Leaders & Employees Must Learn To Change

On Sunday the New York Football Giants pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year by beating the once-unstoppable New England Patriots. Their victory in my opinion is a great example of what can happen when there is both give and take from both a leader and those being led. You see Sunday was the antithesis of where Tom Coughlin started with this team and how he almost lost them.

Tom Coughlin is an old school. When taking over the New York program he promised to instill good old fashion discipline throughout the team. He was going to be accountable. His players were going to be accountable. He was going to manage by objective and people would be expected to rise to meet those expectations or else. Fear was the big stick and it was yielded without worry of what head it might come crashing upon.

There would no longer any special treatment for any of the players, especially their star players. Players were expected to attend all meetings without exception; something that hadn't been enforced by the previous coaching staff. In addition, players were expected to be on time for those meetings. Coughlin was so committed to demonstrating that winning begins by doing the little things perfectly that he began to fine players who were not in their seats five minutes before meetings were actually scheduled to start. Other minor infractions that would otherwise be overlooked by other teams were made a very pubic and often embarrassing example by the salty coach. If discipline and perfection wasn't going to find the New York Football Giants, he would hunt it down and capture it and force feed it to his players if need be.

It was an old school, hard nose approach that amongst today's prima donna athletes wasn't very well received. In fact, Coughlin began to have an outright revolt. Star players began to question his motivations and resented being treated like children. The New York press waited at the end of each of practice like rabid dogs looking for that bone to be tossed from the dinner table to report what players were disgruntled on that day. The Giants were going no where fast and it looked like Coughlin would likely lose his job at the end of last season.

Then something happened. He loosed up a bit. Players who had never seen him smile reported seeing him smile at practices. He joked with the players and he seemed to take more time in getting to know them not just as players, but as men. Somewhere along the way, Coughlin seemed to realize that his hard line approach was no longer working, so he changed. Although his intensity and his drive to win and win with perfection was still the call of the day, his players began to respond.

The heart beat of the team began to beat a little faster.

Great leaders today aren't afraid to admit that the strategies they have employed may not be working. They adjust on the fly and adapt and just keep moving. I think Coughlin undoubtedly saw the writing on the wall and realized he could either stay his ground, which many leaders do to prove they are absolutely right, or he could become more "flexible." Perhaps he could give an inch and in the battlefield of life and work, sometimes all the people who are being led need is an inch and they will give a mile back. Yes, I said give a mile back.

Coughlin's approach absolutely shaped this franchise into the winning organization that it is today. I have no doubt that his willingness to change his approach undoubtedly shaped his player's perception of him and the results on the field prove that. The team began to move forward collectively and began to believe in themselves, even when faced with adversity and a world of doubters. That heart beat which only months earlier had been skewed and barely audible was beginning to beat strong and fast...and as one collective beat.

I have no doubt that on Sunday both players and coach thought of those power struggles. It would have been easy for either side to give up on the other and quit. Had they done that, no one, especially the old ball coach, would have been holding that shiny Super Bowl Trophy.

No, without change on both sides, neither side would be able to call themselves Champions.

Ripple On!!!


In case your interested...here's sort of a before and after look at the transformational change within the Giants Organization.

Article One
Article Two

Employee Engagement Means More Financial Success

Hello from Chicago! I will be presenting and Rippling the Women's Franchise Network tonight. Should be a really fun group and I it sounds like they are expecting a record setting attendance. How cool is that? Wish me luck!

So anyway......

Chief Learning Officer Magazine wrote an interesting article about employee engagement and the very direct impact it has on a company's financial success and employee retention. The article reveals some of the truly interesting findings of the Towers Perrin Global Workforce Study. One nugget that specifically caught my attention stated that "The study found that companies with the highest levels of employee engagement achieve better financial results and are more successful in retaining their most valued employees than companies with lower levels of engagement."

Hmm....didn't I say something very similar in some earlier BLOG posts this year on team engagement and connectiveness (this is a Steveism if you are wondering)?

I speak about employee engagement on a regular basis and how having a proactive plan for connecting people within an organization is an executive's secret weapon of success. Engaged employees are far more likely to feel ownership to their roles and responsibilities within the company and that translates into positive Ripples throughout the organization; innovation, creativity, better communication, and yes more contributory attitudes to forwarding the jointly held financial football are just a few.

