Here is a link to the article I wrote about Starbucks. The article is entitled “Have a Heart.”  It was published in Outlook Business for Decision Makers, a leading business magazine in India. In addition, below are links to three segments of a radio interview I did yesterday morning with Jim Blasingame, host of the nationally syndicated Small Business Advocate program.

The U.S.S. Montpelier Command Philosophy (below) is an outstanding example of values articulated in a clear and compelling way.  Remember that values at their best are a source of pride and guidance for employees.  To be the most effective, values must be communicated in writing and verbally because people usually learn by reading or listening.  A portfolio of simple yet compelling stories should be developed that can be told to help people remember your values.

The USS Montpelier Command Philosophy

Montpelier is a warship, designed to steam into harm’s way and win.  Our flesh and blood bring this ship to life.  We are stewards of one of the most capable warships in the history of mankind.   These thoughts provide a framework for executing that stewardship and for building the teamwork that will enable us to fight and win in war.

Honesty provides the foundation of trust that is essential to teamwork.  I expect and require that you be completely honest in your communication with your shipmates.  I will do the same with you.  At times, this will be painful, but it is extremely important that we have the facts when making decisions and that our relationships are based on mutual trust.  I pledge not to kill the messenger.

Integrity. Do the right thing; don’t take the expedient path.  If you are not sure what the right thing is, and you have the opportunity, ask.  If you can’t, trust your judgment and training.  This requires a great deal of courage, but if you act honestly and faithfully in this regard, you will not be second-guessed.

Teamwork. No ship, department, or division is successful as a one-man show.  Teamwork is the key to success.  Our actions must reinforce this concept.  If you find yourself thinking about a problem in the command and the word “they” pops into your head, think again.  “We” will solve problems together.  I am not one of them and neither are you.

Backup. If you think anyone in the command is asking you to do something that is incorrect or inconsistent with these principles. Stop and ask for clarification and assistance.  Leadership is about setting priorities.  If you have an idea for a better way, suggest it.  My door is always open to discuss your concerns. I trust that you will use the chain of command when possible.

Mistakes. Honest mistakes come with the territory.  I will make some and so will you. The keys to success are establishing enough backups so that we don’t make a critical mistake, and recognizing and learning from the mistakes that we do make.  Your tour will be filled with many ups and downs.  It is not how many times you fall that will determine your success.  Your honesty, integrity, and determination to fight on, will.

Training. We will fight the way we have trained.  Therefore, training is our most important mission in peacetime.  I will probably spend most of my effort in this area.  Training must be operationally oriented and practical.  If the training does not contribute to your ability to do your job, advance, or live your life better, then we should be doing something better.

Initiative. This is our ship to fight and operate. I expect you to think tactically and operationally and to drive the ship aggressively.  When you identify an opportunity or a problem, consider alternative courses of action, then act or tell your boss what you intend to do an why.  Seize the initiative and work to the limits of your authority. I intend to push as much as I can downhill, so that each of you has responsibility commensurate with your ability.  If you can handle more, go for it.

Caring Leadership. Know your people.  Translate your caring into tangible results.  Get them off the ship when you can.  Ensure they are ready for advancement.  Make a difference in their lives.

Standards. The standard is excellence in all we do.  Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is a habit.”  Our reputation is determined in a large part due to how we execute routine evolutions, our personal appearance and the appearance of our ship.  It is the sum of each of our actions.  Set the standard.

Family. Success at work is interwoven with success at home.  I consider it vital that we balance our military duties with our roles in the family.  Take advantage of opportunities to make time for your family and work hard to keep your professional role and your family role in perspective.  It is also important that our families understand the importance of our mission and that we recognize the sacrifices that our family members must make in order to fulfill our duties.  Service is a team effort.  I will make an effort to create a family environment on board and to support our families.  A successful command has a family atmosphere, where every member takes pride in being a part of the team.

Critical Self-Assessment Our ability to improve is dependent on our ability to analyze the causes of our failures and to take action to address those problems.  At times, we will formally critique events.  The intent is to fix the problem, not the blame.  Honesty is critical to this process.

