So often we get caught up in our daily challenges that we forget to continue learning.  Sure we learn a tad here and there, but nothing compares to the opportunity to be surrounded by like-minded colleagues that are as passionate about what they do as I am.  It’s an incredible thing to have a platform for your passion, to share your interests, your research, and your insights.

Back in 2009 we began a research project on Creativity & Innovation in the media & entertainment industries.  We interviewed and video-recorded some incredible leaders in the industries that are all up against fierce competition, all the time.  They are not unique.  Not in the way they approach their daily passion, not in the way they hire, develop, strategize and manage their creative teams, and certainly not in the way they feel about what they do and what they contribute to those in their craft.  And our interviewees are not different from my colleagues at the annual conference.  Daily we all want to learn, share, inspire, and be inspired.

We all want information that will help us in our daily endeavors and we want to know that we’re ready for anything, and that we’re doing it right, most of the time.  The incredible thing about presenting research at a conference of your peers is that you’re expected to present your limitations along with your successes; this is usual for our field, but generally quite unusual.  However, it’s exactly your limitations that enable you to analyze and set a course for the future.

Be sure you’re involved with your peers and offer your limitations to one another, it’s the only way to remain innovative and creative – offering each other advice, expertise and the opportunity for insight.

And please – join us this Friday, May 4^th in Los Angeles for an event of sharing & learning:

Insights from the Inside from an Outsider

@ The Luxe Hotel in Los Angeles

“Experience is the name that everyone gives to their mistakes.” – Oscar Wilde

The topic: exclusion versus inclusion at recess and lunch

The guide & savior: my eleven-year-old daughter

The advice to her younger sister:

  “The time is always right to do what is right.”

Who she got her advice from:  Martin Luther King Jr.

On this day of love, to me, it’s not about romantic love, it’s about love and appreciation for all.  Do right by those you are engaged with in your world.  Ask them how their day is going, make a small gesture of interest, show you care, share the love in whatever way is comfortable for you – through words, music, whatever is natural.  Do right by folks, even when it’s difficult and inconvenient.

Imagine the feeling of love and admiration I had for my daughter last night.  Thanks for allowing me to share that love with all of you.

It’s really no surprise that both of these iconic film-makers have been all over the press of late, allowing us to see the intimate thoughts and frustrations with their own creative life struggles.  So many aspects of our growing economy are changing the game.  Big business is not what it was, and the life-long employee isn’t either.  This certainly brings the challenges of employee engagement and motivation to the forefront, among other aspects of Talent Management – compensation, assessment, employee evaluation, and then some.  You don’t have to be in the film business to understand the challenges of creativity and authenticity.  All industries feel it, in a whole host of ways.

“How to Lead a Creative Life,” Fast Company (Jan 2012) – great map, this is how you do it:

I do believe this is a wonderful time to be a creative & authentic force, in whatever way that notion strikes you.

Maybe you want to:

• Develop a new product or system in a different way
• Measure & reward in a different way
• Analyze in a different way
• Create & produce in a different way

Bottom line… it takes a bit of risk.  Think hard about the word risk and what RISK & FEAR mean to you.  And when you’ve got a notion of the answer, think about how Wikipedia and Google fought back last week – incredibly creative and risk seeking companies, even the way in which they decided to fight was a risk – who would have thought?

And then think about the Japanese art of Dwarf Trees – what risk-taking, creative horticulturist thought of that??

I am not big on resolutions, mainly because I resolve to work on myself and help others do the same for pretty much 365 days per year, and I know I am certainly not alone.  However, I do think that a new year marks a time of reflection.  And, I’d like to propose a new way of reflecting (for some).  I don’t need to quote any stats here, we all know that New Year’s resolutions are probably the worst fulfilled prophecy around.  Thus, don’t buy into the hype and instead think about any small steps you made toward positive movement and alterations.  Life is difficult enough, thus — first and foremost, keep it simple, no grand gestures necessary, and when you reflect back on the year 2011, compare it to 2010 and ask yourself:

1.  In what way did you show up differently in your environment & world? 
2.  How did you relate to your environment and those around you that is an improved effort?
3.  Where do you fit in individually in the bigger picture of what is your surroundings, your  community, your office, and the world at large?
4.   During the season of ‘giving’ – what did you truly give?  Beyond monetary and physical  matter, how did you give of yourself to others?
5.  What did you take this year and how have you honored and utilized the opportunity to    be the taker? 

