To Stand Alone and Risk Looking Ridiculous

When I had some medical challenges earlier this year and had to have surgery, I wasn't worried, not at first.  I'd put away money for just such a thing.   Like a good soldier, I had my surgery, recovered, and went back to work.

It was while I was building my clientele back that I understood for the first time that I had crossed some invisible line.  I realized that:

• I do coach my clients, but I can not define myself as simply a coach, not anymore
• I do consult with my clients but I would never want to be classified with the likes of the McKinsey's
• What I do and how I do it is very different than anything that has been tried in the past, and
• I've gone to the very edge of my comfort, that place on the ancient maps that says, "Beyond here th'er be dragons!"

In the midst of this discomforting insight, a family member asked me, "Why?  Why do you keep going? You don't have anything to prove. It wouldn't be a failure.  Just let it go.  Come back to the East Coast.  Get a job here, any job."

In an instant, every moment I have ever failed flashed through my head and with brilliant searing clarity, I realized that failure wasn't even possible. 

The secret is out.  MacGregor, Schein, Csikszentmihalyi, they started it.  And these leaders, all have lead the way: Tony Hsieh, John Mackey, Tim Ferriss, George Zimmer, Roxanne Emmerich, Tony Schwartz, Stephen M. Covey, Christine Comaford-Lynch, Keith Ferrazzi, Bill George, Hazel Henderson, Sarano Kelley, Tim Sanders, Casey Sheahan , Vicki Robin, Shai Agassi, Ping Fu, Lance Secretan, Tami Simon, Randy Komisar, Chip Conley, Juanita Brown, Richard Barrett, Lisa Nirell, Srikumar Rao, Bo Burlingham, Bettie Spruill, Paul Spiegelman, Marcia Wieder, Alan Gregerman, Kellie McElhaney, Chester Elton, Monika Broecker, Ari Weinzweig, Ahmed Rahim, Jeff Hayzlett, Simon Sinek, Raj Sisodia.

And me! I have added my piece - Transforming the human side of enterprise is one of the four components of creating sustainability.  People, planet, profit and purpose, the quadruple bottom line, all connected. 

Failure isn't possible simply because I am in too much good company. But something else nagged at me.  Why don't I just quit?  And the answer came:

.... because I'm still afraid.

In 1999, I raised my hand timidly at Columbia Business School and asked my professors, "In what class will we learn how to get along with each other and work together?"

Complete silence.  Then one of the academic supervisors said, "HR is next semester."  Everyone laughed. Except me. I didn't get it.  Where were the 'people' people? But, I tucked my head and went back to coloring inside the lines.

It's been twelve years since that day.  And I've picked at this scab every day, chipping away at the idea that how people work in a business is just as important if not more important than how the business itself works. 

I've heard it said that 'to stand alone and risk looking ridiculous' is the measure of a true leader. Until last Thursday I was uncertain of my leadership status.  

At the Boeing Auditorium at the University of Washington, I stood alone and said, "Ten years from now, not a single company or enterprise will exist without a Chief Culture Officer, a Director of Culture, or even simply named, the 'people' people."

I suppose I can quit now. 

Nah.

Culture is Contagious

I get alot of skepticism in the work I do.  People often ask me how my work is any different from the big OD firms, from the McKinsey's, and whether I really believe that culture can be changed. 

There are so many things I feel and think when I get this question.  The biggest thought that flashes through my mind is, 'my goodness, what are these other consulting firms doing wrong?'  (joking!)

But let's go with the flip side, 'what am I doing right?'

It starts with the belief that culture is contagious.  It is the easiest thing in the world to catch and the simplest to change.  There are no excuses for a rotten culture.     

Think of it like this.  I'll use the analogy of taking a trip to a foreign country.  Say for instance, you're going to France and Italy; you'll be there for three weeks.  You've read up on all the places you'll be visiting, and even know a few phrases in the native tongue to get you by.  You start your trip in the French countryside, greeted every morning with fresh baguettes coming into the house, still warm.  On the fourth day of your trip, you start to notice that you use your hands more expressively. You laugh at yourself and your partner laughs too!  By the time you get to Italy, you're saying, "mangia!!!," with both your hands flying in the air as if they were the ones doing the talking.  How did this happen?

