This week I did an interview about employee engagement and employee motivation with Angelo Fernando and Derrick Maines of Triple Bottom Line Radio KFNX AM 1100 based in Phoenix, Arizona. You can hear it on their website at this link.
Tag Archives: leadership speaker
StrategyDriven Employee Engagement Podcast
This week I did an interview with Nathan Ives of StrategyDriven about leadership, employee engagement, productivity and innovation. You can hear it at this link.
The Pride Paradox
Michael Lee Stallard and Jason Pankau
In a recent post, I (Michael) wrote about a leader who imparted his values to the people he was responsible for leading at work and to his children. In this post, we’ll address the “pride paradox” that relates to values.
Imparting one’s values to others and judging them based on their values has the potential to create a culture of self-righteousness and legalism. Mark Twain alluded to this when he described some people as “good in the worst sense of the word.”
Don’t get us wrong, great leaders impart their values to others and judge others by their values. Herein lies the paradox. Some leaders who do this fail to develop what is arguably the most important character value: humility.
Leadership, Employee Engagement and Innovation at BIF-6 Summit
Last week I attended the 2010 Business Innovation Factory Collaborative Innovation Summit in Providence, Rhode Island (referred to as BIF-6). There were so many thoughtful presentations that I hesitate to merely highlight a few. After taking a couple days to mull it over I’ve decided to select a few presentations that will be most relevant to the themes I typically write and speak about i.e. leadership, connection, employee engagement, productivity and innovation. Below are brief descriptions of several presentations from the conference. For those who want to hear these or other presentations, you can access them at this link.
BIF-6: Stunning Sights, Interesting People, Innovative Ideas
Life is good! Today began with a drive East from my home in Connecticut to Saul Kaplan’s wonderful Business Innovation Factory Conference (called “BIF-6”) in Providence, Rhode Island. Driving into the sunrise on this sunny, clear day with a hint of Fall in the air was simply stunning. It’s hard to sustain the momentum from an inspiring start like that but the day just kept getting better as I arrived in this historic city, dropped my bags off at a marvelous old hotel, entered the beautiful Trinity Rep Theater where the conference is being held, saw old friends, made new friends, interviewed Zappo’s CEO Tony Hsieh (for an article I’m writing), and heard interesting speakers with innovative ideas. To sum it up, it was a day of connecting with stunning sights, interesting people and innovative ideas.
I’m a big fan of attending conferences like BIF-6 because it refreshes by helping me step back from the day-to-day rhythm to consider the big picture, think strategically, and connect with people and ideas. (Just to mention it, you can enjoy the presentations tomorrow that will be streaming live at this link. I understand that some of the BIF-6 sessions will be available online so if and when they are posted I’ll blog the links to some of my favorites.)
On another topic, stay tuned for details on new public engagements Jason Pankau and I recently committed to including for the Singapore HR Summit, TCU’s Tandy Executive Leadership Series, The New Talent Management Network and the Corporate Executive Board’s Toolbox for HR. Also, later this month we’ll be posting a link to the article I wrote for India’s Outlook Business magazine.
(Pictures: Top – In front of the Trinity Rep theater this AM was the Delivering Happiness Bus that promotes Tony Hsieh’s book of the same name. Below – Sayantani DasGupta, a physician and expert on narrative medicine, telling a story at BIF-6 inside the Trinity Rep Theater.)
Best Posts on Leadership from Top Bloggers
Dan McCarthy at Great Leadership hosted this month’s leadership carnival that features best blog posts of top bloggers on leadership. Here’s what Dan wrote about it:
Welcome to the September 5th, 2010 Leadership Development Carnival Back to Football edition! Yes, Fall is in the air, and the NFL kicks off it’s season this Thursday with a rematch of last year’s NFC championship game – the Saints and the Vikings.
To get in the spirit of the season, this month’s Carnival is set up as if you’re watching the big game, from tailgating to post game highlights. So grab your favorite snack and beverage and get ready for some championship caliber leadership development advice and opinions from some of the best bloggers in the league.
To Impart Your Values
How do you impart values to the people you are responsible for leading, including your children? Recently I had the opportunity to watch a leader who does this well. I’d like to share three critical actions that I believe are necessary to impart your values and I think you will be inspired by and learn from his example.
1. Communicate Your Values, Upfront and Often
Leaders need to lead courageously by telling people what they believe. Ted (not his real name) has developed a small, pocket-sized, laminated card that describes his values and has given the card to all of the employees of his company. The contents on the card define what behavior Ted expects of himself and of the people he is responsible for leading. Each morning a one-page sheet entitled “Connect” is circulated throughout Ted’s company that includes a story about employees living out one of the values. Work groups meet briefly each morning to review the Connect sheet.
