Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom

How to Set up An Advisory Board

Advisory boards are terrific on many levels. They're useful in providing an objective, third-party viewpoint and reality check on leadership matters, and in filling in knowledge gaps in your organization. Well-placed advisors also bring their credibility and substantial network to new businesses and play an important role in helping them gain momentum.

A functional advisory board should operate as a seamless part of your culture rather than a group of outsiders you happen to assemble periodically. Here are 6 things to keep in mind as you create and solidify your board.

Compensate Appropriately

Ideally, your culture will be one in which you pay people fairly for their work. Advisors are no exception. The most common way to compensate advisors is to share a percentage of equity, which can range from 1 to 2 percent depending on the level of involvement. Put all agreements in writing, and while you’re at it, have your advisors sign a nondisclosure and an indemnification clause so they aren’t liable in any business-related lawsuits. 

Be Upfront

You will get the most value from your advisors if you're honest with them upfront. That means opening your vest about your business’s challenges—cultural and otherwise. Lay out your business plan or short- and long-term goals. Share how you think each particular advisor might be able to help and solicit their feedback. Hopefully, you and your advisors overlap on the most critical values and philosophies.

For more where this came from, head over to the full post at the AMEX Open Forum.

The Importance of a Performance Culture

Are you working toward a robust culture in your company because you feel you should, or because it will result in tangible business results? And either way, are you doing it right?

According to research recently conducted by the Human Capital Institute and PS Culture Matters, certain cultural facets are critical for reaping increased financial and performance benefits. They are professional growth and development, collaboration, job satisfaction, employee engagement, alignment with organizational values, organizational agility, innovation, communication, leadership, operational management and accountability. The most important are the first five, which are estimated to drive financial performance higher by 14 to 17 percent.

Paralysis in the Ranks

Unfortunately, among the North American companies that responded to the HCI survey, most of these cultural facets are not particularly strong. For example, more than three-quarters of respondents agree that their organizations are only "somewhat," "not very" or "not at all" successful at achieving a culture of professional growth and development. Companies also scored poorly on open communication (81 percent), organizational agility (77 percent) and accountability (77 percent).

Perhaps this negativity is one reason that 73 percent of the 11 essential facets are not regularly measured or evaluated in surveyed organizations. Managerial-level respondents seem to recognize that this impedes the growth and health of their organizations, but so far have been unable to devise a solution.

Clunky Companies Abound

HCI points out that a strikingly low percentage of surveyed organizations are effective at business agility (24 percent) and the attraction, deployment and development of key talent (21 percent). In a business world that relies on the ability to shift strategy on a dime and take immediate action, it’s not hard to see why these cultures are suffering.

Another problem facing today’s organizations is a lack of commitment to cultural change. Leaders who believe that a new culture can be developed and deployed in a day usually don't have much to show for their efforts. It turns out that “talking the culture talk” is simply not enough and will not produce the competitive advantage most companies are hoping for.

HCI notes that the companies with the most impressive financial results have established a means of measuring the cultural facets above more frequently, taking corrective action when something isn’t working, and measuring again. Well-executed cultural change initiatives are clearly conveyed from the top down, and everyone in the organization is evaluated based on the identified metrics. Leaders use every available opportunity, including new marketing initiatives and all-hands meetings, to proactively reinforce cultural values and what they mean to the individual. And perhaps most importantly, they model the behavior changes they want employees to make.

For suggested steps for creating a performance culture, have a look at the full post at the AMEX Open Forum.

Are You Ready for September? Tips for Work/Life Integration This School Year

We all know it's coming - the dreaded back-to-school crunch - but every year we seem to be caught off guard.  Plus, as we struggle to prep for a new school year, work projects on hold for the summer suddenly go into overdrive as fourth quarter/year-end is just around the corner.

It’s a double whammy  and a recipe for disaster unless moms and dads, and employers, make a proactive plan to beat the crunch.  Here are some doable tips to help moms and dads tackle the back-to-school/back-to-work tangle as part of a simple weekly work+life fit practice like the one outlined in Cali Yost's book Tweak It: Make What Matters to You Happen Every Day.