Here are some examples of things you may have done and I know some of you have, but I also know that you all have tons more examples, so please comment and share.  We’ve worked hard the last couple of months to offer an improved, streamlined, and simplified website with interactive abilities to support all of you in a more open, engaging, and ‘giving’ oriented dialogue.

Running the gambit of intentions… some ways you may have tweaked your behavior this year:

• Used your position and expertise to help grow another professional
• Referred someone you respect for something you thought would be a good fit
• Mentored someone
• Given advice with the full ability of your intellectual capital
• Attended to being a more engaging manager
• Improved your listening skills
• Paid greater attention to detail
• Developed a team member in a way that surprised them
• Had less of a carbon footprint
• Thought about those who have supported you and simply acknowledge them
• Remembered the philanthropic and charitable causes that are dear to you
• Gave of your time in any way

And now, resolve to do more of the same or attend to some more tweaking.  Please share your thoughts on our blog or through twitter… @linesexcellence

“Whatever relationships you have attracted in your life at this moment, are precisely the ones you need in your life at this moment. There is a hidden meaning behind all events, and this hidden meaning is serving your own evolution.” 
? Deepak Chopra

And the question:  How to remain authentic in light of forever changing and shifting circumstance?

Often times the hardest thing to do is make the switch from competitive worker-bee to Manager.  We are not usually guided nor taught the intricacies of this shift, yet so crucial and necessary.  I use the word Manager lightly but what I really mean is the shift to Leader.  For years and really decades you spend your time and energy focused on educating yourself, developing your career, being innovative and creative, comprehending office environments, politics, and culture.  You analyze Self in the context of environment – toy with personal needs versus professional needs, real needs versus perceived needs (i.e. Maslow) and then one day you turn around and you’re a Leader.  And then maybe it hits you – all that it means to be a Leader is truly complex.  On top of that, you have to now figure out what kind of Leader you are and how you can be an Authentic Leader.  Here’s a guide in THREE steps:

1. Think about who and why you want to develop certain people in the organization (those hi-pos)

2. Think about what is most important for these folks to know and understand and how you will guide them

3. Think about how you can find assets for development in all of the rest of the folks you manage

I said THREE steps, I didn’t say THREE easy steps. A paragraph from the article “How Will You Measure Your Life,” by Clayton M. Christensen (HBR) from over a year ago sticks in my mind:

“Management is the most noble of professions if it’s practiced well. No other occupation offers as many ways to help others learn and grow, take responsibility and be recognized for achievement, and contribute to the success of a team. More and more MBA students come to school thinking that a career in business means buying, selling, and investing in companies. That’s unfortunate. Doing deals doesn’t yield the deep rewards that come from building up people.”

A definition from Wikipedia:  Authenticity – the conscious self is seen as coming to terms with being in a material world and with encountering external forces, pressures and influences which are very different from, Authenticity is the degree to which one is true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character, despite these pressures. I struggle daily with the competing factors of authenticity. 

As an external consultant, I might say that the struggle of authenticity is in fact my job description.  It’s truly my job to help not only individuals, but companies find their authenticity.  We often state this in terms of ‘organizational culture.’

A definition from Wikipedia: Organizational Culture is a set of shared mental assumptions that guide interpretation and action in organizations by defining appropriate behavior for various situations.

What do I say to clients about Authenticity, which helps to make this BIG word a bit more manageable??

