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Slacker= Innovative: Words Matter
Written by Buddy Hobart on October 21st, 2009
I realized how words matter and how important it is for leaders to take control of the message and the vision, or it will be controlled for you. Here are just two examples that have passed my way:
Every single company we have worked with on strategic planning in the last year has had some kind of conversation regarding the development of a sustainable/green initiative. Words matter….as little as 10 years ago these conversations were between “tree huggers”, not corporate executives. Substitute the words….tree hugging = sustainable business practices.
In another recent post, I referred to a recent meeting with a wine maker in Napa Valley. I was surprised to learn that pairing food with wine is a relatively new idea. Before Napa Valley was a respected wine region, it was unheard of to pair food with wine, since the wine should have been able to stand on its own. The wine establishment at the time thought this was a “radical” idea that was a desperate attempt by an upstart. Fast forward to today and we know how innovative this simple idea really was at the time. Words matter….radical = innovative.
In Gen Y Now we try to expose the myths about Gen Y, and one of them is that they are slackers and lazy. Words matter. If a Baby Boomer asked questions and tried to find a simpler way to solve a problem, would we call them slackers? My bet is we would call them (us!) innovative. Words matter and there is a great chance we are not using the right words to describe Gen Y’s attempts to be as productive as possible. Let’s challenge ourselves to use the word INNOVATIVE. It is entirely possible that slacker = innovative.
Timeless Leadership Yields Generations of Talented Workers
Written by Buddy Hobart on October 13th, 2009
Daniel Wareman is a Board Member for the International Federation of Purchasing and Supply Management, and sat in on a meeting we recently held with folks from around the world to discuss Gen Y. Daniel is from the Netherlands and was not just representing them at the conference, he was also representing the Traditionalist Generation in our meeting! (The audience was a great example of the 4 generations in the workforce. Every generation was represented.)
Daniel seemed to have a real interest in the topic and really connected with the point about “timeless leadership”. I simply do not believe Gen Y is unreasonable with their expectations of leadership. Gen Y simply demands what every generation wants from their managers and leaders. When we are working with our clients we try to stress that in no way, shape, or form are we asking for accommodations to be made for Gen Y. We are simply asking for the implementation of timeless leadership.
Back to Daniel. During our discussion we were talking about the need to “explain the why” to Gen Y. Managers cannot simply assign work and move on. If Gen Y has questions, managers need to be available. Also, if managers take 30 seconds and explain why the task is relevant, Gen Y will dive into it with all of the commitment you could ever want. The equation is simple. Interesting + meaningful work = commitment. This point resonated with Daniel. It seems that he has always exhibited timeless leadership.
Years ago Daniel was an executive for Shell International. In his role, he had many opportunities to hire new talent. These new folks were highly educated engineers and sought after talent. What he would do, was give these new folks very meaningful and strategic assignments right out of the gate. These assignments would be parts of the overall strategy, not just projects to keep the new hires busy. He would carve out time to follow up and he always had a 90 day review of the progress.
In other parts of the organization, he often witnessed a different process for new hires. Daniel said, “people would assign the engineers the task of counting nuts and bolts instead of trusting them with meaningful work. Then they would wonder why these new people were not working hard. I never had that issue. All of my new folks were working hard….and contributing.” It is not a coincidence that his folks also tended to go on to great success.
“Back in the day”, Daniel was working with Baby Boomers and Traditionalists, not Gen Y. However, he would have had the same success with Gen Y that he did with the other generations. The reason is simple, timeless leadership.
Champion the Change
Written by Buddy Hobart on October 6th, 2009
The other day we talked about a World Supply Chain Summit that I met with recently. After the posting I was reminded about a different conversation I had had with a wine maker in Napa Valley. He was telling me about the history of Napa and how California wines have come to be accepted around the world. One of the points he made was how some wineries began an unheard of practice…..pairing wine with food for tastings. Until then, no one had thought of combining wine tastings with food! Revolutionary!
I only point this out as another example of how a simple innovation can change everything. Today we look at this as common practice and common sense. I think the same will be said of adapting our current performance management systems. In five years it will seem like good ‘ol common sense to give more real time feedback than to wait for a monthly meeting and an annual appraisal to offer input to our employees.
The key for today’s leader is to champion the change. It will not happen just because we “say so”. True progress will require a change management strategy and a commitment to implementation. It will start at the top.