Archive for the ‘Strategy’ Category
October 17, 2011
All successful people men and women are big dreamers.
They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect,
and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose.
- Brian Tracy
Personal goal setting is the single most important thing you can do to ensure you reach your potential – as a leader and as a person. You need well-defined targets that give you direction and motivation – they are your road map to success, your life’s plan, and your personal guide to the future. Think about it, without setting both personal and professional goals you are following a road with no destination.
In reality, would you set out for an unfamiliar destination with no real idea of how to get there? Probably not! Despite this fact, statistics show that while most leaders have substantial goals in place for their organizations, very few actually have goals in place for their lives.
If you’re one of the 95% of people on this planet who don’t know what their personal goals are (or life’s ambition is) – and as a result still have no idea where your final destination will be – then you should consider creating explicit goals that will drive you to achieve everything you want in life. Goal setting is just a process, but it is a very important and personal process that helps you get what you really want out of life. Many people never take the time to think about what they ultimately want from life… or next week, for that matter. Others dream about where they want to go,
but never develop a map to guide them as to how to get there in an effective, efficient way. Odds are, you fall into one of these two categories…
Throughout history, there is a clear link between people that set goals and people that succeed. This is because personal goals provide a way to define a clear path toward a chosen destination. The old saying that,” people who succeed have goals and people who have goals succeed” is absolutely relevant and true in every society around the world. Establishing personal goals will significantly increase your chance of life happening the way you want it to happen.
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Posted in alignment, Destinations, Development, Leadership, Personal Goal Setting, Planning, Potential, Strategy, Value Creation | Tagged Leadership, Potential, results, success, winning results | 4 Comments »
September 16, 2011
Both the ancient Romans and Greeks called all foreigners “Barbarians”. The North Africans call their mountain people “Berbers”, Arabic for Barbar. The Europeans, until the late 19th century, called everything in North Africa “Barbaria”. The word “barbarian” refers to the uncultured, or those with unrefined communication skills – both explicit and implicit. The way we express ourselves is predetermined by our differing cultures (even if we often do speak the same language). How we communicate ultimately determines how we are viewed as global leaders. Damaging miscommunications can (and do) happen frequently when working across cultures, but they can be avoided if we apply some cultural intelligence to our diverse interactions – in particular, understanding the differences between high and low context communications and leveraging both for personal and organizational gain.
High Context cultures communicate meaning not only with words, but with voice, tone, body language, facial expressions, eye contact, speech patterns, and the use of silence. Words play a relatively small part in the overall meaning of the communication, and the context conveys the bulk of the information. People in high-context cultures, such as Asia and South America, tend to take time getting to know one another, providing for an understanding of the broader context of a conversation. This results in knowledge of what to expect, what signals to look for, and how to interpret subtle signs or expressions – fewer words need to be said.
Low Context cultures are expecting explicit communications. People want detailed background information before making a decision, however they are generally unaware of subtle nonverbal signals going on around them. Documents and contracts are not taken seriously unless written or signed – details must be provided. For example, in the United States and Germany (both low-context cultures), contracts with numerous explicit clauses are a normal way to conduct business and the written word is taken quite literally. In low-context cultures, expect detailed documentation – thorough job descriptions, detailed accounting, and lengthy business planning documents. The devil is in the detail.
When communications become challenging, it can be tempting to access your “barbarian-reflex”, especially when messaging becomes unclear. But, as you can imagine, it is completely ineffective to view your colleagues, staff, or even clients as “foreign” or “unrefined” simply because they do not communicate as you do. If you are motivated to communicate effectively on a global, multi-cultural level, you will need to invest in building trust – the more you come to know someone, the less you tend to look upon him or her as a “barbarian”.
