Stories

Purple Armour

The packaging lay strewn on the floor, cardboard, string, tissue paper  thrown to one side. Carol did a little spin in her office and chuckled to herself.  A good fit, made to her measurements of course, super light weight too, so not heavy at all, some new fangled material but the colour was a faint purple, her favourite. Looking over her shoulder to check the door was shut, she turned around doing another little twirl before dipping back into the box and pulling out the matching boots and gloves.  A warm glow seeped through her as she pulled on each one.

A tap at the door pulled her back. Joanne, her PA, head round the door,  was reminding her of her next meeting,  one of the last before the Christmas break. Carol took one last item from the box and, sliding it under her arm, grabbed her notes and headed out into the corridor. The whole thing made her giggle, but all she showed as she walked along was a relaxed smile.  Then a wave of concern swept over her, she shouldn’t feel like this, today was the executive meeting and normally, no matter how much preparation she did, she felt uneasy. Not that she was alone in this, but no one talked about it, no one dared. George her boss was tough, very tough and as the sales slipped, almost a bully. He wouldn’t describe it as that, ‘demanding’ he called it, but Carol had felt his wrath on more than one occasion and it wasn’t pleasant or necessary. Worse, it had now begun to eat at her self-confidence so that she exposed her normal, sharp, incisive approach less and less nowadays.

Five minutes early for the meeting, Carol took a moment to slip into the toilets  next to the board room. So, here is the big test, she thought as she made final adjustments to her outfit and pulled on the headgear.  The helmet fitted snugly to her head and immediately she felt the warm lining, purple coloured of course, softly against her skin. She raised her hands and pulled the visor down and it clicked softly shut. The world disappeared, she straight away felt protected  and yet she could hear well, much sharper than normal, even the sounds of people chatting next door as they arrived for the meeting.  Carol picked up her folder from the top of the wash basin and glanced at herself in the mirror. A fully uniformed knight looked back, complete with magnificent armour, glowing in the low bathroom light. She nodded, he nodded back mirroring her movements. The light glinted on his suit filling the whole room with a powerful light. Could it be her? Surely not, this was a six foot plus, broad chested person, resplendent in his strength and confidence, a battle strong confident warrior.   They appraised each other over the washbasin, then with a final nod they set off.

Carol walked into the board room and took her usual place beside the company secretary, one of the good guys. Nothing was different. Certainly grumpy George was grumpy, worse really as he’d just had sight of this week’s sales figures and was taking this out on John the operations director. Not a good start. Others were shuffling their papers, looking away, avoiding the obvious conflict at the head of the table. Carol inside her suit felt calm and relaxed, sliding into an observer role, certainly none of the pain spewing out from the gap between George and John affected her. What a relief the armour works she thought, settling comfortably in her chair, enjoying her filter coffee.

John turned his head down the table, a look of desperation on his red strained face, beads of sweat were running down his checks. All eyes were on papers, coffee cups, blackberries, lap tops and not one met his eye in return. Carol didn’t want to either. It was 8.30, the armour was untested, and she didn’t have the strength to take George on, thought she never would now. She felt her hands on her visor, yes it was shut, yes she was safe, she could ride out the storm her feelings protected.

John’s head dropped as no support came from the team. Inside Carol and inside her purple suit of armour a different feeling began to rise, a feeling of anger, indignant anger and a sense of love and care for others in the team and for the business. She tried to push these down, knowing the result would be conflict. Growing up, her mother had always said she had strong views and strong values even as a young kid and said these would both bring her endless joy and plenty of heart ache. Oh dear, her heart was certainly aching here. It wasn’t her battle she tried to say, stay out, John’s a tough cookie he’ll handle it. Even as she thought it she stood up and her armour began to glow and sparkle. Eyes turned to her, a look of surprise from many. She pushed back her chair and with one nimble leap, jumped onto the old boardroom table. Her helmet smashed against the hanging chandelier wafting years of dust out from the light across the room.

The knight towered above the men and women in the room. Cyril, her mate the company secretary, looked across the table and smiled. What he saw was a beautiful pair of crafted steel boots, planted there amongst the coffee cups, glasses and water bottles. He glanced up further to the intricate panels and details of the armour, right up to the helmet gently tapping against the still swinging chandelier. His eyes ran back down and stopped at the sword, not drawn yet but a gloved hand on the hilt, ready for action. With a touch of a affection, he reached out and placed his hand on the metal foot. The boot responded with a slight up turn of the pointed toe and then a tap back down.

George in full flight now saw none of this, his tongue lashing on full volume at John, but he did notice the tremor of the table as Carol walked down it towards him. Team members pulled their papers and coffees hastily out of the way. Geoff from logistics, was a little slow and accidently Carol stood on his phone sending bits flying across the surface. George did though notice the dust and later he would vaguely wonder about where it came from, but what he really noticed and felt there and then, was the large steel, pointy purple boot which placed itself against his chest from belly button to throat, pressing him back and downwards into his fine black leather chair.

The knight stood in front of George looking down, one foot placed squarely on the Minutes of the last meeting, the other planted firmly on the CEO’s chest. George’s eyes grew wider and then even wider, as he watched the jewel encrusted sword being removed from its scabbard. His throat was now dry and not from the two cups of early morning coffee, but from the fear welling up inside of him. He tried to summon up the spittle to speak. He couldn’t, his lips moved, they formed the words yet nothing appeared. Instead it was his turn to sweat and he did. Rivers of it ran down his face, pouring through his hair and soaking down into his collar and creating a tide line across his shirt.

