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We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Two hundred forty-four years ago this declaration was made and our country was launched. This was not a statement describing the way things were at the time, but a declaration of a future state that we have been striving (imperfectly) to live up to ever since. The killing of George Floyd has brought the issue of racial inequality to the forefront yet again… but this time in such graphic, horrifying images that it has evoked a variety of very strong emotional reactions; rage, fear, shame and defensiveness among them.  We cannot just sweep it under the rug this time and go on with our lives. This time feels different. In our last article on this subject, we asserted that the vast majority of our population is not overtly, consciously racist, but that we have unconscious biases, and that we are not consciously aware of how other people are treated by some today. When Barack Obama brought the subject of racism to the forefront, frankly, I (Brad) dismissed it. Even today, many are dismissing the killing of George Floyd as an isolated instance… But recently, I have listened to stories from friends and clients that I am shocked and appalled by. Stories that I previously was not listening for… A black CEO of a nationally renowned engineering firm who is actively afraid when he sees a police officer in his rearview mirror. A CFO who as a kid in the 80’s was called the “N” word by three of his teachers. A CEO of a large non-profit who told her kids not to drive through certain suburbs of Detroit, the ones that I lived in.  And she told me “I have just accepted that’s just the way it is.”  A friend just told me, “I just accept that things are run by white people, and I have nothing to say about it.” People are now talking more openly about these instances than ever before, with members of the “other race.” But… how many people are listening? I mean listening with the intention of really understanding the experience of the speaker, instead of listening with the (usually unconscious) intent of disputing the other. Human Beings suck at listening. Much of our work with Organizational leaders boils down to teaching them to “first seek to understand”, rather than argue, disengage, gossip, create divisive personal alliances; all the things humans do when our beliefs are threatened. This simple mechanism is the root cause of the current polarization in our society. The issue of race is but the latest, and maybe most destructive, example of polarizing subjects: politics, immigration, health care, covid… the list goes on and on. The media and social media gets blamed for this polarization, and certainly they exacerbate the situation, but they are merely good at making a living by appealing to the human need to be RIGHT and to judge others who disagree with us as WRONG. Dismissing those WRONG opinions and the people who espouse them leaves us unable to learn, unable to become conscious of anything we don’t already know. Peter Senge, in The Preface to “Bohm on Dialogue”, states: Our habits are so strong to defend our view, to agree with views that correspond with our own and to disagree with those that differ, that simply allowing diverse views to stand can be almost impossibly difficult. ‘The thing that mostly gets in the way of dialogue,’ he says, ‘is holding to assumptions and opinions and defending them.’ This instinct to judge and defend, embedded in the self-defense mechanisms of our biological heritage, is the source of incoherence.” This instinct is, not the source, but the guardian of our unconscious bias in all its forms. It is also the source of personal obsolescence (a subject for another day), polarization and violence, which we resort to when words fail us, because we don’t listen. Unless we learn to set aside our unconscious drive to be right, we will never learn to listen and never reveal our unconscious racial biases, or any other unconscious bias or perception. I saw a great quote, on social media, ironically: “You are not responsible for the programming you picked up in the “download years” of your childhood, but you are 100% responsible for installing the upgrades.” We have a simple, but not easy, choice. We can either defend our “programming” or we can learn to be open to understanding the upgrades and choosing which ones to install. Our whole business is helping leaders generate and install upgrades. Not just intellectual understandings, that can be had from any book, podcast, etc., but the ability and propensity to put the upgrades into action… to “install them” in their emotional mind and thus reprogram themselves. In order to be effective at this, we always have to generate a breakthrough in their ability to really listen… if we generate this breakthrough, we are always successful, if not, the entire project fails. Returning to the issue of race; in the conversations with black friends and clients I referred to above, I became aware that I am afraid of black people. I’ve not been consciously aware of this fear up till now, but I see that this fear has kept me from really engaging with black people, especially black men. It is clear to me where this fear came from: The experiences I had as a 12-year-old returning from summer camp to Detroit, in the midst of the ’67 riots, hearing and seeing press reports of snipers shooting and fires burning. So, I