HRMusing

This is a story about empowerment, entrepreneurship, motivation and vision.

This is the story of a 9 year old boy, Caine, in east LA who didn't know he wasn't empowered to build his own arcade and to forge his path to developing and owning a business. He only knew that he wanted to share his passion for arcades. His materials? A summer break from school, time, cardboard, tape, scissors, and his passion. (MacGyver would be proud!)

This is also a story of a man who saw the passion, ingenuity and pure, unadulterated, motivation and how he fulfilled Caine's desire to share the Cardboard Arcade.

The Leadership Challenge's 5 Practices: Model the Way, Inspire a Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart are visible is this story from Caine and the film maker who told the story.

Lessons From My  GPS

Driving to a conference using my ever ready GPS companion, Sylvie, it occurred to me that she does for me while I drive what we all do everyday...

           we re-calculate what we are suppose to do,

           to get us where we are suppose to be,

           based on where we are are at the moment change occurs!

But, do we do it as calmly as our vehicle GPS or do we do it without looking a bit beyond and re-aiming and re-setting our route to arrive at our destination?

My Sylvie provides clear, predictable direction, tells me what she is doing to re-adjust and does it un-hysterically and I follow...

This week I had the pleasure to hear Steve Farber, author of GREATER THAN YOURSELF: The Ultimate Lesson of True Leadeship, as he provided one of the keynotes at the 3rd annual Leadership Challenge Conference held in San Diego. According to Steve, the only way for knowledge to truly lead to power in a person’s life is for that person to give it away. The reason this principle works is seemingly simple: “Everyone will want to work with you. And because of that you’ll be able to accomplish anything you set out to do.”

This book, like his others, is a business parable. The story is compelling and keeps you reading to the very end. His story gives character and life to a principle of truth that has existed for centuries: the more you lift others the higher you will go. This concept comes to life through the greater than yourself (GTY) framework outlined throughout the book . The following elements combine to create the GTY framework:

Expand yourself: “You expand yourself in order to give yourself to others.” Choose to be connected with others. Take a personal inventory of the things you do well, experiences and life-lessons that you can share and give away your connections.

Give yourself: “Act instead of just watching others act or hearing about it in the news.” Invest in relationships with other people and be clear on your intentions to make a difference in the lives of others.

Replicate yourself: “Pay it forward, and demand that those you teach pay it forward, as well.” Share your successes and failures with others so they can learn from your experience.

Who will be your GTY project? Who will you choose to expand into, give of your time and energy to and pay it forward without expecting any reciprocation? Lead by giving away your knowledge. Lead by connecting those around you to others with similar interests, knowledge and goals. Be active, seek out ways to share and give away what makes you successful.

THINK DIFFERENT - AGAIN!

In 1984, Lee Clow of TBWA/Media Arts Labs in collaboration with Apple created the commercial above. It challenged us to Think Different by depicting..........

...The crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes, the ones who see things differently. The ones who are not fond of the rules, the ones that have no respect for the status quo. And while you can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them - about the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things, they push the human race forward. Some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.

This is the time for organizations to re-invent themselves, find new markets, expand  their influence and grow leaders. Look around your organization for the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels - the ones who push you to be different  -  to see things differently. Work along side them and challenge the current state of things. These  are the ones who are your future - they are the ones who are just crazy enough to struggle upstream against the  status quo and propel you forward.

This is the question I get most often from HR up and comers. It is usually one of the first questions that I am asked along with how did you get a place at the table.

The Table? The Table, presumably, is a seat with the decision makers in the organization - large or small. Whenever I hear this, I am dismayed! Many HR professional organization materials lament that HR isn't at The Table but neglect to provide a road map for the journey and an answer.

HR professionals should not be asking  for a seat at The Table. They should be asking 'how can I directly impact revenue generation, productivity and ultimately the the bottom line?" Once that question is asked, actions in HR developed and implemented, asking how to get a seat at The Table is redundant. When HR impacts the bottom line you will have a seat at the table waiting for you!