One morning I attended a session that Ted holds each week with his leadership team and a select number of potential leaders. There were about 30 people in attendance. Ted stood upfront where he spoke and facilitated the session. During the time the group discussed one chapter in a leadership book they were reading together. About one-third of the 60-90 minutes session is set aside for small group deliberations. The material they covered the day of my visit was on the value that is most important to Ted: caring about people. Studying great books is an ideal way to learn and grow, and to bring the team together. This shared practice also helps maintain awareness of and reinforce the importance of Ted’s values.
2. Live Your Values Daily
It is said that values are caught not taught. I don’t agree. Values are taught and caught. Both are critical.
Human Capital Institute’s Employee Engagement Conference
On October 6, I’ll be speaking about leadership, employee motivation, productivity and innovation at the Human Capital Institute’s Employee Engagement and Retention Conference in Boston. The conference has scheduled a book signing for Fired Up or Burned Out. You can learn more about the employee engagement conference at this link.
We recently committed to other public speaking engagements. In January I will be speaking at Texas Christian University as part of its Tandy Executive Leadership Series. In May, Jason Pankau will be speaking at the HR Summit in Singapore. The summit is Asia’s largest leadership and HR conference with more than three thousand attendees.
Real Dysfunction Today, Hidden in Plain Sight
Many individuals and organizations today are in a funk.
Employee engagement is at a low point and the slide down began long before the Great Recession. Research generally shows that 90 percent of employees don’t feel connected to their supervisor or colleagues at work and are either not engaged and giving their best efforts or not aligning their behavior with organizational goals. Is it any wonder that our economy is struggling?
Research shows that many individuals today are lonely, anxious and depressed. Depression medication is now a 10 billion dollar business. Even more children report feeling anxious and depressed. They sense that something is wrong although though they don’t understand why.
The problem today is hidden in plain sight. We are sorely deficient of what I refer to as connection (also known as community, social capital, belonging or meaningful relationships). How did we get to this state? Over the last century we grew myopic and obsessed with increasing efficiency and productivity and forgot that human beings need time for relationships too.
If you’re skeptical, I invite you to take a look at The Connection Culture Manifesto, the Hardwired to Connect report by the Committee for Children at Risk, and The Lonely Society report by the Mental Health Foundation in the UK. Several excellent books also address the issue of declining connection in society including Bowling Alone, The American Paradox and The Loss of Happiness in Market Democracies.
What can you do? Although it’s simple, it isn’t easy. Take time to connect. Reach out to the people in your life, set up times to meet for coffee a walk or a meal and then slow down and focus on being present with those you spend time with. Find out what’s going on in their lives at work and outside of work. Do this daily, if at all possible.
It used to be said that an apple a day keeps the doctor away but research from a variety of fields makes it clear that connection with others and with meaning in life is the real daily requirement that helps human beings survive and thrive.
So what are you waiting for? Just connect.
Burnout Results From Living in Conflict with Values
The New York Times recently had an article on rising burnout among clergy entitled “Taking a Break from the Lord’s Work.” The article was followed by a thoughtful op-ed entitled “Congregations Gone Wild.”
Effective leadership, employee engagement and employee motivation are closely linked to the alignment of behavior with personal values. In the case of clergy, putting a muzzle on pastors so they are unable to preach in a way that is consistent with their values is a sure path to burnout.
This is a very important issue that everyone should spend time thinking about. Set aside time this month to list your values. Ask yourself, “what do I believe in and what’s important to me in the way I live my life?” Then compare what you wrote down with how you presently live. During the Depression, a young financial analyst working in London did this exercise. Years later reflecting on it he wrote that “people, I realized, is what I value and I had no desire to be the richest man in the cemetery.” That young man, Peter Drucker, left his well-paying job and went on to become the father of management consulting. In “How Peter Drucker Changed My Life” I wrote about how Drucker’s writings affected my own career decisions.
What if you discover there are differences in your values and how you are presently living? My advice is to invite 2-3 people you trust and respect to meet with you, discuss your analysis and thoughts about how you might take action to close the values gaps. You may find all that is necessary is to speak with your supervisor about making changes to your present job or something more may be required such as moving to a different job or business unit in your organization, or, in the the most extreme instances, changing careers altogether. Whatever the case, ignoring the present stressful state is never wise because if affects your mental and physical heath, your relationships and your job performance. Having conversations with people you trust will help reduce the stress you feel and also help clarify your thinking so that you can develop a clear plan to move forward to a better state of work and a better life.