Carol inside her armour looked at him through her visor. The sword slid back into its scabbard. She felt powerful, strong and yet strangely humble, the knight had delivered his message. No more was needed. She turned and walked back down the table, dropped gently to the floor, strode from the room, leaving the door open. Everyone observed her down the length of the executive corridor as she strode toward the lift.  She waved to the office staff, who watched wide eyed and grabbed on to each other, or their desks, in both fear and delight.

The festive holiday for Cyril was a time for smiling and remembering old adventures, both defeats and victories. John mostly slept but came back in January refreshed. George had some nightmares, reflected a great deal, got confused about the dust, but was gentle and loving with his children and grandchildren on Christmas day. For Carol, the world was simply a brighter place, full of new opportunity and promise, waiting to be lived to her own values. And in her wardrobe hung a beautiful purple suit of armour, shimmering in the half light, ready and waiting.

The Canoe Trip

The warm evening air cooled as it met the surface of the river, the rings made by the fish rising barely disturbing the water as the sun started to slip beneath the horizon. The three young men stood on the bank looking at the current flowing by. Two were slightly bored, one happy. “No problem here ” said Clive “Straight forward until you get to that point down there. “Where” I asked  already feeling the fear begin to well up inside of me. “Just a dink left then right, keep your canoe steady and you are through” said Chris leaning back on the tree, relaxed and as usual eloquent and clear.

Here we were a free day tomorrow, no work at the outdoor pursuits centre, so the three of us off canoeing together. Clive, Chief Instructor, strong muscular, losing hair on top already. A diamond shaped body, all shoulders, slips away in the bottom half, just as well or he wouldn’t fit into that sleek canoe of his. Chris, Assistant Chief Instructor, large afro hair spilling over his shoulders, London accent, down to earth, very capable. And of course me, how did I end up teaching outdoor pursuits, who knows. I loved climbing myself and caving, but  had an ambivalence to canoeing, well probably water in general. Not much of a swimmer, can survive I think, I hope. We climb back into the rusty van. I’m thinking I can handle this, only one tricky bit on the route we’ve chosen, and I’m guessing their thinking, not much excitement here, routine practice drill. Oh well. I settle back on the grubby plastic seat as Chris drives us to the pub as the rain begins to spatter on the windscreen.

The driving rain wakes me up, its already seeping through the rotten window, pooling on the shelf. I move my three books to a safer spot and look out. Yesterdays beautiful day is a memory as the rain shoots up the valley and batters into the house. Huge puddles have already forming in the field and the vehicles in the car park have a running stream through the middle. I relax, breath, make a deep sigh and pull the bedclothes over my head. I know it’s off, too much rain. As I relax, just thinking about chapter of the new novel bought in Swansea last week, they both bang on the door together. A triumphant wallop which rattles the already loose door. “Come on let’s go, its looking great out there”. Can’t I just duck out, I think, let them have their moment. But it doesn’t work like that here, we test ourselves, train ourselves, even on days off. So an hour later we’re loading canoes up onto the roof of the bus, the rain sliding down my forearms and running right down to my shoulders before soaking into my shirt.

Brian’s here now, our chef and sort of centre organiser. He’s a good cook but also has cook mood swings. Last week he spent over the budget on some new plants to put around the centre. For twenty four hours we admired our new greenery, then someone left the door open and in came the two goats. They ate each plant down to a stork, then made their way into the office and ate all the papers on the notice board, leaving a tide line of ragged paper where they could just reach. Brian hit a rage, at the goats, at us for someone leaving the door open and went on the booze for twenty four hours. We’re family so its fine and there’s no group in, so we cobble meals together for a day or so.

Brian’s our driver for the day, he’s on a high. Well he would be, all he’s doing is driving. He’s in the van now, while we struggle with tying notes in the rain. We climb aboard, the rain thunders on the roof, there’s one fine singing chef, two smiling Chris and Clive cheshire cats rubbing at windows and pointing out changes the rain is making to the landscape and me, crumbled down in the plastic seat feeling sorry for myself.

It’s no better after half an hour when we arrive at the drop off point. Except what is different is the river. It’s gone from a clear, slow moving, gentle gliding pool to a raging, brown, frothy, rushing malestream. The chef looks frightened, I am frightened and Clive and Chris’s eyes light up. “Let’s go” they shout and almost fall out of the doors in their hurry to be on the water. My heart is beating, breathe I say to myself, it’s only water, you’re with the two best canoeists you know, it’ll be fine. I push myself off my safe plastic seat, squeeze Brian’s shoulder, he gives me the thumbs up and I’m out in the rain.

On the river we go, its moving fast. We know the drill though and Clive’s shouting through the rain “usual stuff, follow me, Chris bring up the rear”. We’re swept along, touching paddles in the water to maintain direction. I’m wondering how long it would take to get us down to the estuary at this speed. We’re only doing two miles though, so it’ll be a quick trip at this rate. I see Brian speeding along the road, the van flashing occasionally through the trees, he’s getting ahead to the pull out point.  I’m okay, I might even be enjoying myself, the slap of the paddles on the water, watching the occasional log outpace us, a wave to the morose heron perched on the stump.