Recently I spoke with an executive from a Fortune 100 company who before attending a Ripple couldn't just didn't see the power of helping people engage and connect, at least not within his company. Following my presentation and after putting him through an actual 8 Minute Ripple with executives from different companies, he came up to me and said with a big smile that he "got it." The light bulb was actually visibly shinning brightly about his head as we spoke. He now understood just how much we really think we actually connect but that in society and in our own trenches we really don't have a clue. The Ripple philosophy and process made it safe and fun for him to step outside of his box to discover that connecting wasn't difficult or hard, it just needed to be done differently.

Regular readers of my BLOG know that I am passionate about what the Ripple can do for individuals and companies alike. The Towers Perrin study only further supports my need to grow my business and bring more Ripples to corporate teams, departments, partnerships and alliances. It validates my gut instinct as to why so many companies so desperately need a rallying cry that resonates throughout their organizations. The Ripple certainly makes a good rallying cry in my humble opinion.

To read more about the study please click here.

To learn more about what a Ripple-centric program might mean to your organization, please feel free to email me at steve@ripplecentral.com or call me at 512.577.3700.

No matter what you do, if you are in an leadership capacity for your company, do something...anything to get and keep your people engaged. The value so far outweighs the effort. I think the Towers Perrin researchers would agree.

Ripple On!!!

Steve

The Employee Perspective

Are you a business owner or leader of an organization? If so let me ask you a question.

How valued and appreciated
do your employees feel?

I ask this question because I believe it to be an important one that leaders of any organization or team should be asking themselves on a regular basis. Recent surveys have indicated that over half of all workers are right now looking for another job and would leave their current position if another opportunity became available. Over half! That is a scary prospect if you are in a leadership position.

I know when I owned my own company and had service talent that I had basically paid thousands of dollars to train I constantly worried about a pithy competitor swooping in to take them. I spent many a sleepless night worrying about the potential hit I would take in both the support of my customers and to my bottom line. I had nightmares of my people leaving for a minor increase in their salary or benefits and some evil competitor laughing all the way to the bank as he or she calculated all the dollars they had saved by my training their new employee.

Fortunately the nightmares didn't often come to pass and I believe it was because I said, and said often, two little words that can be more lasting than any raise.

THANK YOU!

Employees want to know that their efforts are recognized and appreciated. All too often, I see organizations that treat their employees like cattle and refer to them as "human capital." Human capital? How about Tom. Bob, Stephanie, Michelle, George...anything but human capital.

I just completed reading Blue Ocean Strategy and wanted to share an excerpt I found particularly interesting about why it is important to share with your employees why you value you them.

"Emotionally, individuals seek recognition of their value, not as "labor," "personnel" or "human resources" but as human beings who are treated with full respect and dignity and appreciated for their individual worth regardless of hierarchical level."

In part I created the Corporate Ripple as a means to show teams and workgroups that they are valued both as individuals and collectively by opening up the channels of dialogue and connection. I truly believe that companies that invest their time, money and resources in helping bring connection and yes, Rippling, into their work environment can positively impact their employees' perception and commitment.

So I challenge you if you are a leader of a company to ask that question. Don't just ask yourself the question but ask the Tom's, Bob's Stephanie's and Michelle's of your company how valued they feel. Really listen to how they answer that question and take notes. And no matter what, follow it up with the two most powerful words in the English language (heck any language)....THANK YOU!

If you can't seem to bring to yourself to ask those questions or are afraid you might not get the straight scoop or hear the answers you want to hear then it might suggest you need someone in there asking for you before it is too late! In today's tough labor market losing core talent can and will cost your organization an unbelievable amount of money and it is so avoidable.

If you have interest in learning about some of the innovative Ripple programs we are putting to work for organizations of all sizes, shoot me an email at steve@ripplecentral.com.

Let's make sure your employees feel valued and appreciated and stay right where they belong!



Ripple On!!!

Steve Harper

Team Connectiveness - Part Four

The CEO on the other end of the line was frustrated. He had communication problems amongst his leadership team and those problems were now starting to trickle down to their direct reports. Moral was at an all time low. Business was churning but customer complaints on quality and timeliness were beginning to increase. People had lost respect for one another and now openly aired their grievances regardless of who might be watching or listening.

Months earlier I had been hired to come in and do an afternoon presentation on my book The Ripple Effect for his executive team retreat. During my session I had sensed there was some uneasiness when I touched on the Ripple Effect of communication and its impact on the internal and external customer. I explained that the lack of open and honest communication often proves to be the Achilles heal of most corporations (regardless of size) and that building a ripple-centric strategy often requires that his area of the business be closely examined.