First, identify, breakdown and plan the back-to-school activities typically encountered every year:

• Add 2013-2014 school dates into your calendar, including extra-curricular sport and activities
• Buy school supplies early, before the line is out the door and the shelves are picked clean
• Take advantage of back-to-school sales to buy a couple of basic needs but count on shorts and t-shirts for the first few weeks

Next, think about projects and responsibilities at work that will require attention after Labor Day:

• Ask if there is anything you and the team could do to prepare and get a jump start now
• Share dates you may need to take off or have additional flexibility around back-to-school, such as first day(s) of drop off and pick up
• Leave the evenings and weekends the week before and two weeks after the start of school as free and uncommitted as possible. If you have to schedule out of town travel or evening work activities, make sure you coordinate with your partner or friends for child care coverage well in advance. 

Creating a Culture of Innovation

Not long ago in London, I was having coffee with a former c-suite executive at one of the world’s most prominent companies. I asked him about intrapreneurship, or the process by which a large organization’s resources are leveraged for entrepreneurial purposes. 

This executive told me that there is no such thing as intrapreneurship in 90 percent of the companies with which he’s worked. “It’s too dangerous,” he said. “Most organizations just want employees to keep their heads down and do their jobs. They have no interest in encouraging people to stir the pot.”

I found this incredibly depressing. If we don’t want people to leave our businesses to start their own, then we must provide them with the means to develop processes, products and services that make a difference and move operations forward. And the best way to do that is to ingrain the values of innovation and experimentation within our cultures.

If you're not currently fostering an innovation culture, but recognize the value in it, the following tips can help you get started:

Step Away from the Gavel

Does your staff rely on you for every major decision? Are you knee-deep in all the projects being completed at the moment? Are you the only one free to impact your company’s big picture? If any or all of these are true, you are probably stifling your people. Although it’s difficult to allow your employees to work autonomously and trust that they will try to do the right thing, not micromanaging them will infuse your culture with a variety of perspectives and approaches that will help you surpass your competitors.

For more, please see the full post at the AMEX Open Forum.

Go From Local to Global Without Leaving Town

The world is getting smaller. Even as the human population grows, technological advances make it possible to buy from, sell to and interact with people around the globe. Whether or not you have plans to expand your business internationally, it’s critical that you understand the big picture of your organization’s role in the world.

I recently spent several months in the United Kingdom learning just that. While overseas, I met with two dozen professionals in my areas of expertise. I enhanced my global competence, or my ability to understand how business works in different countries, and returned to the U.S. better armed to serve my clients. I recognized that in this area of globalization, I could no longer afford to be insular. And neither can you.

Fortunately, there are easy ways that you and your employees can boost your global outlook without traveling or launching a complex international operation. You can start by trying out some of the following tips.

Become a Student of Culture

Choose a country that interests you and learn about the daily lives of its citizens. Read the daily paper and popular novels, and watch TV shows online. Check out the social networks and see what people are talking about, leveraging a Web translator if you need to. The minutiae will tell you more about the culture than you would ever learn as a tourist. 

Meet Owners in Other Markets

Are there businesses like yours overseas? If so, virtually introduce yourself to their management and talk about similarities and differences. What did their journeys look like compared to yours? What challenges and opportunities do they address on a regular basis, and are there ways you can help one another? You never know—what starts out as information gathering could turn into a valuable partnership.

For more tips, check out the full post at the AMEX Open Forum.

Increase Productivity in the Office

It’s tough to be an organization that mandates physical attendance in an age where it seems like everyone is telecommuting. Nevertheless, it's definitely possible to foster an environment in which your employees would rather be at work than at home (at least most days). Here are some ideas for making that happen.

Identify Their Priorities

Every staff is different. Ask your people what they value about being in the office all day. Is lunch selection important? Is it face time with the boss? What about access to tech and IT systems that make their jobs easier? Listen carefully, and try to take action on as many things as you can control. This will show employees that you truly care and should spur more positive engagement.

Make the Office a Pleasant Place to Go

Even if your office isn’t located in the most aesthetically pleasing setting, open those windows and take advantage of whatever natural light is available to you. Consider offering amenities like a place to exercise, lifestyle benefits and special events like a morning of onsite massages. And make sure the building isn’t cluttered and chaotic, as hopefully employees will see your office as a way to get away from those conditions at home.

Have a look at the additional tips at the AMEX Open Forum.

Can Your Culture Stomach Intrapreneurship?

Today’s companies are under pressure to become more "intrapreneurial," or dedicated to using entrepreneurial strategies within the context of an organization. However, not all cultures can make it work, and you should understand what’s really essential if you want to go down this path.