We sweep round the corner heading to the only difficult bit. Where is it?  We see only waves, big waves, the dink right dink left has disappeared, there is no dink at all. I hear Clive mutter ahead of me, then turn his head and shout “paddle, paddle, paddle like fuck”. I do, we all do, the blades drive into the water, we’re pacing into the waves now, no way back, already the waves are building. Bang as the boats rise on the up, bang on the waves as we crash on the down side. My arms are aching already, I glance to my left, Chris is hit by a rogue wave and he’s over. Roll Chris roll, can he do it in this water, he’s a master at it normally. I  look ahead, where’s Clive, he’s over too, I see his canoe upside down, the end of his blade swishing out of the water as he fights to get upright. “Fuck, Fuck, paddle, paddle, fuck, fuck, paddle, paddle” I shout as I hit the now defunct double dink. Up the wave, there’s no top it must be 10 feet tall, down “paddle, paddle, fuck fuck”. The nose of the canoe dives into the water, my shoulders heave, the muscles screaming as I haul forward through the next wave. Water everywhere, can’t see, it’s brown it’s in my mouth, poring over me. The paddle stops working, there’s no air to lift in, I try anyway. Then I’m out, still swirling my paddle like crazy, still shouting my mantra “paddle, paddle, fuck, fuck”.

I hear the cheering before I see him. Brian is up on the swing bridge ahead, right in the middle, leaning over whooping “that a boy, yea man, whoo, whoo, whoo” . I want to raise my hand, do a clenged fist or something, but my hands are clamped to the grips on the paddle, white, my knuckles locked in place. I sweep down towards him, he’s hopping on one foot doing a jig still whooping and clapping and then I’m under the bridge and gone “cool he shouts, “cool”

Clive found me fifteen minutes later, my arms wrapped around a tree at the side of the river. He was white, I was white, I was shaking, everything shaking, wanting to be sick, wanting out of the boat. “I thought you’d drowned” he said quietly as Chris swept in behind him, doing a smart stop at the river bank.  I shook my head, hugged my tree and smiled, we all smiled.

 

Lights & Baubles

The cold in the air was keen and sharp and finding its way deep into the knuckles of Asrim the archer. It seeped into his back muscles as he stood poised on the highest peak of the mountain. His bicep ached as he stood tall and proud with the arrow cocked on the bow, taut to its fullest extent, carrying on the feathers the royal crescent of his majesty. The priests with a last mournful wail, completed their prayers and supplications and a mighty roar began to swell and grow amongst the crowd packed together watching and waiting. The king stepped forward dressed in his finest silks and wools and turning to his people in his deep resonate voice declared “with all God’s speed and peace to our fellow men may this arrow find its true mark”. The drums rolled and the king touched Asrim on the shoulder. Asrim released the arrow, the fingers of his right hand rolling over the string letting the arrow away on its flight. The arrow shot away from the mountain, through the cold iridescent blue sky, streaking towards it target carrying behind it a narrow golden thread which zinged and whistled as it uncoiled from the basket on the battlement.

As Asrim’s arrow shot forward so did two others, each carrying their kings crescent, each loosed by the best archer on their mountain. The eagle soaring and watching from on high, saw and witnessed the three arrows connecting three mountains and three kingdoms together. Asrim looking up and spying the bird reeling, took heart from the symbol and stood tall and waited. The incoming arrow seeking its mark, whistled through the air arching in towards Asrim driving into the ground in front of him, piercing a full foot into the ground, a few lengths of the golden thread pooling beside it. The roar of the crowd intensified as Asrim moved and in one powerful movement reached forward and pulled the arrow from the earth, holding it aloft for all to see and acknowledge.

Now the work began and with only seven days to the winter solstice, the kings master craftsmen set to. They hauled in the thread and a stronger golden rope followed, they called to their glass blowers for the baubles and lanterns. Each individual glass masterpiece was carried carefully to the mountain top by the family maker with his sons and daughters. A trail of beauty, each was more magnificent than the last, the light panels flickered and shimmered just from the sun light alone. The powerful wicks were assembled and installed and slowly the great lanterns began to stretch out across the valley to the next mountain. Three magnificent strings of light began to appear over time, as the craftsmen worked on through the day and night. People in the valleys and on the mountain sides looked in awe at the growing and expanding floating carnival above their heads.

Everyday each king came to inspect the work, staying as darkness crept across the valleys and lanterns were lit. The simplicity and beauty, a spectacular sight to be enjoyed and admired by all. However, each king was just a little bit envious of the other and spotting something unusual on another string of lights demanded more and better for their own. The glass blowers furnaces had never worked so hard, the designs had never been so intricate and dazzling as more and more lanterns were added to the strings. Years later they would say it was like the strings on the necklace of a beautiful goddess, the greatest ever seen.

It was a cold dawn morning and Jasper the master engineer was worried. No one was listening to him. He’d done and redone his calculations and looked at the mighty fixings on the mountain top holding the winding mechanisms for the lantern strings. He too admired the beauty, the ever expanding, drooping, overlapping runs of baubles and lanterns in every different colour and sheen. It would hold just, he knew that , but next year a new mechanism would be required and he had in his mind a picture of how that might look. Meanwhile, he hoped all would be well. He took one last tug on the master anchor rope and turned  for home. It was the solstice day and he had still to buy his family their gifts.