Ambassadors Overseas, we are ambassadors of the United States.  At home, we are representatives of the submarine force, the Navy, and the U.S. Military.  Our behavior and actions should reflect the pride and responsibility we feel as members of an elite military organization.

Personal Development I expect every Sailor to be working towards his personal and professional development and I will support your actions in these areas.

Fun Submarining is an extremely challenging and demanding profession.  At times the hours will be long and the work hard, but it is important that we have fun while fulfilling our responsibilities.

Fitness and Sleep Submarining requires stamina.  Fitness, nutrition and sleep are key to your decision-making.  As General Patten said, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.”  Take care of your body and your mind.  I do not judge you on how long you work or how long you stay awake, but on how effective you are.

Decision-making I will not establish a lot of detailed policies to spell out and legislate decisions on board.  I will balance the long- and short-term needs of each individual, the ship, and the U.S. Navy.  If time allows, I will make every effort to explain my decision, but there will be times when it is not practical and I expect you to trust my judgment.

Equality We swear to support the Constitution of the United States, which states that all men are created equal.  I expect you to treat each of your shipmates, our families and our visitors with dignity and respect.

Service and Reward My ultimate goal is that you consider your service on board the MONTPELIER one of the most rewarding experiences in your life.  This requires that you resolve to better yourself, your ship, your shipmates and your country.  Each night when you go to sleep ask yourself “What have I done today to make myself a better man?  How have I made MONTPELIER a better ship?  Have I been a faithful steward of one of our country’s most valuable assets, this ship and the outstanding Sailors who fight her?”

These are my thoughts, just word on paper.  Our actions together make them a reality and the key to our success.

Note: Jason Pankau and I recently taught a workshop on employee engagement to leaders of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.  While there we recorded a podcast interview with Janis Apted, Associate Vice President for Faculty Development.  You can hear the podcast interview at this link.

My mind must have been on something else as I began to edge out a bit from a side street to make a left-hand turn onto a main thoroughfare.  At the same time, another driver was turning left onto the street I was on. I slammed on my brakes in time. Admittedly, the near miss was my fault and the driver I almost pulled in front of had every right to be upset.  What surprised me, however, was the intensity of his reaction.  He came unglued, turned blood red, repeatedly flipped me off and began spewing expletives and spittle.  The rage on his face is burned in my memory.  I kept an eye on him in my rear view mirror to make sure he wasn’t turning around to come after me.  Fortunately he didn’t.

Why are so many people angry these days?

As you might guess, I have a theory about this. Many people have been chasing the proverbial golden ring for much of their adult lives and it’s not worked out as well as they had hoped.  With the economy continuing to struggle, a lot of people are frustrated. The people I know who are struggling the most are those who are working to feed their desire for more money and/or greater status. The purpose of their work is to serve themselves.

On Wall Street where I spent most of my career, most people are there for the money and status. (I was attracted for those reasons too.) They want to make enough money – frequently referred to as their “number” – so they can eventually quit their jobs and say “adios” to their employers.  In recent years, they feel like they’ve been moving further away from their number and this has left them frustrated and exhausted.  Today, more people on Wall Street are giving up on the Street altogether.  Of those who remain, many of them carry around just beneath the surface what Christian minister and author Rob Bell describes as a “low grade boiling rage.”  Although Wall Street is probably the most extreme, this phenomenon extends to other sectors of the American economy.

In contrast to those who work to serve themselves are the people I know who exhibit joy and contentment in their work in part because they serve a cause greater than themselves.  Their work brings meaning to their lives. My friend Paul Spiegelman is flourishing as the CEO of Beryl Companies, a private company founded by Paul and his two brothers.  Beryl brings goodness into the world by helping hospitals with call center support for doctor referrals and follow-up calls to check on patients who recently underwent treatment.  At Beryl they know they’re doing important work.  They describe their work as “connecting people to healthcare.” They also derive meaning from a corporate culture that treats employees like family.

