Future Ready Leadership With Jacob Morgan

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The First 90 Days: Strategies for Leaders in Transition Nov 16, 2020

Show notes

Michael Watkins is the Professor of Leadership and Organizational Change at the IMD Business School and the co-founder of Genesis Advisors, a global leadership development consultancy based in Boston where he coaches C-level executives of global organizations. He is also the author of 11 books including the international bestseller, The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter.

Michael was recently ranked among the top 50 management thinkers globally by Thinkers50. Previously he was an adjunct professor at INSEAD and an associate professor at the Harvard Business School and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

We all go through periods of transition. Whether it is a change in a role at work or moving to a different company or even going through a new season in your personal life, transitions are a part of life.

For leaders transitions are critical, and if they are not handled correctly the results can be disastrous. Michael's book, The First 90 Days, looks at how leaders can make the most out of their first three months of a transition as well as some common traps that leaders fall into during that critical time.

The breakeven point

Michael uses a financial analogy to explain why mastering transitions is so important. A financial break even point looks at how long it takes an investment to get to a point where it pays for itself.

With leaders the break even point is looking at the point where you as a leader are creating value for the company. The longer it takes you to get up to speed in a new role the longer it's going to be before you stop consuming value and start producing value. As a leader you need to figure out how you can get to the point of true value creation as fast as you can, but in a smart way.

In a study that was conducted by Michael and his team a few years ago they found that unaided the process for leaders to reach the breakeven point can take up to six months. So if that timeframe can be reduced it not only helps the organization it also helps set the leader up for success very early on.

And of course, the time it takes to start creating value also depends on the type of transition you are going through. Staying in the same company but moving to a different role may take less time than moving to a different company and starting in a role that didn't exist before.

Common traps leaders fall into during transitions

There are several traps people can fall into when they are going through transitions in life and at work. It is important for leaders to be aware of these traps so they can be careful to avoid them.

One of the biggest traps Michael points out is when leaders stay in their comfort zone and continue to define their role through the lens of what they are good at.

Michael says, "When I coach people one of the questions I ask them fairly early on is what are you really good at and love doing that you need to do less of here? And what are you perhaps not so good at or not enjoying doing that you need to do more of? So as you enter a new role, you need to think about what do I need to let go of and what do I need to embrace? And that kind of helps get you through the comfort zone trap."

When you are making a transition, don't just assume that what has worked in the past will work in your current situation. This is especially important if you are not only transitioning in a role, but also in a different organization. A lot of times the job description that's given to you in the interview may not give you the full scope of what needs to be done, so it is important to check and recheck what you're really there to do. Go one level deeper than the job description to find out why you are there. Figure out how you can add unique value to the organization and then use that as your North star.

Another trap leaders can fall into during a transition is not reaching out to peers and stakeholders early enough. A lot of emphasis is put on leaders to connect with their team and their boss, but most leaders neglect to connect with their peers and stakeholders and that can be harmful later on. Michael says you shouldn't wait until you have a problem and need their help before you reach out to them.

A third trap to watch out for is what Michael calls the action imperative. When you are put into a new role most likely you are going to feel pressure to do something or make a decision right away. Most of the time that pressure is coming from within yourself, and not something that people expect. Of course there are exceptions, but in general try to fight this feeling.

As Michael shares, "It's that sense, maybe it comes a little out of the imposter syndrome kind of idea, or that sense of I need to prove myself, show that they made the right decision in hiring or promoting you. And you can have that pressure, and that can lead you to do things that you're perhaps not fully ready to do or that are not as informed enough or not socialized enough. And that can create a vicious cycle if you're not if you're not careful."

When you start to feel pressure to do something right away, ask yourself where is this pressure coming from? Is it coming from within yourself or is there a legitimate reason for you to act on something immediately.

The lack of leadership training inside organizations

One thing I found while writing my latest book, The Future Leader, is that most people spend 10-15 years in leadership positions before getting any formal leadership training from their organization. There are quite a few people who are promoted to leadership roles in their 20s and 30s but on average people are in their late 30s or early 40s before going through training. So how are you as a leader supposed to get up to speed and have a successful transition into a position of leadership if you have never had any formal training?

Michael says it means it leaves responsibility for leadership development on the individual. This can seem daunting, but the good news is there are so many resources out there these days you can turn to. There are online courses, books, videos, etc… on leadership and the skills related to being a great leader. So if your organization is not providing you with the skills you need, there really isn't an excuse.