have a choice; I can defend my programming with that story, or I can realize that it is not 1967, I am not 12, and that although that fear may have served me then (I laid down on the bus seat to avoid the possibility of flying bullets), generalizing that fear to all black people and holding on to it in 2020 is completely illogical, divisive and in conflict with my values. I believe we now have an opportunity to create the next major breakthrough in race relations. Whether we have that breakthrough, or this gets added to the already too long list of polarizing, issues that divide and weaken us as a people, will depend on whether we are willing to learn to listen. If we do, we will take a huge step toward creating a more perfect union. Webinar | Courageous Conversations:  Talking about Race July 29th, 2020 Webinar Recording People are now talking more openly about race. And many of us are doing so with members of the “other race” more so than ever before. But… how many people are listening with the intention of really understanding the experience of the speaker? The bad news is that humans tend to listen with the intent of either 1) finding ideas that agree with our own or 2) listening just long enough so we can dispute what the other person says. Human nature contains a need to be RIGHT and to judge others who disagree with us as WRONG. Dismissing those WRONG opinions and the people who espouse them leaves both parties frustrated, defensive and angry. So, we avoid the conversations. The good news is that this behavior is mostly unconscious. There is a better way. In this webinar, we will explore: Methods to facilitate courageous conversations in your workplace. Specific approaches to help people learn to listen and create mutual understanding. View Webinar Recording

Conventional culture change efforts that involve declaring Vision, Mission, Values, Principles etc., and disseminating those foundational elements throughout the organization, are valuable. But they do only part of the work. And it is the (relatively) easy part. Stopping at that point will yield change at a similar rate of effectiveness as a New Years Resolution… The success rate in culture change work is quite low. Because they are not founded on an understanding of the nature of culture, and why it's so difficult to change. If we are to change culture, we must first understand what it is. We define culture as, The unspoken and unconscious rules of engagement within any group of people. These unspoken rules govern everything; what can and cannot be discussed, what language is allowable, how people dress, the assumptions decisions are based on — everything. Without conscious effort, culture just happens. When you walk into work do you say to yourself, “I’m going to follow these rules today,” or “I have to remember how to act today in order to fit in?” Of course not. Humans are social animals; once we are acclimated to a culture, we will adopt its practices (unconsciously) because we want to fit in. Culture is unconscious, and it’s a product of Leadership. Cultures arise from the behaviors demonstrated by the organization’s leaders. Most cultures do not mirror just the CEO’s behavior, but the collective behavior of the leadership team. You might ask: Why doesn’t the leader just change the priorities? Not so simple! Those priorities arise from her or his unconscious behavioral needs. Behavioral profiles such as Disc, Myers-Briggs, or our own Insight Coaching System offer insight for people into what their unconscious priorities are and how they shape behavior and therefore culture. The entire leadership team must be made aware of how their collective unconscious behaviors are impacting the organization if they are to have a shot at improving their organization’s culture. Any culture change process that ignores these unconscious behavioral needs is doomed to failure. Once leaders are aware of their unconscious habits; which ones support those foundational elements, and which do not, they can: choose when to employ their unconscious habits and when not to. develop conscious habits (what we call conscious success strategies) The Formula for Effective Culture Development: Culture change = becoming conscious of one’s unconscious needs + evoking personal commitment to Vision, Mission, Values throughout the organization. We have been doing Organizational culture development work for 30 years, and over that period have distinguished the Root Cause Attributes that both enhance and detract from organizational performance: Innovate. Root Cause Attributes: Creativity, Psychological Safety, Authority, Accountability, Results Focus, Strategy, & Coaching. Perform as a United Team. Root Cause Attributes: Openness, Trust, Role Clarity, Cooperation, Meetings, & Management. Evoke Engagement from Associates. Root Cause Attributes: Personal Purpose, Personal Responsibility, & Personal Growth Universal Detractors; behaviors that detract from the effectiveness of any organization: Drama, Condescension, Selfishness and Blame. Once these unconscious Root Cause Organizational Attributes are identified, leaders must become aware of how they personally are contributing to these attributes. How they are behaving relative to these same attributes. In this way leaders can see how their personal behaviors directly leads to the organizational culture, and provides input as to what personal developmental targets they commit to.

