Archive for Leadership
August 24, 2009 at 3:30 pm · Filed under Leadership
The 2009 Trust Survey was issued by the embattled Readers Digest magazine (under bankruptcy protection in America but still powering on in Australia). In it we see a continuation of an old theme. We the people of Australia place at the top of our “most trustworthy” list people in emergency services and medical professions:
- Ambulance officers
- Firefighters
- Nurses
- Pilots
- Pharmacists
- Doctors
- Veterinarians
Teachers round out the Top Ten. It isn’t until you hit #20 that a suit and tie is seen (or wig and gown) – as Judges hold that spot.
If you keep dropping further down the list of the Most Trusted Professions you see Hairdressers (#22) and Domestic Cleaners (#25).
Pop Quiz: Who is more trusted than a mechanic (#29) and less trusted than a bartender (#27)? That would be a Financial Planner (#28)!
I have a natural curiosity for the morbid – so of course I immediately honed in on the bottom of the list. Telemarketers (#40), car salesmen (#39) and politicians (#38) are at the bottom.
But bumping near the bottom of the list is the ignoble CEO (#34). They are squeezed between professional footballers (#33) and sex workers (#35). (Apologies I searched for a better verb than squeezed but couldn’t find it.)
Considering we’ve lost professional footballers to excessive drink, domestic assault, drug abuse and accusations of gang rape it’s odd to see them listed as more trustworthy than a CEO.
It shows the depths businesses have sunk to – and the fact it will take a long, long time for CEOs to climb the rungs. While they may never be as trusted as a farmer (#9) perhaps they can aim for chefs (#21). After all, foul-mouthed celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay may make it easier for the CEOs of Australia to unite and re-build their reputations.
Let’s just hope the sex workers don’t beat them to it…
March 20, 2009 at 8:16 am · Filed under Leadership, Social Media
Earlier in the week I posted about a bad shopping experience at David Jones. Maybe the post lost something in the writing - it attracted the ire of one person (see comments).
After leaving the store I filled in a web complaint form and was pleasantly surprised to receive a gracious reply:
Dear Mr Jennings,
Thank you for contacting David Jones. Firstly, please allow me to apologise for any disappointment or frustration caused to you when shopping in the Foodhall of our Market Street store recently.
I can offer no excuse for the series of events that have occurred. Your requests were simple and consequently our staff should have had the knowledge of all current promotions and the skills to be able to fulfil your needs with no difficulty.
I apologise that we have let both yourself and David Jones down in the way in which we handled your shopping experience.
I can assure you that we take all feedback seriously, and have forwarded your feedback on to the Store Manager and Foodhall Manager of our Market Street store to follow up with our frontline staff. As a result we have agreed with the Management Team on the following actions:
1. Review the communication of promotions to our frontline staff
2. Reiterate to supervisors their ability to deal with situations
professionally and promptly so as not to disenfranchise our customers
Once again, thank you for taking the time to provide us with your feedback as your comments will enable us to improve our service in areas where it does not meet our standards. I do hope you will allow us the opportunity to welcome you in our store in the future.
Kind Regards
(name withheld by blogger)
Customer Service Specialist
That was a great response - thanks, David Jones.
Then this morning I arrived at work to find two boxes of chocolates in a David Jones bag with a trademark purple ribbon. The ‘Store Customer Service Manager’ also read the complaint - and probably the posting - and apologised for the poor service and response.
Companies understand that a disenfranchised consumer is a powerful anti-marketing device. And maybe it’s due to the public posting of the poor experience that warranted the chocolates. I am thankful David Jones treated the single issue seriously but feel uncomfortable accepting a gift of “thanks”. On my walk home I pass the Red Cross blood collection centre. I’ll drop in the chocolates. No doubt donors require a shot of sugar after giving blood.
And I’ll make sure they know they come from David Jones.
February 26, 2009 at 11:13 am · Filed under Leadership, Issues Management, Australia
One of Australia’s most contentious CEOs is leaving at the end of June. Sol Trujillo has been in charge of Telstra for the past four years. (Telstra is the former government monopoly telecommunications giant that now must face a competitive world post-privatisation.)
