management – Heller Group

Making Purpose Work

Last night I was in a coaching conversation with a client who was experiencing consternation. The consternation was the result of being hindered by a staid culture where the status quo eclipses any possibility of change. However, he made a poignant statement that the “the enemy of success is not changing.”

His obvious frustration led to a conversation about the broader realities of being an executive. He mentioned waking up in the middle of night worried about the well being of thousands of employees and their families. He was truly “mission motivated.” His purpose of providing for thousands of families transcended his paycheck and was his true purpose.

My client’s comments and the picture of waking up in the middle of night echoed in my head as I drove home. I realized that finding a sense of purpose is the secret to weathering any storm.

But finding purpose is not easy and requires some self reflection and discipline. Here are five pragmatic strategies you can employ to find your purpose:

Seek out assignments that contribute socially – When a crisis occurs, don’t be afraid to volunteer. You will find that social missions provide fertile opportunities to learn what could be your purpose.
Ask yourself “What part or activities of my job would I do for free”- When you take finances out, you can find the purpose beyond money.
Communicate to others so they feel purpose – To help with college, I was a busboy in a restaurant. I was asked to join my fellow busboys one Saturday morning. Arriving at the restaurant we met with a group of executives. They told us we were the most important part of the restaurant. They explained that without us, customers would not sit at a clean table and the waitresses could not take the order of hungry customers. They sincerely expressed the “why” of our work. With that sense of purpose, I cleared tables quicker and with an extra touch of cleanliness.
Relate tedious work with helping others – Think about the little tasks you do everyday. A client of mine cleans and refurbishes commercial drums. The CEO has communicated to employees that the drums they clean contain chemicals that are responsible for such products as perfumes and car oil. Their fastidiousness in cleaning each drum allows manufacturers to produce safe and valuable products.
Create perspectives of purpose – There is the story of two brick layers working on a church building. When someone asked what they were doing, one bricklayer said, “Can’t you see, I am a brick layer.” When the other brick layer was asked the same question, he said, “I am building a great cathedral.” The second bricklayer carried a “perspective of purpose.”

The Leadership Paradox – Staying Committed by Letting Go

Successfully leading a business, or a career requires an inexhaustible commitment. Sustaining commitment also requires a season of letting go.

There will be unavoidable challenges. There will be seasons of economic harvest and unrelenting growth. No matter what the season, success is a matter of commitment. Quitting is never an option.

To sustain fertility, farmers let go by “letting the land fallow.” The practice is letting farmland be unsown for a period of time to restore its fertility as part of crop rotation.

In leadership, “letting the land fallow” requires letting go of the pressure to perform. Fallowing is necessary to prevent tired and drowsy thinking.

With the holidays approaching, and winter being the season of “shadows”, allowing time to fallow allows the mind to “restore its fertility” of fresh ideas.

Here are five (5) suggestions that can facilitate the opportunity to fallow:

Schedule fallow time – Determine a time when the number of projects, tasks, and initiatives can be slowed down. If time is not set aside for this, your commitment to perform will take the nutrients out of your thinking.
Be provocative – One of my clients originated the concept of “business creation.” The purpose is to identify new, innovative, and not yet discovered ways to create new business. Fallow time will restore the fertility of your intellect.
Be still and let go – During your fallow period to simply be still. Allow your thoughts to emerge and evaporate. Courageously let go of that uncontrollable impulse to complete the next task on your to do list.
Stay committed – By “letting the land fallow” you are insuring a future harvest. In your business the harvest from allowing time to fallow can lead to increased productivity and even increased profits.
Enjoy the harvest before the fallow – Last, but not least, this fallow time is an excellent opportunity to reflect and celebrate past accomplishments. Don’t forget to celebrate.

The Business Case for Curiosity

For a long time, I have been curious about curiosity. Curiosity, or the desire to learn something new, is the power behind becoming an expert. Curiosity is the “hunger” between wanting to know and knowing.

Curiosity results in fewer decision errors, innovation is expanded, conflict is reduced, and there is more open communication. However, to bolster curiosity takes time.

One of my coaching clients, upon first meeting, asked incisive and insightful questions. After answering a plethora of questions, I realized that his curiosity was an intellectual hunger. I learned he had multiple degrees, traveled the world, and was insatiable curious. My conclusion was his curiosity would make him successful in achieving his professional goals.

In fact, one criterion for “coachability” is curiosity. With curiosity anyone can learn anything. Without curiosity, a person’s intellect is vapid and ultimately becomes stale.

Here are six suggestions for bolstering and deepening your curiosity:

Identify learning objectives. – Think about what attracts your intellectual attention during down time. Write a list of those subjects that keep getting your attention.
Schedule curiosity time. – Schedule time, even if 15minutes, for curiosity time. During this time, ask yourself “What would I like to learn today?” Use the time to learn something unfamiliar.
Read something “strange”. – Read about a topic that has nothing to do with your line of work. You can fuel your curiosity by reading novels instead of non-fiction. Characters in novels teach us about relationships and human behavior.
Ask questions of everyone. – When you meet someone ask questions. Ask about how the person got into their field of study, what interests them, the last book they read, and other questions. Questions stimulate curiosity.
Find a “curiosity sanctuary”. – Environments can either stimulate curiosity or damped it. Explore places where you mind is stimulated and motivated to learn more. Allow for internal questions of “What am I feeling or experiencing here?”
“Surf” online bookstores. – Connect to an online bookstore and just look at the different book titles. Read about a book that piques your interest. Read a page or two. If you want to learn more, send a sample to your Kindle or other E-reader.

Overcoming Time Famine – 5 “D’s” of Delegation

Each day one of my executive coaching clients will emphatically complain “I don’t have enough time.” Everyone is faced with an avalanche of e-mails, urgent requests, and attendance at a never ending wave of meetings. Everyone seems to feel what is now called “time famine.”

Resolving time famine is challenging because of the simple law of physics. The principle is that a body in motion, stays in motion, unless acted upon by an outside force. Each of us, as a “body” stays in motion unless an outside force intervenes. The outside force is usually a drop in productivity, lower job satisfaction, being overwhelmed, or burning out. Sometimes your health intervenes.

A client and I were recently engaged in a discussion on how he could get more time for strategic thinking, cross-functional relationship building, and driving projects. After asking a few questions, I realized that he took on too much and off-loaded too little. The solution was simple – delegate. So simple, yet so difficult.

Here are the five D’s of Effective Delegation.

Delegate the details. Even though it may take you less time to tell someone to do the details, over the long run it pays off. Off-loading tasks to one’s assistant or staff is a discipline that requires practice.

Delegate Decisions. This does not mean “abdicate responsibility”, but rather an opportunity for others to learn how to make decisions. By allowing others to make decisions, you are complimenting them by showing your trust in their judgment. Of course, be judicious and identify those individuals who have the skill for critical thinking.

Delegate Deliverables. Be clear, precise, crisp, and exact with what you want accomplished, when you want it accomplished, and the quality of the outcome. Clearly communicating specific expectations is critical for setting people up for success.

Delegate Delegation. Being an effective executive or manager requires cascading accountability. Coach your staff to delegate to their staff. Make sure that at all levels in your organization managers are delegating to free up time for what contributes and what is important. This is critical to a successful organization.

Delegate Trust. Last, but not least – let people do their job. If you are paying people, have trust that they will meet or exceed your expectations. If not, you may need to provide coaching, or you have not hired the right people.