If your purpose is to ensure your colleagues and staff reliably implement to your specifications across the globe, the strategy you choose will vary depending on the cultural orientations you are working across. In those high-context cultures, your strategy will need to be relationship and trust based and may not be explicit – more soft-skills based and time intensive. In low-context cultures the purpose of communication is to transfer information and your strategy will need to be explicit, efficient, and detailed in order to ensure the correct implementation. A sound strategic approach that is rooted in cultural orientation will be imperative to your overall success in the global organization.
As a global leader, everything you do conveys a message. Leveraging high-context and low-context cultures means relying on both implicit and explicit communication – carefully ensuring that what you say (low-context) is always mirrored by what you do (high-context). When there is alignment, you automatically build trust across all cultures and your strategic approach becomes less diverse by nature – your message becomes stronger, and you can more readily achieve your global organizational goals, exceeding everyone’s expectations.
Please feel free to contact me at Sheri.Mackey@LuminosityGlobal.com or by visiting our website atwww.LuminosityGlobal.com. Be sure and check in next Thursday as we begin a series on Leadership Lessons From Around The World!
Posted in alignment, Communication, Cross-cultural, Culture, Global, Global Culture Series, Global Leadership, International, Leadership, Multicultural Teams, Multinational, Strategy, Team Building, Value Creation, Who's The Barbarian? | Tagged communication, Cultural Orientation, global alignment, global business, Global Leadership, Global teams, influence, intercultural teams, winning results | Leave a Comment »
September 1, 2011
Globalization and rapidly changing technology continue to sweep the world. Organizations working across international and cultural boundaries face significant challenges as they seek to reach and maintain market leadership – however, inherent in those challenges are often unrealized opportunities. One such opportunity, Multicultural teams, offers a wealth of leverage to the discerning global leader. Our research repeatedly identifies the following advantages when multicultural teams are leveraged effectively:
- Global economies of scale and scope are realized
- Effective global learning & knowledge transfer takes place
- Global strategic capabilities are enhanced
- More innovative products and services are developed
- Better understanding of customers across multiple geographies is achieved
- Strong cultural intelligence fostering competitive advantage is accomplished
In today’s complex global marketplace, success depends on a company’s ability to work effectively across different geographical locations and cultures in order to drive innovation and capture market share. Leaders must go beyond motivating people from very different cultural backgrounds, experiences and leadership styles – they must create an environment that facilitates multicultural teams to collaborate effectively across boundaries and borders. There is simply no better better way to understand and strategically exploit the global marketplace.
The truth is that most organizations under-utilize their multicultural teams as strategic assets. When properly developed, such teams contribute significantly to the growth and success of the organization and to its bottom line. In fact, multicultural teams are one of the most consistent sources of competitive advantage for any organization who deploys them – they are effectively the bridge between the workplace and the marketplace.
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Posted in alignment, Communication, Cross-cultural, Culture, Development, Global, Global Culture Series, Global Leadership, Innovation, International, Leadership, Multicultural Teams, Multinational, Planning, Potential, Resources, Strategic Planning, Strategy, Team Building, Uncategorized, Value Creation | Tagged alignment, challenge, communication, complexity, global alignment, global business, Global Leadership, global organizations, Global teams, intercultural teams, Leadership, Potential, Strategic Planning, success, synergy, transformational management, winning results | Leave a Comment »
August 26, 2011
“Think Global/Act Local” was based on acculturation: Customizing products and services for regional consumption in accordance with the local language, currency, culture and regulatory climate. Not surprisingly, localization encouraged each country of operation to develop its own customized solutions and operational procedures. This has resulted in data silos around the world and companies operating with huge information blind spots across the spectrum. It can take weeks, even months, to collect, reconcile, translate and analyze regional performance – much less consolidate a global view of the corporate picture.
In addition to the above issues, business today is facing new challenges, and I do not believe the statement “Think Global, Act Local” actually holds true anymore. There is an under-acknowledged reality in global organizations today: easier access to international markets is creating limitless sales opportunities on a worldwide basis, but is also creating numerous challenges in how those products and services are presented in local markets. Escalating costs and increased competition are also placing companies under increasing pressure to improve innovation and raise shareholder value – on both the global and local levels. The new reality is that companies must think and act both global and local simultaneously.