They weren't ready to talk about those difficult issues then, but now months later, the CEO was being forced to admit that they were in trouble.

The issues they were facing were not unique or different than those your team may be facing right now. I know for myself when I led a team of sales, service and administrative personnel, they were certainly not far removed from what this poor guy was seeing, feeling and stressing over. And of course based on that experience and the many companies I have since worked with since, I had some advice for him.

Now I don't mean to over-simplify what I do or perhaps give you some idea that what I offer is that magic bullet that will make you the next Microsoft overnight. I am good but not even I will drink that Kool-Aid!

As I explained in part two, I asked him what he saw, heard and felt when he was in the trenches. Like me (in my 'early years'), he had mistakenly gone about growing his company and more directly, his people, by being as disconnected as they were. Although the majority of his employees had worked together for several years he didn't really think anyone knew each other, much less cared about one another. They had seen a huge increase in turnover over the past several years despite having almost none the first few years in business.

My advice was to throw down the gauntlet and address the pink elephant in the room. I asked him to ask the question "We don't like one another? What can we do to fix it?" He needed to get the dialogue going or else.

So for the next few weeks he spent time talking to every one of his employees. I explained it would not be easy and people would most assuredly not trust him at first but no matter what he needed to keep talking. He needed to be willing to encourage and really listen to what was being said AND what wasn't being said.

It took time. It took a fair amount of coaching and mentoring by me to keep his spirits up. It took a tremendous amount of effort. And it took him checking his ego at the door and an open-hearted message from him to ask his team to do the same. But as it did with me and countless other clients that I have worked with since, it began to work. It certainly wasn't easy but it the huge wheels of change began to move.

After several weeks I came in to lead their first companywide 8 Minute Ripple. I first explained the power of the Ripple and how and why it affected individually. I then expanded upon the positive momentum changes that everyone had been seeing and gave a little insight as to what the boss had been up to. He was surveying the land, cultivating the space and now we were about to lay the foundation. We would be learning together what it meant to engage, connect and finally get to know one another and we would be doing in such a way that it would be fun, rewarding and not nearly as difficult as they might expect.

Team connectiveness is, in my opinion, the single biggest factor as to whether a company will succeed or fail. People are the single biggest asset a company has. Forget product and services and realize that unless you can run your company all by yourself (God help you) then your team is the biggest part of this equation.

If your team isn't connecting, if they aren't engaging and openly communicating then something needs to be done. Lead by example. Reach out and connect yourself. Start showing an interest in your teammates in something other than work. Encourage people to get to know one another. Be a bridge builder. Make time in the day for people to commiserate whether over a hosted lunch, coffee chat or over beers at the local pub after work. Don't play games. Be honest. Tell them that no matter what, their interaction and respect for one another is paramount to the company's future abundance and success.

Bottom line, just do something! Make sure your teams are connected!

And if you are still struggling, still unsure how to make it happen then call or email me. Perhaps your team is need of a Ripple-cism!

Ripple On My Friends!

Steve Harper
steve@ripplecentral.com
512-577-3700


P.S. Have you seen our new Ripple TV? Check it out by Clicking Here!!!

Team Connectiveness - Part Three

So if you are the business leader.....

You pay 100% of an employee's salary.

You may only be getting 37% of their effort.

According to a study conducted by the Gallup Organization, corporations that do nothing to help employees connect with one another at work have employees that are 63% less likely to be engaged on the job. That means employees are actively disengaged in their job function, undedicated and actually damaging a company’s productivity.

The lack of connection felt by a company’s employees actually increases the risks and costs associated with the following:

· Employee turnover
· Absenteeism
· Healthcare
· Productivity
· Communication
· Loyalty
· Innovation

Team connectiveness as you can see from a business leader's perspective is extremely important and has a positive or negative Ripple effect that can extend well beyond the company's bottom line.

So why do so many organizations continue to ignore it?

Because to fix it might appear to be more costly than it truly is.

As I mentioned in part one of this series, team building activities just aren't cutting it. Organizations that invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in helping their team be better teammates often grow frustrated when the residual affects of a ropes course or Kum Ba Ya hugs are long since over and everyone has to return to the office trenches on Monday morning.

So it is easy to see why companies simply fail to try. It is easy to understand why they simply let their teams "be" even if those teams happen to "be" dysfunctional.

