Tone at the top

"You must be the change you want to see in the world." --Mahatma Gandhi

Gandhi's words represent a formidable challenge for us.  Not only in our role as global citizens, but a challenge to us as managers, leaders, and corporate citizens.

Lately, I've been doing a lot of work with auditors who are dealing with the plethora of regulations that companies have to comply with these days. One of the first things auditors look for when assessing the effectiveness of a corporation's policies is "tone at the top."  Essentially, this means they look for evidence that upper management is providing an ethical compass for the organization.  Tone at the top is created with clear communication of expectations from corporate executives, accompanied by congruent behavior throughout the company.  In essence: communicate your expectations, say what you mean, and do what you say.

In the CFO Magazine article, "Tone At The Top," Steven Shallcross says it well:

"One of the big reasons companies with difficulties have failed is that they lacked that basic discipline of understanding where they're going, how they're going to get there, and how much it's going to cost. But well-run companies do that day in and day out," he says.

This is important for big things like financial reporting, fiscal responsibility, and other aspects of corporate governance. However, I think it's just as important for the little things in our world as managers.

Our employees and associates will all be better off if we establish the proper 'tone at the top' in the areas for which we're responsible.  Ultimately, your company and customers will be the beneficiaries.

As I reflect on this, I recognize that mastery in this area is difficult to attain, but I believe it's a worthwhile effort.  I also feel a personal desire to work to improve in this area every day.  What does improving mean?  That will be different for each of us, but here are a few things I came up with that are relevant to me:

• Communicate expectations explicitly - clarity improves the results you get
• Don't take commitments lightly - deliberacy in making commitments enables excellence
• Ask for help when you need it - using the resources available to you is a sign of strength, not weakness
• Share what you know with a giving spirit - through sharing, trust is built and relationships are strengthened
• Deal with difficult situations as soon as you recognize there is a problem - procrastination will not improve the situation, and the conflict isn't likely to go away

These are just examples - why not make your own list?  As Shallcross reminds us, we must strive to do what we say - to 'be the change we want to see in the world' - day in, and day out.

So -- what's your tone at the top?  What can you do each day to change it for the better?

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None of us is as good as all of us

Rosa has some big mojo going on at Talking Story in a recent post. As I interpret it, she's talking about the value of community over content.

The content on Talking Story is fabulous, but the community makes it profound. I'm proud to be a formal part of the Talking Story community - but it's not some kind of secret society- all are welcome, and it's all about the learning.  Stop by and check it out.

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The coming of summer

"Man is the only animal that laughs and weeps; for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference between what things are, and what they ought to be." - William Hazlett

Many people make New Year's resolutions, and vow to change their ways 'round the beginning of each year.  Not me - it seems that I become introspective about this time every year.  I'm not sure why that is - maybe the long days remind me there is so much more I could be doing; maybe it's some hold-over from when I was a kid and summer always seemed like a new start.

Whatever the reason, I've been reflecting on the aspects of my life that I want to change.  This is, at once, both empowering and discouraging - I think that's the essence of Hazlett's quote.

Among the abilities that set us apart from the other animals are our capacity to choose, and our ability to consciously acquire new skills.  Combine these with our capacity to hope, our ability to alter our environment, and our ability to love, and you have something amazing.

Of course, not everyone chooses the same way.  Some choose to be destructive, to hurt others, or to steal others' joy.  I must admit, after the fact my choices sometimes feel closer to this end of the spectrum.  My wish is that I always recognize these, learn from them, and make better choices the next time.

I've learned a lot in the past year, I've met some very cool people, and I've gained new perspective on what I really want for myself and my family.  I feel like I'm in a pretty good position to make better choices for the coming year.

So, as summer comes, I encourage you consider who you are, who you want to become, what you've been doing for yourself and others, and what actions you can take to improve.

Laugh or weep - the choice is ours.

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Practice: The key to "Practice what you preach"

Christopher Bailey really hit home with a post on his "Alchemy of Soulful Work" blog this week. Like me, he was recently reminded that the answers to his questions could be found in his own previous blog posts. And, like me, he sometimes feels not-so-genuine in offering thoughts on what people should be doing when he hasn't mastered the techniques himself.

This reminds me of something I've heard in various forms over the years: It's not about whether you fall down - it's how quickly you get back up.

No matter how good we get at something, there is always room for improvement. As David Allen says, "The better you get, the better you'd get."

