Archives for June 2014

June 2014 – Change Masters President’s Letter

June 27, 2014 By Tom Mungavan Leave a Comment

Does executive presence make you worth 257 times more than average?

There is no question that perception is important. How important is up for debate and you can always add “it depends”. Why does the average CEO make 257 times the average pay in the USA? How much of the difference is for executive presence? A market economy is a good thing unless it’s not. There are many articles about CEO pay and it is easy to question the rationale for such large gaps between different CEOs, let alone between CEO’s and the average worker. Are companies really willing to pay that much more for executive presence? Most CEO’s do not make the headlines in terms of their pay packages. In working with some great CEO’s, I know the job is much tougher than it looks. It’s also much riskier than most jobs.

An Associated Press article listed the market forces at work that are creating the expanding pay gap. For a link to the full article or the abbreviated list go to [LINK]

Relationships trump tasks – a client example

Brad was in his early 40’s and his future success seemed limited even with his strong track record. He was seen as a micro-manager, out for himself, and only interested in conversations about his business. His employee satisfaction scores said he micro-managed and was not that interested in the careers of his employees. Brad had a long history of sales success individually and as a manager of a large sales team. People liked to work for him because they learned a lot, but he was not moving up the ladder and didn’t understand why. It was all about tasks [LINK]

Note: I received multiple requests to share real stories of clients implementing what they learned. This is one of those stories. The name has been changed.

Walk Strong — Your walk is communicating for you

People will make very quick judgments when they see you walking down the hall or into a meeting. Are you excited, scared, tired, angry, or disengaged? You could have a bubble over your head that broadcasts how you feel, but you don’t need to. Your walk does it for you. If you have a smile, give people eye contact, and greet them, it is amazing to see how many people will smile back and perk up. Do the opposite as you walk the hall, deep in thought without noticing someone you know, and they may feel offended.

You can choose the way you walk to demonstrate stronger command of the room and authentic executive presence. When we are coaching people and we ask them to walk into the room like they are timid and afraid, they are always able to do it. We then ask them to imitate someone they know who has strong confidence and presence … they are always able to do that as well. In other words, we know how to choicefully project how we feel. The issue is that most of us do not think about it … and we should. Simple tips that are generally seen as positive: [LINK]

iPhone calculator tip

Have you ever been entering a long number and realized you made an error on the ninth digit? You can hit “C” for clear and start over at the beginning OR you can swipe across the number displayed (either direction) and the last digit you entered will be removed. You can do this step multiple times. It is easier and less frustrating.

Do business colleges face disruption similar to the local travel agents of a couple of decades ago?

HBX – How does Harvard “walk it’s talk” with online learning? What happens when the long-established and relatively stable business model of the top-tier business college faces the potential internet disruption (ubiquitous video downloads)? Online learning could be as disruption to their business model as the major disruption of the travel industry (online access) or the music industry (faster audio download speeds) faced a couple of decades ago? The answer is they are really struggling.

The New York Times Business section (June 1, 2014) describes the conflicting viewpoints of how Harvard Business School thinks they should deal with the launch of their online learning called HBX. [LINK]

Relationships trump tasks – client example

June 26, 2014 By Tom Mungavan Leave a Comment

Brad was in his early 40’s and his future success seemed limited even with his strong track record. He was seen as a micro-manager, out for himself, and only interested in conversations about his business. His employee satisfaction scores said he micro-managed and was not that interested in the careers of his employees. Brad had a long history of sales success individually and as a manager of a fairly large sales team. People liked to work for him because they learned a lot, but he was not moving up the ladder and didn’t understand why.

It was all about tasks

He was deeply involved with all his key customers and seen as the key contact by the top customer decision makers. Brad headed a national sales team for a sector of a large consumer-goods company. He spent much of his life in hotels and airplanes. He lived remote from the headquarters so when in was in the home office, he had meeting after meeting trying to gain resources and support for his team. Brad was seen as a nice person, but personally distant.