We grew up in an overtly racist society.  Different cities. Different friends. Different decades (Brad in 1950s & 60s and Tom in 1970s & 1980s). And yet, we had similar experiences as children. In our discussions of the last several weeks, we’ve noted that it was almost unheard of to see a person of color in our neighborhoods.  Although our parents taught us both that all people deserve equal opportunity, and to love our neighbors with no preference toward race, our communities were sadly and undeniably segregated.  Brad remembers when Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his world changing I Have a Dream speech in 1963. It altered the attitude about race in his house, and his dad became a proponent of equality which at times caused arguments to erupt at cocktail parties. Over the ensuing decades, we both have become increasingly aware of our own racial biases. In 1991, Brad was walking through an airport with a black friend, and he said something to her (he doesn’t even remember what) that caused her to stop him, spin him around, look him in the face and say, “do you realize how racist what you just said was?” Shocked, he said, “no, you are going to have to explain it to me.” And so she did. It was then that Brad realized that he had biases that he was not even conscious of. We have witnessed many initiatives from individuals, corporations and government to eliminate the symptoms of racism over the years. And great progress has occurred (at least from our perspective which is colored by privilege) since Dr. King's speech; people of color are included in the workforce, in neighborhoods and in all areas of society at a level that was unforeseeable in 1963. We say this, not to try to put a happy face on it, but because it is human nature to take for granted the progress that has occurred in our lives. Said differently, humans have a tendency to focus on the next problem or challenge before them which can make it difficult to see past progress… we become unconscious to personal and societal progress. It is important to take an accounting of the great progress we have made, because it reminds us that if we have made progress in the past, even more progress is possible in the future! Yet the many beatings, killings and instances of brutality that have been captured on camera over the past decades make it obvious that we have yet to reveal the pervasiveness of racism, and to create a broad-based desire among our populace to eradicate it… until now. This time feels different. It is at once overwhelmingly heart-shattering yet dotted with real signs of hope. People of all colors and ages are joining in on the protests and marches. And on Tuesday, both the NYSE and NASDAQ stopped at noon to observe 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence in tribute to the life of George Floyd and the movement his killing has triggered. Brad recounted standing in awe as he listened to the silence on CNBC. The largest financial institutions in the world just stopped to support the cause of eradicating institutional racism. These are just a couple (small) examples of many hopeful signs during this historic moment in time. Later in the day, we read: “A majority of Americans (57 percent) now believe the police are more likely to use excessive force against African-Americans. In 2014, the share was only 33 percent. “In my 35 years of polling, I’ve never seen opinion shift this fast or deeply,” said pollster Frank Luntz." If we are to take advantage of the opportunity presented in this “opinion shift” and begin to do the real work of eliminating racism, we must move beyond just treating the superficial symptoms of racism. Joe Scantlebury, vice president for place-based programs at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation was quoted in the news yesterday as saying: "It's hard, intentional work that needs many, many more people to devote themselves to it. If people are looking for a silver bullet to release 400 years of injustice, there isn't one." Intentional work implies that we must be very focused, very conscious of what we are thinking, feeling and doing. In short, we must address the culture of racism that has existed in this country.   We think Kareem Abdul-Jabbar described it best in his op-ed in The Los Angeles Times saying, "Racism in America is like dust in the air. It seems invisible — even if you’re choking on it — until you let the sun in. Then you see it’s everywhere. As long as we keep shining that light, we have a chance of cleaning it wherever it lands. But we have to stay vigilant, because it’s always still in the air."  Why is the “dust of racism” still in the air? Although there are some people who are consciously, intentionally racist, in our opinion they are a very small minority. People of all colors are affected by racial biases that are a part of our respective cultures. As we have written in previous articles, culture is “the unwritten rules of engagement for any social group.” Culture is comprised of the attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that are shared among that group. What makes culture so difficult to change is that it is unconscious. So, the first step in the intentional work of changing our cultural attitudes about race is to elevate them to the level of consciousness. We must shine the light to see the “dust in the air.” This is not just work for white people or for people of color… people of all races share these unconscious beliefs, therefore we must all do the hard work. If we do not become aware of our unconscious beliefs, we are doomed to be in the service of them, and we will continue in this conflict for hundreds more years. Can we muster the courage?  