Australians love to hate Telstra - it’s part of the national identity. Yet additional venom has been reserved for CEO Sol Trujillo. In turn he’s alientated government, the media, the public, customers, unions and shareholders. You have to admit he’s been quite thorough.
Before he even took the job or started as CEO Trujillo had several factors working against him. Telstra has offered decades of shoddy service at exorbitant prices. When I first moved to Australia in 1990 it was common to have one call to the USA costing over $100. Today a $100 phone card can keep you in touch for two or three years! Repairs were slow and new installations were slower. Hence - we love to hate Telstra!
Second factor working against Trujillo? Sin of all sins - he’s American. And Americans are universally idolised and despised in Australia (or is it just me?). We’re loud, brash, know-it-alls. We wear sneakers with khakis and shout when talking would do. We’re ignorant of the world and its customs (”Look at the funny Australian money!”). And when we succeed we don’t fade into the wallpaper and share the credit - we thump our chests and say, “Damn right!” Ain’t that awful?
Last year Sol was found to be less trustworthy than…the Wiggles. For real!
But the king pin reason for the “I Hate Sol”club is his approach to government relations and business. He rallied against restrictive government policies that would have forced Telstra to provide competitors discounted access to trunk lines. He fought to retain market share. And he made it difficult for government to take Telstra for granted.
But (and this is a BIG but) Sol did so in a very public manner. He and his team aired their grievances in the media, on-line and in public. It was reminiscent of Karl Rove where “divide to conquer” approaches split red states from blue states, brother from brother. The “in your face” style of issues management was very out of place in Australia and very controversial.
So farewell Sol. And as for the replacement CEO? Get ready. Because you’re replacing Sol people will love you - but only a little. After all, you’re at Telstra. (That is unless you’re a Wiggle!)
February 3, 2009 at 9:28 am · Filed under Leadership, Issues Management
Last Monday companies in America announced 70,000 job cuts. That was one day alone. In the USA unemployment tops 10% in numerous states and the national average is inching up daily (especially on Mondays, right?). Nearly every company worldwide is looking to make cost cuts - and most times that involves letting people go. Yet too often it’s handled poorly leading to longer-term problems. Remaining employees are demotivated, restless and scared - “survivor’s guilt” mixed with “am I next” pangs.
So if you’re preparing to shed jobs, here are a few rules to consider:
- Be Prepared
Works as the official motto of the Boy Scouts - so it might work for you. Spend time planning the TOTAL cutbacks and then go to your employees. There is nothing worse than “death by a thousand cuts”. Do what you have to do and be done with it. But don’t re-start the sackings a month later. It’s bad planning and even worse management.Also remember all the audiences these employees deal with on a daily basis. Will you have the resources to contact key clients? What about supplier relationships? What critical knowledge needs to be transferred - and how will you manage all your external relationships with a pared-back workforce?
- Tell It Like It Is
We’re all adults (mostly). We can handle the bad news. (”Your puppy ran away” may have worked when you were a kid but if the dog is dead tell us the dog is dead.) Explain why the cutbacks are necessary and what it means for the remaining employees. Some will see an increase in workload. Try to motivate the remaining employees to help keep the company viable. McKinsey points out that employees can accept bad news better when they understand the underlying business strategy. Treat us like grown-ups and explain why this is necessary.
- Treat Everyone With Dignity and Respect
Fired employees are people, too. Just because they’re superfluous to your business doesn’t mean they’re worthless. People will be in shock when you break the news. Make sure you keep the messages simple - and have on paper all your key points. Most questions centre on the mundane - entitlement pay-outs, long service leave, company car access, etc. But being prepared with these details will eliminate the majority of the trauma. And manage their emotions. They are likely to be in shock (followed by anger).Try to avoid patronising language (”I know how hard this is for you” sounds hollow if you get to keep your job). This is not about you or the company. When you’re talking to people who are losing their job keep the focus on them, their needs, their next steps, etc.
- Tell It Again (And Again)
Saying it once is just the start. People need messages to be repeated again and again. We’re currently managing communications for a company under Voluntary Administration. Yet despite letters, web updates, emails, meetings and the like every day someone calls trying to understand the basics. Why are they closed? What’s this mean to me? I reckon people begin to understand the third or fourth time they’ve heard a message - that’s why advertising is effective when repeated. Don’t “launch and leave” - make sure you tell it again and again.