Culture is contagious.  In any single moment, we can catch it.  When we choose to willingly put ourselves in a place we want to be, and we open ourselves up to the experience, we're likely going to catch something, something really good.   It could be a new way of seeing and being, a new approach or attitude, a new skill.  If we're open to possibilities and patient with the process, 'catching a culture' can be an exhilarating experience.

But there's a catch to catching a culture.  Like any contagion, there needs to be a consistent vehicle. 

That vehicle is called 'climate.' Climate is the weather, the temperature around the table. It's our attitude, our thoughts, and our behaviors.  It can be that big wind blowing on the other side of the conference room or the hot air coming from our colleague to the left. 

This is climate. It is everything we do and everything we don't do. Each one of us.  Everyday. Shift these, the attitudes, the behaviors, the expectations, and we shift our climate.  Do this consistently, and we shift our culture. 

So back to the question posed at the beginning:  what is different about my work and why does it seem to be so successful? 

I work with the climate, not the culture.  Day in, day out, I sit with my clients and their leadership teams and I notice each person. Here are just a few examples of what I might notice:

• I notice silence from the team member who is most experienced with an application
• I notice vocal ambiguity from a high performer
• I notice disagreement from the team member who consistently fights against and rarely fights for.

Hundreds of factors affect climate.  Most are unconscious, and once brought into awareness, dissipate. And that's my job, without judgment or blame, I bring attention to these small opportunities for change.  And each small change adds up to a collection of days and weeks and months of climate change that then tips the balance, and shifts the culture.

My work is successful because the people I work with invite me in.  They are committed to catching a culture of balance, harmony, sustainablility, and prosperity.  Many of them tell me that somewhere in the back of their minds is a little voice asking, "Am I contagious today?"

A Message to New Leaders

Just caught myself out.

I read an article about Gen Y'ers.  The article made the assertion that this group of individuals has a particularly egregious trait.  The article suggested that all Gen Y'ers are narcissists.

I kept reading because I was intrigued. I wanted to know what the author meant by 'narcissist.' And I wondered if it was possible to so stereotype a group of people.  I noticed too how irritated I was.  Now that's weird - it was just an article.

Reading further, I found no definition of narcissism.   Hmmmm.

Then I asked myself if it even made sense that 10, 20 and 30 yr olds were narcissists? Under the literal definition of that word, we would have a ton of insecure people running around, either trying to get attention or avoiding it, with lots of carnage strewn everywhere.  Emphasis on the last part of that sentence..carnage everywhere. 

A quick study of narcissists reveals that they have no real empathy for others.  They experience the world as being completely about them because they are afraid they aren't good enough. When they get information in their surroundings that would suggest they, in fact, are wrong, bad, or not good enough, they react, often poorly, not being able to tolerate the implications. Some lash out at those around them; others lash out at themselves with self-critical analysis.  Both judge the situation as unfair and view themselves as victims. 

Now doesn't that sounds suspiciously like another group?  Maybe that's why they also call Gen Y'ers, the Echo Boomers.  I come from the tail end of the Baby Boomer generation.  We were once the poster children for self-absorbed, it's-all-about-me, behavior.  Get rich, do it now, go-go-go, more-more-more.  We defined 'societal civilized narcissism.' And it appeared to work for our generation .......for about 25 years.

Then the tendency to go too far started to show up.  As in too far economically. Too far environmentally. The presence of predatory capitalism emerged. Our financial system is collapsing.  Our environment is struggling.  25% of American children are starving.  Talk about carnage everywhere.

HBR ran the article about Gen Y's being narcissists. I was irritated that such an esteemed institution of learning wants to pawn off our mistakes and challenges on a group of 20 - 30 year olds.

That's when I realized I was irritated at myself.  

I am responsible.

I am a part of the whole that created the system we have right now.  Because I lacked empathy and courage, I was a bystander as we let our natural systems be corrupted.