Globalization requires common business practices and processes across the enterprise. The challenge is to reengineer processes to be globally efficient, yet locally accountable. A multinational company may have global processes, policies, and procedures, however they must still adhere to in-country requirements set by foreign governments, as well as honor the business traditions, etiquette and customs which are the underpinning of successful and long-term relationships in the local markets. The goal, therefore, is to establish shared services and global practices, which simultaneously have the flexibility and robustness to meet local market criteria, while leveraging the power of the global market.
However stringently a global corporate culture is imposed, to gain a true competitive edge it is critical to be able to implement effective global solutions with the flexibility of a local interpretation. However, determining the local subset of required functionality is not for the faint-hearted. In-country offices will defend every aspect of their local operation as essential. In reality, it will be a mix of real and manufactured needs that the discerning global leader will be required to effectively evaluate and strategically calculate in order to determine the method of change to be employed.
If put into perspective, global is about the size and strength of a business. Local is about the people the business touches – where they live and work, how they think, what they value, and what moves them to action. Acting local demonstrates a respect for local perspectives, priorities and traditions and demonstrates an understanding of how to compromise to bridge the gap and create an environment where both global and local thinking are simultaneously integrated into the fabric of the global organization.
Locally effective global businesses take into consideration how local attitudes and behaviors differ from those of the company’s home country and other local markets and create a puzzle that fits nicely together – all the pieces are different, but interconnected. Something as simple as observing local seasonal or religious holidays when timing the launch of a new global product can have a direct impact on the success or failure of the campaign.
If global is seeing the forest, then local is tending the trees. With only a view of the forest as a whole, it is possible to overlook the trees that need attention. Up close, it is easy to focus on the detailed care of each tree, but lose sight of its place in the overall forest. Balancing both viewpoints is critical to keeping both the trees and forest healthy. Global Corporations are like a forest – a sum of its parts – consistent, meaningful and effective local practices must contribute to the success of the whole.
You can contact me at Sheri.Mackey@LuminosityGlobal.com or by visiting our website at www.LuminosityGlobal.com. Check back next Thursday for the next installation on Global Leadership Across Boundaries & Borders.
Posted in alignment, Cross-cultural, Culture, Global, Global Culture Series, Innovation, International, Leadership, Planning, Potential, Resources, Strategy, Uncategorized, Value Creation | Tagged alignment, challenge, competitive advantage, global alignment, global business, Global Leadership, global organizations, intercultural teams, Lead Creatively, Leadership, Potential, Strategic Planning, transformational management, winning results | Leave a Comment »
June 9, 2011
Some confrontation at work is expected, however if there are individuals in your organization with Chronic Confrontationitis, it’s up to you, as a leader, to protect your organization. Those afflicted by the disease separate people from general information, social situations, peers, tools to do their job, affection and admiration, as well as hard earned acknowledgement and praise. They actively create a culture where people feel “less than”, causing both emotional and physical stress. Without the acquisition of effective strategies to combat Chronic Confrontationitis, competent employees may damage their careers or become so uncomfortable with the conflict in the environment that they opt out all together.
If you, or individuals within your organization, are impacted by someone with Chronic Confrontationitis, there are several things you may want to consider:
- Don’t take it personally. Avoid becoming self-critical or becoming isolated. Cronic Confrontationitis is about the bully, not the target. There is nothing you could have done to deserve this behavior.
- Understand the circumstances. Even if you know historically that the individual is afflicted with Chronic Confrontationitis, give the initial benefit of the doubt. Ask the individual to clarify the intention of their confrontational approach.
