Get your scope right. Identify the area you will address. This will determine what is relevant and what is not as you move forward, untangling inter-dependent relationships.
Identify your Most Valuable Players Now you are looking at the group that is relevant to the logjam. Who needs to be in the room to find and initiate a real solution? This is your guest list.
Conduct the Interviews to Map the Territory Contact people and construct a Reconnaissance Report which chronicles what you learn. Capture high-value statements and include them without attribution. You want people paying more attention to the content than who said what. Note: Keep in mind that because you are operating on a logjam, initial contact begins the process directing peoples’ attention toward the obstacle. Movement will begin immediately. There is a tendency to view this as preparation. In truth, the operation has begun with the first conversation.
Set up the Breakthrough Session for Success All bets ride on the outcome of the face-to-face event. Do everything in your power beforehand to ensure it is successful. Pour your heart and effort into establishing the conditions for success.
Participate fully in the Breakthrough Session Each step of the way, do everything you can do to press for results. This requires focused attention to the group’s process. Your job is to ensure that the group takes up the challenge and deals with the issues as effectively as possible with a common intention to find the most productive way forward.
Be ready to provide support in follow-up When the breakthrough occurs, it will require support to be carried out. Be ready to jump in and lend it where needed. Follow-up is where the action takes place and requires everything you've got to see your breakthrough move from the initial freeing of energy into successful execution.
Seth Kahan (Seth@VisionaryLeadership.com) is a Change Leadership specialist. He has consulted with CEOs and executives in over 50 world-class organizations that include Shell, World Bank, Peace Corps, Marriott, Prudential, American Society of Association Executives, International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike Association, Project Management Institute, and NASA. He is the founder of Seth Kahan’s CEO Leaders Forum, a year-long learning experience for CEOs in Washington, DC. His next book, Getting Change Right: How Leaders Transform Organizations from the Inside Out, will be published in Spring 2010 by Jossey-Bass. Visit his other blogs, GettingChangeRight.com for more info on the upcoming book and FreelanceFortune.com for tips on how to succeed as a free agent. Follow Seth on Twitter. Learn more about Seth's work at VisionaryLeadership.com.
A select
group of people brings any change initiative to life. I call these
people, the Most Valuable Players (MVPs). They are not always
friends. They do not always have clout, political power, or resources.
But, they are powerful in the truest sense of the word and deserve respect.
MVPs midwife the future leaders work so hard to realize.
In sports
an MVP is often isolated from the team, recognized for the prowess and
performance that goes beyond team playing and exceptional individual
achievement. But, in a change initiative, MVPs include every person of
influence, anyone who plays for the cause.
Make no
mistake: change depends on people. The action people take is the
performance that makes things happen. MVPs are human beings, blood and guts:
hearts, minds, and hands. Treat them respectfully and appropriately to increase
the valuable impact they wield. The ability to wring results from an uncertain
future is theirs.
Some MVPs
will emerge completely unsolicited. You may never even meet them. Instead you will
hear about them far outside your own sphere of action. When change travels far
and wide and out paces you and your team, they are your unsung heros.
MVPs come
in all roles and functions. They make their appearance up, down, and across the
hierarchy. Some make the cut through the resources they command or their
political clout. Others earn it by delivering powerful results through other
means. Here are 14 categories of MVPs to consider:Political Leaders, Policy Makers, Resource Providers (time, people,
money), Influencers, Thought Leaders, Technical Experts, Researchers & Academicians, Practical Visionaries, Front Line Executers, Partners, Alliance, Supplier, Competitor, and Detractors.
Detractors? Detractors are often maligned and so
deserve some special elaboration. In brief, Bring
your detractors in the front door, or they will come in the back door and
bite you in the butt! Here are three benefits engaging with detractors can
bring to you: (i) They may educate you on your weaknesses. Then, you can
fortify and bolster your position by addressing the areas they identify. (ii)Some convert and become staunch supporters. Remember Paul
of Tarsus. (iii) If others appreciate your efforts, you may become a
magnet by virtue of your willingness meet with critics. Some detractors will
respect you for this as well. Though they may not support your primary effort,
they can become partners in other helpful ways.
