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.
Tag Archives: fired up or burned out
Why We Work Hard and Persevere
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.
A Healing Connection
We’ve been doing more work of late in the health care field, helping organizations such as the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center develop Connection Cultures that boost employee engagement and improve patient outcomes. If you have a story to tell or are aware of practices that boost connection at hospitals, would you please post it on the comments below or email me at mstallard@epluribuspartners.com. Thank you.
On that score, while speaking recently at Texas Christian University, a student, Romel Schearer, told me about the remarkable story of Bill Cabeen, a cardiologist who had the courage to connect with one of his patients, Nikki Luederitz, rather than remain disconnected in the name of “professionalism.” Dr. Cabeen’s courage and support not only saved Ms. Luederitz’s life, it changed her in a profound way. To learn how, listen to “The Tale of Two Hearts.”
Steve Jobs’ Announcement: Reminder of Need to Make Cancer History
Apple’s announcement yesterday that Steve Jobs is stepping down as its CEO, is a poignant reminder of just how important it is to make cancer history. I learned of Jobs’ announcement yesterday while in Houston to share our work with leaders at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
The combination of learning the news about Jobs and being at M.D. Anderson triggered a some emotions. I’ve followed Jobs closely over the years and written about him. I’ve also written about the challenges facing cancer patients and their families from my wife Katie’s battles with breast cancer in 2003 and advanced ovarian cancer in 2004 (today, Kate is cancer free).
Being at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center was inspiring and humbling. MDACC is the top-rated cancer center according to U.S. News and World Report. The people there think of themselves first and foremost as healers. Being with people who serve a cause greater than themselves always moves me. Yes, they have to keep an eye on econonomic matters, too, in order to make their work sustainable, but money is not what motivates them. This is an important distinction that makes a difference to affordable delivery of healthcare, as Atul Gawande noted in an excellent New Yorker article he wrote entitled “The Cost Conundrum.”
During our presentations at M.D. Anderson, we shared the research and ideas in our book, Fired Up or Burned Out. We firmly believe that creating a culture that is intentional about developing both task excellence and relationship excellence is the only way organizations can achieve sustainable superior performance. In the context of healthcare, research is showing that culture and relationships affect patient outcomes. A recent article that appeared in the Annuls of Internal Medicine, entitled “What Distinguishes Top-Performing Hospitals in Acute Myocardial Infarction Mortality Rates? A Qualitative Study,” supports our view.
Hospital cultures should be life-giving but the irony is that most are not. We are human beings, not machines, and recent research shows that workplace cultures that are hostile or indifferent to human needs shave years off our lives. We hope that more hospitals will get this important message and do something about it, like our friends at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center are doing in their pursuit to make cancer history.
In Search of Happiness
In my view, the primary reason happiness is on the decline in America and in many market democracies around the world is that we’ve become “achieve-aholics” who, as a result of our achievement-seeking lifestyles, lack sufficient human connection. Lacking connection, we eventually dysfunction. As achieve-aholics move through adulthood, they feel a sense of boredom, emptiness and meaninglessness. Many are mis-diagnosed as having depression when in fact they are just lonely (I wrote about this in an earlier post on the rise of loneliness in America). To feel better, achieve-aholics oftentimes seek illegitimate thrills (e.g. sexual affairs, pornography, extreme sports and extreme business risks) or they self-medicate to numb the pain, which leads to substance abuse. In my opinion, this is why America, with a mere five percent of the world’s population consumes half of the mood-altering pharmacological medications and two-thirds of the world’s illegal drugs (a point that Joseph Califano, head of the National Center on Substance Abuse at Columbia University, made in a video interview on the Atlantic’s website).
The bottom line is that we are human beings, not machines. As I consistently present on this blog, and all the science makes it abundantly clear, we need human connection to thrive.
How Leaders Connect to Boost Employee Engagement
Here’s a link to an audio interview Jason Pankau and I did with Jeremie Kubicek, CEO of GiANT (GiANT Impact, Catalyst and Chick-fil-A Leadercast). Jeremie is the author of a great book entitled Leadership is Dead: How Influence is Reviving It.
During the interview we discussed how leadership affects employee engagement, strategic alignment, productivity, innovation and organizational performance. Check it out at this link.