Until now, we have been unable to have open discussions about this pervasive issue… it’s outside our comfort zones. We must muster the courage to have these conversations; yes, we said courage. The biggest barrier to understanding ourselves and others is that we are afraid to have the discussion. Afraid of what others will think of us, afraid of changing our own world view, afraid of losing business, and on and on the list of fears goes. Yesterday, Brad had a discussion with a CEO of a large non-profit that serves many people of color. The discussion was about the CEO’s belief that something should be said, but the fear of alienating employees and board members and donors was in the way. After the conversation, they both concluded that we all must put our fears aside and say something. By the way, that CEO is a black female.  We must admit that we have some beliefs about the nature of this conflict that we are not sharing here… because we are afraid of how it will be interpreted and what people will think of us, and how that might affect our business, will readers have the courage to discuss their thoughts/challenges/ideas with us, and others fears we aren’t conscious of yet. We are all impeded by fear. If we are to capitalize on this opportunity, we must begin the intentional work of openly discussing the issues in our organizations, our communities, our schools, our nation and our world. It will be messy and scary, but we must muster the courage to do it if we are to live Dr. King’s dream “that one day, this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of it’s creed: we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” Taking to the streets to protest and empathizing with the protesters is a good first step to raise awareness, but if these efforts are to produce sustainable change it must get to the grass roots: you, us, me. All of us. What’s the right answer?  No one has the “right” answers. We are all searching for the solutions to "end" this but, the real solutions will be ever evolving, ever changing, and will require everyone to participate. Whether you don't let a co-worker get away with derogatory jokes, you call out family members on offensive remarks, or you ask questions during PTA meetings about diversity and inclusion. We just have to find our lane and put action behind that. With whom can you begin a conversation to increase your understanding? Neighbors? Friends? People in your organization?  We would suggest that the best answer is to get into action… ask questions and listen. The key here is to observe Stephen Coveys oft quoted axiom: Seek first to understand. Again, two of the most powerful tools we have are asking questions and listening. If you find yourself disagreeing, ask more questions. Don’t fall into the trap of defending your position; you won’t learn anything.  What questions? We are going to begin by asking some of these (perhaps uncomfortable) questions: What am I afraid will happen if I engage in discussions about race? What are you afraid will happen? What is white privilege? Once I understand it (and whether I agree or not), what thoughts does the provoke in my mind? What does real inclusion look like? How is racial prejudice experienced in my organization? What could we be doing in our organization to create a safe space to discuss anything? What actions can we take to make all feel they are treated equally? Where do you see the signs of systemic racism in: the economy, government, your social world? What’s the difference between Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter? Final Comment: Our intent here is to be helpful and to provoke thinking. If this was or wasn’t helpful to you, please let us know. We genuinely want your coaching. Courageous Conversations:  Talking about Race July 29th, 2020 Webinar: View Recording People are now talking more openly about race. And many of us are doing so with members of the “other race” more so than ever before. But… how many people are listening with the intention of really understanding the experience of the speaker? The bad news is that humans tend to listen with the intent of either 1) finding ideas that agree with our own or 2) listening just long enough so we can dispute what the other person says. Human nature contains a need to be RIGHT and to judge others who disagree with us as WRONG. Dismissing those WRONG opinions and the people who espouse them leaves both parties frustrated, defensive and angry. So, we avoid the conversations. The good news is that this behavior is mostly unconscious. There is a better way. In this webinar, we will explore: Methods to facilitate courageous conversations in your workplace. Specific approaches to help people learn to listen and create mutual understanding.

