Tag Archives: E Pluribus Partners

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What Are “Sustainable Values”?

In my last post, I wrote about “sustainable values,” i.e. the beliefs and behaviors that produce an inspiring identity, human value and knowledge flow in groups that help people thrive individually and collectively. In other words, when a group embraces and behaves in ways that are consistent with sustainable values, it leads to sustainable superior performance.

In our work, we recommend that leaders of organizations promote the universal character values celebrated by religious thinkers and moral philosophers throughout history. Cultures that have these values exhibit superior strategic alignment, employee engagement, productivity, innovation and overall performance.  Researchers that are part of the American Psychological Association’s positive psychology research effort identified these values as helping people flourish and a body of large body research is developing in support of that view. Here’s a list of the values and their definitions:

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Tom Friedman, Dov Seidman: Need For “Sustainable Values”

Check out Tom Friedman’s column in today’s New York Times at this link. Friedman cites Dov Siedman’s belief that in an interconnected world we need “sustainable values” more than ever. I couldn’t agree more.  In past posts I’ve written about Dov, his book entitled How and LRN, the company he founded to promote principled leadership.  

In our work at E Pluribus Partners, we promote universal character values and virtue as essential for people to thrive, individually and collectively.  Our “Character > Connection > Thrive Model” (see below) lays out the rationale.  In a nutshell, individuals who believe and behave in ways that are consistent with Universal Character Values (also known as character strengths), create “Connection Cultures” that meet universal human needs to thrive.   You can learn more about Connection Cultures, Universal Character Strengths and Virtues by reading this free manifesto published by changethis.com entitled The Connection Culture: A New Source of Competitive Advantage.

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Webinar: Jobs, Catmull, Lafley Have the “Connection Edge”

Jason Pankau and I are presenting a 60 minute webinar for Communitelligence about the “Connection Edge” that leaders such as Steve Jobs, Ed Catmull and A.G. Lafley employ to boost strategic alignment and employee engagement.  The webinar will be held on June 9 at 2:00 PM Eastern.  You can sign up at this link.

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Has SAS’s Jim Goodnight Cracked the Code On Corporate Culture?

On Friday, I was granted a private interview with Dr. Jim Goodnight, co-founder and CEO of SAS.  We met in Atlanta during the Chick-fil-A Leadercast where 50,000 individuals participated live or via simulcast from locations around the world.

Goodnight, who has 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 having achieved an enviable long-term record of revenue and profit growth. The firm was named number 1 on Fortune’s “Best Places to Work” list for 2010.  Harvard Business School named Goodnight as one of the “20th Century’s Great American Business Leaders.”  He was also recently named one of “America’s 25 Most Fascinating Entrepreneurs” by Inc magazine.

During the Leadercast program and prior to my meeting with Goodnight, author Jim Collins interviewed him on stage. Collins has written about the Level 5 leaders who experienced a catalyst in their lives —  death of a loved one, near death experience, religious conversion — that developed humility in their character and made them better leaders.  Collins seemed to be looking for something similar in Goodnight  to explain SAS’s benevolent corporate culture where the average work week is 35 hours and the bucolic SAS campus has nearly every employee perk imaginable.  Despite Collins’ attempts to draw out Goodnight, he hit a dead end. Typical of Goodnight, he answered several of Collins’ questions with a “yes” or “no.”   When Collins asked Goodnight why most SAS employees were given offices rather than the standard cubicles that the typical software company employee has, Goodnight replied tongue in cheek that if an employee were watching porn from the privacy of his office it would not be the problem that it would be if he were in a cubicle out in the open.  The audience responded with tentative laughter.  They weren’t quite sure what to make of Goodnight.

Like Collins, I have known and written about many great leaders who experienced adversity that made them better leaders. Goodnight is a different breed, a leader who by all accounts has not gone through a Level 5-type transformation and yet has at least in some respects cracked the code on corporate culture.  For every job opening, SAS receives 100 or more resumes. Over a business cycle, SAS’s employee turnover in the low single digits is a fraction of the software industry’s that at times reaches into the mid-20 percent plus range.

My interview with Goodnight and some additional research led me to believe that Jim Goodnight is among the most important role models for leaders to emulate today.  This week I’m working on an article that explains why.  If you have thoughts about Jim Goodnight or SAS’s corporate culture that you would like to share, please post them here or email me at mstallard [at] epluribuspartners [dot] com.