My friend Rob Mathes is flourishing in part because he brings truth, beauty and goodness into the world through his music.  Over the last year, Rob composed an amazing orchestral work entitled “At Night a Song Is With Me,” co-produced “Symphonicities” with Sting and produced Matthew Morrison’s new CD (and much, much more).

Another friend named Ann is flourishing as she helps bring truth and goodness into to the world through her work as the Chancellor’s Associate for External Relations at a major university.  Ann’s energy is boundless.  In addition to her job responsibilities, she takes an active interest in students and their families. Ann is also a force to be reckoned with when it comes to raising funds to support breast cancer research.  Sometimes I’ve wondered if there are two Anns (identical twins perhaps?).

It’s somewhat ironic that another friend of mine named Traci Fenton is flourishing because she channeled her anger in a constructive way. When Traci was an collegiate exchange student in Indonesia during the end of President Suharto’s dictatorship, government spies overheard her conversation with an Indonesian friend in which views were expressed that were at odds with the Suharto government’s oppressive values. As a result, an Indonesian government thug threatened Traci’s friend and warned him to stay away from her “or else.” When her friend called to say he could no longer see her, Traci was outraged and extremely upset.  She knew this was wrong.  Unfortunately, at the time she could do nothing about it.

Years later Traci went to work for a large company only to learn that it had arrogant, authoritarian leaders who viewed employees-at-large as inferiors.  Being treated that way made Traci feel the same sort of anger she felt in Indonesia.  This time she decided she could do something about it.  She quit her job at the company and founded an organization to bring democratic values to the workplace.    She named it WorldBlu (blue is the color of freedom).

Today, Traci is the CEO of WorldBlu.  She serves a cause greater than self and she’s thriving, experiencing joy and contentment in her work despite the difficult economy, unlike many of my friends who toil away to make their number on Wall Street.

Here’s the point: we are human beings, not machines. Sure, we need money for the necessities of life and it’s nice to enjoy some experiences beyond the necessities but we also need work that is meaningful if we are to flourish over the course of our lives.

So how is your internal temperature?  Are you near a boiling point on a regular basis?

Are you flourishing? Are you spending all of your days serving yourself or are you investing your life in a cause greater than self? Is your work bringing truth, beauty and/or goodness into the world?  If not, can you identify ways to bring truth, beauty and/or goodness to your workplace?  If you conclude it isn’t possible, consider finding volunteer work that does or seek another job where you can do work that brings meaning to your life.  If you’re fortunate, you will find work that is so meaningful and brings such a sense of joy and contentment to your life that you never want to retire.  Imagine that!

Click here to view the embedded video.




Airports can be dull, uninspiring places where it’s easy to drift into a numb, trans-like state of mind. But what if a group of people decided to break through the cacophony of sounds and sights at one of the world’s busiest airports by orchestrating a beautiful symphony of human voices. Thanks to a stunning T-Moble advertisement, we don’t have to imagine what it might look like. Check it out in the wonderful video above.

Watching the video reminded me of the joy people experience when they become engaged in and feel connected to their work. They move from the drone of daily work to a life-giving state where work is like making beautiful music. This only happens when one’s work brings truth, beauty and/or goodness into the world. It is one aspect of the first element in a Connection Culture that we call “Inspiring Identity.” Learn more about Connection Cultures and Inspiring Identity in Fired Up or Burned Out.

One of the relief organizations my wife and I support is World Vision. These people are AMAZING and they do remarkable work that Nicholas Kristoff of The New York Times raved about in a recent column he wrote.

What I love about World Vision is that they are a force for connection.  They connect their employees, volunteers and donors with people in desperate need around the world. The result is a fired up organization that is making a difference.

The last two evenings I served as a volunteer to help out with the World Vision AIDS Experience that is presently in Greenwich, Connecticut through next Sunday. The experience takes you on a journey to see the lives of four African children affected by aids. The stories are both heartbreaking and heartwarming.  Everyone attending said they were moved and inspired.  Many become child sponsors or purchase a kit or bycycle to help one of the 77,000 World Vision Caregivers in 20 countries. (You can learn more about attending at no cost, which I very highly recommend, by clicking here.)