And while leaving training up to the individual isn't the best way of operating for an organization, it is happening more often now because of the unraveling of the social contract between organizations and individuals. It is no longer common for a person to stay at one company for their entire career. Gone are the days where the company provides a safety net for employees, and so employees no longer feel loyalty to the company.

Leaders have to be proactive and intentional in onboarding and integrating themselves into a new role. As Michael says, "If you don't own your transition, your transition will own you."

How to have a successful transition

For leaders going through a transition process Michael says it is important to understand the challenges up front and be clear about how you are going to create value in what you are there to do. Be sure to plan your learning process, engage with peers and stakeholders early on, and be really thoughtful about how you are going to arrive in the new organization and the messaging you want to send.

Michael says, "a lot of what you do early on, is about signaling and symbolism. So be really thoughtful about that because those early actions can send very powerful messages whether you intend them to or not."

This episode of Future of Work is supported by Teamistry, a podcast that tells the stories of teams who work together in new and unexpected ways… to beat the odds.

Each episode tells a unique story and provides practical lessons for your team and your business. I got a sneak peek of season 2 and was immediately sucked in with its documentary-style narration, details about stories I thought I knew but didn't, and practical lessons that I was able to apply to my business. Check it out at here.

The Right Way to Tackle a Problem Nov 11, 2020

Show notes

To be successful in the future of work, leaders must have a growth mindset.

One way to identify if a person has a fixed mindset or a growth mindset is by how they tackle problems.

For example, if you have a fixed mindset, when you run into a challenge or are faced with a roadblock, you try to tackle it the same way over and over. When those attempts don't work, you get frustrated and quit.

But when you have a growth mindset, you find a way to get better to solve the problem. You understand that what you were doing didn't work and that you need to learn a new skill to overcome the obstacle.

If you're able to embrace this concept of a growth mindset, you'll become much more valuable as a leader inside your organization.

This episode of Future of Work is supported by Teamistry, a podcast that tells the stories of teams who work together in new and unexpected ways… to beat the odds.

The 14 Principles Of The Future Organization Nov 09, 2020

Show notes

The way we work is changing.

It's not going to stop changing anytime soon, in fact the change is only going to speed up.

Organizations have made progress in adapting for the future of work, but we still have a long way to go.

In my book, The Future of Work, I laid out 14 principles of the future organization. And while that book was released back in 2014, these principles are still very relevant for organizations today and we have a lot of work to do in each one of these areas in order to succeed in the next decade and beyond. So let's take a deeper look at each one of these 14 principles.

Globally distributed with smaller teams

We have been seeing organizations move away from having all of their employees located in a few corporate offices to having employees spread out all over the world. This allows teams to be smaller and more agile.

It also opens up a wider pool of talent for organizations then we have seen in the past. Proximity to the corporate headquarters is no longer an issue. This is an exciting change because it means organizations can utilize the best talent and individuals can work for their dream company no matter where they are in the world. We were already seeing this change back in 2014, but now with COVID-19 we are seeing this become even more common.

Connected workforce

While it is great to have a global team around the world, it is not possible to work effectively from all over without being able to stay connected. Your team needs to be able to connect to the right information and to each other anywhere, anytime, and from any device. Which means your organization has to have the right technology in place to make that happen.

Technology is the central nervous system of any organization. With the current pandemic companies have been pushed to achieve in 3 months what they had been trying to do over 10 years. But with or without the pandemic, companies have to continue to create and invest in the technologies that connect their workforce.

Intrapreneurial

There are several traits that come to mind when you think of an entrepreneur. Passion, drive, innovation, creativity, forward thinking, etc… Wouldn't you love to have people inside of your organization with these traits? You should. Intrapreneurs are entrepreneurs that work inside of an organization instead of off on their own.

You can foster the intrapreneurial spirit inside of your organization by letting employees test their ideas out, experiment, pitch new projects, and run with the ideas that have potential. There are several organizations that are allowing employees to be intrapreneurial such as LinkedIn, Adobe, and AT&T.

For individuals this means that you have to have entrepreneurial skills in order to succeed and get ahead. You have to be scrappy, resourceful, and curious. Don't just wait for your manager to tell you what to do next, don't just think inside the box, don't get pigeon-holed into a certain job description. Don't be afraid to take an idea and run with it.

