My Job is Going Away

I drove a friend home from work. "How are things?" I asked. He then told me how his department was being merged with another, and the duplications across departments had made it clear there would be some layoffs.

"How are people taking the idea?"

"Really, it's been pretty amazing," he replied. As these two departments merged, the leaders were approaching the whole effort in a totally open, transparent way--and staff members were totally engaged in the process of determining whether their positions should be among those cut.

How does an organization develop in such a way that when challenges come, people work in creative, collaborative ways to discover the best ways forward, even when it means scary and possibly painful change?

I asked a few more questions, and then visited with some other acquaintances who had been involved. Here's what I learned from them:

1. Openness from leaders about the situation is critical. Team members know generally what's up, so hiding conversations about it doesn't help. Acknowledging the realities and inviting everyone to participate gives team members opportunities to grieve together as well as work to find solutions.
2. Engaging everyone in discussions opens valuable opportunities. In this case, some staff members began to feel motivated to pursue other interests and organizations, resulting in positive career moves. Others were able to help define roles for those who would stay. All were able to help each other find the right solution for the organization and for individuals.
3. Building relationships helps strengthen the organization moving forward. This department focused on building people throughout the merger process.

It's important to acknowledge that studies of organizational resilience would suggest that corporations do best when they focus on 1) positive human relationships,  2) financial reserves, and 3) layoff avoidance to build an organization that can withstand negative market forces. You can read more about one of my favorite studies here: Relationships, Layoffs, and Organizational Resilience

I'm with these researchers; however, sometimes layoffs are going to happen. When they do, how leaders care for the people they work with makes all the difference.

Seeing People

Sandra arrived late for her presentation. She stood at the microphone.

"I left my house on time this morning," she explained, "but everybody else kept getting in my way!"

We laughed and continued with the meeting; however, I've been thinking of the implications of her statement often since that meeting.

How often do we see others as objects--things that either allow us to do what we want or keep us from what we want to do?

As a parent, do I see my children as obstacles to keeping a clean house, to pursuing my fitness or career goals, or to opportunities for quiet reflection? Or do I see them as people--in fact the very people that I want to keep a clean house for, the people I want to succeed for, and the people I want to reflect about when I have those moments?

As a coworker, do I see colleagues as hedges that must be worked around, or as people who have nearly unlimited potential to contribute to solutions?

Do I see my board of directors as a barrier to be crossed in order to have my projects approved, or as essential, visionary partners and leaders in ensuring my work is situated in a global context?

Kimberly White, in The Shift: How Seeing People as People Changes Everything, describes how an entire healthcare organization was changed by focusing on a single principle. Seeing people as people rather than objects changes each interaction, making us more collaborative, collegial, and ultimately more productive as individuals and as organizations. 

Leave a Legacy--Build Capability in Others

Photograph by LaRene P. Gaunt

We lost a key member of our team recently to cancer. LaRene Porter Gaunt’s name has been on the masthead of Church magazines for nearly three decades. Her writing, photography, and art have blessed and inspired people throughout the world. Additionally, her notable gift for building capability in others is an example to all Church employees.

Our department held a celebration in memory of LaRene not long after her passing. Colleagues shared stories and testimonies. There was a recurring theme throughout the stories: LaRene Gaunt loved and believed in people, let them know that, and expected them to succeed. With this singular talent, she helped others build their own careers.

Person after person shared these thoughts: “I mattered to her.” “I thought I was her personal project.” “We had a special bond.” It was evident that LaRene had a reach that extended beyond the staff of the magazines. She demonstrated three personal skills that are key to building capability in others: (1) she cared about others and their success; (2) she invited others to succeed through mentoring them and expressing confidence in them; and (3) she was always on her own path of building capability and was willing to share.

Care about Others and Their Success

One staff member shared how, as an intern, she had felt overwhelmed by the responsibility she had been given. LaRene noticed that this intern was carrying a burden and invited her to visit. They talked, cried together, and made an agreement to keep talking and growing together.

A staff member from another division was on the elevator with LaRene, when she asked him, “What’s your story?” He considered the question small talk, until she found him later to follow up. Through the sharing of his story, a relationship was built that resulted in a magazine article.

As LaRene demonstrated, caring about others and their success can express itself naturally in the context of life and work. She lived according to the scriptural admonition: “Therefore, strengthen your brethren in all your conversation, in all your prayers, in all your exhortations, and in all your doings” (Doctrine and Covenants 108:7).

Invite Others to Succeed

Many magazine staff members remembered that LaRene encouraged them in their careers and lives. One said specifically that as her internship was ending, she was fortunate to have LaRene not only encourage her to apply for a full-time position but also coach her through the process so she could represent herself in the best possible way. 

We invite others to succeed when we give them problems to solve (along with the resources to solve them), express confidence in specific strengths and capabilities, and coach them through difficult challenges.

Build Your Own Capability

LaRene was not to be defined by a single discipline. She was a writer, photographer, artist, wife, mother, teacher, and so many other things. She was able to encourage and build up so many others in part because she didn’t accept limitations on her own learning and development. 

As we work, it is our opportunity to “seek … earnestly the best gifts” (Doctrine and Covenants 46:8). We can ask ourselves what is needed, but more importantly, we can ask the Lord. He can help us see where we can grow and develop.

We left our celebration of LaRene’s life energized by the opportunities we have to influence others by caring more about them and their success, by inviting them to succeed, and by continually growing ourselves. We know as we do, our capability will grow as individuals and as an organization.

