Tag Archives: connection cultures

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Overcoming Leadership Myopia

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?

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TED: Brene Brown on Connection





Thanks to my friend David Zinger, head of the Employee Engagement Network, for bringing this outstanding TED presentation to my attention.  It features Dr. Brene Brown speaking about her research on the importance of connection to joy and flourishing in life.  Over the course of her remarks, Dr. Brown touches on issues of shame, authenticity, courage, worthiness and numbing our emotions to cope with pain.   It’s a thought-provoking presentation that I highly recommend. It’s relevant to leaders and individual contributors, and it applies to both work and life outside of work.

If you would like to hear more about Dr. Brene Brown and her work. Check out this excellent interview on public radio. Additional information can be found at Dr. Brown’s website.

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Free Linkage Leadership Webinars

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Jason Pankau and I spoke on a webinar for Linkage about maximizing employee engagement and alignment.  You can see the 60-minute webinar at this link.  You may also be interested in other free webinars offered by Linkage at this link.

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Talent May Get You to the Top, But…

…it takes character to keep you there.  John Wooden, the late legendary UCLA men’s basketball coach once stated this in so many words.

Wooden’s observation came to mind when I read a New York Times‘ article today entitled “The Day the Patriots Empire Began to Crumble.”  The article argued that the Patriot’s lost their lustre when its coach, Bill Belichick, was caught cheating.

Over the years, the leaders of the Patriots, Coach Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady, did so many things right.   I wrote about many of them in a chapter Fired Up or Burned Out.  Belichick’s cheating, however, diminished one of the three elements of a Connection Culture: the element of “Vision.”  The element of Vision exists when everyone in an organization is motivated by the mission, united by the values and proud of the reputation.   Belichick’s cheating was not in keeping with the Patriot’s core values.  It also tarnished the organization’s reputation.  the cheating caused players and fans lost some of their respect for Belichick and the Patriots.  They were not longer felt as proud to say they were members of the Patriots’ organization. Pride in one’s identity is emotional in nature and research shows that emotional connections are 4X as important as rational factors when it comes to the amount of effort people put in their work.  The Patriots lost some of that emotional connection and as a result their players have not been as fired up as they once were.

Hopefully, Belichick learned a lesson and in time can gain back the connection, respect and trust he once had.

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Maximize Employee Engagement, Alignment and Productivity

Jason Pankau and I are speaking about maximizing employee engagement, alignment and productivity on several upcoming webinars. The webinars are based on ideas in our book Fired Up or Burned Out: How to Reignite Your Team’s Passion, Creativity and Productivity (Thomas Nelson).

Here are the names of the organizations hosting the webinars along with the respectives dates and links to sign up:

December 7, 1:00 PM EST for Linkage

December 7, 3:00 PM EST for the Human Capital Institute sponsored by the ITAGroup

December 15, 12:00 PM EST for the New Talent Management Network

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Strengthen Your “Critical Connections”

Research has shown that people perform better if they take time to create checklists that break their work down into necessary tasks. Here is an approach we recommend. Make a list of those individuals whom you count on you in order to do your work well and the individuals who count on you in order to do their work well. Think of these people as your “Critical Connections.” Strengthening your relationship with them is, in addition to making checklists, another key to achieving excellence in your work.

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Cartoon Boosts “Voice” in U.S. Military

Doctrin Man“Doctrine Man,” a popular cartoon on facebook, has, in essence, become a means to boost the Connection Culture element of Voice in the U.S. Military.  It’s odd, I know, but it’s working.  To learn more, read this New York Times article entitled “Masked Military Man is Superhero for Troops.”

Earlier, Jason, Carolyn and I wrote an article about the element of Voice (also know as “Knowledge Flow”) for the award-winning Perdido magazine that you can read at this link.  Voice exists in an organization when everyone seeks the ideas and opinions of other, shares their opinions honestly and safeguards relational connections. Voice reflects a culture that values humility, open-mindedness, curiosity, continuous learning and experimentation.

Voice strengthens organizations in three ways.  First, it boosts employee engagement when people are informed and have their ideas and opinions considered. Second, decision makers make better decisions when they learn from the ideas and opinions of others.  Third, a culture that has a high degree of sharing opinions and ideas creates a marketplace of ideas that fuels innovation.

With those benefits in mind, I say to Doctrine Man, whoever he may be, live long and prosper!

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Serving a Cause Greater than Self

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Recently when Jason Pankau and I spoke at an internal meeting of the ITA Group, we learned that one afternoon their employees split up into teams and went out  into their community to serve non-profit organizations.  One group of employees went to help a food pantry, others went to serve the Boys and Girls Club, etc.  Some teams painted walls or performed other much maintenance-type projects while others just spent time with children or adults who longed to connect.

By doing this, ITA Group employees were serving a cause greater than self.  They were exercising compassion, kindness, empathy and other emotional muscles of the heart that make them better connectors and will help them develop a Connection Culture. I’m encouraged to see that more companies are doing these types of service projects.

Later this week at the United Nations, several organizations are gathering to talk about serving a cause greater than self.  The conference is organized by the Foundation for Social Change, a group that is lead by super connector Louise Guido.  I encourage you to learn more about the Foundation and its conference entitled “Global Conference for Social Change: How Profitability Can Change the World.”  In addition to the many fine organizations participating at this conference, there are certain to be a lot of movers and shakers, including this year’s honorees, Sir Richard Branson and Shakira.

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We Need More “Heart and Soul” in the Age of “Mind and Strength”

Wise organizations distinguish themselves from competitors by developing their heart and soul. Organizations that have heart and soul enrich their owners, customers and communities in both economic and non-economic ways.

What do I mean by heart and soul?  Let me explain.

While out running errands one day when we were relatively new to town, my wife stopped in at one of several jewelry stores on the main shopping street.  The cases were filled with beautiful pieces, new and heirloom.  The salespeople, however, were more than aloof.  They ignored her.  No eye contact.  No smile.  No “hello, my name is X, may I help you?”  This lack of connection made her feel as if they thought she was unworthy of their attention.  Not surprisingly, she has never gone back. These salespeople lacked the qualities I describe as heart and soul.

The absence of heart and soul in the workplace is not unusual.  This is the age of mind and strength. So often we focus on the tasks of our work and neglect the relational aspects.  As human beings we have emotions, hopes and dreams, a conscience, and deeply felt human needs.  Research from a variety of fields has shown that when we recognize these realities and treat others in ways consistent with them, we thrive. When we don’t, it is damaging to our mental and physical health and to the health of those around us.

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Get to Know Colleagues’ and Customers’ Stories





Here’s a stirring video from Chick-fil-A to remind us that every human being has a story. In our endeavors to develop Connection Cultures we encourage people who work together to get to know one another’s stories and to reach out and learn customers’ stories, if at all possible. Learning the stories of the people in your life is just one aspect of Human Value, the second element of a Connection Culture. When you know a person’s story, it helps you empathize and connect with them. It’s also more difficult to grow extremely disconnected with someone when you know their story.