There was no time for “small talk”. Even at sales networking events, Brad talked almost exclusively about business. To him this was his chance to connect with people he needed to talk to and had not been able to fit into his busy schedule. People knew very little about Brad personally and he knew little about them. He said he valued his family, but it did not look like they were a priority for his time.

His company valued personal relationships and Brad did not seem able to build those relationships or to handle any more workload than he already had managing his team. The company was happy to have him continue to produce good sales results, but Brad had expressed interest in more responsibility.

His employer had a high regard for Change Masters’ ability to prepare leaders for senior level positions based on prior experience, but wondered if the coaching would work for Brad. They did not want to lose him, so they decided to give coaching a try.

Brad was fully committed. He had spent his career eagerly learning all he could about management and leadership. However, he was not ready for the data that came back in his personal survey. He saw the large gap between his proclaimed values and his actions.

Career limiters

As so often happens, high emotional events in childhood and/or early career were holding him back from what he needed to do as a leader. In Brad’s case, he grew up in a small town. Everyone knew everyone’s business. Brad had experienced significant embarrassment and shame because of what one of his family members did while Brad was in high school. People teased and harassed him in a way we would call “bullying” today. The lesson Brad learned was to keep his personal life a secret. “Never let them see you sweat.” He was not willing to share personal information about himself and to maintain that, did not seek to understand the personal lives of others.

That same fear of not wanting to be embarrassed drove him to micro-manage to avoid surprises or disappointments. He had been rewarded for his good sales results which reinforced his fear pattern.

I was one of the few people outside of his family to learn about his shame from his youth. When he was able to talk about it. I shared with him my struggles overcoming a mother who embarrassed me with her paranoid schizophrenic behaviors.

Courageous choice

Brad took the courageous choice to go back to his team and apologize for the behaviors he was unintentionally casting on them. He appropriately shared his personal breakthrough. He asked for their help to move more responsibility to the team. He agreed to stay out of the details unless his help was requested.

The team was incredibly moved by Brad’s sincerity, personal story, and his desire to be a better leader and coach to help them succeed. His team members began to share their personal stories with him that allowed Brad to have a much better understanding of each member of the team. In less than a year, Brad moved the locus of planning, control, and execution to the team members. They all stepped up and made a major difference. They performed at a much higher level than he imagined they could. His employee satisfaction scores shot to the top in the company.

More family time

He cut his travel time to one-third of what it had been which has allowed him to be much more engaged in the life of his two teenage daughters and his wife who he adored.

He began to also share his story and personal life with his peers and to engage in personal conversations at events. The acceptance and opening up by others to him about their life and stories was amazing and rewarding for Brad. He strives to understand and balance the needs of the different areas of the business and work cooperatively together.

Mission accomplished

Brad received a major promotion to VP of Sales that would have eluded him before. Many are amazed at how much more engagement and personal relationship building Brad has demonstrated.

Relationships over tasks

When I asked him for the single biggest impact that made a difference, he said, “You kept telling me that my job is now about relationships and not just tasks. It is totally true beyond what I could have imagined.”

Walk Strong — Your walk is communicating for you

June 17, 2014 By Tom Mungavan Leave a Comment

If you have a smile, give people eye contact, and greet them, it is amazing to see how many people will smile back and perk up. Do the opposite as you walk the hall, deep in thought without noticing someone you know, and they may feel offended

The issue is that most of us do not think about it … and we should.

Simple tips that are generally seen as positive:

Keep your head up so your chin is pointed toward the horizon, not the floor.
Use good posture with your shoulders comfortably pulled back.
Walk with calm energy and a lengthened stride.
Own your space.
Show awareness and interest in others.

The invisible bubble over your head will be more effective as you communicate through your walk.

Do business colleges face disruption similar to the local travel agents of a couple of decades ago?