One of the ways that it is “lonely at the top” as a leader is that people tend to look to you to innovate. Our people tend to avoid being creative, then blame the CEO for the lack of creativity or innovation in the workplace. The new reality we are all facing calls for a whole new level of creativity, at all levels of the organization, which is difficult for all of us. We are social animals and creativity calls on us to develop ideas for which there is no precedent, and therefore no agreement among our social group. This exposes us to possible ridicule and rejection, which frequently stops us before we even start. In his book “The Courage to Create” Rollo May points out: “We are called upon to do something new, to confront a no man’s land, to push into a forest where there are no well-worn paths and from which no one has returned to guide us. This is what the existentialists call the anxiety of nothingness. To live into the future means to leap into the unknown, and this requires a degree of courage for which there is no immediate precedent and which few people realize.” We are not talking here about aesthetic creativity, like designing a room or selecting a beautiful color scheme. Rather, we are talking about an entirely new creation, like the personal computer, the electric light bulb, or online retailing. The innovators who brought these new things into being faced ridicule and projections of certain failure for pursuing their “crazy ideas.” Most of us have been able to function very successfully running our organizations without the need for “bringing something new into being.” We believe that day may be gone. Learning to be creative, and more importantly, to empower our teams to be creative is a skill required for success into the future. Equipping ourselves with this skill is no small feat, but it is doable. The bigger challenge is mustering the courage to do so. Again, quoting Rollo May: “Courage is not a virtue or value among other personal values like love or fidelity. It is the foundation that underlies and gives reality to all other virtues and personal values. Without courage our love pales into mere dependency. Without courage, our fidelity becomes conformism." The word courage comes from the same stem as the French word couer, meaning “heart.” Thus, just as one’s heart, by pumping blood to one’s arms, legs, and brain enables all the other physical organs to function, so courage makes possible all the psychological virtues. Without courage, other values wither away into mere facsimiles of virtue.” Creating a culture in your organization that fosters the courage to create requires intentional, conscious thought, discussion, actions and habits. It is the ultimate example of “(re)building the plane while flying.”  The “comfort zone” that we all have operated in until now will impede such change. Yet, change we must; we must build this capacity into our personal and organizational DNA. Join 19 other CEOs from 7 different states: We have assembled a group of mission focused CEOs from who value integrity and personal growth to share their ideas about the post pandemic world we must adapt to in order to thrive. If you are interested, you can simply reply to this email with questions or comments. Or if you’d like to chat about it, click here (Brad or Tom) to set up a 30-minute appointment. The Interchange : phoenixperform.com/interchange

This Assessment contains 9 areas that, together, represent one way of describing a whole life. This exercise measures your level of satisfaction and range of expression in these areas as a snapshot in time. As you work through this assessment you will find areas where you can acknowledge yourself for the success you have created and areas where you may want to improve your level of satisfaction. Rank each of the statements below on a scale from 1 (Highly Disagree) to 10 (Highly Agree), then total your scores for each area. DOWNLOAD THE LIFE ASSESSMENT WHEEL HERE This document was originally created by CTI. You can learn more about CTI (Co-active Coach Training Institute) by clicking here. PHOENIX SUMMARY Key take away: How are you doing? No, really, how are you doing? You can measure your level of satisfaction and range of expression in these areas as a snapshot in time with a life wheel assessment.

“Courage is not a virtue or value among other personal values like love or fidelity. It is the foundation that underlies and gives reality to all other virtues and personal values. Without courage our love pales into mere dependency. Without Courage our fidelity becomes conformism. The word courage comes from the same stem as the French word couer, meaning “heart”. Thus, just as one’s heart, by pumping blood to one’s arms, legs, and brain enables all the other physical organs to function, so courage makes possible all the psychological virtues. Without courage other values wither away into mere facsimiles of virtue.” Rollo May The Courage to Create Copyright 1975 Rollo May

Dr. Martin Luther King is one of the greatest leaders to have ever lived. We want to share his famous "I Have a Dream Speech" with you here: I Have a Dream Speech Martin Luther King's Address at March on Washington August 28, 1963. Washington, D.C. When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men, and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" PHOENIX SUMMARY Key take away: A testament to Dr. Martin Luther King, one of the greatest leaders we could ever learn from.