- Be Prepared for the Unexpected
No matter how much advance planning, there’s always a surprise. When letting go 300 stockbrokers in Hong Kong for a client, the people who were to be told first in an 8:00 am meeting found their computer access cut off the morning they showed up for work. HR told IT and all PCs were cut off. Those arriving for the 8:00 am meeting were already aware - and angry. A healthcare company in New Jersey I had as a client was working to close a plant. Employees learned the day prior when electricity to certain areas of the plant was cut. Again, a supervisor took remedial action to cut costs.
None of these lessons is foolproof. There will still be slip-ups and surprises. However doing the hard planning in advance and preparing your materials will save a lot of pain and embarrassment - for you, your employees and your former employees.
December 10, 2008 at 2:00 pm · Filed under Leadership, Issues Management
Heard over breakfast that a friend’s husband was retrenched last month along with 60 other workers in a Sydney finance company. Seems on his daytime walks along Bondi Beach he sees quite a few people he knows - most fellow finance professionals, now out of work.
The global economic crisis is biting hard.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald the finance sector has been hit hardest:
All up, the FSU [Finance Sector Union] estimates there have been almost 5000 jobs lost in the finance industry since the start of the year, most of them in Sydney. Surprisingly, it appears even this may be an understatement. The chief economist at JPMorgan, Stephen Walters, puts the losses at closer to 19,000, based on company briefings to analysts and media reports.
Unemployment hits hard especially when you’re the primary breadwinner. There’s a shame that comes from losing an important element of your identity. I remember the first time someone asked me what I did after being retrenched a few years ago. I replied, “Nothing.” It was more of a surprise to actually say that!
So the advice? Seek out others and talk. Raise your fears, concerns, anger - and strategies for re-employment. Bottling up rage and shame is a mistake. If you don’t become a miserable SOB immediately within months you’ll be clinically depressed.
And enjoy yourself when you walk the beach. Because you will be employed again and you’ll not have the daytime to enjoy the sand between your toes.
December 3, 2008 at 10:08 am · Filed under Leadership, America
CEOs of General Motors and Ford Motor Company drive to Washington DC today, cap in hand, asking for billions of taxpayers dollars. (After their embarrassing trip last month in private jets, this time Wagoner and Mullaly will be in hybrid vehicle convoys driving 15 hours each way.)
As part of their rescue plans both CEOs offer to forgo salaries and will be paid $1 each for their work.
Back in 2001 Ford announced a five year revitalisation plan. William Clay Ford took over as CEO from Jac Nasser and boldly agreed to forego salary. He took $1 per year long with options - vowing to do well as a rebound in stock would reward him amply.
Flash forward seven years and today’s CEO is proposing the same pay package. Only now the equity prices for General Motors and Ford have cratered.
CEO compensation is a hot topic - and shareholders will gladly reward pay for performance. Yet taking no pay and not performing isn’t a solution either. Slashing pay to a symbolic $1 is a public relations stunt - it grabs headlines but has no merit.
Instead I propose Wagoner and Mullaly quadruple their present salaries and challenge themselves to achieving greater results. If not then they can take their walking papers - and their money- and fly a private jet elsewhere.
November 7, 2008 at 10:51 am · Filed under Leadership, America, Issues Management
In “Cabaret” Liza Minelli plays down-on-her-luck Sally. Plucky, determined, forthright and ultimately a loser sent packing all alone.
It’s hard not to imagine Sarah Palin humming “Maybe This Time” on her flight back to Alaska. The night of the long knives is underway. Something’s flowing and it sure ain’t praise:
- Alaskan “hillbillies” is how a McCain staffer described her family.
- Palin shopped the hardest - expected to buy a few outfits it morphed into “Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast”.
- Fox News reporter David Cameron says Palin didn’t know Africa was a continent - she thought it was a country. (Fair enough because Australia is a country - and a continent.)
- She arrived in Phoenix with a concession speech in hand - and was surprised McCain didn’t expect her to speak on the night.
What do you do when you’re cornered and it’s coming at you from all angles?