- Don’t ignore the confrontation. Call it out. Point out what the afflicted individual is doing that is offensive and notify this person that you will not put up with it in the future. By calling the conduct into question, you’re putting the person on notice. Maintain your position and by the second or third attempt, the diseased individual will tire of spinning his wheels and move on to another target.
- Confront the offender in a professional manner. Don’t sink to their level. Stay as calm as possible. Chronic Confrontationalists are looking for a reaction and it will encourage them to come back for more.
- Listen to what the infected individual has to say – especially when they become aggressive, intimidating or hostile. Get their attention by starting your sentence with their first name, and keep direct eye contact. If they cannot control their behavior, give them time to cool off and suggest another meeting time.
- Respond appropriately. Sometimes the offense cannot be smoothed over with a clever tactic. You must respond to the individual in an assertive manner. Bullies don’t expect direct comebacks, which is why they take more liberties in what they say to those they expect compliance from. Most people avoid the toxic individuals or soften their response so as not to offend the offender — which weakens their credibility. Keep the response brief and pointed, in a tone that is authoritative and controlled.
- Remember you have choices. Many excellent employees leave organizations which allow Chronic Confrontationitis to run rampant. You don’t have to tolerate a hostile work environment. Knowing you have choices and investigating your options will give you strength. Remember, Chronic Confrontationitis is not about you. It’s about the afflicted person and his personality problems.
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Posted in Chronic Confrontationitis part 2, Communication, Danger Series, Development, Global Leadership, Leadership, Planning, Strategy, Team Building, Value Creation | Tagged alignment, challenge, Change Management, communication, Leadership, organizational insight, Strategic Planning | 1 Comment »
June 2, 2011
Is there someone at work who seems intent on drawing others into a state of constant confrontation? Does he belittle, embarrass or even disrespect people on a regular basis in order to goad them into engaging him? Maybe he is overly critical or micromanaging, attempting to intimidate or control everyone in his path? If this behavior is blatant and habitual, this person is likely afflicted with a dangerous and difficult to cure disease – Chronic Confrontationitis.
An individual with Chronic Confrontationitis is persistent in his attempts to force others to comply with his will. His methods are subtle – disguised with all the right behaviors. People respect and trust him, and he quietly betrays their trust whenever necessary to fuel his addiction. He must always be right, using confrontation to prove his point because, to him, the end always justifies the means. And if he is particularly good at this, no one except his targets notice the betrayals. In some lethal workplaces, he may survive for years, or even become a high-level executive.
To make matters worse, our chronic confrontationitis victim usually has the dedication, focus and business acumen to create success, or at least the appearance of success. He is held up as an example of a company-centric leader, despite his underhanded tactics and inability to lead. He is rewarded, while the frustration builds among the targets of his bullying, intimidating, backstabbing and manipulating behavior.
A skilled, clever victim of the disease displays an elaborate, complex set of behaviors to exploit people around him and draw them into open confrontation. Habitual patterns of intentional, socially inappropriate behavior are indicative of the disease, including the subtle tactics of deceit, distortion, misrepresentation and misdirection.
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Posted in alignment, Chronic Confrontationitis part 1, Communication, Development, Education, Global Leadership, Leadership, Planning, Strategy, Team Building, Value Creation | Tagged challenge, Change Management, communication, Game Changing Future, Global Leadership, influence, Leadership, Potential, results, winning results | 1 Comment »
May 12, 2011
Leadership Laceration is a common disorder found when people complain about the leadership that has been placed over them. This is not only harmful to the leader, but it can be fatal for the group. The symptoms can be difficult to detect and are often mistaken for benign interactions. Those without a strong immune system can easily become victims, often unable to differentiate antagonism from healthy criticism. This condition is highly contagious and anyone found to have the symptoms should be quarantined right away…
All kidding aside, those individuals who choose to verbally lacerate leadership can be a serious threat to organizational alignment and morale. Because neither employees nor organizations are immune to employees with the propensity to lacerate leadership, you will need to be aware of the signs, symptoms and impact of leadership laceration.
