Michael Lee Stallard

The writer Jeff Benedict just emailed me some beautifully written and wise words he posted on his blog about staying connected with his son.  I hope you’ll take the time to check it out at this link.

Most leaders can learn an important lesson from the RAs at TCU who are creating a sense of community in the residence halls on campus.  You can read about it in this excellent article entitled “Culture of Caring.”  The article makes an important point that creating a sense of community requires intentionality. Daniel Terry, TCU’s director of Community Renewal, puts it this way:

“We’re trying to create whole people here at TCU. [TCU has always had an emphasis on personal attention and mentoring relationships.] We’re implementing Community Renewal at TCU because, like all communities, there needs to be some intentionality around relating to the people around you.  Where there is no intentionality, people tend to take relationships for granted.”

So true.

In this blog, I consistently describe new research and case studies that collectively prove beyond any reasonable doubt that connection = flourishing and life and disconnection = disfunction and death.  This applies to both individuals and organizations.  (For additional information on Connection Cultures read the Connection Culture Manifesto or my book Fired Up or Burned Out.)  That’s why I’m excited about what I saw at TCU last week when I spoke on campus and met with university administrators, faculty and students.  TCU’s motto is “learning to change the world.”  By developing citizens who value connection and community and know how to create it, TCU will indeed be living up to its aspiration.  This comes at an important time given that the emotional health of many college students is at a low. With 75 percent of American workers not feeling connected to their supervisors or colleagues at work — and, as a result, not giving there best efforts — American business leaders need to learn a lesson from these RA’s who value connection and are intentional in bringing it about.

Congratulations to SAS Institute for being recognized the second year in a row as #1 on Fortune magazine’s 100 Best Places to Work list. Last year I met with Jim Goodnight, SAS Institute’s founder and CEO, to learn more about his leadership and SAS Institute’s culture.  You can read the article I wrote at  The Economic Times‘ website or below.

Most of the leaders I meet believe the people they lead are aligned with strategy and engaged in their work. The data suggest otherwise. The Conference Board released research in January that concluded employee satisfaction and engagement in America were at the lowest point since it began surveying more than 20 years ago.  The report also concluded that the downward trend began long before the Great Recession. Another well-respected organization, the Corporate Executive Board, released research last year that concluded 75 percent of the employees were not engaged and giving their best efforts and of the 25 percent who were engaged, 60 percent were not aligned with organizational goals. The bottom line is that 90 percent of American employees are either not engaged or aligned with strategy.

The potential productivity boost from improving employee engagement and strategic alignment is staggering.  Unfortunately, most leaders have a blind spot when it comes to these areas. Jim Goodnight, co-founder and CEO of SAS Institute, is not one of them. Recently, SAS was named number 1 on Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list for 2010. SAS has made the list every year, five times ranking in the top five.

Goodnight, a 6-foot 4-inch tall North Carolinian with a Ph.D. in statistics, founded SAS more than 30 years ago with colleagues from North Carolina State University. Today, SAS is on a roll with annual revenues of approximately $2.3 Billion, a truly global business, a worldwide workforce in excess of 11,000 and an enviable long-term record of revenue and profit growth. Harvard Business School named Goodnight as one of the “20^th Century’s Great American Business Leaders” and he was named one of “America’s 25 Most Fascinating Entrepreneurs” in Inc. magazine’s 25^th anniversary issue.

Earlier this month, I met with Dr. Jim Goodnight to talk about his views on corporate culture and how it affects strategic alignment, employee engagement, employee retention and overall performance. What stood out to me as I observed Goodnight is that he loves to think about how to crack the code of difficult problems.  During our conversation it was evident that he is proud that SAS is developing software to solve problems in a broad range of fields.  He spoke of using parallel processing, a form of artificial intelligence, to create new solutions that address thorny risk management issues faced by financial services institutions such as banks and insurance companies. Education is another field he mentioned. Already 30,000 teachers are using the educational software developed by SAS that the company makes available to teachers online at no cost. Topping Fortune’s “Best Companies to Work For” list, it would appear that SAS and Goodnight are cracking the code of corporate culture too. Read more »

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.

Seven years ago today, my wife Katie had surgery for advanced ovarian cancer. The prior year, Katie had surgery to remove breast cancer. Today, she is cancer free.