Operates like a small company

Organizations can no longer afford to be bogged down by bureaucracy, not in this fast paced world we are living in. No matter how many employees you have you have to operate like a small company.

Small companies are agile and adaptable. They are able to make quick decisions and pivot at a moment's notice. Again, with the pandemic I think companies have been forced to do this for now. We all had to act quickly at the beginning of 2020. But if you want to succeed in the future you have to be able to continue to act small and agile. You will not win if you operate at the speed of sludge.

Are your employees empowered to make their own decisions or do they have to go through multiple levels of hierarchy to get an answer? Do you have small enough teams or do you have 40+ people in meetings? Do you allow employees to run with ideas or do they have to sit in back to back meetings all day?

Don't tell me it's not possible to make quick decisions, we've all had to do it this year. And if you can do it for COVID-19, you can do it anytime.

Focuses on "want" instead of "need"

In the past when there was a position to be filled inside of an organization the leaders would post a job ad and qualified candidates would apply. There would be an interview and the candidate had to convince the interviewer why they would be the best fit for the position. It was always assumed that the candidate needed a job and they were at the mercy of the organization to hire them. It was about what the candidate could bring to the organization.

Now with globalization and the fact that individuals can work pretty much anywhere around the world as well as the fact that it is a lot easier to be an entrepreneur and do your own thing now it is no longer the individual who has to do the selling. Individuals have so many choices, they don't have to settle for anything. It is up to the organization to prove it is a place where the individual would want to work.

In order to attract the best talent you have to create an organization where people want to come work, you cannot assume that they need the job anymore.

Adapts to change faster

The world is moving at such a fast pace. Organizations can no longer afford to take a "wait and see" approach. They cannot sit back and follow in the path of what others are doing. In order to succeed organizations have to look forward, act fast, and move more swiftly. Things will never be as slow as they are right now. This goes for technology, workplace trends and also reacting to current events.

Innovation everywhere

Does your organization allow anyone to come forward with a new idea? Or do all of your innovations come from a certain department or level of hierarchy? In order to succeed in this rapidly changing world of work, innovation has to come from anywhere and everywhere inside your organization.

And ideas and innovation are two different things. Ideas happen all of the time. We all have hundreds of ideas every single week. But it's the process of taking an idea and actually turning it into something that leads to innovation.

Does your organization allow anyone to come forward with an idea? If an employee has a suggestion, feedback, or an idea do they have the potential to do something with it?

Runs in the cloud

On-premise technologies have a shelf life, and their days are surely numbered. If your organization is purely operating with on site servers and technologies it won't be long before you fall behind your competition. The future is cloud based technology. It allows organizations to scale up or down very quickly.

More women in senior management roles

This is a big one. We have made some progress here, but not enough. Less than 8% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women. We need much more diversity in our leadership roles. Without diversity in leadership, companies are missing out on a huge talent pool that brings with it a new set of skills, mindsets, and perspectives.

How can you properly serve your customers and create new products and services if everyone on your leadership team is exactly the same, without any diversity? We definitely need more women leaders.

Flatter structure

The stereotypical hierarchical structure that we have seen in most of our organizations is the pyramid with the CEO at the top and multiple layers in between them and the frontline workers. We can agree that while some structure inside of organizations is good, we need to have a more balanced system.

Information, communication, and ideas should not all come from the top down. It should move from side to side, from the bottom to the top as well as the top down. It doesn't need to be flat, but it needs to be flatter. We need less layers between frontline workers and the CEO.

This principle helps with agility and nimbleness as well as creating purpose and meaning for employees. When the organization is flatter and communication is flowing freely, employees have a better sense of what is happening inside the organization and why.

Tells stories

We like to tell stories to our customers through our websites, social media, TV ads, etc...So why don't we take time to create stories for our employees? Stories help us to connect emotionally with an idea or a brand. They paint a picture and make values and purpose come to life.

Employees want to work for an organization that they believe in. They want to find value and purpose in the work they do everyday and what better way to explain the organization's mission then through stories. When they know what they are working for employees are more likely to go above and beyond. We all want to know that what we do every day impacts our community and our world. Take the time to tell your company's story to every single employee.