Tony Sparano, 1962-2018. Leadership with Results.

The Miami Dolphins won only one game during the 2007 season, going 1-15. The next year, with new head coach Tony Sparano, the Dolphins went 11-5. This marks the only time a team has gone to the playoffs the year after winning zero or one games the previous season.

The story gets better...Miami won its division, over the New England Patriots, who have won the division 14 out of the last 15 years.

How was such a turnaround possible? A whole series of leadership decisions that transformed a team from one of the worst in NFL history to a contender. If you're into sports, you can check out a more detailed story at: Football Morning in America, by Peter King

• He was inclusive in decisions: After Miami lost the first two games of the season, Sparano invited his whole staff to contribute to the solution. The key contribution came from the quarterbacks coach--two organizational levels down from Sparano.
• He trusted his people: Chad Pennington had recently been released as the New York Jets quarterback, and landed in Miami. Sparano asked him to help lead a culture change, and let him go to work doing just that. When Pennington called the entire team to task for a poor practice, Sparano stood up and backed his quarterback up. The team responded by winning the next game 38-13, over the Patriots.
• He took a personal interest in his people: One former player, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater tweeted, "Thank you for caring about us as individuals and not just athlete."

Tony Sparano died of a heart attack last week. Colleagues and players describe him as a mentor, friend, teacher, leader, and worker. Players share how he trusted them, loved them as people, and loved his family.

Not everyone or every organization will have a historic cultural turnaround by adopting positive leadership practices; however, the long-term payoff is real.

Now we can have ice cream

Yesterday we had fajitas for dinner. As we were finishing, we were having a delightful family conversation, during which my six-year old boy brought a clean plate to the table and placed it next to me. Then he left, and brought another, then another. Soon I had a stack of clean, dry plates next to me.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I washed them, rinsed them off, dried them, and now their done," he replied.

"Thank you--that's amazing!"

"...so now, we can have ice cream and watch a movie," he said definitively.

What could I say? That's exactly what we did. This six year-old, sixth child in the family, had led the whole group toward a goal. I could say it was his goal, but everyone else wanted to do the same activity. He had simply taken a leadership role.

Not actually what we had last night :-)

Following his example, the rest of the children pitched in, putting leftovers away, sweeping the floors, cleaning the counters--and pulling out the ice cream.

It's not always--in fact it's often not--the leader with authority who pulls everyone into action. In sports, it can be a teammate who pulls everyone together with an inspiring performance. In business, it can be someone who thinks deeply about a problem and proposes a real solution that others then rally around. It can be someone who shares helpful thoughts with others that grow into shared understanding.

Where I live, today we celebrate the pioneers who traveled west to establish cities and a people. Most of those who traveled had no formal authority. But their actions changed the course of a people, and the country.

How can you lead from where you are? Look around--who could use your help, either technically or personally? What challenges are you in a unique position to see and solve? What can you do to create the space for others to find solutions?

LDS Business College Devotional Address

I was invited to speak earlier this year to the campus community at the LDS Business College. It was a great experience. The address was focused on what we can each do to become skilled at working together with others. The student body is largely multinational, and have bright futures as leaders in their communities.

The link is just below...have a listen!

LDS Business College Devotional Address

I Just Refused an Assignment I Really Wanted

Pete was agitated, nearly shaking as he came into my office, but it wasn’t from a conversation he’d just had; it was from a decision he’d made the day before.

His boss’ boss had pulled him aside to invite him to take over a suite of products—products that Pete was deeply committed to and had played a key role in developing. 

“I told him ‘no,’” Pete said. “It’s not that I don’t—or wouldn’t—want to do it. It’s just that if I take over that product suite, I’ll be reporting directly to Steve, who has spent his entire time in that division without ever getting to know his direct reports, their views on their products, how they see those products in the big picture of the business…and redistributing budgets and visibility with no conversations with his group. I just can’t do it.”

Pete had been hired two years earlier. He was among a group of very bright, early-career professionals who had been identified as having broad capacity to develop, create, collaborate, and learn to bring our products more relevance. A restructuring had moved these new hires into several different divisions, where they had been evaluated and re-categorized based on their corporate work history rather than their personal talent and capacity—or even their personal resumes.

I began to respond by sharing my observation that Steve had been contributing to organization-wide efforts. His mind for taking many products and product families, organizing them into a coherent plan and budgeting strategy had been timely and critical for our success.

“I know this is true,” Pete replied. “However, he has a whole group of direct reports that he either cannot or will not lead as people. He doesn’t seem to care about them in any way, other than ensuring that timelines are met.”

Then came the zinger. “I came here because I bought into a vision. A vision for how we work together to build each other and build products and processes that can really help people. I don’t think it matters how well organized we are if we don’t care about each other.”

As Pete left my office, I wondered how much we were losing as an organization because Pete was spending his energy avoiding working with Steve rather than feeling empowered to bring his expertise to bear on a significant project. 

I also wondered how often organizations lose productivity despite--or because of--efforts to devise processes to make work simpler.

Most of all, I wanted to continue my own journey toward becoming a leader who could be counted on to consistently build capacity, encourage growth, and facilitate innovation and change.

There is a value to being curious, interested, and caring about others and their success. It leads to good feelings, but it also leads to spontaneous ideas, interactions, and relationships that capture opportunities unavailable to teams of people who just do their jobs. If you're in a group that needs creative solutions to problems, cultivate these attributes in group members.