#826 transparent

My favorite feature in Fortune magazine is a column entitled "How We Got Started."  Each month a different business leader reflects on their company's beginnings and then offers a few nuggets of advice to readers.

In May, the column featured John and Bert Jacobs, founders of Life Is Good, the company who produces (mostly) t-shirts that feature rudimentary drawings of people having fun.

Of the advice they shared, the one that stuck with me is this:

"Be transparent.  You don't have to be right or have all the answers.  You've got to be able to tell people what's happening -- good, bad, or ugly.  Then others can help solve the problem."

How often have you found yourself in a situation where you only heard part of the story from the leader?  Or where those in charge acted as if they had things under control, when really they needed all the help they could get?  

It's likely that if you are a good leader, you have hired awesome people.  Take advantage of their brain power and focus it on helping you to find the best solution.  Tell them where you stand with the budget, and let them develop ideas on cost savings.  Acknowledge where you are having production issues, and see if they can't re-engineer the process for you.  Show current figures on where you stand with customer satisfaction, and encourage them to offer suggestions for reform.

Trying to solve your organization's problems by yourself is a sure path that leads to Life Is Bad.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

Source:  How We Got Started/Our Advice, John and Bert Jacobs, Fortune, May 19, 2014, p. 42.

#825 blind side

One final thought on the Ice Bucket Challenge.  As I have written over the past two days, it has brought an amazing amount of recognition and donations to the ALS Association.  I am sure that when the organizers came up with the idea, they had the best of intentions to raise funds for their friend, and it has done just that.

It also has stirred up a fair amount of controversy.  The Ice Bucket Challenge was under the radar for the first few millions, but once the amount began to soar, the concept moved into the public eye.  And there is never unanimity with the masses.

Protests have arisen because it is such a waste of water in an era when the sole purpose of several organizations is to bring clean water to those without it.  Bishops have weighed in against participation due to the embryonic stem cell research involved.  Some Catholic schools have chosen not to participate or to carefully direct their donations to limited aspects of the Association's work.  As with so many things, there is always a down side to what initially appears to be a great idea.

The idea of having a blind side relates to a concept shared in Thanks for the Feedback*.  Authors Stone and Heen** write that all of us have behavioral blind spots where a gap occurs between our thoughts and feelings and others' stories about us. 

Their Gap Map:
My thoughts & feelings >lead to> My intentions >lead to> My behavior >lead to> My impacts on them >lead to> Their story about me <leads back to< Their feedback to me

Often there is a gap between how we see ourselves and how others see us.  Thanks for the Feedback offers theories on how this occurs and how we can invite others to enlighten us, but the phenomenon they describe is the same as what I suspect happened with the Ice Bucket.  Good intentions by one are perceived differently by others.

Whether you are designing a fund raiser or just want to become more aware of how you are coming across, soliciting honest feedback from others is a good start.  It may feel like someone is throwing a cold blanket on you, but it is better than being blind sided in the end.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

*Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen, 2014

**See Blog #818, August 28, 2014

Thanks to Wendy for the observations.

#824 now what?

Yesterday I wrote about the phenomenal success that the Ice Bucket Challenge has brought to the ALS Association.  They have raised $94.3 million vs. $2.7 million in the same period last year.  They have garnered 1.9 million new donors.  The Challenge is a social network and media sensation.  Whoo Hoo!

Or is it Boo Hoo?

Think of the challenges that the Association now faces.  To be sure, some of them are good, but my bet is that they are no where close to being prepared to handle this massive influx, especially when it occurred unexpectedly, and in a compressed time period.

How can a staff that was geared to handling 60,000 donors (the amount in the database that received the original email) cope with the volume of even thanking 1.8 million more people than usual?  How will they know which of the donors are their real supporters that should be targeted vs. who are the one-time $10 givers that were caught up in the moment?  

Time reports that "many people are questioning what the ALS Association will do with such an extraordinary influx of money."  They cite new scientists being funded for research and increased interest in R & D by pharmaceutical companies -- again, great news, but to make it a reality requires infrastructure, funding protocols and someone(s) to oversee the sheer logistics of making it happen.  

Due to the viral nature of this campaign, it is doubtful that ALS or even the Ice Bucket organizers ever fathomed anything of this magnitude.  No organization can truly be prepared for when something "gains legs" and becomes a sensation, but even if there was a plan, it would have never dreamed this big.