• Does the majority of what you do feel in line with your personal goals?
• Do you feel that you’re in an environment where you can express yourself fairly freely?
• When you do express yourself, are there inappropriate repercussions for what you’ve said?
• Does the culture encourage you to continue working on areas of challenge, both within yourself, as well as in your environment?

Ultimately, I can write about how no situation is perfect, but everyone already knows that on an intellectual level.  Instead, I will say – is it good enough?  And that comes from the psychiatrist Winnicott who researched heavily in the 1950s his theory on the ‘good enough mother’ – who adapts to the changing needs of the baby.  Being in an authentic organization, with authentic employees, simply stated means: adjusting to the changing needs of those who work in it and the external needs of that organization.  I know, not very simple at all – but, take some time to think about this ‘fit’ in your organization and how you can work to improve the authenticity percentage on a daily basis.  Rally your team, rally your managers, and rally yourself.

Harvard Business Review recently printed the outcome of 100 companies measuring employee engagement.  I know, we’ve heard it all before – but what I like about this HBR blog post is the specific points that Tony Schwartz makes in discussing the “Twelve Attributes of a Truly Great Place to Work.”  Sure you could serve the engagement piece on a platter that gives you one part good food at work, two parts places to exercise and have fun, etc., etc.  But really, the important stuff is, well, FREE!  Truly, it’s quite simple to motivate and engage employees without a large capital investment and fancy equipment.

This is an ever so important point in our current environment of doing more with less.   I know I don’t need to, but will anyway, remind you all that an engaged workforce is incredibly more productive and, even crazier is the fact that a disengaged workforce costs more money that the simple lack of productivity, since lethargy and negativity are contagious and lethal to any environment.  Think about how start-ups employ incredibly driven and hard-working employees, sometimes working on barely a paycheck.  Remember the stories of Fedex in the early days??!!  No money to meet payroll, sharing desks, and the insane stories goes on.  Now look.  Fedex succeeded because they had employee buy-in, among other things.  Everyone at the company was vested in the success, and succeed they did, without fancy gourmet meals, state of the art treadmills, or the like.  What they did do was define the goals of the company, show the path to get there, and help achieve results.

Here’s the HBR (condensed) points 7 through 12, which ring true as the most important and essential today:

7.  Define clear and specific expectations for what success looks like.

8.  Institute two-way performance reviews.

9.  Hold leaders and managers accountable for treating all employees with respect and care.

10.  Create policies that encourage employees to set aside time to focus without interruption.

11.  Provide employees with ongoing opportunities and incentives to learn, develop, and grow.

12.  Stand for something beyond simply increasing profits.

If you take a minute to re-read and dig deeper if you’d like (http://blogs.hbr.org/schwartz/2011/09/the-twelve-attributes-of-a-tru.html), it’s really not all that hard, and it does not cost anything!  It’s simply a matter of setting priorities, managing time, and being accountable to the goals of the game.

Leadership isn’t always planned.  In fact, the lack of planning is the essence of our business – people development.  I am always reminded of this when we begin with a new client.  There are many things in life we plan for – education, purchases, meetings, vacations, family gatherings, conferences, holiday travel, etc.   But Leadership is just one of those areas we don’t plan for but instead wind up in the circumstance of because of factors that affect other aspects of our goals.

Not only am I continually reminded of this with the clients we serve, but also so in everyday life experience.  Labor Day and the Remembrance of September 11, 2001 have had an odd coincidence of occurrence over the past ten years, yesterday feeling the most profound to me for some inexplicable reason.  So many lives were affected, beginning in the workplace – but of course, the reverberations extend well beyond the office.  There are many tidbits of detail that continue to affect me from that day… and the days that would follow as a Manhattan resident and daily subway rider.