All of the MVPs together form the web
of support that yields and sustains transformation. They are the social network behind every successful change.
Seth Kahan (Seth@VisionaryLeadership.com) is a Change Leadership specialist. He has consulted with CEOs and executives in over 50 world-class organizations that include Shell, World Bank, Peace Corps, Marriott, Prudential, American Society of Association Executives, International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike Association, Project Management Institute, and NASA. He is the founder of Seth Kahan’s CEO Leaders Forum, a community of CEOs working together to innovate through the current economy. His next book, Getting Change Right: How Leaders Transform Organizations from the Inside Out, will be published in Spring 2010 by Jossey-Bass. Visit his other blogs, GettingChangeRight.com for more info on the upcoming book and FreelanceFortune.com for tips on the art of success for freelancers. Follow Seth on Twitter. Fast link to this blog: SethFast.com. Learn more about Seth's work at VisionaryLeadership.com.
Assemble a Change Leadership Team to champion your initiative everywhere it's important for your presence to be felt. The members of the Change Leadership Team are drawn from
your Most Valuable Players - the people who will bring your new idea to life. They are the leaders of your most important constituencies. This
group is tasked with building a shared vision and coordinating the activities
of your change program. Building a shared view is the key to creating coherence
throughout the system.
It is the Change Leadership Team’s mandate to steer the
change as it unfolds. They take the initiative through to successful conclusion,
across the territory of the organization and under varying conditions. This
team is responsible for navigating the road, so to speak. They will deal with
unanticipated detours, potholes, and shortcuts. They will make the day-to-day
decisions responsible for arriving at your destination safe and sound.
Through collaboration they will bust silos, uniting people
from disparate functions and departments to create unique synergies.Because they represent all parts of your program, they have a unique capacity to connect to other stakeholders
including customers, members, and partners.
Seth Kahan is a Change Leadership specialist. He has consulted with CEOs and executives in over 50 world-class organizations that include Shell, World Bank, Peace Corps, Marriott, Prudential, American Society of Association Executives, International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike Association, Project Management Institute, and NASA. He is the founder of Seth Kahan’s CEO Leaders Forum, a community of CEOs working together to innovate through the current economy. His next book, Getting Change Right: Guaranteeing Buy-In from Your Most Valuable Players, will be published in spring 2010 by Jossey-Bass.Visit his other blog, GettingChangeRight.com for more info on the book. And check out Freelance Fortune: tips on the art of success for free agents.
Gary Hamel's message at the World Business Forum today is that your organization is not fit for the future unless it is fit for human beings. Hamel is a globally recognized expert in business strategy and performer extraordinaire on stage, delivering his message with verve and compelling stories.
He argues that the most important invention of the last 100 years is management, calling it the social technology of human accomplishment. He says, If you're not spending 80% of your time cultivating your own food, you have management to thank for it. Innovation in management has allowed us to cross fundamental thresholds in human performance.
Here are some snippets from his lecture:
We have lived in a world where our experience of management has been unchanged.
The technology of management varies little from firm to firm. That is why leaders can go from company to company and still have pretty much the same levers to push and pull.
Can management change as radically in the first part of this century as it did in the first part of the last? It can and it must!
The signature characteristic of our time is the pace of change. After 13.5 billion years of evolution, change went hypercritical in our lifetime.
The world is changing faster than companies can become resilient.
There are two kinds of change: trivial and deep. Deep change comes most often from crisis. A turnaround is a poor excuse for timely transformation.
Isn't it weird that organizations are so much less adaptable/inventive/creative/engaging/interesting than we are?
The next generation is going to demand a new style of management. For the 1st time you cannot create an organization fit for the future unless it is fit for human beings.
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Stay tuned today as I continue to cover the World Business Forum live from Radio City Music Hall.
Seth
Kahan is a Change Leadership specialist. He has consulted with CEOs and
executives in over 50 world-class organizations that include Shell,
World Bank, Peace Corps, Marriott, Prudential, American Society of
Association Executives, International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike
Association, Project Management Institute, and NASA. He is the founder
of Seth Kahan’s CEO Leaders Forum, a community of CEOs working together
to innovate through the current economy. His next book, Getting Change Right: Guaranteeing Buy-In from Your Most Valuable Players, will be published in spring 2010 by Jossey-Bass. Visit his other blog, GettingChangeRight.com for more info on the book.