For 25 years I have been working with organizational leaders to develop within themselves the capacity and propensity to lead their people effectively. My clients have made transformative changes in their mindsets resulting in dramatic increases in the effectiveness of the people that comprise their organizations. This transformation in mindset evidenced by improvements in quality, service and financial sustainability. For most of those 24 years, it has been a struggle to explain how this process works. Recent advancements in the sciences shed light on the inner workings of process. “We are living in the middle of a revolution in consciousness. Over the past few years, genetics, neuroscientists, psychologists, sociologists, economists, anthropologists, and others have made great strides in understanding the building blocks of human flourishing. And a core finding of their work is that we are not primarily the products of our conscious thinking. We are primarily the products of thinking that happens below the level of consciousness. The unconscious parts of the mind are not primitive vestiges that need to be conquered in order to make wise decisions. They are not dark caverns of repressed sexual urges. Instead, the unconscious parts of the mind are most of the mind – where most of the decisions and many of the most impressive acts of thinking take place. These submerged processes are the seedbeds of accomplishment.” (1) The work of leadership development involves helping one to shape their own unconscious thoughts and submerged process, thereby affecting these “seedbeds of accomplishment”. Part of the revolution in the sciences is the recent understanding that the brain is plastic. As we learn, we develop new neural pathways in the brain. So, we can consciously adopt new perspectives and ways of thinking that, with practice and repetition, become unconscious competencies. When a team of leaders is engaged in this growth process together, as their thoughts change, they change the culture of their organizations. Culture is the unconsciously agreed upon mores and norms that define the rules of engagement in any group of people. So, by impacting the unconscious thought processes of a leadership team, and helping them develop the capacity and propensity to do the same for others, we intentionally shape both the mindset of individuals and the culture shared between members of the group. It’s about who and how people are being, not what they do. Two different people can give a speech on the same topic. They are doing the same thing. One can be optimistic, open, and accepting and produce a particular affect in their audience. Another can be pessimistic, closed and judgmental and produce an entirely different affect in the audience. A practical example of this: The techniques of brainstorming are widely understood and utilized in organizations. However, if the members of the group are committed to the purpose, open, future focused and willing to take risks the session can be very productive. If however the members are committed to protecting themselves, to the status quo, and being risk averse, the process will produce little other than frustration. The work of leadership is transformative in nature. Transformation is creating a change in the basic nature or character of a thing. In this case, helping people to consciously create a transformation in their mindset that allows them to affect their thought process, those of others, and the culture of the group. We work with people to help them develop three separate and distinct features of their mindset: Inspiration: The conscious cultivation of a commitment to a purpose that they see as meaningful. “A man on a mission.” Every great leader in history has stood up for something that they believed in. Integrity: The integration of word and action. Simply put, giving your word and keeping your word. Individuals and organizations that strive to operate with high integrity use accountability to ensure execution, to support success. Insight: Helping people attain insight into their unconscious motivations is a key in creating growth for each individual and for the organization. Growth occurs when we generate actions that are focused on the higher purpose we are in the service of rather than merely pursuing what is comfortable and habitual for us. Being able to conceptualize these features of a leadership is a critical step in growing our capacity to be a leader. (1) “The Social Animal” by David Brooks, Copyright 2011 by David Brooks #SocialLeadership #Leader #Businessmanager

What’s the most important part of a sale? According to a global leader in sales training, Huthwaite International, most salespersons answered with “the close”. Its logical then to see why companies spend time training their salesforce on ‘how to close’. However, Huthwaite’s research found that when companies spent time training their employees in closing sales, their closing rate actually decreased. What happened? We will explore that in just a minute. Lets look at it from another perspective. Instead of focusing on closing a sale, what if the focus was on opening a sale? What does that even mean? How do you open a sale? Success in sales is all about building relationships. In order to develop and foster relationships, one must open doorways to connect with the client or customer. Engaging the client and helping the customer to open up can create a multitude of opportunities for sales to take place. When the focus is placed on ‘opening’ there is less pressure on getting the sale, and the focus becomes the needs of the client. Lets look at an example. The Closer Client: I can see where your printers will help our team provide faster service to our customers. Salesman: Thats great, how many printers will you need to get the job done more effectively? Client: Four Salesman: When would you like them shipped? Client: Hang on a second, I am not sure that I can afford all four right now. Salesman: Ok. How many can you afford? Client: I think we will start with just one, and we can see how things go. Salesman: Great, we will have one installed within the week, and I will follow up next week. Recap: In this scenario, the salesman’s focus was on getting the client to commit to a sale (closing). Lets look at this same scenario, but lets shift the focus to the relationship (opening). The Opener Client: