Spiraling Up: Personal Vision and Purpose

June 20, 2011 By

There are times I feel as if I am spinning out of control. There is too much to do, too many demands pulling me one way and then another. Priorities at work shift. Things at home fall apart. What I thought would take 10 minutes takes 2 hours instead.

Everyone knows the feeling and the struggle. The exhaustion. The feeling of expending so much energy for something with little visible results.

And of course there are other times when I feel I am focused. Doing what matters. Making an impact. Grounded. In flow. These times happen even when the velocity of life surrounding me is no less fierce than my out of control times.

The difference?  Getting grounded in a higher purpose. When I can remember what my core is, what I value most, and how I want to show up in the world – I can tap into that unchanging core. The core is centered and calm. The core allows me to go through the day with grace and ease, focusing on what is most important – the long term.

And when I string together days or weeks of staying grounded in my higher purpose, amazing things start to happen. The whirlwind around me does not want to tear me apart – it begins to create an upward momentum to spiral me up around that unchanging core with amazing force.

What is your core purpose? How often do you tap into it? What is holding you back?

 

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What is an Evergreen Leader?

June 9, 2011 By

A leader that has what it takes to succeed in today and tomorrow’s environment. Here is the short list:

  • Begins with Vision. Acts with intention toward a Purpose.
  • Creates new possibilities. Works forward rather than managing backward.
  • Is highly Self-Aware. Leverages strengths and mitigates challenge areas.
  • Has both external and internal Contextual Prowess. Carves unique niches in the external market and is agile in working within the internal culture.
  • Uses System Thinking and acts with the recognition of the interconnectedness of all things.
  • Understands Group Dynamics and unleashes the power of teamwork.
  • Plans well and Executes even better.
  • Relentlessly Develops Others, creating increasing levels of competence.
  • Is unfailingly Curious – a constant explorer and learner.

If you’d like to learn about our powerful Evergreen Leadership Development process, contact us at info@ktaylorandassoc.com .

 

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The New Capitalist Manifesto

June 7, 2011 By

 

Umair Hague has written a compelling book, The New Capitalist Manifesto: Building a Disruptively Better Business, for those of us interested in the future of business, leadership, and change in the 21st century. I read stacks of business books – but have read none more relevant for creating healthy, vibrant and successful organizations, which are sustainable by creating enduring, meaningful, sustainable advantages. And not just for them – but for society as a whole.

Umair is the first to admit that he does not have all the answers, and also that there is no one organization that exemplifies all five of his “cornerstones of prosperity” for the 21st century. Yet he provides a compelling starting point for exploration and uses many examples of existing companies that are creating what he calls “thick value.”

He highlights Nikes’ Considered Design in which the goal is that “anything and everything can be recycled into something just as desirable.” Clearly good for the environment but even better for Nike – as supply chain costs shrink to next to nothing.

Threadless, a phenomenal success story in retail clothing, uses consumer voting PRIOR to production and as a consequence only produces limited edition, highly desired products. Their mantra: “Better decisions faster,” – the result is amazingly high margins, no waste and extreme customer responsiveness.

Examples abound of Umair’s five cornerstones: Loss Advantage, Responsiveness, Resilience, Creativity, and Difference. Leaders of companies take note: this book is a must-read for leaders of organizations and entrepreneurs.

 

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Consider a New Business Model

June 2, 2011 By

Business 101 teaches us that companies have life cycles that mirror what we observe in nature – founding (or birth), high growth (or adolescence), maturity (adulthood) and decline (death). It used to be that companies could enjoy many prosperous and stable years in the maturity phase – measured in decades. Now we see companies ascend and descend in the blink of an eye, with long-standing goods and services being rendered obsolete – at times before they have even reached maturity.

I’m proposing a new mental model, still taken from nature, but one that is much more adaptable to today’s environment. It is the Evergreen. Evergreens stay green and productive all year round, and avoid the cycle of dormancy and re-growth by a process of continual shedding. The loss is almost imperceptible, yet allows the plant to stay green and growing all year round. Think about the power of continually shedding what is not working or no longer needed over time, and replacing it with fresh growth, from a business perspective. No erratic P&L statements, no massive downsizings and closings, quicker response to the market, and greater adaptability to the current reality.

There are thousands of species of Evergreens, and they come in a wide variety of sizes, and even colors. Certain species thrive in rain forests, others in drought-stricken areas. In addition to our typical Christmas tree, palm trees and California redwoods are also Evergreens. What they share is a unique survival mechanism, that of working within the ecosystem rather than against it. What they shed nourishes the soil beneath them with the perfect mix of acidity, which allows them to survive virtually everywhere on the planet, even in the harshest conditions. What if your business could work within instead of against the ecosystem and thrive – no matter how hostile and challenging? What if what you shed nourished you rather than depleted you? What if your company was Evergreen and you were an Evergreen Leader? We’ll explore what that means in our upcoming posts.

