Adults only, difficult emotions, and missing skills
"A satisfying conversation is one which make you say what you have never said before" Theodore Zeldin
Adults work here
The absolute worst values statements in organisations are the “Big 4”: respect, integrity, collaboration and innovation. Have you ever seen these before? I thought so.
That’s what makes them bad. They’re not ‘sticky’, they don’t differentiate you, they probably don’t even translate to behaviours that predict the success of your business. Instead, I advocate a creative process that takes contributions both top down (board + executive) and bottom up (staff + customers) and works backwards from an organisation’s purpose, role and strategic directions. (Let me know in the comments if you’d like me to publish what I think are the best values statements I know of).
I was discussing values design with a CEO client who told me something surprising: “I can see that makes sense to other organisations, Andrew. But we only have one value here”.
I was naturally curious to know what it was. He said, "My teams agreed long ago that we only needed one: “Adults work here”.
He explained that when everyone treats everyone else — colleagues and customers — like a grown up, without the infantilising effects of timesheets, codes of conduct, grievance procedures and the like, people just treat everyone the way they want to be treated. To sort out issues, he said, “We just ask, “What would an adult do?”
Question: How could “adults work here” translate to your organisation?
Break room
It’s not every day that I see a business idea that is simultaneously ridiculous but brilliant.
A former business partner, Julie, grew up in the 1950s in country Victoria, where the sole local Anglican priest was a compassionate and mild-mannered man. One quiet early weekday morning, Julie’s father was dropping rubbish at the tip when he heard a loud ruckus behind a dumpster. There he saw the priest, angrily smashing beer bottles and cursing loudly.
Red-faced, he explained what he was doing, “I come here once a week with my empties. As I smash each one, I yell out the name of a parishioner who’s frustrated me this week. There’s nobody I can talk to, so I do it here”.
I recalled Julie’s story when my wife told me about a startup near us, “The Break Room”. Kate’s assistant goes there to have a ‘safe space’ to let off steam and do some ‘guilt-free smashing’. Apparently, it’s more popular with women than men, and with younger more than older people. You can bring your own smashables, or they’ll supply you with crockery, glasses, whatever. Bats supplied too. And, the walls are painted Baker-Miller Pink, a shade used in prisons to calm violent inmates. I can’t wait to try it.
Question: What emotions are too dangerous to display in organisations but need airing?
Unlearned skills
A much younger colleague asked me a great question, ‘What are some critical skills that all executives need but some never learn?” I meet with hundreds of executives every year and have formed my views on this. Here are my top 3.
1. Sales skills
Few people in public value sectors think of themselves as sales people. Yet they’re nearly always selling something: public policy, partnerships, buy-in on investable initiatives, and often services and products. Yet, very few I meet have cut their teeth on articulating benefits (aka value), targeting customers, and cultivating prospects. Today, these sales skills are put to great use 'selling' new thinking, innovations, and change.
2. Presenting skills
Some of the best executives I know possess a strong presence whether they’re with three people, 30 or 300. Yet, I’d rate less than one-third of my clients as excellent public speakers, who can construct a narrative, distill themes and ‘chunk’ a message, and use voice, pacing and tonality to draw people in. This applies whether we're doing it in person, or digitally.
3. Rapport building
When I watch my executive clients engaging with partners, funders, clients, or staff, I frequently notice lapses of attention, clumsy body language, poor listening and reflecting. These are utterly basic skill gaps that, once a person hits the C-Suite are very hard for others to bring to their attention. Today, we're certainly challenged in achieving rapport through a Zoom screen --- but this shouldn’t stop anyone exhibiting the basics.
Question: What critical skills are executives around you missing? If asked, how would others rate your ability on these three?
Do use the questions above to either stimulate your own strategic insights, or those of your colleagues or teams.
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Have a great weekend, and see you next Friday,
Andrew
H Andrew, I visited a hospital in Dallas, Texas last year that had three values, Own it, Seek joy and Don't be a jerk. Makes sense when you give it some thought.
I'd also be interested in your best value statements. I work in a private sector IT culture where infantilising the workforce is almost a mission (under the guise of working to a system). The result sadly but predictably is a collapse of morale, mass resignation of the more talented "adults", and offshoring of the "infants"... but improvements in profit! Our values were pretty much "respect, integrity, social responsibility and excellence" which reinforces the emptiness of such "values" statements.