While volunteering, I met Kristin, an enthusiastic, motivated, bright young World Vision employee.   Speaking with Kristen made me see how well World Vision connects its workers and donors with those who are in need, not only financially to meet their needs for clean water, health care and education, but also relationally. Here’s an example.  At the end of the World Vision AIDS Experience, donors can sit down in an area where materials are available to write a letter (or, for very young donors, to color a picture) that is sent to the donor’s newly sponsored child.  Notice in the picture at top, above the young girl writing a letter to her sponsored child is a sign that says “Connect with Your Child.” How great is that!  Our family has connected with our child in Rwanda by periodically writing and sending gifts to her, and we’ve received letters in return.

As you may know, my blog is primarily about the power of connection in organizations and in life as part of what I refer to as a “Connection Culture” that I wrote about in Fired Up or Burned Out. World Vision’s ways are relevant to all organizations, including for-profit corporations. World Vision is more effective because they are intentional about connecting people to a cause greater than self and in doing so the people who are part of World Vision want to give their best efforts and align their behavior with the organization’s goals. Just to mention it, another benefit from connection that accrues to philanthropic organizations was identified in recent research conducted by Indiana University.  The research identified the #1 reason people stop giving to a philanthropic organization is they no longer felt connected.

How is your organization doing connecting your employees and customers to a cause greater than self?  If you don’t know, get some of your most fired up employees together and ask them “when have you felt proud about your organization” and after they tell you ask them to explain “why they felt proud?”. You will hear stories that will help you identify ways you can fire up people by connecting them to a cause greater than self.

Employee Engagement and Connection from David Zinger on Vimeo.

Yesterday David Zinger and I held a webinar on Employee Engagement and Connection.  You can see a recording of the webinar above and here is a link to the slides used during the webinar.

The webinar was hosted by the Employee Engagement Network, a 3,500 member online community founded by David.  It was my good fortune to be the first speaker for the Employee Engagement Network’s inaugural webinar! If you are not a member of the Employee Engagement network already, I want to encourage you to join.  David will be the host for future webinars on employee engagement-related topics that you will not want to miss.

Click here to view the embedded video.



Here is a video from YouTube of a conversation I had about leadership, employee engagement, productivity and innovation with Dr. Homer Erekson, Dean of TCU’s Neeley School of Business.  Our conversation occurred as part of the Tandy Executive Speakers Series.

Check out this great article entitled “Channelling Churchill, Ryan Inspires His Team“ on New York Jets’ football coach Rex Ryan  The article makes several important points that support the conclusion we came to from our research on leaders who produce sustainable superior performance.  Our research concluded that sustainable superior performance comes when leaders develop task excellence and relationship excellence.  Rex Ryan is doing this by connecting with his players on both emotional and rational levels. He connects rationally by communicating and leading his team to implement effective strategy and tactics.  This produces “task excellence.”  Ryan’s passion and authenticity helps him connect on an emotional level.  This helps produce “relationship excellence.” Ryan communicates simple, relevant and memorable themes with phrases such as “burn the boats” and “how dare you?” He tells memorable stories to illustrate his points.

The Jets are a decent team but not a great team, yet.  They just pulled off a big playoff win by defeating the Indianapolis Colts.  Given what I’m seeing, I expect the Jets are on the rise as Rex Ryan and team continue to develop a Connection Culture with Vision, Value and Voice.

Take time to read this thoughtful speech entitled Solitude and Leadership by William Deresiewicz given to this year’s plebe class at West Point. He describes how great leaders develop the courage of their convictions, which includes moral courage. Reflection, time alone with one’s thoughts, interactions with trusted friends and reading great books, as Deresiewicz says, are part of the mix.  What he didn’t adequately include is the impact of one’s experiences in life including one’s family of origin and periods of adversity and suffering that breed humility.  Despite its shortcomings, it’s a fine speech and well worth taking time to read.

Many thanks to David Books of The New York Times for bringing this thoughtful speech to my attention.  Brook’s recognized Deresiewicz’s speech as one of the best pieces of long journalism written in 2010.