The Happy Burro

(originally published July 6, 2008)

How significant are you at work?

In his monthly Fortune magazine column titled, While You Were Out, the ubiquitous Stanley Bing writes about his addiction to the digital world while on a vacation. It all started with a phantom buzz of the BlackBerry in his coat pocket. He wasn’t wearing a coat. Why the urge to check in?

Stay Connected

The place cannot run without me. I have such an important job/project/title/image that when I’m out, nothing moves forward. Is that your job? What about the ‘hit by a bus’ theory, where if you were hit by a bus, what would actually happen at work? With few exceptions, most businesses would survive the loss of the newest employee, the CFO or CEO, even the entrepreneurial founder. So why do you have to keep thumbs to the BlackBerry or a Bluetooth glued to your ear while your family hits the beach without you?

Let It All Go

What if I took off a week, or two, and no one really noticed? Meetings are held, decisions made and key projects moved forward. Uh oh. Is my work that insignificant to the organization’s goals? Am I that insignificant at work?

Balance the Flow

Certain positions require you to provide input, even when you’re supposed to be away. Find the top three issues/challenges/project decisions that could arise while you’re planning to be away, figure out reasonable scenarios with your minion to determine a course of action, assign responsibility and vacate. Then, should these plagues rear their ugly heads, your organization/team/support staff have a pre-determined course of action from which to work on a solution.

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In the end, if you’re able to stabilize your work, delegate the decision-making process and disappear for a few days, you’ve succeeded where many have failed. Being able to disconnect isn’t easy. You are the first one that has to let go.

Find some time to spend away from work, completely away, and reconnect with family, friends, your dog. Then bring back your renewed self to your organization.  That is significant.

Joe Raasch :: Mar.06.2010 :: Employee Engagement, Innovation, Personal :: No Comments »

(originally posted June 29, 2007)

My friend Valeria Maltoni has a great article on personal branding at The Blog Herald.  She reminds us of the “The Brand Called You” article by Tom Peters from the August/September 1997 FastCompany magazine.

Valeria’s article continues by asking and framing questions about: What Makes You Different?  What’s Your Pitch? Why Is It Important? Valeria will lead you through a wonderful introspective exercise about your own brand.

Some additional questions from me:

HOW DO PEOPLE EXPERIENCE YOUR BRAND?

We may have a good idea of what our brand IS, but what about how that is received?  Example: I may see myself as incredibly creative, and learn that I am received by my team as being too ’strategic’ and not focused on enough on execution.  A few ways to learn about this perception are the 360 feedback process, working with a mentor, or asking trusted colleagues (see the We All Need More Simon Cowell post from April).

DO YOU OWN YOUR BRAND OR RENT IT?

Who controls your brand: how you represent yourself?  Do you change personal brands as often as your socks?  Do you hold a hard line and haven’t changed since high school?  Great brands grow and change over time – but are still true to their brand promise.  Example: General Electric. From “We Bring Good Things To Life” to “Imagination at Work” to “Eco-magination” – the brand promise remains faithful.

WHAT IS YOUR BRAND PROMISE?

This is the output or experience someone is guaranteed to get when they interact with you.  This could be your financial acumen, your project management skills, your marketing insights, your sense of humor.

The ability to have awareness of our personal brand, nurturing it and using it to strengthen our relationships is one of the most powerful tools in business today.

Joe Raasch :: Feb.07.2010 :: Innovation, Performance Management :: No Comments »

(revised from November 2008)

Just about every organization in this economy has to learn to do more with less.  Public, private, non-profit: budgets are shrinking across the board. Unemployment is near 10% nationwide. If you are working in or leading one of these organizations, you still have customers that need your services, products and support.  The fact that you have significantly less resources doesn’t mean much to them.  To survive, you need to be better than ever at keeping the clients you have and finding new ones.  Cutting your way to prosperity rarely works.  So how do you accomplish this Herculean task? (hint: it isn’t about focusing on budgets…)

Define Success

Do you have a conference room right now that is packed with finance people, spreadsheets and a line out the door of managers pleading their cases to not have their budgets slashed?  Did the CEO demand ‘across the board reductions’?  Does it appear that everyone is trying to nickel and dime their way to meet budget numbers?

Try this exercise instead: get your senior leaders together and define what success looks like for your organization.  Is it three new products introduced in 2010?  Holding the line on market share?  Increasing enrollment by 5%?  Get that decision and provide guidance for your department managers.

Organize for Success

Have your team look at every department and organize them to specifically deliver on that success.  You may find that you have a few businesses that exist, even profitable ones, that don’t deliver what you say you’re in business to do.  Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, set a goal of being #1 or #2 in every market in which GE had a business – and if GE wasn’t #1 or #2, then fix/sell/close that business within six months.  GE decided that even profitable businesses that did not match the organization’s vision had to go.  What is your business holding on to that isn’t part of the future?

Fund Success

Now we start looking at the budget.  How much does this new world order cost?  If your people were judicious in their work, you should find a minimum of discrepancies in what should be funded.  If they are still holding onto legacy business, unprofitable products or accounts, or programs that do not meet their intended purpose, you have an easier way to give guidance.  Repurpose budget dollars to fund the stated success, and/or increase revenue/donations/partnerships to fund that success.

DEFINE SUCCESS

ORGANIZE FOR SUCCESS

FUND SUCCESS

Joe Raasch :: Jan.18.2010 :: Innovation, Leadership, Organizational Development, Performance Management :: No Comments »