Category Archives: Intentional Connectors

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Coach Rex Ryan Connects with Jets

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Check out this great article entitled “Channelling Churchill, Ryan Inspires His Team” on New York Jets’ football coach Rex Ryan  The article makes several important points that support the conclusion we came to from our research on leaders who produce sustainable superior performance.  Our research concluded that sustainable superior performance comes when leaders develop task excellence and relationship excellence.  Rex Ryan is doing this by connecting with his players on both emotional and rational levels. He connects rationally by communicating and leading his team to implement effective strategy and tactics.  This produces “task excellence.”  Ryan’s passion and authenticity helps him connect on an emotional level.  This helps produce “relationship excellence.” Ryan communicates simple, relevant and memorable themes with phrases such as “burn the boats” and “how dare you?” He tells memorable stories to illustrate his points.

The Jets are a decent team but not a great team, yet.  They just pulled off a big playoff win by defeating the Indianapolis Colts.  Given what I’m seeing, I expect the Jets are on the rise as Rex Ryan and team continue to develop a Connection Culture with Vision, Value and Voice.

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Cancer Free, Seven Years Today

Seven years ago today, my wife Katie had surgery for advanced ovarian cancer. The prior year, Katie had surgery to remove breast cancer. Today, she is cancer free.

I wrote an essay entitled “Alone No Longer” about how setting my work aside to focus on being with and helping Katie and our daughters changed my perspective on life.  The essay has been read by many individuals who want to know how they can help people in their lives who are battling a serious illness.  The essay also challenges readers to examine their own lives to consider if they are too focused on status and achievement and insufficiently focused on relationships.  I hope you’ll take time to read “Alone No Longer,” reflect on your life and share the essay with friends who might benefit from reading it.

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Signals We Send in Relationships

Thanks to my friend Deborah Mills-Scofield for sending me this article from Science Daily entitled “Exploring How Partners Perceive Each Others Emotion During a Relationship Fight.”  It looks at how expressions of hard, flat or soft emotion are perceived and how such perceptions affect relationships.  This research suggests that a leader’s ability to express appropriate emotions at appropriate times is important to keep people feeling connected to the them (and emotional connections are essential to employee engagement and alignment).

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Shine the Light on Others

u2_wallpaper_rattle_humBono, megastar of the rock band U2, frequently shines the light on his fellow band members.  In the photo above, Bono is shining a spotlight on The Edge, U2’s legendary lead guitar player. Bono does this in a metaphorical sense too.  Bono has stated that he’s a lousy guitar and keyboards player, and that his gifted fellow band members bring to life the melodies he hears in his head. He’s also said that being around his fellow band members makes him a better human being. Furthermore, Bono has said that when one of one of his fellow band members is in need it takes precedence over the band’s music.

Are you shining the light of recognition and belonging on your family members, your friends and your colleagues at work?  Here are some actions to consider:

  • When you see someone doing something that’s admirable, be sure to let them know that you recognize it.
  • Tell your family members and friends how much and why you appreciate them.
  • When you are in a group discussion, praise others for their good ideas and opinions.
  • Send a hand-written personal note of appreciation to a family member, friend or colleague at work.
  • When a family member, friend or colleague at work is sick, send them a get well gift.
  • When a family member, friend or colleague at work has something to celebrate congratulate them.

 

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Connection Cultures on Gary Hamel’s MIX

Recently I was delighted to see two great case studies written by good friends of mine appeared on Gary Hamel’s MIX.  Both case studies reflect elements of the Connection Culture that I wrote about in Fired Up or Burned Out.  The first case study written by Deborah Mills-Scofield is entitled “The 160-year old Startup.” The second case study written by Drew Williams is entitled “Restoring Faith in the Institution: How Mission Shaped Communities Revitalized St. Andrews.”  I encourage you to check them out!

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Pixar’s Competitive Advantage? A Connection Culture

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At the Technical Academy Awards ceremonies held in Hollywood, the Associated Press reported that it wasn’t the host, actress Jessica Biel, who attracted the most attention. Instead, it was an understated, bespectacled, computer engineer named Ed Catmull. When Catmull’s name was announced to receive an Oscar for his lifetime of work in computer animation, the crowd went wild, whistling and whooping. And rightly so. The impact Catmull and his collaborators have had on Hollywood may last for decades to come.

Ed Catmull is the president of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios. He has rejected the traditional Hollywood star system and its often toxic work environment and replaced it with an environment that emphasizes community and long-term relationships. Catmull described it this way in a Harvard Business Review article he wrote: “[Pixar has] an environment that nurtures trusting and respectful relationships and unleashes everyone’s creativity…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…”

What is it about Pixar’s environment that attracts talented employees and helps them produce outstanding movies such as the blockbuster hits Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and WALL-E that have made Pixar the envy of Hollywood?

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Overcoming Leadership Myopia

Howard Behar and Michael Lee Stallard

American leaders need to wake up and smell the coffee. Research from two well-respected organizations makes it clear that we have a big collective blind spot that’s dragging down productivity, innovation and economic performance. Earlier this year, a Conference Board research report showed that job satisfaction is at the lowest level since the organization began measuring it more than 20 years ago. The report went on to show this has been a long-term downward trend rather than a temporary decline due to the Great Recession.

Another well-respected organization, the Corporate Executive Board, came out with a research report last year that showed 90 percent of employees are either not aligned with organizational goals or not engaged and giving their best efforts. It’s nearly impossible to pull out of difficult economic seasons when nine out of ten employees are just showing up for the paycheck. We need everyone to pull together in the same direction to lift us out of this slump. What can be done?

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TED: Brene Brown on Connection





Thanks to my friend David Zinger, head of the Employee Engagement Network, for bringing this outstanding TED presentation to my attention.  It features Dr. Brene Brown speaking about her research on the importance of connection to joy and flourishing in life.  Over the course of her remarks, Dr. Brown touches on issues of shame, authenticity, courage, worthiness and numbing our emotions to cope with pain.   It’s a thought-provoking presentation that I highly recommend. It’s relevant to leaders and individual contributors, and it applies to both work and life outside of work.

If you would like to hear more about Dr. Brene Brown and her work. Check out this excellent interview on public radio. Additional information can be found at Dr. Brown’s website.

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Free Linkage Leadership Webinars

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Jason Pankau and I spoke on a webinar for Linkage about maximizing employee engagement and alignment.  You can see the 60-minute webinar at this link.  You may also be interested in other free webinars offered by Linkage at this link.

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Serving a Cause Greater than Self

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Recently when Jason Pankau and I spoke at an internal meeting of the ITA Group, we learned that one afternoon their employees split up into teams and went out  into their community to serve non-profit organizations.  One group of employees went to help a food pantry, others went to serve the Boys and Girls Club, etc.  Some teams painted walls or performed other much maintenance-type projects while others just spent time with children or adults who longed to connect.

By doing this, ITA Group employees were serving a cause greater than self.  They were exercising compassion, kindness, empathy and other emotional muscles of the heart that make them better connectors and will help them develop a Connection Culture. I’m encouraged to see that more companies are doing these types of service projects.

Later this week at the United Nations, several organizations are gathering to talk about serving a cause greater than self.  The conference is organized by the Foundation for Social Change, a group that is lead by super connector Louise Guido.  I encourage you to learn more about the Foundation and its conference entitled “Global Conference for Social Change: How Profitability Can Change the World.”  In addition to the many fine organizations participating at this conference, there are certain to be a lot of movers and shakers, including this year’s honorees, Sir Richard Branson and Shakira.