Palin has strengths including mass public appeal. She needs to return to Alaska and govern, then appoint herself as Stevens’ replacement (Senator indicted for felonies but not sentenced yet may narrowly win his Senate re-election; once a convicted felon he cannot serve and Alaska’s governor Palin gets to name his replacement). She need to forge her reputation in the Senate and help rebuild the Republican Party.
Today’s insults and barbs do not merit responses. It’s time to lie low and re-emerge stronger, cleaner and smarter.
Then perhaps she and her fellow Republicans can sing another “Cabaret” classic - “Tomorrow belongs to me.”
June 16, 2008 at 9:41 pm · Filed under Leadership, Australia
Today the news is book-ended by character failures.
Belinda Neal is on the front page for her tirade ten days back at a Central Coast restaurant (”Do you know who the f**k I am?”). She is accused of using her Ministerial position to threaten bar staff, and even yelled she’d have the liquor license of the pub repealed. Apparently staff wanted her to move to another table so they could finish the daily swap from restaurant to dance club.
The back page eulogises the shortest Olympic career in history. Swimmer Nick Darcy had his appeal yesterday, and his bid to be restored to the Olympic team was quashed. He’d brought the sport into disrepute when he assaulted Nick Cowley, another swimmer, six hours after being appointed to the Olympic team. Among other injuries Cowley’s “orbital socket collapsed.” Alcohol was a factor.
In our rush to appoint an illness to every daily grievance, a recent health reporter talked about a new epidemic – Irritable Male Syndrome (IMS). Seems us modern men – when not busying ourselves with metro-sexual face creams and visits to the tailor – are too harried to properly express ourselves. We take on all the troubles of the world (mortgage, career, child raising, relationships) and don’t have the communications skills or the support networks to vent our frustrations. So we continue like boiling submarines until one issue tips us over into IMS (rhymes with PMS). Then we act out in a volcano of pent-up emotion.
Phew! That felt good.
But then you wake up on the back bench of Parliament facing a day of questioning over your outburst. Or you are stalked through airports flying from swim practise to Court of Appeal. And all that “feel good” is gone and you have another tonne of frustration and angst to bottle up.
When learning to be an Executive Coach, I gained one stunningly simple insight. Between stimulus and response, man (and woman) can add thought. If we remove thought between stimulus and response then we’re primal – no better than animals. We scream at bar staff and we elbow fellow swimmers in the “orbital socket.” But if we think – and consider our options – we’re more likely to swap “reactions” for “considered actions.”
I know yesterday Belinda and Nick were re-living their separate and damning evenings. And after the fact they were no doubt inserting many, many thoughts into that moment between stimulus and response.
April 27, 2008 at 8:19 pm · Filed under Leadership, Workplace
Leadership is covered extensively in news publications and this week two contrasting examples are highlighted in “The Economist”.
The first is a positive case study of Disney, showing how creativity and profitability have flourished under CEO Bob Iger. Iger opts to release the reigns and allows creative leaders the freedom to develop new ideas. He’s axed “junk” production (straight to DVD sequels) and is building franchises around new concepts (”High School Musical”) that attract new audience segments (”tweens”).
The second is a negative review of the performance of General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt. Finance unit GE Capital missed performance results leaving the CEO in the embarassing state of missing financial forecasts - that he’d committed to a few weeks earlier.
On Saturday The Sydney Morning Herald had an excellent column by Ross Gittins on the common mistakes of CEOs when managing staff. I heartily recommend the article and especially liked the advice on information sharing. Gittins says the more the better. Companies that keep information from staff create resentment and a sense of distrust.
I’ve witnessed it recently, when a company was undertaking a massive and complex project. The leadership team felt it best to keep all information from staff yet occasional slips led to information “haves and have nots”. Those not entrusted to the information felt excluded. Their trust in leadership was not reciprocated - if they can’t trust me, why should I trust them?
Leadership is the hardest task for any CEO, and recent articles point out good lessons of leadership. Trust, delegation, empowerment, sharing - all words we’ve heard before. But it’s great seeing the lessons supported by success (Disney’s Iger and creative empowerment) and failure (GE’s Immelt on missed promises).
Read the Gittins article - it’s required reading for any leader.