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What Steve Jobs, Ed Catmull and A.G. Lafley have in common

Jobs, Catmull and Lafley connect with employees of their respective organizations, although they do so in distinctly unique ways. This is the topic of a webinar Jason Pankau and I will be doing for Communitelligence. You can learn more about it at this link. This topic is relevant today because Corporate Executive Board research shows that 90 percent of employees are either not engaged and giving their best efforts or they are not aligned with their organization’s goals. Research by both The Conference Board and the Corporate Executive Board shows that the solution to this problem to develop the emotional and rational connections that employee have with their organization’s mission and values, supervisor, colleagues and day-to-day work tasks. In the webinar, Michael and Jason show how great leaders do this.

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Relationship Excellence: Chick-fil-A’s Competitive Edge

IMG_0924I just met and heard Chick-fil-A’s President Dan Cathy speak to a group at the Chick-fil-A Leadercast about values, faith, serving others and the competitive advantage of relationships.  It was an inspiring message and he is genuine and clearly passionate about the organization, its people, customers and what it represents.  Dan told the audience that he recently committed to his father, Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy, to keep the company private which will help preserve the values of this great organization.

Observing Dan speak, it’s clear that he connects with the employees of Chick-fil-A.  He spends more than half of his time on the road visiting stores and connecting with employees and customers.  He tells stories that move him and in so doing move the hearts of others.  He often uses objects that help people remember his points.  A large pepper grinder represents adding pepper to the customer’s experience by going the second mile to be friendly.  Chick-fil-A has won numerous awards for its exceptionally high level of customer service.

Sometimes when I hear corporate leaders talk I wonder if they walk the talk.  I’ve done some due diligence and feel highly confident that Chick-fil-A is the real deal.  Even my own mother who lives in Bristol, Virginia sings the praises of the local Chick-fil-A for their good people and positive influence on the local community.

In the coming weeks I’ll be interviewing Dan Cathy to learn more about his journey as a leader and his work at Chick-fil-A so stay tuned.

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Writing From the Chick-fil-A Leadercast

Today I’m writing about connection and community from the Chick-fil-A Leadercast in Atlanta.  It’s nice to see a conference sponsor that has a reputation for virtuous leadership and values!

This morning I learned Chick-fil-A is an organization that is motivated to build community.  Every organization needs an inspiring identity that motivates its members.  Vision, mission, values and reputation are the elements of an inspiring identity story.  Building community and connection motivated people at Starbucks.  CEO Howard Schultz adopted this mission when on a business trip to Milan, Italy he observed that espresso bars were public spaces that brought people together (note: I’m presently writing an article about connection with Howard Behar, former president of Starbucks North America and Starbucks International).

For many people, building community and connections is extremely motivating, something I wrote about for changethis.com in The Connection Culture: A New Source of Competitive Advantage.  I’m glad to see Chick-fil-A is motivated to help build community.  It’s a mission to be proud of.

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More Evidence: Trust and Connection=Life, Distrust and Isolation=Death

Trust increases when people feel a sense of connection to one another. Strength of connection and trust develop over the time.  This happens as people interact and get to know one another increasing each person’s credibility and reliability in the eyes of the other, and as intimacy develops. Several studies support that this connection that develops trust is the most or among the most significant factors affecting the performance of organizations.

Parker Palmer, the Quaker writer and educational thought leader, told me about the book entitled Trust in Schools by Anthony Bryk and Barbara Schneider. Bryk and Schneider found that far and away the most powerful factor affecting school improvement during the 1990’s in Chicago was “relational trust.” Money, governance, curriculum, etc. were nowhere close to affecting educational outcomes as compared to relational trust (Tony Bryk is now the president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning.)

I learned about two additional studies related to connection and trust from the writings of Dov Seidman, the founder and CEO of LRN.

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What would Jack Bauer do?

24wallpaperIn the current season of the show “24,” the President of the United States is about to uncharacteristically agree to cover up a murder for the sake of a peace treaty. When Jack Bauer, the show’s hero, confronts the president, she admits she doesn’t like to do this but in this particular instance the end justifies the means. Bauer disagrees and is now working against the American government to expose the murder.

It’s a thrilling story and I have to admit I’m hooked on this season of 24. It’s interesting to note that Jack Bauer in pursuit of justice is not averse to torturing suspected enemies to get information that will help him prevent harm to others or protect America. His justification, like the president’s, is that the end justifies the means.

The story in this season’s 24 also happens to be relevant to a series of presentations, articles and a book I’m working on about character values and how they impact the performance of individuals and organizations, including employee engagement, strategic alignment, productivity and innovation. In June, Jason Pankau and I will be speaking about this at NASA’s Johnson Space Center where during the Apollo 13 mission Gene Krantz uttered the line “failure is not an option” that was made famous in Ron Howard’s spectacular movie Apollo 13. Was Krantz right? Are there indeed times when anything and everything is acceptable to achieve success? If not, when is failure acceptable?