Mind The (Generation) Gap

“Mind The Gap” is exactly what it says on the tin. Graeme Codrington’s excellent session delivered to members of Academy Group 42 and LF9 recently was certainly thought provoking. It helped us to begin to identify exactly why Teenagers are indeed all Kevins! Graeme explained the different value sets that each generation have developed – often shaped by world events and changes during their childhood. He explained the preferred styles of communication for each generation and exactly why different generations can find it so hard to really co-exist in the same meeting, let alone the same office, or even within a family! Graeme highlights that Baby Boomers love to have meetings whilst Generation Xers prefer to text or email – no wonder we have communication breakdowns!

Graeme (pictured, right) also imparted real insight into the motivators for Generation X and how this generation are addicted to choice and to change – just so long as it is change that they are in control of. This generation love to keep their CVs warm, and he explained that we should aim to be a good-looking brand on their CV. They keep ‘work’ in a box and will not become workaholics!

Graeme’s presentation really hit the spot for Academy for Chief Executives members. They identified some issues that they are currently facing involving a clash of ideas or difficulties of communication between two different generations within their workforce. The conversation ranged from tattoos to the new CEO of Microsoft to running better meetings. This richness and Graeme’s video clips provided an amusing but also poignant presentation which was very thought provoking.

“Members would certainly invite him back for more.”

Joanna Jesson,
Chairman Leaders Forum 9

“It has not only helped with business issues but also helped to explain some differences of opinion within our family lives too.”

Phil Jesson,
Chairman Academy Group 42

The Academy for Chief Executives, a leading provider of experiential business learning® facilitates peer groups of CEOs and Managing Directors who meet together every month to network and take full advantage of experiential learning. To hear great speakers like this every month and engage in The Board You Could Never Afford®, to find out more about the Herts, Beds & Bucks Group, or to find a local group near you, visit www.chiefexecutive.com.

 

How to retain team members by meeting their needs

Shay McConnon gave chief executive mentoring and experiential learning group members (from William Waddington’s Exeter-based Academy Group 39) a very practical and powerful workshop on ‘How to retain team members by meeting their needs’.

Shay was an extremely entertaining speaker who grabbed everyone’s attention immediately by opening the session with a magic trick! He divided our group of MDs and CEOs into smaller groups – as ‘green’, ‘blue’ or ‘red’ characteristics. A simple strategy but very powerful in enabling us to understand and appreciate the unique and differing needs amongst individuals within a team. As Henry Ford said, ‘Why is it that I always get the whole person when what I really want is a pair of hands? ‘- We learned that by recognising that each person in the work place is different and therefore has to be treated differently, then you will achieve a helping ‘pair of hands’ whenever you need it.

Shay also makes the point that effective communication is two-way – so encourage your employees to feedback issues or problems (rather than moaning behind the boss’s back) – the caveat being that to achieve this the ‘boss’ has to keep asking questions and positively encouraging this type of feedback from staff.

Key take-away points were:

1. Keeping asking questions of employees and staff (but phrase the question from THEIR point of view, not yours).
2. Find out what makes your employees tick and what their needs are – match their needs to your business’s needs.
3. Any system for employee feedback needs to be framed carefully and will take time and effort to make it really effective.
4. Getting an employee feedback system bedded into the organisation will make it a healthier, happier place to work – and you will find it much easier to retain your employees.

I rate Shay as one of The Academy for Chief Executive’s best speakers. Well worth engaging him for gig!

William Waddington,
Chairman Academy Group 39

The Academy for Chief Executives, a leading provider of experiential business learning® facilitates peer groups of CEOs and Managing Directors who meet together every month to network and take full advantage of experiential learning. To hear great speakers like this every month and engage in The Board You Could Never Afford®, or to find a local group near you, visit www.chiefexecutive.com.

 

How to integrate diverse personalities in teams

The Academy for Chief Executives, a leading provider of experiential business learning® facilitates groups of CEOs and Managing Directors who meet together every month to network and take full advantage of experiential learning. Part of membership involves members taking their issues to the table and discussing them with their peers.

The issue of “how to integrate diverse personalities in teams” was raised during a recent meeting. This was a very interesting issue where the problem of how to integrate both cultural and personality diversity within teams was discussed. The leader’s task of ensuring that new (and existing) team members work effectively together is by no means a new issue of course. In their article entitled “How to Integrate New People”, Patrick J. McKenna and David H. Maister make reference to the fact that, “The addition of even one new member requires that the entire team regroup and rebond, finding new ways of working and ultimately recreating their dynamics and working style.”

On discussing the issue further it transpired that the team leaders of two very different groups were complete opposites from a psychometric profile point of view. One was high in Dominance and Influence whilst the other was high in Compliance and Steadiness. (This reference is direct from the DISC model).

For anyone unfamiliar with the DISC concept, it is a psychometric tool based on a simple idea — that professional and personal success lies in knowing yourself, understanding others, and realising the impact of your actions and attitudes on other people.