The feasting had begun in each and every house and high above and around them the great lanterns hung. The light from each string was so bright; it hid the moon and cast a great glow across the valley floors. The north wind began to blow, slowly at first and then increasing, bringing flutterings of snow and ice in the air. High up on the mountain the fixings unattended began to strain and heave. No one was interested though, tucked up in their houses in the warmth. And each king, sitting high up in their castle, looked out at the magnificence of their creations and felt powerful and strong.

Jasper felt uncomfortable, perhaps it was just indigestion after such a large meal. He pushed back his chair, walked across the room and opened his door. The wind whistled in around him, the cat who had considered an evening stroll and had padded after him, turned, lifted her tail and sped back to sit by the fire. High above him the lights rattled and shook, one or two began to go out. Even higher, the stanchions on the winding mechanisms began to flex and strain. With a pop first one then two bolts shot from their fixings sending a winding mechanism lurging to one side.  The line of lights sagged and dropped several feet, seemed to stop, then with a great bang, first one set then another and finally all three plunged, as the lines gave way and the lights hurtled to the valley floor.

They say that the kings leant their lesson, the next year there were less lights and baubles, smaller, better designed and safer; but both Asrim the archer and Jasper the engineer could already see the envy growing and kings are kings after all.

Grahame Pitts – December 2009

Across the Talent Pool

“If you want your child to be brilliant read them fairy stories. If you want your child to be a genius, read them more fairy stories” – Albert Einstein

Evidence suggests that the ability of leaders to tell stories can be a key ingredient for business success. Why? Because those power point presentations are simply not enough. A story reaches deeper into us, connecting with those profound archetypes found in legends and fairy tales across the centuries. Telling fairy stories is not normally an activity associated with management, but our good leaders do just that. Listen carefully at the next planning meeting. If you leave motivated, then the presenter has probably used metaphors, personal experience and stories to tap into that much deeper and more personal space within you. Rather than relying solely on passing information to your rational mind he or she has touched the part of you that resonates with enduring myths and tales told since the dawn of time. There is an inordinate amount of wisdom contained in stories – and a deep understanding about the human condition, and indeed the organisational condition – that links into the very heart of true leadership. Joseph Campbell, the great authority on the story writing, takes us through the essential stages of any great myth: including preparing for the journey; setting out; meeting and fending off danger; achieving success; and eventually returning triumphant. We have all listened to stories, told our children more than a few, or watched great films with a similar approach at the core and, yes, we do apply those frameworks to successful business lives.

So, if you are all sitting comfortably, a short story to take us into our subject here …

Strolling through the woods on a warm sunny day a young man came upon a beautiful pool. Clear and translucent, it had attracted a crowd of visitors. Across the water, no more than 50 metres away, the crowd became animated, chattering, fingers repeatedly pointing at the water where movement stirred, breaking the surface of the water, colours appearing at the surface, flashing in the sunlight. It was exhilarating, bustling; excitement pulsing through the crowd. People strained to spot the beautiful fish lured by the floating bait, and nets began to appear. A beautiful koi carp was lifted from the water and placed in a holding tank.

It all seemed important and significant, yet for some reason the young man wasn’t drawn to that side of the pool. Instead he walked over to a different part, overgrown, a fallen log in the water, sunshine struggling to penetrate the canopy of trees. There was no noise here except the sounds and smells of nature; very different yet somehow more real. Sitting down on the bank, leaning against a tree, the young man felt relaxed and sensed a connection to something bigger and broader than himself.

Looking into the dark, still water he saw no more bright, translucent fish. Instead, other fish swam gently beside the bank. Solid brown carp, all shapes and sizes, young and old, appeared and disappeared, occasionally coming to the surface to catch an insect. Though not as pretty, nor probably as valuable, as their koi cousins, these fish were in other ways just as important. Certainly they were part of the whole pool, part of all the fish in the lake.

The young man sat watching and wondered, why was no one interested in these fish? They looked graceful,strong, sure, solid, and they brought a calmness and a reassurance to him as they swam in the cool water. Was it their colour, where they lived in the pool, or perhaps their size? It did not make sense to him.

Across the pool the people had gone. Little remained of their fishing trip, bar some litter, trampled grass and muddy footprints. Over this side of the pool the fish continued to swim and as he watched there seemed more of those strong brown carp everywhere.

For the future success of our organisations we have to select key people with the ability to drive the business forward. We have to make choices; the life blood of business is at stake. The quality, the integrity, the capability of our people is central to everything we do. So, we rightly spend money and huge amounts of time and energy to secure the right people.

Yet many organisations bemoan the lack of quality leaders coming through. There is too much change and not enough resource, so the identified high performers are often stretched to breaking point and beyond. The talent pool seems fished out, but do we look at the other side of the pool? What about those other key people who, year in year out, bring regular good results? They are not always quite so confident, outspoken, perhaps. Initially they may be reluctant to articulate change and take others with them. Yet, in their own way, they do just that. Projects are delivered, budgets met. Yet somehow these people slip through the talent net. Perhaps many of them actually choose to do just that, preferring the tangibles of operational delivery to the expectations and the exposure of the corporate development dance.