It is your job, as an organizational leader, to create an environment where brilliant people of all backgrounds, personality types, and work styles thrive. Companies where smart people with diverse backgrounds and work-styles can succeed have significant advantages over those that don’t. However, sometimes really smart employees develop agendas other than doing what is in the best interest of the company. Rather than identifying weaknesses, so they can be overcome, these employees look for faults in leadership to build their case. The smarter the employee, the more destructive this type of behavior can be. Don’t underestimate the fact that it takes a really smart person to seriously lacerate leadership – otherwise, nobody listens.
It can be very difficult to amend the behavior of these smart, but destructive, employees. Once an individual takes a public stance, the social pressure to be consistent is enormous. If he tells his closest colleagues that the CEO is an incompetent, reversing that position will cost him a great amount of credibility the next time he slashes away at the leadership team. Most people are not willing to take the credibility hit.
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Posted in Communication, Cross-cultural, Danger Series, Global Leadership, Leadership, Leadership Laceration, Resources, Strategy, Team Building | Tagged challenge, Change Management, communication, complexity, Global Leadership, Global teams, Leadership, organizational insight, Potential, transformational management | Leave a Comment »
March 22, 2011
It is inevitable – change creates drama in most organizations. However, you have a choice as to whether you deal with change effectively or let it spiral out of control - controlling you and creating unnecessary drama! Leaders need to be able to present a unified vision and convey support if they expect their people to embrace change. Indifference can lead to a rapid demise of the change effort. As a leader invoking change, make sure you provide:
- A vision for how the change will impact the individual, team, division and organization
- A firm commitment to change goals, while accepting input on the details
- Specific, achievable objectives along with plans for achieving them
- A roadmap for success with realistic timelines, budgets, and owners
- A communication framework to support change adoption
- Opportunities for people to give feedback during and after the change
Admittedly, organizational change is complex, but we often make it harder on ourselves than it has to be. Just as in the board game Clue, it is easy to engage in false assumptions that can lead our people down the path of suspicion and drama – away from the truth and the ultimate win. The result? A whole lot of ambiguous thinking regarding the application of structured, human-focused, change within the organization.
Here are just a few examples of how we can easily fall victim to false assumptions over our own realities:
People Resist Change: Actually, not always. People frequently seek out drastic changes in their lives and voluntarily embrace them. People do, however, resist being forced to change.
How change is presented and managed will impact its success or failure far more than the change itself. Most of us respond far better to change when we comprehend a valid reason for it – without solid justification, most people are likely to resist anyone who tries to force change upon them… and cause drama along the way.
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Posted in alignment, Change, Communication, Global Leadership, Leadership, Part 1, Potential, Save The Drama Series, Strategic Planning, Strategy, Team Building, Uncategorized, Value Creation | Tagged Change, Change Management, complexity, Execution, global alignment, Global Leadership, influence, Leadership, Potential, results, Strategic Planning, success, synergy, transformational management, Unity of Purpose, winning results | Leave a Comment »
March 5, 2011
You can bet that if you do not set and manage expectations, drama will invite itself in for an extended visit. When people do not know what is expected, they will create their own expectations – and they most likely will not align across the organization. Disagreements and controversy ensue, causing chaos and distraction from driving positive results. While setting and managing expectations may seem time consuming, the cost – in time, effort, and drama – of not doing so far exceeds that of being responsible and clearly letting people know what you expect of them.
Before you, as a leader, can hold people accountable for outcomes, you have to let them know what success looks like and what you expect to see as a result of their efforts. If everyone knows what is expected, the focus is on driving for results and monitoring against set standards. The benefit of setting and managing expectations is twofold:
- Clear, concise expectations drive actions and decisions.
- Explicit expectations are a primary driver of success.
If you fail to create an environment where expectations are well understood and respected by your people, you are highly unlikely to develop a high-performing organization… or deliver strong business results.