I wrote an essay entitled “Alone No Longer” about how setting my work aside to focus on being with and helping Katie and our daughters changed my perspective on life.  The essay has been read by many individuals who want to know how they can help people in their lives who are battling a serious illness.  The essay also challenges readers to examine their own lives to consider if they are too focused on status and achievement and insufficiently focused on relationships.  I hope you’ll take time to read “Alone No Longer,” reflect on your life and share the essay with friends who might benefit from reading it.

Thanks to my friend Deborah Mills-Scofield for sending me this article from Science Daily entitled “Exploring How Partners Perceive Each Others Emotion During a Relationship Fight.”  It looks at how expressions of hard, flat or soft emotion are perceived and how such perceptions affect relationships.  This research suggests that a leader’s ability to express appropriate emotions at appropriate times is important to keep people feeling connected to the them (and emotional connections are essential to employee engagement and alignment).

Bono, megastar of the rock band U2, frequently shines the light on his fellow band members.  In the photo above, Bono is shining a spotlight on The Edge, U2′s legendary lead guitar player. Bono does this in a metaphorical sense too.  Bono has stated that he’s a lousy guitar and keyboards player, and that his gifted fellow band members bring to life the melodies he hears in his head. He’s also said that being around his fellow band members makes him a better human being. Furthermore, Bono has said that when one of one of his fellow band members is in need it takes precedence over the band’s music.

Are you shining the light of recognition and belonging on your family members, your friends and your colleagues at work?  Here are some actions to consider:

• When you see someone doing something that’s admirable, be sure to let them know that you recognize it.
• Tell your family members and friends how much and why you appreciate them.
• When you are in a group discussion, praise others for their good ideas and opinions.
• Send a hand-written personal note of appreciation to a family member, friend or colleague at work.
• When a family member, friend or colleague at work is sick, send them a get well gift.
• When a family member, friend or colleague at work has something to celebrate congratulate them.

Recently I was delighted to see two great case studies written by good friends of mine appeared on Gary Hamel’s MIX.  Both case studies reflect elements of the Connection Culture that I wrote about in Fired Up or Burned Out.  The first case study written by Deborah Mills-Scofield is entitled “The 160-year old Startup.” The second case study written by Drew Williams is entitled “Restoring Faith in the Institution: How Mission Shaped Communities Revitalized St. Andrews.”  I encourage you to check them out!

At the Technical Academy Awards ceremonies held in Hollywood, the Associated Press reported that it wasn’t the host, actress Jessica Biel, who attracted the most attention. Instead, it was an understated, bespectacled, computer engineer named Ed Catmull. When Catmull’s name was announced to receive an Oscar for his lifetime of work in computer animation, the crowd went wild, whistling and whooping. And rightly so. The impact Catmull and his collaborators have had on Hollywood may last for decades to come.

Ed Catmull is the president of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios. He has rejected the traditional Hollywood star system and its often toxic work environment and replaced it with an environment that emphasizes community and long-term relationships. Catmull described it this way in a Harvard Business Review article he wrote: “[Pixar has] an environment that nurtures trusting and respectful relationships and unleashes everyone’s creativity…the result is a vibrant community where talented people are loyal to one another and their collective work, everyone feels that they are part of something extraordinary, and their passion and accomplishments make the community a magnet for talented people…”

What is it about Pixar’s environment that attracts talented employees and helps them produce outstanding movies such as the blockbuster hits Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and WALL-E that have made Pixar the envy of Hollywood? Read more »

Howard Behar and Michael Lee Stallard

American leaders need to wake up and smell the coffee. Research from two well-respected organizations makes it clear that we have a big collective blind spot that’s dragging down productivity, innovation and economic performance. Earlier this year, a Conference Board research report showed that job satisfaction is at the lowest level since the organization began measuring it more than 20 years ago. The report went on to show this has been a long-term downward trend rather than a temporary decline due to the Great Recession.

Another well-respected organization, the Corporate Executive Board, came out with a research report last year that showed 90 percent of employees are either not aligned with organizational goals or not engaged and giving their best efforts. It’s nearly impossible to pull out of difficult economic seasons when nine out of ten employees are just showing up for the paycheck. We need everyone to pull together in the same direction to lift us out of this slump. What can be done? Read more »