Tony Hsieh is the former CEO of iconic online retailer, Zappos. How he grew an online company from $1.6M to over $1.1B by focusing on excellent customer service is captured in his insightful book, Delivering Happiness.

Zappos’ call center staff (referred to as the Customer Loyalty Team) don’t follow mindless scripts, aren’t held accountable for average call times and don’t insult customers with transparent efforts to upsell. What is expected is that they establish a PEC or personal emotional connection with each customer.

So what was the core principle that allowed Hsieh to achieve this? That culture is the number one priority.

“We’ve actually passed on smart, talented people that could have had an immediate impact on our top or bottom line because they don’t fit in with the company culture.”

Culture drives everything. What does your culture need to look like to win? Would you pass on hiring talent that could immediately impact your financials? Who in your organization does not fit the culture and what is that costing you?

Your thoughts?

Michael

Adrian Newey is the most successful designer in the history of Formula One auto racing, his cars having won 10 World Constructors’ Championships. He is also the only designer to have won constructors’ titles with three different teams.

So moving to his most recent team – Red Bull – in 2006, one would think that, with six titles already to his credit, Newey would have the formula for success dialed in.

Not so fast.

“I made a mistake in as much as when I started at Red Bull I tried to approach the job in the same way, treating it mainly as a design-based challenge. But there were two main problems; the first was that this was a team of low morale because there had been a lot of hiring and firing of key personnel. There was also a strange kind of arrogance. They thought they were producing the best. They had their eyes closed to what was going on around them.”

“It took quite a while for Christian (Team Principal, Christian Horner) and I to create the cultural change that we needed to get away from the ‘we’re happy to finish seventh’ mentality.”

You can be the best designer of the fastest racecars in the world. But if success depends on the performance of an organization, then you cannot overlook culture – what people believe, their motivation, and how they act.

Your thoughts?

Michael

Every leader needs to identify specifically what resources are required to succeed. Yet too often in business I hear leaders talk in generalizations like, “we just don’t have the resources” or, conversely, “we need to do more with less.” As if all resources were equally important.

There is much we can learn from mountain guides who are expert at managing resources. Why? Because in the mountains, resources could be a matter of not just summiting, but life or death.

For some things you need to invest in high-end resources. You don’t try to save a few bucks by climbing Mt. Everest in flip-flops. You have $500+ climbing boots.

For other things you only need what’s adequate. Food that meets nutritional, size and weight requirements. It doesn’t have to taste great.

And many things you simply don’t need. Razor and shave cream? Forget it. Pillow? No way.

What skilled mountain guides do exceptionally well is discriminate among the resources that must be high-end, the resources that can be merely adequate, and the resources that are excessive and will only weigh you down.

Application: Be discerning. Make sure your people have the right resources … and not one thing more.

Your thoughts?

Michael

Having climbed with some very good and very poor mountain guides, I’ve learned that the best guides are great leaders. That means they don’t just know mountains, they know people.

Over the next few weeks I’ll touch on how the best guides inspire both confidence and performance.

Masters of Psychology. Skilled guides know when to encourage, when to challenge and when to pressure. They are constantly reading their team, evaluating both performance and morale. And they regularly check in with individual team members. They are acutely aware that individual traits and experiences vary, and they know how to best adapt their approach for each person.

If a guide isn’t actively managing performance and morale, the team isn’t likely to achieve their goal. That’s a failure of leadership.

Application: Be a psychologist. Regularly monitor performance and morale, and adapt your approach to the team and the individuals.

Your thoughts?

Michael

You’ve developed great goals. You’ve outlined a structured plan to achieve them. Now the real work begins. Execution. Unsurprisingly, this is when most plans die. Here’s why:

1. Progress isn’t regularly tracked and managed
Plans brought into the spotlight flourish. Plans left in the dark wither. A monthly progress tracking meeting with a crisp agenda sustains focus. Determine what actions have been taken, the progress made, emerging challenges, and who will accomplish what over the next month.

2. The plan isn’t adaptable
Reserve the right to do what makes sense. Plans are based on information and assumptions that can change over time. If they do, the plan may need to change. A quarterly recalibration meeting brings to light what has changed and the implications for the plan.

3. Weak Consequences
How you respond to progress, or lack of progress, goes a long way to determining the success of the plan. A tepid response to either sends the message that the goal really isn’t that important. Clearly differentiate what is acceptable from what isn’t by clearly differentiating your response.

Plans don’t implement themselves. You have to take ownership. Track, adapt and effectively respond.

Your thoughts?

Michael

Imagine that a group of Asian-American women is given a math test. Before taking it, half are subtly reminded that they are Asian. Half, that they are women. Which half performs better?

This was an actual study carried out with college students. The result? The half who were reminded they were Asian performed above average. The half reminded that they were women, below average. Expectations associated with being either Asian or a woman led to significant dfferences in performance.