If we all waited until we were perfect at something every time before we shared what we've learned, we'd never share. And that would be a shame, wouldn't it? So keep practicing - and keep sharing, Christopher. Your tidbits of advice could be just the thing someone else needs to improve.

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Management without emotion? Or management with only "approved" emotions?

Like millions of other people in the US, I watched The Apprentice last night.  It was the end of the season, where Donald Trump actually hires his apprentice.

One thing that bugged me was how much criticism Kendra, one of the final two, received for crying in the boardroom on the previous episode.  Trump kept talking about how he didn't like crying, making "even though you cried..." remarks, and things like that.

While I think it's important and professional to have control over your emotions, I think there are appropriate times to share your emotions as a manager or a leader.  In Kendra's case, she was overcome by the emotion of having a team come together and help her win a task - a team made up of people she'd had disagreements with in the past.  She was touched and grateful, and I thought her emotions were appropriate. And hey - I'm sure we've all been there at the end of projects, when you're worn out and your emotions are pretty close to the surface.

At one point, Trump asked Kendra if she thought her crying was a sign of weakness.  Her response was a good one; that she'd seen 300 lb. football players crying as they held up SuperBowl trophies.

I've seen displays of emotion from my managers and leaders before - not a common occurrence, for sure, but it's definitely happened.  Did I see these emotional moments as a sign of weakness?  Not in any case I can recall.  In each case I've experienced, it was a sign of humanity - of being "real."

Oh, yeah - Trump hired Kendra anyway, and recanted saying her crying was OK.  But I think his first reaction is probably fairly representative of the attitudes throughout the corporate world.

What about you - what have you experienced?
What are the "approved emotions" where you work?

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Blogging the light fantastic

Much has been written about blogs, their relevance, their power, and their reach.  This weekend, I've found some excellent commentary by bloggers themselves.  Here are a few examples:

• David St. Lawrence has a very well-articulated piece on Citizen Publishing on his Ripples blog
  
• Michael Hyatt solicited input for Corporate Blogging Guidelines on his Working Smart blog, and came up with some great structure - very useful for companies grappling with where the lines are with regard to employee blogging.
  
• The Carnival of the Capitalists, hosted this week on Slacker Manager and compiled by Rosa Say, brings together a tasty sauce of commentary (and Rosa's own Talking Story blog is bringing bloggers together in powerful ways)
  
• There is some thought-provoking stuff going on regarding business blogging and its intermingling with podcasting at BusinessBlogCasting

When it comes to business blogs, I tend to gravitate more toward blogs that talk about real life situations and promote the exchange of ideas, opinions, tips, tricks, etc.  These blogs often promote or recommend specific products and services, but all within a "wrapper" that helps others learn. I prefer this approach over single-product blogs that feel more like infomercials.

Some people have been very effective in providing blogs that I classify as "helpful information" that don't feel self-serving, while still promoting their own products and companies.  In these cases, I don't mind because they really feel like "value added" providers.  One example is the blog of ActiveWords CEO Buzz Bruggeman - he talks about ActiveWords, but provides a ton of valuable information that is outside of his company's product.

I know this will continue to evolve, and we'll all reap the benefits of business blogging.  As I look back on the last 20 years, things have certainly changed.

• 20 years ago, I was connecting to Compuserve on a 300 baud modem using a Wyse terminal. It was slow, but there was very  effective information exchange for professionals.
  
• 10 years ago, I had begun to surf the web looking for product and company information, but my primary information source was still using Compuserve (using OzCIS as a frontend, and connecting at higher speeds). I remember thinking that PointCast and newsbots were new and cool.
  
• 5 years ago, I was using web-based online discussion groups and user forums as a way to gather business information.  I also started using a lot of listserv subscriptions to have information pushed to me as it became available.
  
• Now, I have unsubscribed from most of my email lists, and I use RSS and blogs to gather information that is relevant to me. I exchange information through Yahoo and Google groups, and my company uses Wiki and Sharepoint to exchange information internally.

I like where things are now, and where they are heading. The "pull" approach of blogging has so many advantages over our spam-filled inboxes, and I think that will continue to be a key differentiator over other methods.  But now, the debate about ads in RSS feeds is picking up speed.  It's always something.

Who knows what blogging will be like in the next 20 years?  Not me, but I can hardly wait to find out.

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