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Lessons in Transition from the Super Bowl Half Time Show

February 8, 2011 By

I admit it. I can be a geek sometimes. While millions of people across the globe watched the half time show for the performance (or perhaps to see if there would be another wardrobe malfunction), I experience a sense of awe and wonder at the spectacle and the amazing accomplishment of transforming a football field and stadium into the world’s largest live stage.

Think about it. In a mere 8 minutes the field must be transformed. And most of the work is done by volunteers. Oh, and by the way, volunteers who have not had much time to practice.

Just my short list of production elements that must be envisioned, coordinated, planned for and executed includes:

  • Stage
  • Lighting
  • Video
  • Sound
  • Musicians
  • Dancers
  • Pyrotechnics
  • Cameras
  • Special effects
  • Lasers
  • Costumes
  • Audience participation

 It struck me that, in many ways, it was like most transformations:

  • Long in the making
  • Requiring much planning and hard work
  • Best when done with creativity and vision
  • Can come together rather quickly in the end
  • Often appears rather effortless to those not involved

And no sooner have you basked in the glory of the transformation, another challenge calls you.

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Change Effort Stuck?

August 13, 2010 By

Transformational change in organizations is hard (major understatement!)– and the more processes, systems, peoples and time involved the greater the level of difficulty. Because of this, it is very typical to initially underestimate any number of things: the time it will take, the people required, the resources needed, the impact to other areas, the amount of coordination required. In the early planning phases we tend to assume the best – things will go quickly, the right people will be available just when you need them, that it’s really not “all that difficult”. And then hard, cold, unrelenting reality sets in.

Once we begin to get a sense of the real scope and scale of the change, these challenges begin to surface in a real way. Quite often much energy and effort have already been expended. Commitments have been made. Plans are in place. People are stretched thin and worn out. So when the hard truth that it will take more than we ever imagined to put the change in place becomes evident – it is a very “inconvenient truth”.

Facing up to this hard reality is a daunting  leadership challenge. Our human propensity is to fight or flight. Fight looks like denying the reality, pushing on without adjustment, asking people to work 14 hours rather than the normal 10. Flight is abandonment, turning back, giving up. Neither is what is needed.

Here are 6 things that do need done.

  1. Yield to the Reality Be brutally honest about the true state. State the obvious. Declare the problem and the intent to fix it. Hiding problems almost always takes more time and energy than naming them and getting focused on a fix.
  2. Pause. Breathe. Slow things down for a moment to go faster later.
  3. Reflect. How much has been done? What is yet to be done? What do we know that was not knowable at kick off? What is getting the way? Why? What has changed? What needs to change to make this happen? What is our most important outcome? How do we get there? The more honest the answers, the more likely your fix will work.
  4. Re-Plan. Pull together the team. Use their much more accurate understanding of the effort to put together a plan that can succeed. Keep a focus on what is really important. Typically this is an adjustment – not a total change of direction.
  5. Recommit. Create fresh energy around the plan by reemphasizing the importance of the big goal. Maintain momentum by identifying shorter term wins that are within sight. Quickly get people moving forward again – this time with a clearer path with fewer obstacles.
  6. Press On. Step by Step. One milestone after another. Demonstrate the will to get this done. Make it clear that turning back is not an option.

And a final note…..don’t forget to look back on occasion and celebrate the progress made.

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The Death of Miss Kim

May 27, 2010 By

It was quick – and relatively painless. Gone, in minutes, after 17 years of being a part of my life. Rarely had my husband reacted so quickly to a request. But at the mere hint that Miss Kim, the lilac tree near our front door should go he sprang into action. Perhaps it was the enticement of using the brute force of his tractor, a chain and lots of horsepower.

An avid gardener, I have an aversion to removing any living thing that has some degree of life to it. No matter how overgrown, scraggly, and ugly. Yet after the shock of loosing Miss Kim, I reveled in the openness of our entry way and looked forward to the growth my hydrangea would experience now that Miss Kim no longer blocked the sun. I felt a degree of lightness, of new possibilities. Sorry, Miss Kim, but I am not missing you at all!

Leaders, too, have similar aversions to killing things that have lost their vitality or purpose, but have been around for a long time. Much easier to design, develop, improve, implement. Much harder to decommission, discontinue, halt or stop doing what has always been done. Even if it doesn’t serve a purpose anymore – at least one that we can discern. I have yet find an organization that did not have practices, policies, processes, tools, meetings, and reports that could go the way of Miss Kim.

Challenge yourself. When you implement something new, be explicit about what goes away and diligent about insisting that it does die. Insist on examining the tasks that consume precious time, energy and resources in your organization. What things have outlived their usefulness? What things do you do that your customers don’t need or value?

Once you identify what needs to go away – take a lesson from my husband. Use the best tools at hand and take quick action. I suspect that the people you lead will cheer – at least once they get over the initial disruption. When was the last time you found ways to do less rather than more?

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