Expectations are like the rules in the board game Sorry! When everyone knows the “rules” or “expectations”, some may try and cheat (like my husband, who can’t stand to lose), but the other players will hold the cheater accountable. When no one knows the rules, it is impossible to be accountable, much less hold anyone else accountable to anything. Organizations are no different – if you want your players to know how to play to win and hold others accountable, you are responsible for setting and managing expectations.
When setting expectations, consider these four principles:
1. Clarity
Expectations should focus on outcomes, not activities. Leaders often make the mistake of attempting to direct the process that will be used, rather than focusing on the desired outcome. As a leader, you should be responsible for identifying the goal, while the employee (or the team) is then responsible for developing how to meet or exceed expectations.
2. Relevance
Relevance helps define the “why” of what is expected. If employees have complete understanding of the importance of what they are asked to deliver, they will be more committed to the result because they see how it fits into the big picture, as well as how their efforts impact the company.
3. Simplicity.
Simplicity creates a sense of grounding for both individuals and teams. If you identify what is expected in simple, straightforward terms, there is a clear understanding of exactly what is expected.
4. Consistency
After setting expectations, you must maintain a consistent approach to managing expectations that can be applied in most situations. This facilitates a sense of unity and equality, and will bolster morale across the organization.
Now, let’s consider three important components to managing expectations:
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Posted in alignment, Communication, Education, Global Leadership, Leadership, Managing Expectations, Multicultural Teams, Planning, Resources, Save The Drama Series, Strategic Planning, Strategy, Team Building, Value Creation | Tagged alignment, communication, complexity, global alignment, global business, Global Leadership, Global teams, influence, Leadership, organizational insight, Potential, Rapid Result Initiatives, results, Strategic Planning, success, synergy, Unity of Purpose, winning results | 1 Comment »
February 24, 2011
Gossip is as old as mankind, and if you have drama in the workplace – you more than likely have gossip. They can be found in nearly every workplace, these conspiratorial conversations that are more often than not unverified, unsubstantiated, and occasionally unseemly. It can be the type of chatter that can appear, at face value, as harmless speculation or good-natured teasing, but if left unchecked, has the potential to severely impact your ability to generate positive business results. Leaders need to recognize that gossip can have a profound effect on their bottom line, and that not having a strategy to handle it could be a recipe for disaster.
It may sound like a harmless, unavoidable by-product of corporate life, but left unchecked, gossip can wreak havoc on company morale and efficiency. A negative work environment is a less productive work environment. Gossip can create an uncomfortable atmosphere – not only for the person the gossip is about, but for everyone in the workplace.
Gossip can often become likened to the old childhood game of “Telephone”, where one person starts the spread of information, and by the time it reaches the last person, it has evolved and changed into something entirely different. Some gossip may have truth to it, while other information carried on the gossip relay may be false. Either way, gossip is a harmful means of communication and should be avoided.
Here are just a few destructive results of gossip in the workplace:
- Wasted time and lost productivity
- Severe erosion of trust and morale
- Hurt feelings and the possibility of reprisals
- Miscommunication leading to conflict, missed opportunities or misinformation
- Heightened fear or falsely raised expectations
- A “toxic” work environment
Now that you understand the serious impact that gossip can have, what can you do about it? First, you need to understand that you are not likely to completely eliminate it. However, you also need to understand that how an organization deals with habitual gossip can be mean the difference between growing and thriving… or disintegrating from within. Understanding the effect it has on achieving your organization’s goals and objectives, your goal should be to limit gossip to the greatest extent possible. Below are some tips for controlling gossip in the workplace:
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Posted in Communication, Education, Gossip, Leadership, Planning, Save The Drama Series, Strategy, Team Building, Value Creation | Tagged alignment, challenge, communication, Global teams, influence, Leadership, Organizational Politics, Potential, results, synergy, transformational management, Unity of Purpose, winning results | Leave a Comment »