Peter Voser began his work as CEO, Royal Dutch Shell, July 2009. Formerly he was the CFO. When he addressed the World Business Forum today in New York City he spoke about Shell's priorities in the years ahead supplying energy for the world. These included expanding oil and gas resources, lowering CO2 emissions, and developing alternative fuel. Here are some sound bytes from his delivery:
By 2050 energy demands will double. There will be 3 billion energy consumers added to our global population. At the same time we must manage greenhouse gas emissions successfully.
Historically it has taken new energy sources 25 yrs to obtain 1% of the market. Biofuels are reaching 1% of market and could do so by middle of next decade.
Deploying new technology on a massive scale is not easy.
Fossil fuels will still provide 70% energy in 2050
Shell has 3 responses to our current situation:
1 - We will expand the world's oil and gas resources, including deep sea and arctic.
2 - We will reduce CO2 emissions. We have now a process for injecting CO2 in wells to help us extract oil and gas. Today the primary constraints for doing this are public support and cost. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, this alone will deliver half of what needed.
3 - We must develop alternative fuel - Shell will concentrate on biofuel.
The US produces 7% world's oil, and consumes 20% world's energy.
The US has a powerful contribution to make on world stage. Many nations are paying close attention to what happens in Congress. The US has a legacy of leadership: catalytic converters and Cap and Trade were invented in US.
Working together US & China would have powerful impact on climate change.
When Voser left the stage he had delivered a clear, consistent vision for Royal Dutch Shell. His message was concise, pointed, on message.
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Stay tuned today as I continue to cover the World Business Forum live from Radio City Music Hall.
Seth
Kahan is a Change Leadership specialist. He has consulted with CEOs and
executives in over 50 world-class organizations that include Shell,
World Bank, Peace Corps, Marriott, Prudential, American Society of
Association Executives, International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike
Association, Project Management Institute, and NASA. He is the founder
of Seth Kahan’s CEO Leaders Forum, a community of CEOs working together
to innovate through the current economy. His next book, Getting Change Right: Guaranteeing Buy-In from Your Most Valuable Players, will be published in spring 2010 by Jossey-Bass. Visit his other blog, GettingChangeRight.com for more info on the book.
George Lucas, the filmwriter, producer, and director known best for his Star Wars and Indiana Jones series, was interviewed at the World Business Forum in Radio City Music Hall yesterday.
Most striking was the number of inventions he generated to support his films, including multitudes of breakthroughs in technology.
We started making movies in San Francisco where there were no film resources. We had to create everything from scratch: cheaper, better, faster. We invented it ourselves. For example, in Star Wars, we needed a way to pan across star ships while they were moving through space. We invented a whole new way of doing it - we got involved with Silcon Valley.
The circumstances are impossible, the resources are completely limited, and you have to really get yourself out there to get things done.
Lucas revolutionized the film industry with technological inventions that were enormous in their impact and bold in their execution.
Movies are an artform. My definition of art is a way of communicating emotions from one human being to another. For the most part that includes technology.
Once you get beyond the spoken word and dance, you're into technology. You can see even on the walls of the French caves where they paint antelope. They aren't doing antelopes. They're doing emotional-spiritual depictions of antelopes.
Mostly art has been a popular medium. It's a way of telling stories to the populous in an emotional way. If you're trying to convert people to religion, you can't write it out - you do the Sistine Chapel. In order to do the Sistine Chapel, there is a huge amount of technology involved.
When the interviewer asked him if public education is a lost cause, Lucas responded, There is no such thing as a lost cause... unless you give up. We're drowning. Humanity is drowning. We have to continue. The single most important thing we have as a species is our capacity to create knowledge and pass it along to next generation. That's what we do. That's our thing. We don't have claws. We have these brains.