Democratizes learning

Just as learning in our schools is outdated, learning inside of our organizations is outdated. It is too structured and formal. If you sign up for a learning opportunity at work most likely you are going to watch a video from the 80s or you will attend a scripted lecture with someone going through a PowerPoint.

Learning should reflect the year we live in. If it is so easy for me to learn something on my own through YouTube or Khan Academy or Coursera why can't it be the same way inside our organizations. Learning has to be democratized. It must be put into the hands of every employee because every employee has something to teach and every employee has something to learn.

Shifts from profits to prosperity

Profit is the financial gain that an organization receives and it is the primary measure of success inside of most organizations. But prosperity looks at much more than money. It looks at employee health & wellness, community involvement, diversity & inclusion, sustainability, etc…

The purpose of a business can no longer be just about making money, it's about impacting all stakeholders. Not shareholders, stakeholders. Our communities, partners, suppliers, vendors, customers, and employees all have a stake in the success of the business.

We have to move away from just the dollars and cents and focus on the greater impact our organizations make on the world around us.

Adapts to the future employee and the future manager

Organizations that want to succeed in the future of work have to be able to adapt to the future employee and the future leader. Leadership is changing in a big way, for more information on how it is changing you can check out my new book, The Future Leader. But organizations need to know what the future of leadership looks like and make sure they are promoting the right people to those positions. Organizations also have to stay on top of what employees want and need. We cannot just continue on and assume that we can succeed while continuing in the old ways of working.

Right now, we're seeing such an amazing time and exciting evolution around how we work, how we lead, and even how we structure our companies. Don't get stuck in the old way of doing things. We must continue to adapt, learn, explore, and grow if we want to avoid getting left behind.

This episode of Future of Work is supported by Teamistry, a podcast that tells the stories of teams who work together in new and unexpected ways… to beat the odds.

Do You Need People Analytics? Nov 04, 2020

Show notes

People analytics is crucial to creating great experiences.

I was once speaking overseas to a large organization that was very interested in investing in employee experiences.

The Chief HR Officer said that the average tenure in the organization was eight to ten years. I told him that was great and asked him why that was, but he said he didn't know.

He also said, "When people do leave the company, they always leave at the two-year mark." But when I asked what happened at the two-year mark, he said he didn't know.

Without people analytics, you don't have data. And data is what helps you truly know your people.

Look at the data you already have about your people--engagement data, salary data, geographic data, demographic and background data, performance review data, etc. You have a lot of ways to find data and learn about your employees.

This episode is sponsored by Teamistry, a podcast by Atlassian. Check them out at http://bit.ly/fowatlassian

9 Skills and Mindsets for Leaders in the Future of Work Nov 02, 2020

Show notes

We are facing a leadership crisis today.

The world of work is changing, which means we need a different type of leader to guide our people and organizations to success.

The old ways won't work anymore.

In my newest book, The Future Leader, I interviewed over 140 CEOs from around the world to get their view of how leadership is changing, what it's going to look like in the future, and what we need to do now to be future-ready leaders.

One thing was clear in all of their responses, what has worked in the past will not work in the future. We need a new kind of leader. Leadership can no longer be based solely on confidence, seniority, the ability to make money for the company, acting like you know it all, etc...

Another thing that I found in my research for the book was the lack of leadership training inside of organizations. Most people become leaders in their mid to late 20s, but most leaders have admitted that they didn't receive formal training until they were in their late 30s and early 40s.

That means there is a period of 15-20 years where leaders inside of our organizations are leading, but they haven't been taught how to do it effectively. No wonder we have such a lack of strong leadership.

But just because you don't receive formal training inside of your organization doesn't give you a free pass to be an ineffective leader. You can take training into your own hands. You have the ability to learn what you need to know to be the best leader you can be.

The first step is answering a tough question

If you are ready to be a future-ready leader, the first step you need to take is to define leader and leadership for yourself. What does it really mean to be a leader? It may seem like a simple question, but it is actually the hardest question for the 140+ CEOs I interviewed to answer.

We see leaders in action every single day, whether they are good or bad. It is something so common, that we don't tend to spend time defining leadership because we assume everyone knows what it is. It's like water. You wouldn't explain water to someone, because we all just know what water is.

But defining leader and leadership is such an important step. Without a definition we get inconsistency inside of our organizations. Most organizations have some great leaders that people love and some horrible leaders that people can't stand. That wouldn't happen if we had a clear definition of leadership. It would help put filters in place that help the right people get promoted to leadership positions.

