Who do you serve?

My favorite places to shop are where the sales people care more about me than about their sales numbers.

They won’t let me buy something that doesn’t fit me. They’ll recommend a cheaper model that does what I need. They’ll send me to a competitor that has something better suited for me. In other words, they make me feel like they are in business to serve their customers.

If employers want their employees to treat their customer this way, then employers need to treat their employees as customers.

Can we do this for everyone?

It’s the wrong question to ask when considering a new idea.

The answer will almost always be no, especially in a large organization.

When everyone had a BlackBerry, the person who asked for an iPhone was told no. Not because the iPhone wouldn’t work for that one person. It’s because the organization wasn’t set up to give everyone an iPhone. That question has killed more good ideas than we care to admit.

The same thing happens when you have a new idea about training your employees or conducting investigations or onboarding new E&C professionals. The trick is to experiment on the smallest group possible. Once you have measurable benefits, the better question becomes “How can we not do this for everyone?”

Pain and suffering

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

– Haruki Murakami

As an Ethics & Compliance Officer, I try to help people who have been discriminated against, harassed, bullied, stolen from, lied to, physically hurt, retaliated against or otherwise hurt.

Some are in pain. Others are suffering.

I can help the first group but not the second. Only the person suffering can choose to stop.

A humble start is better than no start

A colleague of mine invited about 200 fellow employees to meet in person to discuss corporate culture. The meeting took place yesterday and five of us showed up.

Some could be discouraged by the low turnout but they would neglect an important fact: these five employees now have a greater sense of ownership over the culture of the company. It’s five more people than we had the day before. Each of us is now more mindful of the impact of our actions on the culture. Each of us is likely to recruit one more attendee for the next meet-up.

The snowball has started to roll down the hill.

Innovate responsibly

With some people, you have to earn their trust at every turn. Things move slowly. Few risks are taken. Innovation is choked. These people get no mention in history books.

With others, their trust is yours to lose. Things happen fast. Ideas and failures abound. They rise to new heights and, sometimes, crash and burn. They change the world, for better or worse.

The key is to be both types at the right time, so that your people can innovate responsibly.

Ethical leadership lessons from John McCain

In a recent post, Dr. Linda Henman wrote about what set John McCain apart as a leader and a teacher. Here I select a few attributes of McCain to show how he was also a model of ethical leadership for those of us in the corporate world.

  • Civility must define leadership. We must use radical empathy to realize that others have a good reason to behave the way they do. We often don’t know their history and the context of their current life. Sometimes, they themselves don’t understand why they do what they do. By accepting that they are as they are, we can treat everyone with civility.
  • You can disagree without being disagreeable. We do this by taking the time to understand the other and by deploying kindness. Once people feel understood, they are more likely to accept that someone else might see things differently. Ask good questions, rephrase what you’ve heard to make sure you understand, and then politely explain your point of view.
  • Refuse to be a victim. Life might be random but it’s not unfair. All of us will have a bad boss, will get laid off, or won’t be recognized for our good work at some point. None of it is bad unless we think it so. As Marcus Aurelius said, “Choose not to be harmed and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed and you haven’t been.”
  • Have a sense of humor. We do serious work but that’s not a reason to take ourselves too seriously. If we remember that not much matters other that family, friends and health, it’s easy to laugh at the “problems” we face. Most of us know people who have suffered tragic losses and still kept their sense of humor. My dad, who came within inches of losing his life to cancer, used to quip “Other than my cancer, I’m in great health!” Now, I’m not saying that humor saved his life. But it certainly help him and those around him during the difficult years.

John McCain was an extraordinary individual who practiced his philosophy every day. Even in death, he remains a great role model.

Is culture really a priority?

Every week a new survey shows that culture is a priority for corporate boards and senior executives.

These reports rarely include how culture is defined and measured by the leadership. They are also silent as to what leadership intends to do about this “priority”.

My guess is that leaders (and the consultants behind the surveys) still don’t know how to define, measure and improve culture. Here is my proposal:

  • Define culture as the outcome of your processes. This will drive a sense of ownership and responsibility.
  • Use Vega Factor’s free survey to measure your culture. You will learn why people work for you and how to change what motivates them.
  • Commit to changing the processes that drive the cultural outcomes you dislike. Start small and work your way to entrenched processes like compensation.

It’s not a priority until you take action.

Right action and culture

When you teach others through your actions, you skip the pretense of knowing what is right for them. Action offers lessons in how rather than what.

– Kyle Eschenroeder, The Pocket Guide to Action

Eschenroeder’s quote reminds us that the best way to teach ethics & compliance is to model it.

When an employee observes a supervisor do the right thing, no training is necessary. The employee immediately understands what is important and expected. The learning in one situation can be applied in other situations.

A compliant culture is created effortlessly from a string of right actions.

Caring about other people’s “why”

In his famous TED Talk, Simon Sinek explained to us the importance of starting with “why”.

In their groundbreaking book, Neel Doshi and Lindsay McGregor demonstrated that why we work determines how well we work.

And my new friend Eric English has built a successful business by caring about other people’s “why”.

Ethical leadership requires self-awareness (why we do what we do) and empathy (why other people behave the way they do). These are two concepts that Eric and I explore in his latest podcast episode, which you can find here. If you enjoy our conversation, please share it with other aspiring leaders.