The conversation turned to the George Lucas Education Foundation: What I am trying to do is go into schools and find the best practices - nobody was actually recording the best practices. Teachers move on and those ideas get lost. We wanted to categorize them and put them on line, so that anyone wants to know, here they are. The focus is not on schools and education, but on learning, what is the best way to learn.
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Stay tuned today as I continue to cover the World Business Forum live from Radio City Music Hall.
Seth
Kahan is a Change Leadership specialist. He has consulted with CEOs and
executives in over 50 world-class organizations that include Shell,
World Bank, Peace Corps, Marriott, Prudential, American Society of
Association Executives, International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike
Association, Project Management Institute, and NASA. He is the founder
of Seth Kahan’s CEO Leaders Forum, a community of CEOs working together
to innovate through the current economy. His next book, Getting Change Right: Guaranteeing Buy-In from Your Most Valuable Players, will be published in spring 2010 by Jossey-Bass. Visit his other blog, GettingChangeRight.com for more info on the book.
David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlisle Group, a global private-equity firm managing more than $84.5B of equity capital, delivered a non-stop monologue today at the World Business Forum in New York City. His delivery was chock-full of statistics to illustrate his dark and sobering forecasts in almost every sector.
He said that his firm's phenomenal growth would not continue at such a dramatic rate as it has previously because of the ravaged state of affairs in all financial areas.
A few excerpts from Rubenstein's delivery:
7.6 million people have lost their jobs in this recession.
The US government has $57 trillion in unfunded debt.
How much is $1 trillion? If you put $1 million in the bank on the day Jesus was born and then put $1 million in the bank every day after that for the next 2009 years, you still would not have $1 trlllion. You would have about $700 billion.
Emerging markets are much more important today as investment targets because of their rate of growth.
Inflation is coming.
Unemployment rates are rising to the point where 7 or 8 percent will become normal.
Benefits such as Medicare and Medicaid will undergo drastic cuts.
The US will be much less significant than we have been before.
Rubenstein went on rapid-fire. Here within the blogger community at the World Business Forum, few were able to keep up with him. He did not seem to pause for a breath.
Then something I thought strange happened. Toward the end of his presentation, he shifted into dispensing platitudes such as, "Think like a leader, be entrepreneurial, and give back to the community," and "If you don't love what you are doing now, do something else," and "You make your own luck; think like a leader." These, too, were delivered rapid-fire. It was as if he did not want us to be so discouraged by his previous delivery and was attempting to rectify the situation.
The caliber of people presenting is indisputable. David Rubenstein's acumen is staggering. It's interesting to see how he took the stage and formatted his presentation: fact after fact, followed by bromides. I would turn to him in a New York minute for input on the economy and decisions on where to invest. I'll look to some of the other speakers for inspiration.
--------
Stay tuned today as I continue to cover the World Business Forum live from Radio City Music Hall.
Seth
Kahan is a Change Leadership specialist. He has consulted with CEOs and
executives in over 50 world-class organizations that include Shell,
World Bank, Peace Corps, Marriott, Prudential, American Society of
Association Executives, International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike
Association, Project Management Institute, and NASA. He is the founder
of Seth Kahan’s CEO Leaders Forum, a community of CEOs working together
to innovate through the current economy. His next book, Getting Change Right: Guaranteeing Buy-In from Your Most Valuable Players, will be published in spring 2010 by Jossey-Bass. Visit his other blog, GettingChangeRight.com for more info on the book.
Patrick Lencioni is an expert in team performance. He is the author of eight best-selling books with over 2.5 million copies sold. After six years in print, his book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team continues to be on national best-seller lists.
It's easy to see why. Immensely likable on stage he is adept at both entertaining and getting across his points with captivating stories, Dilbert-like in their tragicomic tone.
Here are some quips from his presentation today at the World Business Forum in New York City's Radio City Music Hall:
Leaders must learn to over-communicate: If you are a great leader, your people should be able to do an impression of you when you're not around.
When we focus on things outside of our circle of influence, our circle of influence shrinks.
Someone may say to me, "I work on a great team, but we don't win any games." I say to them, "No, you work on a crappy team. You just happen to like each other."
Wine is the great elixir of truth at many executive meetings.