Similarly, employees will often live up or live down to what they believe you expect of them. That’s why whether you believe an employee will succeed or not, you must resolutely convey that they will succeed. Watch out, they may surprise you. And themselves.

Getting people to believe in themselves, to believe in what they are capable of, regardless of the circumstance, is a cornerstone of effective leadership.

Believe and exude belief.

Your thoughts?

Michael

The Gallup organization recently surveyed over 150,000 workers and found that fewer than one-third are engaged in their work. And engaged doesn’t just mean satisfied, it also means emotionally connected. Which, by the way, correlates with better performance and financial results.

When I worked at FedEx, one of many things they did well was emphasize that a manager’s job is to elevate their people. From the mandatory effort they give to keep their jobs to the discretionary effort they give when they’re truly engaged. Why? Because engaged employees go above-and-beyond. They take initiative. They take pride in their work. They think: What’s best for the company? What’s best for the customer?

Every year Fortune magazine publishes their “100 Best Companies to Work For” edition. Yes, they’re great places to work, but those 100 best companies also outperform their competitors financially.

So it’s not just a matter of feel good. If you’re not engaging your employees, you’re leaving money on the table.

Your thoughts?

Michael

A recent study looked at what employees of different ages and genders want most from their employers. Can you guess the number one thing that Millennials want more of at work?

No, not more money.
Not more time off.
Not more recognition.
Not more meaningful work.
Not more challenging work.
Not more fun at work.

Training. They want more training.

They want the knowledge and skills they need to succeed. Which, oh by the way, will help your organization succeed.

Your thoughts?

Michael

In boardrooms I sometimes see glazed eyes when the topic of employee engagement is brought up. You can easily imagine the thoughts behind those looks. Really, isn’t this just the term-du-jour for employee satisfaction? For happy employees? The fluffy, feel-good stuff?

The Gallup organization recently published their 8^th report on employee engagement. They studied 192 organizations with 1.4 million employees and, discouragingly, found that seven out of ten U.S. workers are mentally checked out – disengaged – from their work. The cost? A reported 22% lower productivity than organizations with high engagement. Which translates into about $500 billion of lost productivity every year for U.S. businesses.

So, is employee engagement simply the same as fluffy, feel-good? No, because happy and satisfied employees may not be productive employees. And you want employees who are both happy and productive. Employee engagement is a solid indicator of both. 

Your thoughts?

Michael

I’ve been consulting with a company over the past two years to help create a culture of innovation. We’ve made tremendous progress and are seeing evidence of real cultural change. In our first year over 150 ideas were submitted and almost a third were implemented. But more importantly, people are now thinking about how the business can be improved, and approaching their managers with ideas. Managers are much more open and responsive to those ideas. And everyone sees ideas being implemented and takes that as the norm. This is what tells us the culture is truly changing.

How did we do it?

Early on we established an Operational Framework for submitting, evaluating, tracking and implementing ideas. We developed a Marketing Framework for communications, promotions, recognition and celebration. We put in place a Support Framework to create an environment aligned with innovation. And we instituted a Management Framework with a guiding team, an executive sponsor, and regular meetings to track progress and, periodically, recalibrate the plan.

What’s the difference between this approach and the typical initiatives that fail? We approached it as a system. A system focused on people. A comprehensive approach so that everything consistently and continually points people in the right direction. So it’s not just a project. It’s how the business operates.

Your thoughts?

Michael

It only takes one word. But one word can carry massive weight. Saying “yes, but …” sends the message that “you’re wrong” or “I disagree.” It places you in opposition and makes the other person an adversary.

Change the one word. From “but” to “and.” Saying “yes, and …” sends a message of acknowledgement and respect. Instead of making an adversary you make an ally.

If a goal of communicating is to influence, which word do you think is more effective?

Your thoughts?

Michael

A couple of weeks back I wrote about the ‘Grand Canyon of the Workplace’ – the generational gap – and how Boomers can reframe their thinking to bridge the gap. Millennials, now it’s your turn:

1) ‘This new technology is so cool …’

Sure. And so were Betamax, AOL (America Online) and 3-D movies (the first time around). It’s all cool. But will it catch on? And does it have staying power? One reason Boomers aren’t as impressed as you are is because they’ve seen lots of cool, new technology. And most of it is in the dustbin.

2) ‘Boomers are resistant to change’

Some are, some aren’t – like any generation. But Boomers are different in that they’ve experienced lots of workplace change and know firsthand that change is not always good. And even if it’s good in theory, the implementation can be a disaster. It might be a good idea to find out why they’re resisting change. Maybe there are some ‘red flags’ you need to be aware of.

Ready to bridge the gap?

Your thoughts?

Michael