Actions Speak Louder than Words

In the past few years I’ve witnessed multiple friends and family members go through painful breakups – close friendships suddenly severed, divorces, and disbanded business partnerships.  It’s never easy to see a good friend or relative go through something like this and even more difficult to find the correct words that make it apparent just how sorry I am, but at the same time provide strength and encouragement.

Nevertheless, I often can‘t resist such a challenge, because it’s impossible to watch someone who has often clearly demonstrated so many strong positive traits (limitless potential, positive energy, integrity…) now begin to doubt themself and their ability to succeed, and even worse… possibly get derailed from a course that will definitely lead them toward their goals.

Coach Responsibly

In order to ride that fine line when giving advice, whether you’re a life coach, career coach, or mentor, or just a good friend, it’s not only critical to balance communicating how much you feel their pain or frustration with how much you believe in them, but it’s also just as important to guide, support and educate them without overriding their own intuition and better judgment.  After all, they’re the ones who are going through this particular circumstance first-hand.  In most cases, the rest of us are only observing from the sidelines, at best.

The Truth Will Set You Free

When accepting this great responsibility, the most successful approach for me has been to coach the individual on focusing only on what is true and what is real.  This means asking them to take a good hard look at themselves, as well as the situation.  Nobody’s perfect and usually mistakes are made by all parties.  Often times, when someone is strong enough to be honest with himself, it’s much easier to be honest with others and possibly reach an agreement.  If the other party is mature enough to identify with this, it could lead that party to taking the same course of action.  Unfortunately, it isn’t always that easy and some parties are much less mature than others.  Even though these types tend to try to gain leverage through false allegations or manipulation of the truth, staying above board and maintaining honesty is still a stronger hand.

False accusations are intended to cloud everyone’s judgment, especially the person who’s the subject of the accusation.  It’s a sucker punch to throw subject off guard… BUT not falling for it, taking the high road, and staying on course allows the subject to reveal their true character; and what better time to do so than when so many eyes are watching.  Moreover, it’s only a matter of time before all of the holes are found in the accusations that hold no merit, and more often than not, those behind the falsities attempt to create more, or behave even more foolishly to discount their credit even further.

When considering everyone that I’ve coached or advised to take this approach, those who’ve done so fearlessly and with self-assuredness have steadily moved forward to stronger relationships and more rewarding careers, while those who didn’t are losing more relationships and digging deeper holes.

Thanks, but No Thanks...

Preserving LinkedIn's Effectiveness

Abridged version:

Throughout its 10 years, LinkedIn has continued to grow into one of the most effective resources available to us on the web; and it's been most evident in the past few years.  I personally find LinkedIn more useful for learning about a person than even the most well executed resume.  One of it's more recent features has been the ability to endorse a member's skills that are listed in their profile, and even suggest additional skills.  This could be one of the most powerful and useful features of LinkedIn, but only if used with care.  In order to maintain the value of endorsements, when LinkedIn asks you about another members skills, we need to be sure to ask ourselves whether or not we can honestly answer.  It's just as important to only accept endorsements from those who truly understand our skills and how we've used them.  Otherwise, another extremely effective tool will become worthless due to abuse.

Got a little more time? Read the full story:

Though I have a diverse range of responsibilities in all of the jobs that I take on through my constantly evolving career, it appears that a good part of my day involves coaching, advising, and mentoring.  And while it started with advising individuals on how to move forward with their careers or how to effectively promote a product or service, it has led to broader life coaching - identifying what a person simply needs to focus on (through all of the static and distractions) in order to make a positive change.

The most interesting thing is, regardless of what kind of coaching I am providing, LinkedIn is often the most essential tool for the task at hand.  I began using the site in 2006, when “recommendations” were introduced and a former colleague asked if I would contribute to his profile by writing one for him.  Initially, I didn't put much effort into it.  I really had no idea how much potential there was in the site until a few years later when the types of industries and talents became more diverse, due to the fact that I already had a large network of contacts in my current industry prior to using LinkedIn.  As a result, the types of groups available became just as diverse, and in joining some, I soon became a moderator of one, and then identified that there was a need for a particular group that did not yet exist - so I even created my own.  The ability to better understand fields that I hadn't yet been a part of and build relationships with those already within them was a dream come true.

Unfortunately, there are many features of LinkedIn that can sometimes be abused.  At the core of LinkedIn is it's networking system.  While it does a pretty darn good job of making it difficult for a member to add another member to their network if they don't really know them, it occasionally happens.  Though it may be tempting to expand your network's reach and accept such an invitation, it's best to not accept the invite.  You never know what the intentions are of the requester, and it often leads to many more similar unknown invitations.  I've seen this happen to a couple of colleagues and their networks become much more difficult to manage, not to mention how embarrassing it is for them when someone asks, "So how do you know Sergio from Italy?"

More recently, LinkedIn supercharged its "Skills" feature to allow members to endorse others. These endorsements appeared to be a brilliant solution for members to more efficiently and effectively validate and confirm another member's abilities.  After all, writing a decent recommendation takes much more time.

The drawback is that it's very easy for members to endorse someone for a skill, even if they're not really sure how well that person performs that particular skill.  I've even seen people ask fellow members of an entire group to help them build their profile and endorse some of their skills.  Granted, these were creatives who had some proof of their abilities via their portfolios, but it still wasn't the most genuine way achieve an endorsement.

Ultimately, unless we all use our best judgement in how we send/accept invitations, write our recommendations, and endorse others, this great resource will lose much of its value and not be nearly as effective as it could be.  So the next time LinkedIn asks you, "Does Johnny know Wrestling Alligators?"  Be sure to ask yourself whether you really can answer that question.  And then for the even tougher assignment, if someone who's merely an acquaintance endorses you for a skill that they probably don't even understand, perhaps it would be best to politely ignore it and wait for the many others that will come from those who definitely know you really are the rock star in that category.