It doesn't have to be that way. Why would anyone in their right mind want to actively or passively promote a work environment that doesn't help everyone perform at their highest level. It just doesn't make sense.

If you are paying 100% of an employee's salary you should expect a respectable return for that investment. But it requires you actively work to insure that everyone within the company is connecting and working together.

And if you are the employee receiving 100% of your salary but giving back less than 100% effort because of the environment you work in, it becomes your responsibility to challenge the status quo. It requires you take an active role in breaking the negative cycle of disconnectiveness.

In my next POST and the final one of this series, we will look at how something as simple as the Ripple can bring about real changes in your team environment.

Until next time.....

Ripple On!

Steve Harper

Team Connectiveness - Part Two

Tuesday's BLOG prompted some interesting emails and phone calls. I always appreciate hearing from my readers and having an opportunity to exchange ideas and strategies. So please keep 'em coming!

One of the interesting questions came from Chris a CEO of a mid-sized software company in California. Chris asked the question "So how do you know when your team isn't connected?"

Chris you must have been reading my mind as that was exactly what I was going to discuss in part two of this series.

How do you know if your team is connected or not?

I would suggest you look, listen and feel.

Look at...

How your people interact with one another.

• Do they show respect to one another especially when things are emotionally charged?
• Do you see people actively present and engaged with one another?
  
• Do you see people spending time with each other outside of work; going out to lunch, grabbing coffee, making plans to see each other for the big game?

Listen to....

How your team talks to one another.

• Do they communicate openly without sarcasm or judgment?
• Do they ask with genuine interest about each other's weekends, kids, outside work activities?
• Do they avoid talking about the tough topics when they come up?

Feel....

The kind of energy that resonates around the office.

• Are people genuinely warm/cold close/distant to one another?
• Does the energy rise or fall when certain team members enter or leave a work area?
• Do you feel tension during staff meetings or anytime various departments or teams have to interact?

Obviously there are literally hundreds of questions I could ask you here that could better qualify or disqualify whether team connectiveness might be a problem for your company. The bottom line is whether you are a business leader or simply an employee, you know from your own personal experience if any of these statements resonate. You probably also know that when any of these questions are answered with a less than positive response that may be a sign there is trouble in paradise.

In my next post we will talk about the revealing impact the lack of team connectiveness can have on a company. In the mean time, I want to hear from you. I want to hear if any of the above questions resonate with you and your team and just how it is affecting you and ultimately your company. Please email me at steve@ripplecentral.com or give me a call 512-577-3700.

Until next time....

Ripple On!

Steve

P.S. Our next 8 Minute Ripple is only days away. If you are in Austin and you want to experience the true power of connection, please consider joining us! You will be glad you did! Email me for more information.

Team Connectiveness - Part One

How connected is your team?

No, I mean seriously.

Do you know how engaged your folks are at work?

If you are the business owner, executive or team lead, you might be saying to yourself, "why do I care if my people are engaged or like one another?"

To which I would politely respond "you better care of else!"

A company who does nothing to actively encourage or assist employee engagement may really be missing the boat. They may be losing untold dollars from the company's coffers as well as encouraging core talent to defect.

The Gallup Poll recently reported in their semi-annual Employee Engagement Index that a mere 29% of employees are actively engaged on the job. A big indicator of how engaged an employee is on the job comes from how connected they feel with the people they work with and for. No connectiveness often means less effort and productivity and as you can imagine the negative Ripples extend from there.

It has been reported that employees that are disengaged are costing the U.S. economy nearly $300 Billion a year. Yes...a Billion! If you are in a leadership or ownership capacity for your company, what percentage of that enormous number is your organization responsible for?

This has become a very important focus as of late for my Ripple work because I believe connectiveness, especially in a team environment, requires a Ripple-centric approach to all aspects of team interaction; especially when it comes to individual and team connectiveness.

When I talk to companies of all sizes it has become increasingly obvious that they are finding that "team building" and rah rah sessions are short on substance, high on cost and lack sustainable results. So what is a company to do if traditional team building, which is so obviously needed, isn't delivering what is needed to help company employees cooperate, communicate and interact?

Well it may be time to learn to Ripple.

Stay tuned for Team Connectiveness - Part Two.


Ripple On!!!

Steve Harper

P.S. Can't wait for part two? Give me a shout at 512-577-3700 and let's talk about your company and team connectiveness.

P.S.S. Come experience connectiveness at our next 8 Minute Ripple happening on January 31, 2007 - email me for more information at steve@ripplecentral.com