Are we missing something here? Why don’t we invest in these people? Why are they in some way forgotten, passed by in the rush, and often neglected? Our organisations are changing. We can no longer rely on the few ‘galacticos’ to see us through; we need everyone, all the talent we have available. Hierarchical structures are no longer as effective as they used to be. Much of the work is now accomplished through matrix approaches or info rmal networks. That means involving everyone, both the highly talented and those who always keep the ‘wheels on the bus’, enabling the business to keep moving forward, mile by mile.

What would happen if we targeted resource and development at these people? How much potential is available but untapped? This must be worth investigating. At a minimum we motivate those people, but better still, we might just find the tipping point for major change. A change that might build more success over the long term because it is deeply rooted in the organisational culture and lived by the people; a legacy that they can proudly pass on to their successors.

So, we’ve told you a story and shared a paradigm around talent that we think needs to change – no longer relying on the selected few, but seeing more in the potential of many. The koi are important … but so are the carp!

Returning to our original theme, leaders please do tell us your stories. Share your highs and lows with us – engage us completely. We don’t only want well trained, honed, glossy professionals. Yes, those skills are essential, but as important, is the journey that has shaped you, the dragons you have met and slain, the princes and princesses you have rescued. The tough times, the good times: these are the essence of business life. Your stories can and will take the performance of others to a new level.

 

The Holiday Drainpipes

When I was a child our annual holiday was always to the same place. It is a trip now so short as to be a afternoon run out, but then it was a huge undertaking (or so it seemed to me as a child) and on the roads of the late 1950’s and 60’s, a journey several hours in duration.

Our holiday home was on the seafront, although the beach and sea were hidden by a large sea wall. It was a wooden chalet, on stilts to prevent flooding on the highest tide days. Ever present was the smell of sun, damp, food, sun tan lotion, activity and people. I can still remember, after all these years, lying awake at night listening to the combination of late night strollers and the lapping sea.

It was both exciting and boring. The fun of getting to the beach, building sand castles, braving the cold sea, fishing for crabs and facing the waves as they leapt the sea wall at high tide was something I waited for all year. Great experiences. And then the time with my mother’s extended family, all in different chalets nearby. All of them nice, all caring and all very grown up. They did adult things, like talking, relaxing. Time away from work meant not rushing, not being stressed. As one of the few sons in the extended family, I guess I was naturally a bit different from the flocks of girls, sisters, cousins, and so sometimes found myself alone, entertaining myself.

Even at that young age I liked to know how things worked and a house on stilts meant exploring underneath. What to someone else was a mass of pipes, wires, connections and junctions, to me was a fascinating puzzle to solve. Why was it laid out like this? What went where and why? So, alongside the usual daily holiday routine, I discovered how my house worked.

One of my aunties found this hilarious. What was I doing scrabbling around down there? What a funny boy I was! What was so interesting about how the piping worked? I was good material for her light-hearted jokes and banter.

I sometimes wonder about those summer adventures. Maybe with other guidance I might have ended up as an architect or something in building design. I certainly love buildings and good structural design. As it was, I went toward furniture design, and later into management training and organisation change. Now I find myself looking hard at organisations, seeking to understand how things get done, why the processes are performed the way they are. It doesn’t feel a million miles from lying on my back in the cool summer sand studying those pipes and wires.

And I still get humoured, ‘just accept it, that’s the way it works round here’. The DNA and the organisation design – ‘the piping’ – of the business can be archaic, leaky and uneconomical, but ‘it works, so let’s not look there and certainly not change it; too expensive, other things are a priority’. Dripping taps are not a real problem. Yet the best leaders do just that. They look, they poke about, they pull pipes apart and reconnect them in different ways. They are willing, interested and demanding about how the business functions; they put as much attention internally, as externally to customers and the market place. Many organisations I work with find this difficult, often handing responsibility for major internal change to external ‘experts’. I hasten caution here, not because that expertise is not important, but because a review of organisation design or process, and the potential impact on the company culture, the DNA, remains the responsibility of the executive leaders.

Many leaders find it hard to find time, and some may lack inclination, to look at the pipes and wiring of their business. Perhaps they fear a need to strip the lot out and start again. Perhaps though, just lying in the cool sand looking will be enough. It’s amazing what you can spot and potentially rearrange for efficiency and effectiveness, when you take the time to look.

Do leaders create the culture, or does the culture create leaders?

I have always held a fundamental view that the role and responsibility of leaders is to set the tone, the style, the culture of the organisation. After all, they have power, influence and the drive to set standards and pace. Therefore it seems logical to see them as the roots of the overall company culture. Yet systems, processes, bonus structures, etc can have equally as much impact, if not more, than the behaviour of senior individuals.

Suppose we accept this, then perhaps company culture is created by the overall business approach and process. Established over time, in the DNA of the business, culture is both about the current approach and the threads of a long and plaited history. Often leadership is accepted, encouraged, suppressed, or moulded in a particular way. Unspoken and often very different from the espoused values, many people take their leadership capability home, or at least outside of the work environment onto committees, charities or councils. Though not intentional I am sure, unless we are deliberate about how our culture works – how things are achieved, what reaps rewards – then the real potential of leadership within an organisation is lost.