If you want great leaders, start by defining what a great leader is. And use that definition to promote people inside of your organization.

The Notable Nine

From the interviews that I did with the 140+ CEOs I ended up with four mindsets and five skills that leaders need to adopt in order to succeed in the future of work. They are:

Mindsets:

Explorer: Become a perpetual learner, be curious and focus on agility and adaptability
Chef: Learn how to balance humanity and technology
Servant: Serve your leaders, your team, your customers and yourself by being humble and vulnerable
Global Citizen: Surround yourself with different people and look at the big picture

Skills:

Futurist: Look towards the future and think through different scenarios
Yoda: Practice emotional intelligence and empathy
Translator: Develop listening and communication skills
Coach: Motivate and engage others and create effective teams across geographies and generations
Technology Teenager: Embrace new technology and be tech-savvy

Leaders must be like lighthouses

On the cover of my book is the image of a lighthouse. And I think it is such a great visualization of what a leader should be. A lighthouse is designed to help mariners and explorers reach their destinations, but in a safe way. It helps travelers keep out of shallow waters, off of the rocks, and away from danger. And I think of leaders in very much the same way.

The whole purpose of a leader is to guide their people and organizations to success, but in a safe way. With the nine skills and mindsets leaders can build themselves up to be a lighthouse so that they can shine a bright light onto the sea of uncertainty that we're all a part of.

But one thing a lot of leaders forget is that if there are no ships in the water, then a lighthouse is useless. Without great people to lead, a leader is pointless. Leaders can't just focus on building themselves up, they must also focus on the success of their people.

This episode of Future of Work is supported by Teamistry, a podcast that tells the stories of teams who work together in new and unexpected ways… to beat the odds.

What if organizations couldn't fire people when the company didn't meet their numbers? Oct 27, 2020

Show notes

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit a lot of organizations hard in a way that they might never recover.

Some of these organizations have chosen to let thousands of employees go just to make their numbers better.

And it got me thinking, what if organizations couldn't fire people when the company didn't meet its numbers?

Would they be able to come up with creative solutions to keep those people employed? Would they do things differently?

Cutting employees should always be the company's last resort.

Employees are the greatest asset of organizations around the world.

The Moments That Shaped the CEOs of Honeywell and PTC Oct 26, 2020

Show notes

Jim Heppelmann is the CEO of PTC, a technology software company with 6,500 employees in 30 countries. Jim was named one of "7 IoT leaders to Watch in 2017" by Hewlett Packard Enterprise, he was recognized as "IoT CEO of the Year" by PostScapes, "Technology CEO of the Year" by the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, and he received the CAD Society Leadership Award for his work with the Internet of Things. Together with Harvard Professor, Michael Porter, Jim has co-authored three highly influential articles on the transformational impact of the Internet of Things on business.

David Cote is the former Chairman and CEO of Honeywell and author of the bestselling book, Winning Now, Winning Later: How Companies Can Succeed in the Short Term While Investing for the Long Term. During his time at Honeywell David fixed a toxic work culture and grew the company's market capitalization from around 20 billion to 120 billion, delivering returns of 800%. Currently David is Executive Chairman of Vertiv Holdings Co, a global data center products and services provider. He is a member of the Aspen Economic Strategy Group on Foreign Relations and the Conference of Montreal.

Both Jim and David have had unlikely paths to being the CEOs of two well-established, global companies. Jim grew up on a dairy farm in Minnesota as one of eight children. In college he studied mechanical engineering with an emphasis on computer-aided design.

It was actually one of his older sisters who inspired him to attend college and study to become an engineer in the first place. After she graduated from college and got her first job she was already making as much as their parents, and Jim was amazed by that. So engineering brought him to college, but once he got there he fell in love with computer science. He studied at the intersection of where software meets engineering.

David nearly quit high school, because although he was good at school, he hated it. He ended up sticking with it and became the first one in his family to graduate high school. David was accepted to the University of New Hampshire, but decided he didn't want to pursue college so he went to work as a mechanic with his dad in a small garage.

