Category Archives: Employee Engagement

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Leaders Shape Stories

Mark Sanborn just said people should slow down, reflect and be shapers of stories.  How true! It made me think of a scene in the movie Apollo 13 when Mission Director Gene Kranz changed the story of the Apollo 13 mission failure from being about a potential disaster to being one of NASA’s greatest moments by bringing the astronauts safely home despite the odds against them.  For those who don’t know, NASA performed heroically and saved the three astronauts lives.

Last week I spoke to a leader at NASA’s Johnson Space Center who told me that Gene Kranz’s famous line “failure is not an option” that he stated in the movie still influences NASA’s culture today.  On June 17, Jason Pankau and I will be speaking to leaders at the NASA Johnson Space Center where Gene Kranz uttered those famous words that reshaped NASA’s story.  We feel a sense of awe and humilty to have an opportunity to speak at NASA.  We hope to inspire NASA’s leaders about how important it is to create a Connection Culture so that they will thrive, individually and collectively.

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Your Leaders, Hubris or Humility?

At the Chick-fil-A Leadercast, Jim Collins just pointed out that great leaders in his research had the character strength of humility and those who fall could be described as having hubris. Collins is right.  The Greek historian Heroditus who is referred to as the “father of history” warned his fellow Athenians of developing hubris in his great work The Persian Wars. Heroditus described how king Darius the Great of Persia showed hubris in attacking the small Greek City-State of Athens.  Although the Athenians were overwhelmingly outnumbered,  they routed the Persians. And years later when Darius’ son Xerxes tried to avenge his father’s humiliation, the Athenian’s defeated the Persians again.

Collins also pointed out that so often a crucible in life — cancer, economic depression, emotional depression, death of a loved one, etc. — shape people’s character so that hubris is replaced by humility.  Collins wife’s battles with breast cancer helped him understand this.  I know from my own experience how fear of losing the love of your life from something that’s out of your control develops a sense of humility.  My wife Katie’s battles with breast and advanced ovarian cancer taught me this (I wrote about the experience in essay for Amazon Shorts entitled “Alone No Longer” that is widely circulated in healthcare communities.)

There are some great books that touch on how struggles in life affect the character of leaders.  One of my favorites is Lincoln’s Melancholy by my friend Joshua Wolf Shenk.  I also highly recommend the enthralling and inspiring Bonhoeffer: Pastor,  Martyr, Prophet, Spy — A Righteous Gentile Versus the Third Reich by Eric Metaxas.

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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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Strategic Alignment: Pixar Puts the “Corpus” Back in Corporation

The definition of corporation is “a group of people combined into or acting as one body.”  My colleague Jason Pankau pointed out to me that the root word of corporation is “corpus,” which in Latin means “body.”

Does your organization act like one body?

Do personal rivalries and silos exist so that the members are working at times against the body’s interest?

One of the greatest challenges leaders face is to lead the members of the corporate body to work together as one.  We call this “strategic alignment.” Great leaders increase strategic alignment  by making it clear that “we” are one organization.  They find ways to make members feel proud of the overall organization.  They get out regularly to meet people and tell stories about members who sacrificed the me for the we.  They reward members who cooperate and help their colleagues and the overall organization. They confront members who behave in selfish ways.  They promote a feeling of partnership so that everyone feels like part of the team and that they can make a difference.

Ed Catmull, CEO of Pixar Animation, excels at this.  On one trip when I visited Pixar’s corporate headquarters, I observed an extraordinary Connection Culture.  Here’s what Catmull once wrote about his aspiration for Pixar’s culture:

“What we can do is construct an environment that nurtures trusting and respectful relationships and unleashes everyone’s creativity.  If we get it right, the result is a vibrant community where talented people are loyal to one another and their collective work, everyone feels that they are part of something extraordinary, and their passion and accomplishments make the community a magnet for talented people coming out of schools or working at other places.  I know what I’m describing is the antithesis of the free-agency practices that prevail in the movie industry, but that’s the point: I believe that community matters.”

Does Catmull’s description fit your organization?  If not, why don’t you become a catalyst for change.  Get started today by reading this changethis manifesto entitled  The Connection Culture: A New Source of Competitive Advantage.

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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?

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Darden’s Leadership Sage


Jason Pankau and I were at the University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business this week to speak about our work on Connection Cultures, leadership, productivity, innovation and employee engagement.  We gave a three hour presentation to students in the MBA for Executives program and briefly visited friends such as professors Marian Moore and Alec Horniman.

Darden has so much going for it.  World class professors and a great culture.  No doubt the business school’s culture benefits from Alec Horniman’s wisdom as a thought leader in the fields of leadership, organizations, change and ethics.   Take a look at the excellent video of Dr. Horniman discussing the importance of ethics in business and you’ll see what I mean.

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Career Potential Webinars

Interested in improving your career prospects?  Check out Launch Summit: Conversations on Career Potential.  This series of free webinars includes presentations from experts in diverse fields related to career.  It begins tomorrow at 10:00 AM Eastern and continues through Thursday.  I’ll be speaking about healthy work environments at 1:00 PM Eastern on Thursday, April 22nd.

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Two Easy Ways to Boost Employee Engagement

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Small things can make a big difference when it comes to employee engagement. Here’s a couple easy things you can do to help improve employee engagement.  On a Friday at lunchtime, get employees together in a conference room for pizza and salad or go outside of work for an informal lunch and time to mingle.  When you do this, take time to chat with your colleagues and ask them what their interests are outside of work.  You’ll be amazed at the interesting activities your colleagues are involved in.  Also, be sure to look for the loners and make a special effort to connect with them and help them connect with others.  This time reduces stress and energizes most people.

Last week when I was in Miami Beach, one morning I stopped at a Starbucks on the Lincoln Avenue Mall.  Starbucks partners were gathering there for a walk (see picture above) to raise money for a non-profit organization.   There was a terrific energy among group participants.  They were handing out t-shirts and Starbucks baseball caps for participants. What a simple idea!  Why not let employees vote for a local charity and organize an outing to help them.  Maybe its a group walk for the breast cancer, helping out on a Habitat for Humanity project or offering to put a fresh coat of paint on wall at a local Boys and Girls Club.

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Micro-Connections Enhance Energy, Enthusiasm

Years ago when I lived in West Texas and worked for Texas Instruments, I was surprised that frequently when I passed another car on one of the long stretches of highway, the driver would wave at me.  People in that part of America typically make eye contact and say hello to passersby on the street.  If you did this in most large cities, especially in the Northern parts of America or coasts where I presently live (i.e. Greenwich, Connecticut), people would think you were strange.

Small actions to connect with people around you are called “Micro-Connections.”   These actions boost enthusiasm and energy in the work environment. Environments where people are friendly—where they make eye contact and say hello in hallways and elevators even thought they personally know one another well—are healthier and more pleasant environments.  Another type of micro-connector is asking questions that are unrelated to work to learn more about an individual.  Unrelated questions help us learn other people’s stories.  Micro-Connections treat people as human beings rather than human doings.  As Atul Gwande wrote in his book Better, asking questions unrelated to work “make the machine feel less like a machine.”

Little things can make a big difference.  Start trying these Micro-Connections out and watch what happens.Over time you will be energized and you’ll build trust and esprit de corps in your organization.