I hear people say – “it’s so frustrating trying to get others to listen and take action, perhaps it’s that way in all organisations”, “I’ve given up trying to do things differently, it’s all about the short term, what we know, what we do today”. It is not normally the intention of senior leaders to engender such reactions, but when it happens there are three likely outcomes. One: the culture remains static. Actually it is worse than that, because the culture begins to atrophy and the conversations of frustration and anger we often hear cement this. Two: potential leaders go underground, doing their best to bring about change surreptiously and quietly at the edges. Or three: aspiring leaders become impatient, ‘up sticks’ and leave.

I reminded of a story from one of my clients who, to mark an excellent year, brought his large team together to present the results and celebrate. Unable to find a suitable venue, he became creative and hired a marquee which was erected on the company campus. People loved this approach. However, his boss did not see it in the same way and made that clear when he arrived at the meeting. Where did that leave my client? Somewhat confused. Why wasn’t he being celebrated for his creativity and determination? They were stated company values after all! Breaking the whole situation down later, we could see that this was about a reality of his organisation and within that, a choice about his leadership. The culture wasn’t quite ready for his different approach. But how much should he ‘dampen down’ in response? Soundings have been encouraging – people respect and like his style, but perhaps the overall culture is not yet pliable enough for the change he can bring. Particularly as they are generally successful working in the current style.

So who sits in this ‘gap’ between the current and future cultures? Let’s not expect our senior leaders to do it. After all, they are invested in the success they have already created. And let’s not expect too much of our next generation of leaders when the existing culture does not give out those subtle but vital signals, that a new approach is not only okay but supported. Like all of us, those inspiring leaders have bills, mortgages and excellent reasons to ‘back off’ at critical times. I think this ‘gap’ needs to be filled by HR. In the story of the marquee, the senior HR director came to speak at the meeting and fully endorsed the approach. Often though, HR can inadvertently take the operational support role, appearing somewhat opaque on key cultural issues. Yet this is perhaps one of their key points of leadership – to help people to connect together, to understand, to demand more of the business in engendering the change it purports to need. And as importantly, orientating and building the key organisation & people processes to support a new direction or approach.

Culture is slippery. It is difficult to grasp, to accurately articulate the reality and to make that change. Leadership is more obvious, possibly easier to deal with – or at least to see. But perhaps if we focused more on company culture and business process, then style and more good leadership would follow – a virtuous cycle worth pursuing?

PS He ran the marquee event again recently and yet again the 600 attending loved it!

 

The ball of string. How does it all unravel never to be the same again?

Reading my Sunday newspaper recently I was caught by an article about the Chairwoman of HP. She was being investigated for using a private detective inside the organisation to winkle out the person who leaked strategic information in the company. How the mighty fall! Not so long ago HP was seen as a model of virtue and ethical behaviour. I imagine the founders would turn in their graves at where the company has now arrived. Was it the merger? Was it the insatiable needs of the market? Was it the move away from the founding fathers’ values? Or was it simply the drive to achieve those business targets and, by default, those large leadership bonuses?

I have a friend, here in the village, who has spent most of his career working for HP. He used to talk of the great family events, the picnics, the film days. Now it is about the latest round of redundancies, which are happening every six months. Yes, he survives. Yes, he’ll probably be well rewarded when the great machine finally scythes through his department. But where has that great company gone? How can the picture change so quickly?

I know I can be smart on the outside, I don’t have the pressures of maintaining the share price, fighting off competition – who may be more quick footed, more innovative, smarter. But HP are not the only ones in this situation. Many large organisations, and from my experience smaller ones too, come to a point where ethics and performance seem to move from being pretty happy bedfellows and end up smashing into one another. Performance normally wins – ‘pull forward the orders from next year, inflate the sales figures, massage the profit numbers’. Is it wrong? Probably not … well maybe, but certainly somewhere in there that line gets crossed. And you can bet your bottom dollar there will be a meeting – a conversation – around which a major behaviour change, and ultimately a cultural shift, begins to swing. Dramatic yes, but how does a great culture disappear? We know the research – Good to Great, First Break All the Rules, etc. We know the benefit of a great culture and indeed a great brand … it works.

But what about the impact of poor leadership and poor decision making? Where can, and does, that lead us?

I wonder about that proverbial line in the sand. Where is the line in your leadership? I know it is tough; it might cost you your job to refuse to cross it, or to be the one to push beyond it. The scythe can quickly turn and take you down too. But maybe that is the leadership choice we have to face. We all enjoy the visions, the planning and delivery of those plans, the bonuses, the ‘off sites’, the great sales conferences (I’m currently listening to a great ‘pump upper, make those sales’ piece of music which I got from a client conference), but are we also willing to pay the price?

As Joseph Campbell the writer says, in any adventure there will be moments of testing and trial. When they will come we don’t know, and indeed often they do not come head on and so can catch us unaware. But how we deal with these tests will in some form reset and may even define our leadership. Crucibles have a way of resting the materials in them. So the question I am thinking about right now is: do we want to come to the end of the journey knowing we talked the talk and indeed walked the walk, or not?