After that job didn't pan out he went to Michigan to work as a carpenter with his uncle, but learned he wasn't good at that either. So he enlisted in the Navy for six years on a nuclear submarine. The day before he was supposed to swear in he called the chief petty officer and asked what would happen if he didn't show up. And although the chief petty officer made it sound almost impossible to get out of, when David realized cops wouldn't just show up at his door and arrest him, he made the decision not to go.

After that David decided to go to college, but after two years there the Assistant Dean of Students told him he could no longer live on campus because he was too much of a troublemaker. So, needing some money, David decided to get a job working second shift while going to school, which he did for 6 months, when a buddy of his invited David to come work with him on a fishing boat in Maine.

Because he was spending so much time on the boat he ended up doing very poorly in school, so he decided to quit. He ended up getting married and one month later his wife was pregnant with their first child. David says this is the moment he realized he had to do something, he had to get direction and stay focused. He was scared he wouldn't have enough money to raise their child. And from that moment on he had a purpose and a focus that has brought him to where he is now.

David's advice on how to lead in tough times

Leaders today are definitely leading through difficult times, and David has led through his share of challenging times as well. He says one of the toughest times was the great recession of 2008-2009. And he knows how it feels to be in the middle of a crisis and feel like it is the worst one ever. But it is important to realize that while these recessions are unique, there are certain actions that we can take regardless of the situation that can help organizations to survive it.

David's advice for anyone leading in tough times is:

Don't panic
Make sure that you keep thinking independently
Never forget to put the customer first
Be thinking about the recovery even while you're in the middle of the recession

What to do if you feel stuck in your job

Some people may read or hear David's background story of what he went through before he became CEO of Honeywell and they may feel like they are in a similar situation where they feel stuck in a job. Maybe you feel like there is not a clear progression forward in your career. David gives his advice to people in this situation, some things that helped him get to where he is now.

And he breaks this advice up into a few different points. First of all, you have to have performance, and your performance can't just be okay. You've got to be like the top 10%. Where you went to school makes a difference for your first job, after that it is up to how you perform. Be a standout in all you do.

You also need visibility. If you are performing very well, but the person who can do something about your career can't see it, nothing will happen. So make sure you have visibility. But you have to be careful with this one because you don't want to go around tooting your own horn or wearing your ambition on your sleeve. It is a delicate balance.

If you have a boss who doesn't feel that you are performing as well as you think you are, this is where you have to be self aware and figure out is there something you can fix or do you just have a bad boss, which David says happens less often than people think. So learn to be self aware and realize when there is something you need to fix. We all have issues, and it's important to know what they are.

Achieving work-life balance as a CEO

As the CEO of 6,500+ employees, Jim seems very relaxed and happy. He doesn't seem stressed out at all. One thing that has helped him with this a lot is having a work-life balance. He not only leads the organization, but he also makes time to spend time with his family, take care of the animals on his farm, and cook. But that wasn't always the case.

Jim says when he first became a CEO he burned the candle at both ends, he tried to do everything on his own. And overtime he learned that was not sustainable. When sharing what he learned he says, "what I should do is focus my energy where I really bring a lot of value to the table, again, which tends to be around product strategies, marketing strategies, marketing messages, competitive strategies, and so forth. And let somebody else manage the financial plan, let somebody else manage the professional services margins, and things like that because I don't need to do that and I don't bring a tremendous quality to it, you know, nothing super unique or special. And at the end of the day, you've got to pick your battles, there's just not enough time for a CEO to be in charge of everything. So I got a lot happier after I realized I should roll with the punches and just really add value where I think I have the most value to add."

This is such great advice for all CEOs, don't try to have your hand in all the cookie jars. Don't take everything upon yourself and don't think you have to have all the answers. You will get burnt out that way. Surround yourself with people who are good at what you are not good at and rely on them.

Three ways to battle entrenched thinking

No matter what industry you work in, you may find that people around you are entrenched in old ways of thinking, especially if they have been in a certain role for a long time. People don't like change, it's just a fact of life. So how do you change that? Jim has three ways that he battled entrenched thinking inside of PTC when he first joined.

Make change part of your company branding--Create a company culture that likes change. Part of what Jim did to change the culture was he adopted some slogans like Take a Fresh Look. Everything about the company should embrace change and discourage getting complacent.
Lead by example--Live out the values you want to see inside your organization. If you want employees to embrace change, you must first be the one to embrace change. Make sure people know it is not about making one change and then staying there, it is about constant change. The point is to try to be that company who changes all the time, you can't pin them down, because they're too busy changing.
Celebrate change--Recognize individuals who step out and do something different, even if what they tried didn't work.