And, I am also response-able.  With awareness of who and what I really am, I can shift my thinking and my behavior.  I no longer wish to be a bystander, one of the 'scribes' that comes down from the hills after the war is waged and shoots the wounded. 

As a new leader, please do consider that you are response-able, too.  Lean into the challenge of change. Let empathy and courage lead the way.

What is the human side of enterprise?

I am always grateful for this question when it comes up.  The human side of enterprise is any gathering of people for a specific purpose.  That's it.  It's not more complicated than that. 

(And if you believe that I have a bridge in...:)

Let's give this a go and take a look at the parts.  At the macro level, the enterprise is the business; at the micro level, the enterprise is a meeting, as in a leadership team meeting, a board meeting, and so on.

The purpose of the gathering is the "IT" - the driving force behind why we showed up in the first place.  At the business level, the IT or ITS (plural) is to be, do or have the mission of the business; at the meeting level, the IT is to discuss objectives, goals, make decisions, and share knowledge.

The human side of the gathering is the "WE." At the business level, it is every member of the team, including the Board, and all the stakeholders, customers, suppliers, community, and so on.  At the meeting level, it is every "I" that forms the WE.

In the past 100 years, we've studied the IT.  We get IT.  The purpose of a business, the business plan, the mission, the value statements, the process and systems, the strategy, we've got reams of research on the IT. We also have vaults of information on the WE, the organizational behavior, dynamics, and development side of enterprise. We're good to go on this end too.

It is only when we begin to discuss the "I" that forms the "WE" that we realize we've got nothing, nada.  Grasping air.

Here is a clear illustration of what I mean.  Phil Jackson, coach of the Chicago Bulls, said to Michael Jordan once:  "There is no 'I' in team."  To which Jordan famously quipped, "There is in WIN." 

Turns out they were both right.  Jordan was a forward guard for the Chicago Bulls; this was his role.  By the time the Bulls were winning the NBA Championships, you noticed the subtle, almost graceful choreography of all the players, Scottie Pippin, Bill Cartwright, John Paxson. Jordan evolved his role into a careful complement of his teammates' roles.

Jordan perfected the "I" in time to recognize the undefeatable advantage of the perfected WE.

Now you understand the human side of enterprise - its domain is every "I" that forms the "WE." It is not the accountant, the assistant, the human resources manager, the head of operations, the IT guy, in isolation.  These are roles. They have siloed organizations and individuals for decades. This separateness is ending.  We're returning to cohesive, participative interaction, and our leadership styles are following in step.

Working on the human side of enterprise dives deep into how the whole person works in the business and then, with constant practice, evolves his/her excellence into a contribution of greatness. 

And that is the work I do - every "I" that forms the "WE."

Someone @'d me today.

Very funny moment today. 

And now for a break from our regular programming to bring you this really funny moment.

I was tweeting with power and vigor.  I had just finished watching my 85Broads virtual panel on Twitter, and I felt informed and ready.  I can do this!  Still a little unsure why, but what they hey! I'm game.  Let's give this a whirl.

Tweet, tweet, tweet.  Wahoo.  25th tweet, 54th tweet, look at me go.  I'm a veteran, with each key stroke, feeling more confident.

And then it happened.

"@kelleengriffin, can we interview you?"

OMG, I was @'ed.  Someone @ me!

Now what do I do?

This is the moment when I usually hear Elmer Fudd in my head saying, "be werry, werry quiet, we're wabbit hunting!"

These newfaggled thingamaggigs made we wonder what executives all over the world must feel like as technology zooms forward.  There is an APP for everything these days - there is a new gadget that goes with said APP, and another gadget, and another. Do we feel vulnerable?  Does the speed of change invigorate us or shut us down?

I hope it's the former.  All I can say is jump in, the water's warm, and the ride is pleasant.  Our brains' like learning new things, and it's fun to show our willingness to step into the new, model the surprise and challenge, and marvel at our own reactions to growing new skills.

Banner day for me.  Turns out you can teach an old dog, a few new tricks!