One person - just one person - can change the dynamics of a team completely.
If they don't weigh-in, they're not going to buy in.
When we don't get conflict, we don't get commitment. We get half-hearted, eye-rolling commitment.
Peer pressure is the most important form of accountability we have on teams.
Some people say to me that they look forward to retiring so they can do work that benefits humankind. I want to say to them, The way you manage people has a profound impact on the way people go home and treat their family and kids. You have a ministry now.
While he points the way to high-functioning teams, clearly a pre-requisite for well-run organizations and increased effectiveness, he did not connect the dots to the challenges facing the global business community today, leaving that to the audience. I thought he was funny, entertaining, and had compelling content. I would have liked to learn how to apply his experience and insight to address some of the overwhelming challenges we are facing today in the business world.
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Stay tuned today as I continue to cover the World Business Forum live from Radio City Music Hall.
Seth
Kahan is a Change Leadership specialist. He has consulted with CEOs and
executives in over 50 world-class organizations that include Shell,
World Bank, Peace Corps, Marriott, Prudential, American Society of
Association Executives, International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike
Association, Project Management Institute, and NASA. He is the founder
of Seth Kahan’s CEO Leaders Forum, a community of CEOs working together
to innovate through the current economy. His next book, Getting Change Right: Guaranteeing Buy-In from Your Most Valuable Players, will be published in spring 2010 by Jossey-Bass.Visit his other blog, GettingChangeRight.com for more info on the book.
The opening sequence this morning at the World Business Forum highlighted the turmoil, crisis, and upheaval our business world has faced over the last year. It was ominous, one newspaper after the other headlining the dire events that have transpired recently, hitting close to home.
Bill George stepped up to the plate, identifying one bad situation after another and prescribing his recipes for solutions and making it through the impending darkness (eg, our empoyment crisis).
Bill Conaty, called an HR Superstar in 2007 by BusinessWeek, did not. He assumed the podium and walked 5,000 people through an old-school powerpoint that described leadership attributes, and then delineated his process for ensuring good leadership development in a large organization. No doubt he presided over legendary talent managmeent at GE, but he did not address one single challenge in today's business climate (eg, our employment crisis).
After the presentation he sat down to be interviewed by Paddy Miller, Professor of Managing People in Organizations at IESE Business School. Paddy started by warning Bill he would ask a tough question. Then he questioned Conaty about the exceptionally large salaries of CEOs. Ok, I thought, here is Conaty's chance to say something good. Instead he responded by saying something like, '...the value is directly proportional to the stock price. As long as the shareholders are doing well, the CEO can do well himself.' I swear I could hear the labored breathing of the central antagonist in Star Wars as Conaty paired excessive executive pay with the price on the street.
Later an audience member asked, What about consultants - what is their fate in today's business climate? Conaty replied by saying that if they were not providing firm value add, they would be gone. I ask, if they are not providing firm value add, what are they doing there in the first place? You see I was not inspired. I will stop writing now.
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Stay tuned today as I continue to cover the World Business Forum live from Radio City Music Hall.
Seth
Kahan is a Change Leadership specialist. He has consulted with CEOs and
executives in over 50 world-class organizations that include Shell,
World Bank, Peace Corps, Marriott, Prudential, American Society of
Association Executives, International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike
Association, Project Management Institute, and NASA. He is the founder
of Seth Kahan’s CEO Leaders Forum, a community of CEOs working together
to innovate through the current economy. His next book, Getting Change Right: Guaranteeing Buy-In from Your Most Valuable Players, will be published in spring 2010 by Jossey-Bass. Visit his other blog, GettingChangeRight.com for more info on the book.
Bill George’s core competency is his deep experience, in-depth understanding of America’s major players and the intricacies of business economics. He led Medtronics, joining as CEO in ’91. He grew Medtronic’s market capitalization from $1.1 billion to $60 billion, averaging 35% a year, from 1996 to 2002. Today he delivered the opening keynote at the World Business Forum in NYC, where I saw him live.
He applies his 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis, story-by-story illustrating how executives and organizations have either adhered or strayed at great cost to their organizations and our financial system.