June 10, 2014 By Tom Mungavan Leave a Comment

It is much easier to talk about strategy than to implement strategy. There is justified skepticism among top business leaders when it comes to the many books and concepts promoted by professors who have never had to run a successful business. Harvard Business School is a premier source of strategic theory. There is much talk about innovation and disruption of the industry business model.
HBX – How does Harvard “walk it’s talk” with online learning?
What happens when the long-established and relatively stable business model of the top-tier business college faces the potential internet disruption (ubiquitous video downloads) of their business model that could be as major as the disruption of the travel industry (online access) or the music industry (faster audio download speeds) faced a couple of decades ago? The answer is they are really struggling.

The New York Times Business section (June 1, 2014) describes the conflicting viewpoints of how Harvard Business School thinks they should deal with the launch of their online learning called HBX. Some of the views they express sound as unaware as my customers of 20 years ago in industries just before they lost to the Internet competitors. Harvard seems convinced that twenty something students will continue to be willing and able to invest/borrow $100,000 (and growing) and two years of their career to say they went to Harvard. Some will make that investment who can afford the time and money.

Harvard Business School claims alumni among 20% of the CEO’s of fortune 500 companies. They have a more unique brand than most business schools. Today, many of the top 1% income earners are still using travel agents to book flights, sending their children to the best schools, and contributing to their school endowments. Harvard probably has the best chance of maintaining the century old business model.

The other 99%

What about the other 99% of potential students? What about the middle and lower tier schools?

What if there emerged “super star” teachers who teach in a more interesting and dynamic way than the average professor? They could be accessed anywhere in the world and at a convenient time for the student. They could re-watch parts of the video they do not understand. How many really good math teachers do we need in an Internet world? Only a few.
What if students could watch guest interviews and speakers who were “real world leaders” with experience applying the subject matter that is being taught? Maybe the guests do live conferences after they have watched the video.
What if students could be more engaged and learn more watching the super star on video than sitting in a lecture hall?
Imagine students with the ability to work in study groups where video conferencing was almost like being face-to-face without travel time? What if groups could have peer mentoring and easy access to tutors?
What if you could certify the learning results for accreditation purposes?
What if the practical application of graduating students was equal or better than the average of today’s students?
What if businesses considered online trained students better than most traditional college graduates?
What if a great eduction costs 20% or less of a Harvard or similar degree?

All of these things could be a reality in less than five years. Most are already in practice somewhere. If I were running any college … I would be worried. These things will not all be in place in five years, but they will be in motion for colleges.

The disruptive innovation is already in motion.

Khan Academy is already changing the world of K-12 lower eduction. They now have some courses that are accredited and it is likely more will be accredited soon.

Online video training for technology skills, user oriented program training, business skills, and many others are growing rapidly without any accreditation.

The effectiveness of good online learning is much higher than most expected. Our experience is that our clients prefer content delivery via video rather than a classic PowerPoint presentation in-person … even if the in-person is done well. More importantly most of the tests of effectiveness of online verses in-person teaching shows better results from the online teaching.

There are many who argue that the college experience of being on campus and building networks can not be replaced. For those who can afford the experience it will continue to be attractive. As more people realize how limiting it is to graduate with $100,000 in debt and challenging job opportunities … the shift will happen. There already are college programs that are a hybrid that combines campus experience with remote learning.

World competition

Our country needs to significantly increase the education of a much larger proportion of our current and future workforce to be competitive in a global world. Current economics, education models, and political will is not going to make that happen. Major innovation is needed and the tools for that innovation are at hand. I find it hard to believe the opportunity will not be seized. It will define the future for our grandchildren.

How will the customer of business colleges decide?

I give credit to Harvard for stepping into the HBX learning space so they will be able to make shifts as needed in the future. The impact on business colleges in general will ultimately be based on how we as business leaders evaluate the value of different forms of education. Will we honor someone as more proficient because he/she has embraced and used innovative college models. Will you see them as more suited to lead your business innovation than someone who chooses the traditional model because they think it is safer? Hiring and business results will ultimately define the pace of change.