Jim and David may not have thought about being CEOs growing up and in their early careers, but it goes to show that no matter what your past looks like, you can achieve greatness. Every leader has their own unique path to greatness, every individual has their own unique path, to unlock the potential of who they are. We all deal with our own challenges and obstacles, but it is important to remember that your past does not dictate where you can go and what you can achieve.

If you have a growth mindset, meaning you believe you can continue to grow and develop throughout your life through dedication and hard work, then you can achieve great things.

So what is your story going to look like? I hope these two stories from David and Jim motivate you, inspire you, push you and get you to realize that you can build and shape a future that you want to have for yourself.

What are you doing to push yourself out of your comfort zone? Oct 20, 2020

Show notes

What are you doing to push yourself out of your comfort zone?

Pushing yourself is important because growth only happens when we venture into the uncomfortable. We can't be scared to go there.

The stress, anxiety, awkwardness, and frustration is all temporary. These things exist as a way to challenge you, so you must overcome them.

Nothing worth doing is meant to be easy.

What are you doing to push yourself out of your comfort zone either personally or professionally?

Purpose, Culture, & Leadership: How to Master All Three Oct 19, 2020

Show notes

Steve Bilt is the CEO of Smile Brands, a company with 5,000 employees that provides business support services to over 425 dental offices. Smile Brands has been on Glassdoor's Best Places to Work list three times and Steve is one of the top CEOs on Glassdoor.

Steve was recognized as People Focused CEO of the Year and Healthcare CEO of the Year by American Business Awards. He is also a top rated US Large Company CEO on Glassdoor, Comparably and CEOWORLD Magazine.

Steve was on the founding management team of Smile Brands in 1998. He started as the company's CFO before becoming the CEO a year and a half later. As the CEO he worked hard to build close relationships with the dentists so that he knew what kind of support they really needed. That is what has set Smile Brands apart from other companies, because it allowed Steve to tailor the business model in a way that works at scale with a lot of dentists.

Several other companies who were trying to provide similar services ended up failing, and Smile Brands was able to acquire a few of those companies. From 2003 to 2004 Smile Brands went from 45 locations to over 300 locations.

Smiles for everyone

The mission of Smile Brands is really built on three words--Smiles for Everyone. It is the purpose behind everything they do. Steve really wanted to make sure that every party involved in Smile Brands got a fair deal and was happy with the result. So everyone at Smile Brands is focused on making sure patients, employees, vendors, the community, and the investors all get a fair deal, it is always a win-win for everyone.

Giving an example of this mission Steve says, "I was just on the phone today with someone saying, you know, I'm sensing by your body language, that you feel like this isn't a good deal for you. It's a good deal for us, but if you don't, you shouldn't do this. That's Smiles for Everyone. The guy was like, wow, that is great to hear. And let me clear that up. And as we had a great conversation with that basis, we think that way with all of our employees, our patients and everyone that becomes part of your DNA as a culture."

At one point Steve left the company. He had been the CEO for a while and it was suggested to him that he retire. At the time he took the hint and left. After he left the company the leadership decided to try to move to a more execution oriented model, which was very different from Steve's purpose driven style with focus on direct interaction with the dentists.

The mission statement went from Smiles for Everyone to Give providers and their dental teams the freedom to put patients first so that they can become the most preferred dental office in their community. And while it's not a bad statement, it really did not resonate with the Smile Brands team. Moving from focusing on purpose to focusing on metrics really caused the company to lose its soul and its art.

Steve was actually away for 2 ½ years and he missed the business a lot. But in 2016 he was given back the role of CEO. And as he went around to different locations to meet with employees he realized how much they had been waiting to go back to Smiles for Everyone. In fact he had originally had bracelets made with the phrase on it for everyone to wear. And when he returned he found people pulling the bracelets out of their drawers saying they had been saving them for the day he returned.

Creating a mission that resonates with employees

Anyone can come up with a mission statement or a company purpose that sounds good. But it can't be something that just lives on a wall or in the company handbook. It has to be something that is infused into every aspect of the business.

Steve believes it needs to be something short and catchy that people can remember. It needs to be something that you can evaluate and check in on to see how well the company is living up to it. It has to be something that is living and breathing inside your company.