The Director. A journey from engine room to bridge

Many of my clients either are directors or aspire to be. For most career- minded individuals this is an ultimate goal, and absolutely right for their skill and talent. Yet sometimes I wonder about the position. Firstly it has all sorts of legal considerations and commitments which should not be taken lightly, particularly in light of our increasingly litigious society. Secondly it carries with it the role of guiding and serving many people and in our current organisational structures, many of these people are to some extent dependent on the skill and approach of their boss.

Many of us have had experience of both good and bad directors above us. Viewed from distance we can bask in their positive hallo, or perhaps in more negative situations, be shielded from their impact. The closer we get to the board or executive team the more we realise that they are indeed human beings, usually flawed like the rest of us; sometimes the more so for being so driven and successful..

Flawed or not, what responsibilities have they taken on? Yes, to set company direction, to achieve both short and long term results, but also to provide the community which will enable others to work at their best. We have a great deal of clarity on the ‘tasks’ in an organisation: budgeting, planning, marketing and a multitude of training is available to support these activities. There are also many leadership and management courses but do we know how to build ‘community’? Why do so many people complain about their work environment? It seems that despite huge advances in communication, and changes both in lifestyle and business approach, to a large extent we remain victims of the industrial revolution, still viewing our people and businesses as commodities. We receive little training in ‘community’ – even the word still carries wacky, slightly offbeat connotations.

Whose job is it to identify and explore these issues? Don’t expect those who have been directors for years to do this work; conformity and success, can dull the desire for change. Who then? Yes – our newly appointed director just arrived fresh and excited from the engine room up on the bridge. (Please forgive the boating analogy but it seems to work here.) For them it’s a bracing day, and viewed from this new angle the boat looks huge. Now they can see it all, not just their previous cosy niche. It’s exciting, it’s exhilarating, and it feels just a little scary. Looking beyond the boat, all around is unpredictable – sea, land, other boats. ‘No time to waste!’ yells the admiral (‘oh and well done on your promotion’), ‘set a course, watch out for danger and keep the boat in good shape’. So our new director scurries about doing his or her best. In between shifts he rests (4hrs on 4hrs off – bridge work can be exhausting), but sleep is hard because niggling questions keep surfacing – ‘is this ship watertight?’, ‘we can’t seem to get up to full power?’, ‘what is hampering progress?’ A picture begins to emerge at the edges of consciousness just before sleep takes over.

Am I being unfair? Perhaps. I have many good friends who are directors and they absolutely deserve the job. They accept that they are always in the spotlight, always under pressure, that every movement is noted and often analysed. They know that IQ matters and perhaps EQ more. The boat is moving – and will be moving long after they’ve gone. So what is their role now – today – and what legacy will they leave behind? Most senior business people I meet speak much more fondly and proudly of their people successes and teams than they ever do of financial landmarks, the deals done, business plans achieved.

So back to our new director, who’s just stepped onto the bridge. What is their role all about? I like this list produced on a directors’ programme recently:

  • Accountability – ‘the buck stops here with us’.
  • Always challenging and changing the business
  • Defining the culture.
  • Having a business-wide view, function second.
  • Setting mission and strategy.
  • Leading by example – ‘behaviour is watched closely”. Gaining the respect of others.
  • Inspiring – being able to drive and communicate ideas.
  • Coach & mentor – giving ‘brutal truth’ and honest ‘hope and possibility’.
  • Shaping the business to function in our absence.
  • Setting up for longevity.
  • Being the ambassador for the business.

Both from this list and my own experience over a number of years three things stand out for me and encapsulate the best of directors. They are able to:

  1. Set the overall business direction, identifying and pursuing both the key short term and long term goals.
  2. Create the culture – the ‘community’ – which ignites others to achieve, and are able to root out barriers to high performance.
  3. Work on their own development – values, behaviour, and style – knowing their personal profile has huge impact on others’ motivation.

Can we create the environment for others to succeed, establishing clear goals and plans, plus building a community of support, challenge and honesty? If we can we will create a powerful cocktail which will excite and invoke the very best in those around us. And (to finish our boating analogy) the ship is much less likely to run aground.

How Secure Are You To Lead Change?

Do you know anyone in business who is not involved with change? I certainly don’t in my work. There are no longer times to settle between intense periods of change. Everybody I work with is continuously pushing ahead with new initiatives, goals projects – both those self driven and those imposed by external circumstances. What makes the difference between those who continually drive success and those who don’t? Those who stay energetic and passionate, rather than becoming worn down and discouraged? A number of factors seem to prevail – those who are successful have good teams, strong visions, well executed plans and, beneath all that, a very strong belief, mind set and intense personal drive.

There seems to be no right or wrong way to manage in today’s organisations and there are many methodologies to help us. However, at some point in many change projects there comes a critical moment when someone makes a stand on a key issue. This brings about either a moment of substantial shift forward, or a slip back into rigid, old patterns of working, a reversion to ‘blame and complain’ and anxious behavior. What helps a team through the confusion and distress of a difficult situation to a new possibility? It is often to do with the stance of the leader: their approach to resolving conflict and working through issues models much more for the team than simply how to solve the immediate problem.