Intrapreneurship was first defined in 1978 by Gifford and Elizabeth Pinchot and referred to free market entrepreneurship within the corporate organization. Lately, however, this practice has become a critical means for companies of all sizes to ignite innovation within their ranks and leapfrog ahead of the competition.

According to consulting firm Ernst & Young’s article on intrapreneurship, there are two cultural factors necessary for an intrapreneurship initiative to get off the ground: encouragement and support from senior management and reassurance that even when ideas fail, intrapreneurs will not lose their jobs or be punished in other ways.

This is easier said than done. After all, the post-recession business climate is a risk-averse one. Senior managers’ priority is to keep the organization afloat, sometimes at the expense of driving new growth. Intrapreneurship sounds good written down, but when the time comes to actively implement it, many executives are understandably squeamish. 

One Step at a Time

Some conglomerates are championing the concept anyway. On Fast Company’s co.exist blog, Jennifer Silberman, the vice president of corporate responsibility at Hilton, says her company’s intrapreneurial efforts mostly reside in corporate responsibility (CR) for now.

Silberman claims that some of Hilton’s most significant accomplishments of late, including LightStay (which calculates a hotel’s environmental impact), were developed as a result of intrapreneurship.  “Employees identified the opportunity to create a new product to track the sustainability footprint of our properties,” she says. “This tool was rolled out across the enterprise and has not only resulted in reduced energy, water use, waste and carbon outputs, but also has generated over $147 million in cost savings.”

Check out the full post at the AMEX Open Forum.

Chocolate and Business? Sign Me Up!

What's not to love about a book that uses the analogy of chocolate?

I'm sure Rose Fass felt the same thing as she was writing her new book, The Chocolate Conversation : Lead Bittersweet Change, Transform Your Business.  An experienced business transformation consultant and a former executive at companies like Xerox and Gartner, Rose shows us how leaders can avoid a meltdown and instead drive change by the way they communicate in a language that all stakeholders can understand - just like chocolate!

I asked Rose to share of our top tips for leaders coping with change here:

• When faced with a merger or acquisition, keep in mind you need to establish new standards and rethink your worldview.  Appoint an integration manager to address cultural differences and work to create a third identity.

• Every leader's job is to translate and create an emotional connection with his or her constituents. It’s important that people see themselves in the change that has to happen in your company. You can’t call yourself a leader if no one is following you.

• Craft your message carefully.  Distill it to its essence.  If you use message discipline effectively, it will translate into operational discipline.  Listen to your people, seek feedback, and do something with it.   

Rose uses a lot of big business examples in the book, but I believe the advice she gives about the art of conversation apply in our personal lives as well.  Sometimes, even when you're technically speaking the same language, you have to be a great translator.  This talent can mean the difference between whether a change initiative succeeds or fails.

Is Your Micromanaging Killing Office Morale?

I once worked briefly for a very nice guy.

But I didn’t work for him long, because nice as he was, he didn’t let me do anything. I was accustomed to operating independently, but this guy had to approve every tiny task on every project. And to add insult to injury, he was hard to pin down. I spent several very long weeks staring at the four walls of my cube, hands tied, wishing I could get to work.

A few weeks after I managed to get myself transferred out of that group, I tried calling my office’s customer service department (said office shall remain nameless in order to protect the guilty). As is not uncommon in these situations, I had to talk to a dozen people before I landed on someone who could actually help me. It occurred to me that the previous 11 people at the  office were no different than I was in my last position. We were all unempowered.

As a manager or owner, you probably think you’re a pretty good boss and that your employees enjoy working for you. However, it’s worth taking a step back to assess whether this is really the case. If you have a habit of micromanaging, if you rule from the top down, if your staff seems listless and unmotivated and if you’re experiencing a lot of turnover, then perhaps you need to create a culture of empowerment. Here are five strategies to help you get there.

1. Allow Independent Decision Making

Once your employee has proved to be competent, let her make calls related to her areas of responsibility. Do not insist that she check with you—or anyone else—before moving forward, and for the love of God, don’t second-guess everything she does. Making regular decisions will give her the confidence she needs to be as productive as possible.

2. Let Them Do What You Hired Them to Do

Good managers don’t hire people who are clones of themselves. They hire employees who can supplement their own skill set and enhance the overall capabilities of the organization. Trust your employees to perform the tasks that they are better suited for than you, and provide them with the resources they need to do their jobs quickly and efficiently (software, training, contacts, etc.).

For more where this came from, have a look at my Culture Beat column at the AMEX Open Forum.