Is Bigger always Better?

November 21, 2009 in Dragon's Den, Entrepreneurship | No comments

I often watch the Dragons’ Den and admire those people who passionately defend their ideas, inventions and dreams and effectively shield some of the Dragons’ most scorching comments. I admire the courage of conviction of certain wanna-be entrepreneurs. I just cannot stand when Peter Jones sentences that their idea is “ridiculous”. While I agree with him that many ideas may not be viable I do object to the sound of the word “ridiculous”.

All companies were once small and born out of someone’s vision.
At the beginning what really counts are people, relationships, vision, resilience…, sometime sheer madness! Why is it that several years later these words seems to be replaced by organizational culture, artefacts, policies, politics and all the other fancy nominalizations we learn in business school?

I remember a conversation with a venture capitalist who was baffled by the following realization: When a company hits the  50 people mark the system takes over its parts and the process of depersonalization begins. And with this process of depersonalization begins the countdown to anonymity and job alienation.

Recent events have shown in a dramatic way that working for large organizations is not necessarily a passport to job security.

In this information age  where  a man and IPhone are enough to create a viable business I wonder if “bigger is better still holds true”.

Should’nt we rather aim at creating small organizations where people can retain their uniqueness and shape their business strategy rather then be shaped by them! Engagement levels, personal responsibility and sustainability would naturally remain high and the conversations personal.

When the headcount reaches 50, just detach and create a new cell in the network.

In the information age bigger is not necessarily better. When you start experiencing communication breakdowns you probably know you have reached the limit.

Become Aware of the Emotional Impact of Words

November 21, 2009 in Communication, Leadership | No comments

Words carry energy! The overall meaning of our communication (e.g. the content) carries its energy, but the structure, the focus and the intensity of our words carry its energy as well.

Why is this distinction important? Because  in our role-plays I often notice that people mean to give a positive message, but they structure it in such a way that it ends up having the opposite effect. And, by converse, I notice how others are very skilled at giving what could be perceived as a “negative” message and still have a positive impact.

Why are you doing this? – This question can be perceived as an expression of curiosity, but also as an accusation: the energy is all on “you” and what “you” are up to.

I wonder what prompts you to do this? - This is a question that expresses genuine curiosity and is less likely to be perceived as threatening, hence it nurtures the dialogue rather than blocking it.

When you start noticing the emotional impact of words and the structure of dialogues, you become aware of  how we say something is often more important than what we say. The emotional impact of words, the structure of our words play an important role that the context can mitigate or exacerbate.

In my work with senior executives I have often remarked that a question will be understood like an order, especially in a hierarchical context.

Is that the way you intend to proceed? – This question may be a genuine request for explanation, yet is likely to put a subordinate on a defensive stance and break rapport.

Paying attention to the emotional impact of words is a key part of the ongoing training towards creating powerful Leadership Habits.

Creating Leadership Habits

November 21, 2009 in Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Training and Development | No comments

I have worked with many executives who want to improve their personal impact through the impact of their communication. These are very senior leaders, these are your bosses and colleagues from around the world:  different industries, different cultures, different ethnicities – sharing the same challenges.

They all seek to improve their ability to lead teams, to motivate people, to truly engage the hearts and minds of the people they are called to lead. They have come to realize that it is only by mastering their own communications that they will be able to share their vision at all levels of their organizations, motivate, guide and inspire their teams,  round the corner and around the world.

They all seem to have read the “right books”, gotten more theory than they can digest… but they often still struggle to walk their talk: to close the gap between knowing and being… they still find it challenging to be able to come across in the way they really would like to come across.

Working with these people  made me realize that what seems to really be missing in executive education is the time and a safe space where to continue to practice communication skills… what seems to be missing is a place where communication mastery can become a Leadership Habit.

Habits get ingrained with practice. Unsupervised practice, however, is not sufficient and it can actually lead to the development of bad habits or to perpetuation of unwanted ones!

Effective practice requires supervision, expert feedback and peer feedback. Effective practice also requires frequency. With this in mind, we are currently helping organizations setting up their Leadership Groups, a fantastic way to leverage on training investments and make learning a habit.