What really makes the difference here? Just a few critical things including the ability to recognise and mark the path to a strong, carefully considered vision of the future while simultaneously acknowledging and articulating the often brutal truth of current reality. Some leaders are better at one than the other. Many find it difficult to exclude personal agendas and old scores. But underneath all this a more critical dimension is at play: the ability to remain personally secure regardless of circumstances. ‘Sounds easy.’ I hear you say, ‘We all do it. It’s what being a good leader is about’. Except that at a material level we all have mortgages to pay. We feel we need the safety of the business we joined, where we have made friends and created a community, and are validated in our work. So, in the crucible of vital discussions, the moment when the seeds of significant change often occur, we habitually resort to well established mental patterns and behaviors that we know have worked before and will see us through.

Put yourself into a challenging situation. Perhaps you’ve worked hard on a presentation. The logic all

stands up, yet here you are being publicly challenged. What’s your first reaction? It should be to use all your rational thinking and well evolved EQ …. but often it isn’t. Under challenge we return to basic animal instinct, to ‘flight, fight, freeze’. You won’t see many people running down the office corridors to get away from the threat, but you will see them instead, withdrawing from discussions, or being unusually abrupt, arguing, scoring points, or in a ‘freeze’ situation being tongue tied or babbling incoherently.

The connections go back to our forebears. ‘Fight flight’ has a rich pedigree … don’t knock it next time you face real physical danger. It kicks in fast with a magnificent intuitive overdrive! Plus, on top of this, we are programmed with our family dynamic – our first team, our first ‘organisation culture’ – which can have a dramatic impact on how we react to challenge. Much of our mental and emotional hardwiring was laid down in childhood.

Now in comes a missile, aimed dead centre at your best thinking, hours of preparation and (to you) blindingly obvious logic. The enemy is probably already in ‘fight flight’ (incidentally, these are the two normal positions for senior managers). Your proposal has challenged their mind set, their control on the world. But what happens to you? Are you automatically flicked into ‘fight, flight, freeze’? Or can you ‘hold onto yourself’, not get lost in the emotional conflict, stand out there when the rest of the team (who promised their full support around the coffee machine earlier!) retreat into the distance leaving you alone in a distinctly chilly situation?

Crucial in your defences, underneath all the external dynamics lies the concept of self value and self validation. How able are you to generate your own self value – when everyone has withdrawn their support and approval, when there is no external validation. This I think is one of the core aspects of leadership – the willingness to be out there, perhaps alone (it can take time for others’ logic and emotional position to match yours), knowing you probably are completely right but open to being completely wrong. Many people do not want to go there. Who can blame them? But that is the ambiguity of change. Are you as a leader ready for that challenge?

A Ship in Stormy Seas

Sometimes a common thread emerges during my coaching work with different clients. The following illustrates one such recurring theme.

My client gave me a very real sense of a ship in stormy waters. I sensed the vessel had been at sea far too long and desperately needed to find harbour, to re-provision, to refit. But this ship was mid-ocean, its captain a man on a mission with no time to stop. There was still direction, the sea anchor was out, but the rigging was worn and the crew tired from continual activity, facing yet more adrenalin-sapping storms.

Why do I use this image? Because no matter how long the conversation went on it seemed impossible to get to movement on the real issues. The pace, the stretch going on for the leader – both in the business and his life in general – seemed to force his whole approach into a racing maelstrom. I desperately wanted to steer him into the shelter of a safe harbour, so he could rest and draw back – mentally and physically – but I could not get him there. In coaching, it often seems that the boat has to either be in harbour, or at least sailing slowly, so that new perspectives and possibilities can first be seen, then considered, then actioned.

The link to leadership is very evident. Someone who is continually under stress can get used to that approach, accepting it as the norm, and then judging all their thinking and activity by this calibration. Sometimes it is successful, particularly if close to the leader’s natural style. But options are missed, the rocks ahead not spotted and there is no provision for long term thinking. All this is understandable, except that as leaders we are paid for our ability to see both the immediate and the longer term course – for our business, and for ourselves as well. We are also role models: our style and approach influences others, either as an example to be followed ‘it gets results for him so I’ll try it too’ or in reaction ‘he’s lost the plot, his usual judgement is way off course, no way am I doing that’.

The work of leadership is about producing results regularly, consistently, but just as importantly, it is about building organisations capable of continuing to meet challenges, ready for the future, a place where people want to work. This may seem obvious but it is a tall order. Results win out and, in the case of my sea captain above, there is no space or capacity to look at the often nebulous ‘cultural’ issues. It is hard enough to stay on top of current performance and the dichotomy of the short term versus the long term often seems too wide to bridge.

So how do we find a way through this? Well certainly, look after yourself. Beware heroics: we all love those saviour leaders, but they do not build sustainability and continuity. They risk the ‘burn out’ option – a bright firework in the dark. So look after yourself holistically and attend to your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs. If in doubt, listen to your body; it will guide you to the right starting place.

Beyond that, create a strong team: a team that can share leadership and allow you to rest; that can take control of the boat, using their technical skill and natural talent wisely. If you’ve recruited well, they will step up – will want to step up – and indeed will be affronted if you keep control and power close to you. I like the analogy of ‘first amongst equals’. Have you seen the goose video? It offers another analogy, this time from nature. When geese fly they share the lead role, they ‘honk’ their support, and they always look after the tired and injured.

But enough of the metaphors and analogies. Take action to look after your self. Step back regularly – including taking your holidays. Your best work may be done as you reflect and think away from the office. Get a good team around you, get them working well, and let them take the wheel and help steer the boat on the journey to success.