Where We're Headed and the Power We Have to Set a New Course

Yesterday, LinkedIn featured a very popular article posted by Henry Blodget (CEO and Editor, Business Insider) titled, “This One Tweet Reveals What's Wrong With American Business.”

His one statement sums it up well…

"The real problem is that American corporations, which are richer and more profitable than they have ever been in history, have become so obsessed with 'maximizing short-term profits' that they are no longer investing in their future, their people, and the country."

And a majority of what followed concentrated on the common corporate behaviors of little investment, obsessing about quarterly earnings (as well as daily fluctuations in stock prices), but most importantly the attitude toward employees.

Now… before you stop reading and scramble to the bottom of the page to comment and ask, “What choice do corporations have, when their existence depends on market performance?”  I completely agree with your concern. 

The problem stems from when almost every corporation tried to follow in Jack Welch’s footsteps to impress shareholders and attempt to multiply the value of their company primarily through its stock price.  I’m not discounting Welch’s intelligence or strategic thinking, but he chose to do that at the most opportune time.  The latter part of his reign at GE was during a surreal boom in the stock market.  Shares of individual stocks would jump hundreds of dollars in one day.  And regarding one of his other concepts of firing the bottom 10% of your managers, irrespective of absolute performance… I have a difficult time agreeing with that, especially in our current environment where most companies are understaffed and employees are overworked, but perhaps GE was quite the opposite at the time.

As a result, we now have super-lean corporations with very little room to be innovative and take some risks, because they’re now at the mercy of many short-sighted shareholders.  That surreal boom in the stock market came during the dot com explosion that made it possible for anyone and everyone to instantly trade, sell, short, and make other investment decisions that many of them probably don't even fully understand.  And as if the market wasn’t volatile enough then, the shift to mobile devices has allowed ability to manage a portfolio from anywhere at any time.

But that’s not even the biggest problem.  One commenter, David F., posted “Now go one step further. About 60% to 70% of all daily trading in the stock market and on NYSE is done by hedge funds, traders, and highly leveraged investment companies. They are often in and out of a stock in seconds, often only hours, and rarely have any long-term (as in"years") stake in the company at all. Taken together, they comprise the most powerful set of stockholders that any company has. Actually, considering the denial of access to "normal" stockholders to having any say or control at all, these hedge funds (et al) have no competition whatsoever for their control of their companies.”  He goes on to include, insider trading, government ties, and other forms of corruption, but I’ll just leave it at this.

Blodget’s article was actually a follow-up to his  Business Insider article titled, “Here's Who To Blame For America's Lousy Economy...” where he suggested that American corporations should increase the wages of its workers and pay for this by making slightly less money.  And, naturally, there were readers who argued how it wasn’t possible for corporations to do this and still survive in the market.

It’s our greatest challenge.  The current situation has left no room for corporations to make slightly less of a profit.  Short-sighted investors with no interest in the long-term (even when there's more value in it) turn and run with no confidence in such a company no matter how solid and promising it is.

Understanding the value of employees is paramount.  They are the core of every corporation, but how can employees have any regard for who they work for if they're not respected by their employer.  Treating them fairly, recognizing and appreciating their contributions, and acknowledging their value motivates them to do what they do best.

It all needs to start with removing the all-too-common mindset that is fueled by lack, limitation, and fear.

 

This mindset initiates such things as shareholder greed and causes CEOs to feel insecure in acknowledging employee performance out of fear that one day those employees might get comfortable and expect even more.

We need leaders who are confident and able to effectively communicate and convincingly articulate to shareholders the incredible value of their long-term plan.

 

The only way to initiate change is to lead by example, and there’s never been a greater opportunity for all of us to do so.  Through the myriad of social networks, each of us now has global reach.  Someone once made the point that many years ago the world was controlled by the church, then control shifted to government, and then to corporations, but the power of community continues to rise.  

Be a part of that community influencing change for the better.

It's Really a Simple Concept

For the past few years, words like "transparency" and advice regarding how to earn people's trust have been recited ad nauseum. Moreover, the messages have always been positioned as if these were groundbreaking concepts... Establish, maintain, and strengthen relationships by demonstrating to customers, coworkers, strategic partners, and employees that you actually respect them!  Now there's a novel concept.

In 2008, Stephen M.R. Covey (son of Stephen R. Covey) authored "The Speed of Trust" and has toured the world as a keynote speaker explaining the benefits of being honest - the time and money that a company can save. In 2012, Don Peppers & Martha Rogers authored "Extreme Trust: Honesty as a Competitive Advantage", explaining how positively customers react when a company,  bank, or online service is completely honest with them when they least expect it.

There's a lot of meaning behind the old saying,  "Always be honest, and you'll always be happy." I've lived my life by it and built my career upon it. It eliminates a lot of unnecessary work, reduces the chaos, and lowers the stress levels dramatically. Not to mention, when building a case or defending a position, no one can argue with the truth.

As happy as I am to see integrity gaining the reputation it deserves, especially through articles and blogs by leaders in their field (e.g. Seth Godin), it's still disappointing to think that it took this many years of poor customer service and the advent of social media sites (that ensure every bad experience gets a ton of attention) to turn enough heads.  And it will still take even longer for many of those heads to take action.

There will come a day, though, when we'll look back and think of how silly it was that there were books, speakers, and even curricula for business workshops designed to teach what many of us learned in our formative years. Until then, those of us who are already on board will just have to continue enjoying the competitive advantage that the situation provides.