DISC is an anagram of the four areas identified as:

• Dominant – relating to control, power and assertiveness (a direct communicator and task-oriented person)
• Influencer – relating to social situations and communication (a ‘people person’, direct communicator and people-oriented)
• Steady – relating to patience, persistence, and thoughtfulness (a steady-paced team player, indirect communicator and people-oriented person)
• Conscientious (or compliant) – relating to structure and organisation (a process and quality expert, indirect communicator and detail/task-oriented person)

Most people have one main style, with one or two back-up styles.

DISC was used in this instance to help the team members understand each other better. As a consequence these two leaders came to grips with the issue of ‘what’s right’ rather than ‘who’s right’. Once this was achieved, it became much easier for the two individuals to concentrate on their strengths in motivational terms rather than dwelling on their weakness. They have since become a much more harmonious unit, working well together.

For confidentiality reasons we cannot divulge all of the advice provided by our members – however, we do hold open meetings where guests are able to attend and experience for themselves the real power of ‘The Board You Could Never Afford’®. To find out how you can take advantage of advice like this every month, visit www.chiefexecutive.com.

Further reading:

• What is DISC? – Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DISC_assessment
• “How to Integrate New People” – Patrick J. McKenna and David H. Maister – www.hrmguide.net/usa/guest/integrate_new_people.htm
• A fascinating illustration of how different personalities see each other, based on the ‘DISC’ personality profiling theory – great for team building and communications training – includes blank worksheet and answers (WORD document format/download)- www.businessballs.com/freematerialsinword/personalitytypesperceptionsmatrix.doc

 

Ten Golden Rules for Persuading Others

We all need to be persuasive to get our points of view across effectively. But are there any ‘golden rules’? Here are ten, well proven. We probably knew them already – but do we always apply them?

We all have to influence and persuade others, whether at work or at home, and most of us find that coercion and manipulation rarely works well for long. There are indeed very many, better ways…

1. Build Trust
   Even some 2,300 years ago, the philosopher Aristotle recognised that logic alone may not be sufficient to persuade others. To be truly influential, he suggested it may be essential to demonstrate first a common ethos, or a shared set of values. We don’t have to like each other, but we do have to trust each other! (Try being persuaded by someone you don’t trust?)
2. Build Empathy
   Aristotle went further: he also suggested that after building on shared values, it is far easier to persuade others by employing pathos, or an understanding of ‘what it is like to be them’. That is why it can be so smart to hear the other side’s story first, before we give them ours. (This is also why it can be invaluable to ‘walk a thousand paces in another’s moccasins’ – we do need to understand each other!)
3. No lies – no exaggeration
   It is often tempting to gild arguments with a little ‘poetic licence’, but note that exaggeration, let alone falsehoods, build neither trust nor empathy. Once even one lie is spotted by others, the rest of our arguments may be discounted and even rejected, however valid they may be overall.
4. Build your case from the bottom
   Especially when time is short, it may seem attractive to give others our conclusions first, before providing the reasons. Wrong! If those we seek to persuade do not like our conclusions, they won’t be listening to our justification. They will be spending all their energy in finding reasons why our conclusions must be wrong. So build your case up from the bottom, so that your eventual conclusions may well then appear to be the only logical outcome possible.
5. Keep it short
   While some people hate arguments of any kind, far fewer welcome long explanations. So keep yours short, sharp and crisp. You can always amplify them later if you need to.
6. Keep it relevant
   Many arguments fail to persuade because they didn’t seem relevant to those being persuaded. You need to know what may be relevant to the other side. Refer back to Golden Rule 2!
7. Use only a few good arguments at a time
   Some feel it helpful to support a case by giving all the arguments. Not so! In most debates, a strong case needs only two or three really good supporting reasons, at least to start with. By adding more, apart from increasing the chance of confusion, we not only dilute the impact of those really good reasons we could have focused on, we also offer more hostages to fortune for incidental, nit-picking debate. You can always declare your subsidiary reasons at a later stage, as additional reinforcement if you need to.
8. Be positive and confident
   If you don’t really believe in your case, why should anyone else? Unwarranted, blind confidence is clearly crass; overwhelming confidence may suggest that the issues have not really been properly thought through. But a lack of confidence may suggest that the case being presented really is rather flimsy.
9. Watch and listen for reactions
   As they say: ‘Those persuaded ’gainst their will, are of the same opinion still’! So don’t take minimal reaction to your proposals as silent acceptance – they may be no more than ‘dumb insolence’! Although some may express their reactions to your proposals quite verbally, some will indicate their silent reaction quite clearly by even unintended body-language, while others will need time to digest what you have proposed before you can expect any useful response. Don’t miss these cues, and give people time to ponder on any difficult propositions.
10. Different folks – different strokes!
    However you may like best to be persuaded, do not fall into the trap in thinking that all others will. Psychological research (by Dr Susan Brock, based on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®) shows that some people need ‘the facts’ to be persuaded, without which any proposition may seem unsupported. But others may far rather have ‘the logic’, a very different appeal. (For them, ‘facts’ may be two-a-penny, but the overall rationale may be far more convincing.) Equally, others may focus much more on the emotional content and consequences to be persuaded, whether on the impact of any conclusions on ‘service’ to themselves or others, or on their inherent ‘vision and values’ of how people should be treated, which by the way are rarely open to logical debate alone. So be ready to appeal to all possibilities?