For example, with the mission Smiles for Everyone, Steve says he uses the phrase in every meeting and he tries to use it in every interaction to show people what it actually looks like to live out the mission.

Steve says, "As soon as you start to lengthen it, to create more explanation for it, you're doing two things, you're making it harder to use. And you're also telling people what the standard of success is. When the point of the mission statement that we have is only you can say what makes you smile in this situation. So I can't put criterion around it to say, well, as long as my lighting is good enough, you're gonna be happy with this interview. As long as my, you know, shirts the right color, I can't put the standards on it. Only you get to judge that. And so that's why I kept it very short, so it was highly subjective. But you as the constituent and me as the constituent would evaluate it qualitatively. That's another thing, which means I have to ask you, if it's working for you, not just hand you statistics and say it is working for you, which is what most businesses do."

Leading through a pandemic

This year has been difficult on so many businesses around the world. And Smile Brands has definitely been impacted by current events. Their business dropped by around 93% in three days when the pandemic first started. Steve and his leadership team knew they had to act fast.

One thing they implemented right away was daily calls for the leadership team. For the first full month of the pandemic the leadership team met every single day Monday to Sunday. And after the first month they eliminated their Saturday and Sunday meetings, but they still meet every Monday through Friday even now, six months into the pandemic.

He also told his leadership team early on, "his is my first pandemic. So I'm probably not going to do it that well. I'll make you guys a promise, my second pandemic, I'm gonna be really good at this." He says it was tongue in cheek, but it also was his way of letting leadership know that they have the freedom to figure out things together as they go. He was telling them none of us have been through this before, so mistakes will be made, and that's okay. None of us should be afraid to fail.

They also did have to furlough 85% of their workforce, which was a really hard decision for Steve and his team to make. But he explained to employees that while it is painful to go through this now, it would be even more painful to go through this and come out the other side and not have a job to come back to.

One of the biggest things they have done to help employees through this tough time is constantly communicating with them. Employees have been kept up to date throughout the entire pandemic so they know what is going on, what to expect, and how to plan for the future.

They also provided webinars and assistance with common issues employees were dealing with, such as how to sign up for unemployment in their area.

Steve says, "We also set in mind a canyon metaphor, not a mountain metaphor, but a canyon metaphor. And the reason the canyon was so important, as we sort of started here, we slid down to the bottom, which could still be a mountain metaphor. But what I wanted people to think about is surviving on that canyon floor during COVID. And then building back to a new place, not climbing back to the old place. So we really reinvented every aspect of our business, while we're on the canyon floor."

The good news is they have started emerging from the canyon floor. They've got 100% of their revenue back and they are starting to hire back their employees.

Steve's advice for leaders looking to be more effective

One of the biggest pieces of advice Steve offers to others looking to be more effective leaders is to find a mechanism as a leader to be wrong. Leadership is not about knowing everything and having all the answers.

He says, "It's not reality, especially today, when things are happening so fast, and short cycle. And oh, by the way, we're in the middle of pandemic and social unrest and everything else. So you know, you're doing a lot more to help people understand how to explore their way to making decisions or to commit to a decision than you are necessarily knowing the answer. So I think that's number one. And so, you know, that thing about that being my first pandemic was a freeing trick, if you will. All of us as a leadership team need to say, hey, don't sweat it. We don't have to be right. We just have to be moving."

Steve believes that one of the most powerful things leaders can do is to say "I don't know the answer to that. Let's figure it out". Growth comes when everyone is questioning things and exploring things together instead of having answers given to them.

How Can You Say No Without Getting in Trouble? Oct 13, 2020

Show notes

I have someone I work with who helps me with content. She assists me with writing course descriptions, research, worksheets for courses, etc.

A year or so ago, I threw a lot of work her way and her response to me was, "How would you prioritize these different projects?". It was her way of saying, "No, I can't do all of this, you need to pick and choose."

It took me a while to realize that what she was really doing was saying no to me, but in a way that didn't cause any tension or friction.

This is much better than saying something like, "Sorry I can't do all of this," or "Sure, I can do it", but then not being able to deliver.

It made me realize that I was indeed throwing too much work at her, and it forced me to think about what projects were important and what could wait.

She still uses this every time we speak--it's an amazing technique that anyone can use. Give it a shot and see what happens!

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