Michael Lee Stallard

Consultant and blogger Michael DeWitt just posted an insightful video on his Spooky Action blog about how the human brain works and its implications for organizational change efforts.  He concludes that leaders should create Connection Cultures to help members of organizations accept and implement change.  Check out DeWitt’s blog.  It’s one of the blogs I frequently read for its wisdom on topics such as leadership, organizations and employee engagement.      

Over the course of my career I’ve had the good fortune to have been involved in several mergers. At first, I was fascinated by the process of identifying a compelling rationale for combining companies, negotiating the deal, planning the integration of people and systems and then executing the plan. The dizzying array of tasks that must be accomplished to complete a merger is challenging to say the least. In time, however, I learned that even greater challenges arose after the investment bankers and lawyers had packed up their briefcases and moved on to the next deal. Read more »

Years ago when I was chief marketing officer for a business unit at Charles Schwab, I met David Bradley for lunch in New York City. David is an extremely successful entrepreneur. He founded the Corporate Executive Board and is the owner of The Atlantic magazine. David wanted to pick my brain about how to make his magazine more attractive to advertisers. To my surprise, early in our conversation David asked me to tell him about my personal story…where I was born and grew up, what events influenced my beliefs, who were the individuals I most admired, etc. As I began to recount my journey in life, David asked question after question and was genuinely interested in me.

After a long lunch conversation, I felt like David cared about me as a person and not just as a potential source of revenue. His example taught me a powerful lesson: intentionally connecting with people is wise. I believe being what we refer to as an “Intentional Connector” is one of the factors that has contributed to David’s success.

Many of our clients at E Pluribus Partners have committed to become Intentional Connectors in 2008. As our work shows, great leaders are Intentional Connectors. By their words and deeds, they create Connection Cultures that improve employee engagement, productivity and innovation. Why don’t you commit to becoming an Intentional Connector too? The personal benefits include improved physical and mental health and superior productivity and creativity.

Empathy and understanding provide the foundation to establish human connections. Would the people who work alongside you say that you think of them as human doings or human beings? Do you know their stories? We encourage you to devote some time early this year to getting to know the people around you. When you do you’ll find that, in addition to enriching your life at work, your colleagues will become more trusting and cooperative. One-on-one time during an occasional coffee break or lunch together is a great opportunity to get to know your colleagues. This simple step is common sense… yet in our day and age it is surprisingly uncommon in practice. Task excellence is a must to thrive in business but it is unsustainable if not accompanied by the relationship excellence that comes from a Connection Culture.