ve got this” or “I’ll be fine.” Regardless of the reason for your refusal, consider this point: every time you rebuff an offer of assistance, you lose an opportunity not just to lighten your own load, but also to lead by example. Why? People take their cues from their leaders. Years ago I worked at a bank in Memphis, TN. One year in July the air conditioning broke down, and the heat and oppressive humidity outside soon permeated the inside of the building. Because replacement parts would take several days to arrive, the bank president sent a memo to all staff saying that men could dispense with wearing jackets and ties during that time. Yet despite the sweltering conditions, no one ever saw him without his jacket and tie. As you might guess, every male employee followed his lead. Despite what the president had said, people paid more attention to his actions than to his words. If you refuse to accept others’ offers of assistance, you are sending the message that it’s not okay for other people to do it either. Even when you tell them that it’s okay for them to receive help, unless they see you doing it, they won’t follow. You lose the opportunity to make your life a little easier, you deny the other person the chance to feel good about helping you, and you lose credibility as a leader because you’re not walking the proverbial talk. Perhaps you can live with denying yourself a little easier path in life; can you really afford to create or maintain an environment in which the lesson learned is that no one is permitted to receive help? The next time someone offers to do something for you, take a minute to ask yourself this question: “Am I the only person in the world who can do [this task]?” Unless the answer is “no,” or there is another compelling reason why you absolutely must do the task yourself, graciously accept the offer of assistance. You will free up your time to do something else, possibly provide a growth opportunity for others, and definitely give the gift of allowing that person to feel good about him/herself. Importantly, you also will be setting the example for others to follow. To find other articles and resources that may be of value to you, I invite you to visit my web site at www.BusinessAlignmentStrategies.com and my blog at www.OptimizeBusinessResults.com. Alignment Solutions is a concise, bi-weekly newsletter written specifically to help organizational leaders optimize their business results. Your e-mail address is never shared with anyone for any reason. You may unsubscribe by clicking the link on the bottom of this e-mail.
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© 2015 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved. |
Alignment Solutions Newsletter: What’s Your Choice?
January 14th, 2015 |
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What’s Your Choice?
A Christmas note from a college friend revealed that her husband had undergone some serious health issues during the first half of 2014 that dramatically curtailed their active lifestyle. Nonetheless, she reported that they are taking to heart an adage they heard during a trip to Scotland: “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” That saying reinforces the fact that although we seldom have control over life’s adversities, we always have control over how we experience them. We can choose to be the victim, or we can opt for a healthy alternative. During my academic career I taught a required MBA-level human resources (HR) course. Every semester found me in front of about seventy students, nearly all of whom worked full time. Since most viewed learning about HR as a waste of their time, I devised a framework that I shared with the students on the first day of class. I said, “Although you don’t have a choice about whether to take this class, you can choose how you experience it. The fact is that whether you are an employee or a manager, or you want to become an employee or manager, the information you learn in this class will help you personally and professionally. So you can spend the next fifteen weeks being miserable, or you can use the time to discover how HR knowledge can make your life better, easier, and/or more satisfying. What’s it going to be?” While there were a few students who opted to wait out the storm, most saw the benefit of learning to dance in the rain. Later, many of those students admitted they had acquired great value from the course. The “dance in the rain” advice is equally effective for dealing with life-threatening forms of adversity, as my friend discovered. Perhaps the most dramatic and well-known example is that of Dr. Victor Frankl, whose classic book Man’s Search for Meaning reveals that he survived the Nazi concentration camps during World War II because he refused to see himself as a victim. By choosing instead to experience himself as retaining full control of his mind and spirit, he was able to live though his horrific situation. So what’s your choice? Will 2015 be a year of procrastination, of waiting for the “right” time or the achievement of an arbitrary goal (e.g., a promotion, weight loss)? Or will it be a time of growth, discovery, and joy because realizing that you won’t melt in the rain puts you back in charge of how you choose to live your life given the hand you’ve been dealt? Why not make 2015 the year you dance in the rain more often? You might even find that you enjoy it! To find other articles and resources that may be of value to you, I invite you to visit my web site at www.BusinessAlignmentStrategies.com and my blog at www.OptimizeBusinessResults.com. Alignment Solutions is a concise, bi-weekly newsletter written specifically to help organizational leaders optimize their business results. Your e-mail address is never shared with anyone for any reason. You may unsubscribe by clicking the link on the bottom of this e-mail.
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© 2015 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved. |