ALS has much work to do to accept the Ice Bucket Challenge that they have been given.  I can't imagine the decisions that need to be made and the work that lies ahead.

Like many who win the lottery, the windfall can become a nightmare if not handled properly.  Let's hope that the ALS Association can balance expediency with intentionality to be like Lou Gehrig and turn this fastball into a home run.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

Source:  The Real Ice Bucket Challenge by Kathy Giusti, Time, September 8-15, 2014, p. 29

Thanks to Mike for the observation.

#823 splash

From 1966 until 2010, Labor Day was marked by the annual Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon.  It was a whopper too; airing for 20+ hours from Sunday night through Monday, it was as classic as it was annoying.  In the era of limited channels, to dedicate one of them to a fundraiser was revolutionary.  Later in syndication, over 160 channels carried the show.

The first telethon raised over $1 million -- remember, this is 1966 -- and its success allowed it to continue for the next four decades.  The format was the same; shots of local volunteers listening for the phone to ring, celebrities, testimonials and tug-at-your-heart stories about the great need for more research, and a big board to track the totals.  It fit the times and over many years raised nearly $2.5 billion for medical research.

You probably did not notice the telethon this past weekend.  It has shrunk to a mere two hours; Jerry has not been part of it since 2011, and it was only shown on one network.  In short, it is a format from another time trying to live on in today's digital world.

Contrast that with the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which has currently raised $94.3 million toward finding a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.  Through two friends who wanted to support another friend with ALS and one email to 60,000 people in the ALS database, an international viral phenomenon was launched.  Currently 1.9 million new donors have contributed to this challenge since the end of July.

How is your organization operating?  Hanging on to the tried and true tradition like the telethon and trying to tinker with its format?  Or embracing an entirely new way of thinking about who your audience is and how to reach them?  A douse of cold water should bring you to your senses about which one is more effective.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

Sources:
MDA Show of Strength 2014, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDA_Show_of_Strength
The Real Ice Bucket Challenge by Kathy Giusti, Time, September 8-15, 2014, p. 29

#822 strike a cord

Isn't it ironic that as more things move to become "wireless", we have more personal wires and cables than ever?  The permanent infrastructure may no longer be wired, but the portable wires have increased exponentially.  Each time we travel we carry ear buds, 30 pin chargers, USB cords, lightening cords and a host of other digital essentials for our gizmos.

Levenger, the accessory company "for serious readers", just came out with a new cord roll to allow people to conveniently take their cords and chargers with them or be organized storing them at home.  When you need a case just for the cords, you know you have moved into the digital world.  

What have we really gained in the aggregate?  We traded hardwired for mobility, but the omnipresent phone or radio now must be brought along with each person.  There is individualization, and the burden of tending to your own needs.

The first cords may have been tied to the end of soup cans stretched from window to window.  They got some things right.  Today, take advantage of your holiday and make an effort to extend a metaphorical cord from yourself to another human instead of only to another device.  

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

#821 serenity

"All stress comes from resisting what is."  Oprah Winfrey

Think about the time and mental energy that you spend fretting about things that you cannot change.  We stress about the weather.  We worry about whether others will fulfill their commitment.  Whether people will like our idea or if people will like us.  

How much better off would we be if we accepted more things as they were?  Even if it is just for today, try to be at peace with "what is" and who you are.  The clear thinking that comes from serenity will help you craft a better tomorrow.

--- beth triplett

leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

quoted in The World According to Gayle (King), O Magazine, March 2013

#820 compadres

I received a post on LinkedIn that described qualities of people the author most enjoyed as colleagues.  I liked his Venn diagram a lot:

When I saw it, I immediately thought of the Strategic Planning Committee of 2011-2012 -- my group of compadres that was responsible for the development of our new plan.  That group put in a crazy amount of hours -- including a Friday 3pm-4:30pm weekly meeting -- but I had more fun with them than any other committee here.

I guess I have higher expectations that Jeff Weiner, because if I was drawing the circles I would have four.  In addition to dreaming big, getting shit done, knowing how to have fun, I would add: open to learning.  I want to work with colleagues that instinctively evaluate programs after they occur and who are continually trying to make things better.  I like people who not only "dream big" but "think small" and work to continuously improve the details.  

Think about your circles and how colleagues would draw them if describing you.  Do you have overlap and a good balance of dreaming and doing?  Are your contributions proportionate in the three or four areas?  Work to become the person others want on their team.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com