I wish you really productive persuading!

By Jeremy Thorn
Jeremy@JeremyThorn[dot]co[dot]uk
www.jeremythorn.co.uk

Jeremy Thorn has managed both small and large sales forces internationally and is the prize-winning author of ‘The First-Time Sales Manager’, ‘How To Negotiate Better Deals’, and the tips booklet ‘115 Essential Tips on Pricing’. He is a regular guest speaker to experiential business learning® organisation, The Academy for Chief Executives, and others on a variety of practical business topics, including ‘Bringing Home the Bacon’ on ethical sales skills, ‘How to Negotiate Better Deals’ and ‘Team Breakers and Makers’. Jeremy is the past founding-Chairman of QED Consulting and an experienced Non-Executive Director or Chairman of a number of technically-driven businesses in the UK and overseas.

 

How to Get Your Bosses to Deliver on their Promises

The Academy for Chief Executives, a leading provider of experiential business learning® facilitates groups of CEOs and Managing Directors who meet together every month to network and take full advantage of experiential learning. Part of membership is ‘The Board You Could Never Afford‘® where members take their issues to the table and discuss with their peers.

The Academy’s Leaders Forums enable SMEs, owner-managers of smaller businesses, or key personnel in large corporates enjoy the same Academy learning experience.

I’d like to share with you an issue recently discussed, and the advice offered by fellow members:

“How do I get my bosses to deliver on what they promise me?”

• Must obtain in writing details of compensation and bonus plan from top CEOS and then get it signed.
• Don’t wait until weeks later to try and clarify the compensation
• Get it in writing “the faintest ink is better than the strongest memory”
• Have an independent person represent you to their bosses who will highlight your true value to the organisation and come out with a better deal than you could have ever negotiated for yourself in the first place.

This is just a snippet of the advice given by our members. For confidentiality reasons we cannot divulge all of the advice provided – however, we do hold open meetings where guests are able to attend and experience for themselves the real power of ‘The Board You Could Never Afford’®.   To find out how you can take advantage of advice like this every month, visit www.chiefexecutive.com.

 

From Conflict to Collaboration

Academy Group 34, chief executive mentoring and experiential learning group (with members from the Dorset area) recently had Shay McConnon as their speaker on the subject of “Conflict to Collaboration”.

Conflict eats into time, morale and profits. It is the largest reducible cost in many organisations. Managers can spend up to 25% of their time dealing with unnecessary conflict. This is time lost to creative, productive work. Tolerating conflict just does not make good business sense.

Shay delivered an outstanding workshop with tangible take-away value. We all got prompt credit cards on giving and receiving feedback. Every member had conflict (they always will) so the subject was totally relevant, and Shay’s style is endearing, inclusive and very effective.

I’d like to share with you the key learning points from this session:

• Conflict arises when there’s an unmet need. An argument addresses the facts to prove the need and is irrelevant.
• Conflict can be dealt with effectively by receiving feedback. It’s all about hearing the need, paraphrasing and possibly exploring its importance to check understanding, then sharing your need and negotiating a balanced solution.
• Giving feedback works well when you validate the other person’s need, talk facts, your feelings and what you need! No accusation, no blame, no demands! Feedback: the key to progressing from conflict to collaboration.

Mike Wilsher
Chairman, Academy Group 34

The Academy for Chief Executives, a leading provider of experiential business learning® facilitates peer groups of CEOs and Managing Directors who meet together every month to network and take full advantage of experiential learning. To hear great speakers like this every month and engage in The Board You Could Never Afford® you can find out more about the Dorset group, or to find a local group near you, visit www.chiefexecutive.com

 

Partnership Conflicts in Business

The Academy for Chief Executives, a leading provider of experiential business learning facilitates groups of CEOs and Managing Directors who meet together every month to network and take full advantage of experiential learning. Part of membership is ‘The Board You Could Never Afford‘ where members take their issues to the table and discuss with their peers.

An issue discussed recently was:

“My Business Partner and I cannot agree on how to take the company forward – how do we resolve this conflict?”

The advice from members of The Academy for Chief Executives was:

• The first thing to do to resolve conflict with your business partner is to sit down together – possibly outside of the business, so you can discuss your issues in a neutral environment. Take the time to understand their position.

• Resolving conflict will only happen if you ensure that you put your points across calmly and logically, and try not to lose your temper!

• Take some time out to reflect on what each other have said and then agree to meet again to discuss how this conflict can be resolved

• If you still cannot come to an agreement, you need to consider the long term health of the business. An inability to resolve conflict with your partner could seriously damage the business. You may have to recognise it will never work and part company.

• If you are the majority shareholder, consider making an offer to buy out the remainder of the other person’s shares.

The question of whether resolving conflict with a business partner is an example of the type of issue discussed at an Academy meeting – and this is just a snippet of the advice given by our members. For confidentiality reasons we cannot divulge all of the advice provided – however, we do hold open meetings where guests are able to attend and experience for themselves the real power of ‘The Board You Could Never Afford’.

To find out how you can take advantage of advice like this every month, visit www.chiefexecutive.com