George is a US business elder. His wisdom is penetrating, dispensed with clarity, aimed at long-term recovery. He often counters conventional intents and is not afraid to name names. His presentation was a call to action. Here are some sound bytes:
We need to focus on the root cause of our problem, not the symptoms. The root cause of this financial mess is leaders who practice short-termness. It takes years to create solutions, not quarters.
The recession may be over, but hard times are ahead. We need to create jobs.
Innovation makes good fortune, not the other way around.
We’re focusing on saving jobs. We need to focus on creating jobs. We’re saving big business. We need to focus on small business so the opportunity is there for great value creators.
Markets never come back the way they were. How are you going to get out in front? You can’t just have a defense team; you need an offense team.
George closed by quoting Robert Kennedy, "Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all those acts will be written the history of this generation." Then he said, Crisis may be your defining moment. Who are the members of your community? Who will you join forces with to make a difference?
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Stay tuned today as I continue to cover the World Business Forum live from Radio City Music Hall.
Seth
Kahan is a Change Leadership specialist. He has consulted with CEOs and
executives in over 50 world-class organizations that include Shell,
World Bank, Peace Corps, Marriott, Prudential, American Society of
Association Executives, International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike
Association, Project Management Institute, and NASA. He is the founder
of Seth Kahan’s CEO Leaders Forum, a community of CEOs working together
to innovate through the current economy. His next book, Getting Change Right: Guaranteeing Buy-In from Your Most Valuable Players, will be published in spring 2010 by Jossey-Bass. Visit his other blog, GettingChangeRight.com for more info on the book.
Seth Kahan (Seth@VisionaryLeadership.com) is a Change Leadership specialist. He has consulted with CEOs and executives in over 50 world-class organizations that include Shell, World Bank, Peace Corps, Marriott, Prudential, American Society of Association Executives, International Bridge Tunnel and Turnpike Association, Project Management Institute, and NASA. He is the founder of Seth Kahan’s CEO Leaders Forum, a year-long learning experience for CEOs in Washington, DC. His next book, Getting Change Right: How Leaders Transform Organizations from the Inside Out, will be published in Spring 2010 by Jossey-Bass. Visit his other blogs, GettingChangeRight.com for more info on the upcoming book and FreelanceFortune.com for tips on how to succeed as a free agent. Follow Seth on Twitter. Learn more about Seth's work at VisionaryLeadership.com.
Gary Hamel's message at the World Business Forum today is that your organization is not fit for the future unless it is fit for human beings. Hamel is a globally recognized expert in business strategy and performer extraordinaire on stage, delivering his message with verve and compelling stories.
Peter Voser began his work as CEO, Royal Dutch Shell, July 2009. Formerly he was the CFO. When he addressed the World Business Forum today in New York City he spoke about Shell's priorities in the years ahead supplying energy for the world. These included expanding oil and gas resources, lowering CO2 emissions, and developing alternative fuel. Here are some sound bytes from his delivery:
George Lucas, the filmwriter, producer, and director known best for his Star Wars and Indiana Jones series, was interviewed at the World Business Forum in Radio City Music Hall yesterday.
David Rubenstein, co-founder of The Carlisle Group, a global private-equity firm managing more than $84.5B of equity capital, delivered a non-stop monologue today at the World Business Forum in New York City. His delivery was chock-full of statistics to illustrate his dark and sobering forecasts in almost every sector. 
Patrick Lencioni is an expert in team performance. He is the author of eight best-selling books with over 2.5 million copies sold. After six years in print, his book 
The opening sequence this morning at the World Business Forum highlighted the turmoil, crisis, and upheaval our business world has faced over the last year. It was ominous, one newspaper after the other headlining the dire events that have transpired recently, hitting close to home. 
Bill George’s core competency is his deep experience, in-depth understanding of America’s major players and the intricacies of business economics. He led Medtronics, joining as CEO in ’91. He grew Medtronic’s market capitalization from $1.1 billion to $60 billion, averaging 35% a year, from 1996 to 2002. Today he delivered the opening keynote at the World Business Forum in NYC, where I saw him live.