I can see where your printers will help our team provide faster service to our customers. Salesman: What would it mean to the company for your team to provide faster service? Client: Well, we would definitely have more satisfied customers, and my employees would be able to get more done in the same amount of time. Salesman: You mentioned customer satisfaction, how important is that to you? Client: Honestly, its my main focus. I want everyone that walks through the door to have a great experience with the company. I see it as a personal responsibility. Salesman: Wow, I can hear your commitment and dedication to each and every customer. What else would upgrading your printers do for you? Client: Actually, it would help to decrease some of the headaches we are having, and my employees would be much happier. Salesman: Sounds like you’re committed to employee satisfaction as well. Client: Yes, its right up there with customer satisfaction. You can’t have one without the other. Salesman: If upgrading your printers will improve employee and customer satisfaction, what’s holding you back? Client: I’m not really sure. I know its a lot of money, but it seems necessary for my business. Salesman: What if you don’t upgrade your printers? Client: I suppose we would continue to have the same headaches…looks like I can’t afford to not upgrade my printers. Salesman: What else do you need from me in order to move forward? Client: How fast can you get four printers installed? Salesman: We can have all four installed by the end of the week and I will check back in next week to see how things are going. ​ ​Which scenario will likely yield more results? When the focus shifts from what the salesperson needs, to what the client needs (the relationship), the opportunity to sell begins to open. Sales starts with perspective. It starts before you ever walk in the [open] door. How are you viewing your sale? Is the focus on short-term financial gain, hitting a quota, meeting a goal? These are all examples of focusing on the close. When you flip the perspective and only focus on connecting with the client, you begin to see things differently. In fact, the tension in the room escapes like a bandit in the night and the conversation begins to flow more naturally. By putting the clients needs before your own, you find opportunity presents itself behind every open door. #sales #closing #relationships #selling #goals

A key performance indicator (KPI) is a management tool.  Key performance indicators are not goals. KPIs are measures used to gage the progress or advancement toward the organizations’ purpose; its mission, operational or department goals, and strategic goals. Key performance indicators, when not linked to the organizations purpose, can lead to perverse incentives and unintended consequences as a result of people not understanding the real purpose behind the measures or working to manipulate the specific measurements at the expense of the actual quality or value of their work.   In other words, Leadership must precede Management. Although in some instances organizations use qualitative indicators, the best, most precise KPIs are quantitative indicators that are both specific and measurable, they can be represented with a number, or a simple yes/no statement and therefore are not subject to human interpretation and disagreement. The most powerful KPIs are quantitative. Many organizations use process indicators that measure compliance with, or the efficiency, or effectiveness of a process. Process indicators can be very informative and powerful if used in conjunction with or in the context of outcome indicators that reflect the outcome or results. Measuring results is the only real gage of effectiveness, and informs users of their progress toward the organizations mission, departmental goals and strategic goals. Measuring only process goals may feel safer to some because people can be assured that “I am doing it right” but only outcome measures really inform users as to whether they are “getting the job done.” Any initiative to develop effective KPIs should always begin with outcome measures. There are 2 distinct types of outcome indicators: lagging indicators and leading indicators: Lagging indicators measure the ultimate success or failure of the goal post hoc, or after the conclusion of activities. Leading indicators measure the potential success or failure well in advance of the ultimate (lagging) outcome measure. In addition, input indicators that measure the amount of resources consumed during the generation of the outcome are critical in ensuring that an activity, process or project is sustainable. Once the categories of KPIs have been established, future targets must be declared. Targeted KPIs have a timeframe in the future. They can be 5 years, 1 year, quarterly, monthly, weekly… even hourly. In order for KPIs to be effective, one individual must promise to be accountable for ensuring that the future targeted KPI is achieved.

Disruptive forces are reshaping our economy. Responding quickly and effectively with innovative solutions is crucial for survival. Yet, implanting innovation into organizational DNA remains elusive. Many approaches have been attempted to foster innovation but fall short of resolving the innovation dilemma. To do so, requires; 1) an understanding of the root cause barriers to innovation and 2) a comprehensive approach to creating a culture that fosters innovation. If humans operated like computers with the simple logic of binary code, no barriers to innovation would exist. We are not rational beings however, we are emotional beings with the capacity for rational thought. Our emotional mind, which controls most of our perceptions, is a-rational. That is, it is without reason, as opposed to irrational, or unreasonable. At times this unconscious, arational response serves our purpose, at other times it’s counterproductive. Our emotional mind resists change, as it is always looking to past experiences to inform our present actions. The specific reasons each of us resists change are, of course, individualized, however most people share: 1) The fear of failure. 2) The fear of the unknown. 3) The fear that our creative idea will be rejected by others. 