The Heart of Starbucks’ CEO
A leader I know and much admire is Howard Behar, the former president of Starbucks North America and Starbucks International. Howard tells about the time 14 years ago this month when he received a call in the middle of the night at his home in Seattle alerting him that three Starbucks employees at the Georgetown store in Washington, D.C. had been shot and killed, including an 18-year who had just recently begun at Starbucks, his first job. Behar immediately called Howard Schultz, Starbucks’ CEO, who was in New York on vacation at the time.
What Schultz didn’t do, says a lot about his character. He didn’t call Starbucks’ public relations people or lawyers. Instead, Schultz chartered a plane and headed straight to Washington, D.C. When he arrived, he spoke with the police then proceeded to the store to get the addresses of the three murdered Starbucks employees. He went to each of their homes, told their families he was sorry and shared in their tears.
Boost Employee Engagement Globally
Earlier this year my colleague Jason Pankau spoke at the HR Summit in Singapore. We’re delighted to announce that next year I’ll be teaching workshops on leadership, teamwork, employee engagement, productivity, innovation and Connection Cultures at the Institute for Management Studies (IMS) in Amsterdam, Brussels, Edinburgh and London. (Stateside I’ll be teaching sessions in 2011 for IMS in Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit and San Francisco.)
E-Book and Good News
Today I’m teaching a two-hour webinar entitled “Outstanding Individual Contributors” for Executive Development Partners and its client the McKesson Corporation. As part of the webinar, I’m offering a free download of the digital version of Fired Up or Burned Out. You can access the digital version (a pdf file), save and print it at this link.
Now for more good news. We are seeing unprecedented opportunities to speak about developing virtuous leadership, employee engagement and unity in business, government and social sector organizations. My colleague Jason Pankau recently returned from speaking at the largest leadership conference in Asia. I recently taught a one-day workshop in New York City where leaders were present from a wide variety of business and government organizations. Jason and I were just hired to teach workshops for the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) and for the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, one of the largest and most well-respected cancer centers in the world.
On September 13, I will speak alongside CNO Admiral Vern Clark (Ret.) at breakfast and lunch meetings sponsored by the Harvard and Wharton Alumni Clubs of D.C. Admiral Clark was chief of the U.S. Navy from 2000-2005. Admiral Clark and I will be speaking about virtuous leadership and how it unites people in an organization to give their best efforts and pull together. (Read what Jason and I wrote about Admiral Clark’s leadership in an article that was published in the Leader to Leader Journal.)
We are grateful to the individuals who continue to help us raise awareness of the importance of human connection at work and in life. There are several ways to do this including reading and recommending our book Fired Up or Burned Out, and/or bringing us in to their organizations to give keynote speeches and/or lead workshops through our leadership training and coaching firm E Pluribus Partners
Rise of Lonely American Employees Undermines Productivity
Several facts recently caught my attention.
- In 1940, 7.7 percent of Americans lived in one-person households. By 2000, that number more than tripled to 25.8 percent. (In Manhattan, 48 percent of all households were one-person households in 2000.)
- Between 1985 and 2004, the number of people with whom the average American discussed “important matters” dropped from three to two. During that same time period the percentage of people who had no one with whom they discussed important matters tripled to nearly 25 percent.
- A study by Norman Nie and his Stanford colleagues found that as people spend more time on the internet, they spent less face-to-face time with other human beings. (Who’s not spending more time on the internet these days?)
These facts all point to the conclusion that loneliness is on the rise in America. As we pointed out in our book Fired Up or Burned Out and in The Connection Culture: A New Source of Competitive Advantage, people need human connection to thrive. We are human beings, not machines. When we don’t experience sufficient human connection, we dysfunction. This may include experiencing feelings of emptiness, boredom and depression. It may lead some to engage in substance abuse to numb the pain. Others may pursue illegitimate thrills to feel alive again and in doing so develop addictions to pornography, sexual encounters with prostitutes and one night stands, or taking excessive business risks. These paths never end well for the individual, their families and friends, or for their organizations. To combat the pervasive loneliness that’s damaging American society and organizations, leaders need to create Connection Cultures that unite people and develop “relationship excellence” that supplements efforts to develop “task excellence” in organizations.
There are three general types of cultures in organizations when it comes to relationships and connection.