I watched an interview on Pierce Morgan Saturday night with Howard Lutnick, the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, the company that’s human loss on September 11, 2001 was incomprehensible.  I don’t imagine that Mr. Lutnick ever imagined needing to LEAD in the way requirement would have it after that terrible morning.  How could he.  But motivated by forces unforeseen, a current tragedy that evoked memories of a past tragedy, circumstance, humility, and financial consequence, Mr. Lutnick led his company.  Presumably in a way he never thought of before, with motivations entirely altered from his previous way of managing.  Despite mixed feedback, Mr. Lutnick has been quite the example of leadership in an extremely challenging situation.  I just can’t even begin to imagine his changing experience of leadership over the past ten years.

It’s that time of year when we reflect, summer over, back into the grind and moving towards the close of a year – take a bit of time to think about it.

“Happiness is the full use of your powers along lines of excellence”  JFK

Until next time,

Erica & the whole ‘crew’ @ LOE Consulting

Lines of Excellence Consulting is a boutique consulting firm… bringing creative & innovative people together to make things happen.

twitter@linesexcellence

For more information and past newsletters: http://linesofexcellence.com/blog/

It was a simple idea and had competitors saying “wow, I wish it were us.”  Very simple, not particularly expensive, no need for huge bells and whistles or a BIG idea, just simply focused on catering to individual needs and making lives a bit easier by anticipating needs, or simply wants.  It did not appear to have tons of research behind the idea or effort.  The main focus was simply to appeal to the customer audience base, and not necessarily in a uniform or identical way.  Assumptions were made about what might be appreciated and helpful.  These decisions were made in rather split-second moments, aka – act now and hope for the best.  It all worked out.  The most amazing part was to see the response of those whose needs had been tended to, and who had been shown that someone was paying attention – to their unique needs and desires.

The message was viral and thus, hit with impact.

I’m talking about the KLM customer service stunt at the airport a few months ago, which has had just over 132,000 hits on YouTube to date, never mind the number of tweets and facebook action.

The demand to pay attention is out there, are you seeing & hearing it?

When was the last time you surveyed your employees or customers for feedback on not only their satisfaction, but more importantly, their desires, hopes, and dreams.  Yes, really – hopes and dreams, because that tells you where they’re headed, the trajectory of their growth, and how you will need to meet the demands of their changing fancies.

Check it out – it’s awesome, and I know it will leave some of you saying “Wow, wish I’d thought of that.”

KLM Surprise

What do you think??

Sometimes the act of striving for ‘the best’ turns into a recipe for the worst.  I hear all the time how we need another such and such, like the success of such and such.  But really, there’s but just so many of those such and suches possible before the idea becomes plain old cliché.

Take baseball.  Born & raised in New York, had no choice growing up but to be a Yankees Fan.  Had I decide on the Mets, drama would have ensued at family meal gatherings.  It really isn’t the biggest decision to make – but wow does it seem to have an impact on baseball fans.  Recently I went to a Dodgers vs. Mets game.  In Los Angeles, July 4^th fireworks at the end of the game, seemed like the perfect idea for the evening.  Sitting in the stands at Dodger Stadium, I realized that I can’t recall EVER having been to a Mets game, in my entire life.  I had this weird feeling of being a traitor and not supporting those fabulous Yankees.  Really though, you’ve got to give it up to the Mets.  It couldn’t have been easy all these years, watching all of those World Series wins.  The truth is, it’s really rough to constantly aim for perfect, and the Yankees have experienced this dilemma of late.

I’ve realized this dilemma on both a Human Resource and Leadership Development level as well.  Sometimes, really, we set our sights too high for the moment in time, history, call it what you will.  This can be related to a myriad of factors:

• Current economy
• Company growth plan and process
• Change management
• Industry climate
• Team organization
• Leadership organization
• Current human resource growth process
• Training needs

… and the list goes on.  My point is – think about where you are, where your team is, and where the company is.  Then set a realistic goal plan for perfection and excellence.  And understand both the individual and collective process and power of these efforts.

After all —  “Happiness is the full use of your powers along lines of excellence” JFK

And sometimes, just sometimes, it’s okay to use those powers in a less than perfect way.