4) Our propensity to believe that we are “right” and any other viewpoint is “wrong". In order to engage in real innovation, one must become aware of the presence of these unconscious beliefs, suspend them, and consciously engage the executive center of the brain. Thinking is volitional as opposed to emotion which is involuntary and automatic. Therefore it requires a great deal of conscious effort and will. Thus, if we are to innovate, we must learn to govern our unconscious emotional reactions with our conscious thoughts. If you are looking to develop an innovation embracing culture you must nurture the following attributes: Team members have a conscious awareness of their unconscious emotional proclivities, and reactions. Team members are united by a consciously generated, emotionally compelling shared purpose that is superior to their individual agendas. This emotional force counteracts unconscious barriers. Personal accountability for measurable outcomes motivates the development of innovative processes, products and services. Team members do what they say they will do, even when barriers arise. Open communication is utilized, unimpeded by organizational rank. Confronting difficult issues is accepted as a necessary and integral part of the creative process, and is conducted in a manner that strengthens interpersonal relationships. We refer to such a culture as intrapreneurial. "An intrapreneur is a person who takes the direct responsibility and commensurate authority to organize and manage an enterprise, within a larger organization." The distinguishing characteristic essential to intrapreneurship is the voluntary taking of initiative and risks associated with generating the outcomes of the enterprise. Those organization’s that consciously, methodically develop an intrapreneurial culture will have the greatest opportunity to survive the forces of entropy in an ever changing world. #Intraprenuer #Entraprenuership #Business #accountability

Each of my clients in the health-care industry has their own specialty: behavioral health, primary care, etc. One commitment they all share? To improve the health and wellness of individuals. The ACA and the intended transformation of the health care system that it seeks to produce, provide a unique opportunity to fulfill on that mission. In order to take advantage of the opportunity, all health care organizations must make fundamental shifts in the services that are provided, the manner in which they are provided, and the way that that business is conducted and managed. These changes will necessitate a significant culture shift in our organizations. We all know health-care spending in the United States is sky high. We spend over $7,000 per person — by far the most of any country in the world. Yet, our “healthy life expectancy” ranks at the 32nd in the world at 79.9 years. Certainly, the health-care system is expensive, but that is not what is killing us. We live in a culture that promotes unhealthy behaviors: 32.2 % of men and 35.5% of women in our country are obese, and 12.3% of our people ages 20 – 79 have diabetes. Most health care experts agree that as much as 80% of health-care costs are spent as a result of five behavioral, lifestyle issues: poor diet, lack of exercise, substance abuse, smoking and stress. It is generally understood that our health care costs are so high because our lifestyles are so unhealthy. If we are to improve the health status of the population we serve, the root-cause lifestyle issues outlined above must be addressed. Until now, under the existing fee for service model — which is designed to treat the diseases caused by these unhealthy lifestyle factors — addressing the root causes has been financially unviable. The ACA seeks to change that fundamental discrepancy by shifting from a fee-for-service model to a pay-forperformance model. Performance will ultimately be measured based on the measurable health outcomes of the people served, in aggregate. This funding change will be made gradually over the next 10 years, and in order to operate in this new environment, several seismic shifts must be made: Shift from disease treatment to prevention and wellness. The service offering must be expanded to include services that support people in changing their behaviors and lifestyle factors. We must not only educate, but inspire them to want to make the changes. A whole new model of “change management” for individuals needs to be developed and implemented, and it must be done in time to experiment and ensure it produces results before the funding scheme changes. Shift from compliance to personal commitment. In the current system, people are responsible for complying with mandated protocols established by funders. If the organization is to educate and inspire people to want to change behaviors and adopt healthy habits, each employee must be driven by their personal commitment to improve their patients’ lives. The leadership of our organizations must create this environment of inspired, engaged employees throughout. Shift to personal responsibility/accountability for patient outcomes. If the organization is to be accountable for outcomes, that accountability must “drill down” and reside with each person within the organization. Everyone must be clear about how their work contributes to patient outcomes. There must be Key performance indicators in place for each employee to measure their contribution against an agreed upon standard. Shift to a Learning Organization. In order to create this new organization, leadership must be equipped with the necessary mindset, skills, and tools to become transformational leaders. We must develop: The ability to drive employee engagement with inspirational leadership. A culture of integrity; where we make promises for results (outcomes) and deliver (do what we say we will do). A culture of demand for personal growth. Each employee will need to learn new approaches and methods to accomplish their jobs. In order for them to make the change they must seek out, and be receptive to learning. They must “ask” for coaching and training. If organizations are successful in executing the shifts outlined above, the potential to impact the wellness of ever increasing numbers of people in a financially sustainable manner is great. If these shifts are not made successfully, the organization risks falling short of being able to improve the health and wellness of individuals’— and the organizations very survival may be threatened. #healthcare #wellbeing #prevention #budget