Forging HR priorities in the context of real business imperatives is critical to getting and keeping a seat at the decision-making table. HR professionals  considered “strategic players” get and keep a seat at the table by:

Demonstrating a detailed understanding of their organization’s key business issues and identifying and aligning their human capital implications

Demonstrating a high degree of flexibility to change the direction of the function according to business needs

Using insightful, fact-based information regarding human capital investments

Developing a strong relationships between the HR leader and peer business leaders that enables HR to play an influential role in key business decisions

Flawlessly executing basic administrative processes and programs

Employing an HR staff that has business acumen, analytic skills and the desire to impact business results

Structuring HR to closely align with and fit the organizational structure

“Everything HR does must directly impact/support revenue, productivity, and building the company’s desired culture.”- Sr HR Officer Fortune 100 (2007)

“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.” – Robert McClosky

“If A equals success, then the formula is A equals X plus Y and Z, with X being work, Y play, and Z keeping your mouth shut.” – Albert Einstein

“To listen well, is as powerful a means of influence as to talk well, and is as essential to all true conversation” – Chinese Proverb

“Everything has been said before, but since nobody listens we have to keep going back and beginning all over again.” – Andre Gide

“I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.” – Ernest Hemingway

“A good listener tries to understand what the other person is saying. In the end he may disagree sharply, but because he disagrees, he wants to know exactly what it is he is disagreeing with.” Kenneth Wells

Silence is a source of great strength." – Lao Tzu

"The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them." -  Ralph Nichols

"Many attempts to communicate are nullified by saying too much."- Robert Greenleaf

"Seek first to understand, then to be understood."- Stephen R. Covey

"Wag More....Bark Less" - sign on a tree at the dog park

The Starfish Story

adapted from The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley (1907 - 1977)

One day, a man was  walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought of someone who would dance to the day, and so, he walked faster to catch up. As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, and that what he was doing was not dancing at all, he was picking up small objects, and throwing them into the ocean. When the came closer he called out "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?" The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean." "I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the man. To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die." Upon hearing this, the  man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!" At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "It made a difference for that one."

So, who will you meet up with today? Who will you make a difference to?

Leaders make a difference one encounter at a time.

LEADERSHIP - Easy as HERDING CATS!!!!

This video was introduced in 2006 by EDS with the tag line “Information, ideas, technology; we make ‘em go where you want them to go.”

That’s what leaders do - get ‘em where you want them to go even when they are bent on going where they want to go.

This is the transcript of the commercial a bit doctored up. Watch the video but use this version of the script!

“This man right here is my great grandfather. He’s the first leader of employees  in our family.

Leading employees … don’t let anybody tell you it’s easy.

Anybody can herd cattle. Holdin’ together smart, inquisitive, creative staff, well, that’s another thing altogether.

Being a leader is probably about the toughest thing I think I’ve ever done.

I got this one this morning, right here. And if you look at his face … it’s just ripped to shreds, you know?

You see the movies, you hear the stories. It’s … I’m livin’ a dream. … Not everyone can do what we do.

I wouldn’t do nothin’ else.

It ain’t an easy job. But when you lead the team, and you ain’t lost a one of ‘em, ain’t a feelin’ like it in the world.”

Layaway may sound like an old-school concept, especially in today’s “buy now, pay later” society. But the idea of setting aside goods to pay off gradually is making a comeback, and is being praised as a way to regain control of family finances and make sure holiday giving doesn’t fall victim to the economic downturn.

Despite the economic “meltdown” of 2008 and increased unemployment levels, estimates indicate that the impending surge in baby boomer retirements will result in a labor shortage of 10 million workers by 2010 (Dychtwald, Erickson, & Morrison, 2006).  If just 10% of these retirees exit leadership positions, the U.S. workforce will soon face a shortage of 1 million leaders.  To compound the problem, the need for leadership talent is a key concern for line executives and human resource professionals for at least three reasons:

(a) increasing expectations of shareholders;

(b) the volatility of the current financial market; and

(c) rapid changes in the business environment, including globalization, evolving business strategies, continuous technological changes, and shifting demographics (Gandossy, Salob, Greenslade, Younger, & Guarnieri, 2007; Schein 2005).

Given this potential leadership shortage and the need for future leadership talent, efforts aimed at building leadership pipelines and developing the next generation of leaders is justifiable and required.

So take a lesson from retailer’s today – identify your potential leaders, set aside incremental learning  and pay as you go. Reap the rewards for the future by investing incrementally today.

Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire are quite possibly the most famous dancing duo ever paired, and every bit of their fame is well deserved. Though they had separate careers and individually talented they are best remembered for their spectacular partnership. Fred was consistently given top billing but as Bob Thaves said in 1982 About Fred Astaire “Sure he was great, but don’t forget Ginger Rogers did everything he did backwards … and in high heels!”

Human Resources is the Ginger Rogers to the organization it supports. We don’t make the money but we source, recruit, develop and retain the people who do. If we do it right we make our Fred Astaire perform even better though no one may notice we are there.