Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Beyond Leadership

Beyond Leadership is Horizon Point’s line of resources for managers of people. Managing ourselves is a distinct set of behaviors from managers the work of others, and we are here to help. Read stories in this category if you are ready to take the next step into people leadership (or if you’re looking for articles to send someone else…).

  • Culture Eats Strategy for Lunch: 9 Takeaways from Adam Grant at #SHRM18

    Culture Eats Strategy for Lunch: 9 Takeaways from Adam Grant at #SHRM18

    “The work of culture building is never done.  It’s always a work in progress.” – Adam Grant

    People were excited about the concert Tuesday night at #SHRM18, but I was giddy about hearing Adam Grant speak that morning.  The organizational psychology nerd in me was so excited to hear Adam Grant speak, and his comments did not disappoint.

    Top takeaways from his presentation all centered around company culture:

    1. What got you here won’t get you there. Hire for cultural contribution (if you are a big company).  Cultural fit is still important for startups.

    I think most people miss Adam’s overall point in this.  Many simply hear him say don’t hire for cultural fit.  But he cited a study showing start-ups that focused on hiring for cultural fit above other characteristics had a 0% failure rate, surviving for at least 15 years.  Interestingly though, what happens post IPO is that cultural  fit is the worst way to hire.  As a company grows, you need more change and adaptation. Cultural fit doesn’t sit as well.  Instead, look at what is missing from your culture and hire people that can help you fill gaps and adapt.

    2. Not hiring toxic people is more important than hiring good people. Regardless of company size, hire givers, not takers.

    Adam stated that the cost savings of not hiring a selfish employee are more than twice as valuable as hiring a superstar, or the top 1% of people in terms of performance.  In addition, the negative impact of a taker is more than double to triple the positive impact of hiring a giver.

    This is because givers make cultural contribution.  They 1) share their knowledge 2) make connections and 3) create an environment of sharing.  All of which lead to innovation.  Takers sabotage all of this.

    3. Worried about how to screen out toxic people?  Ask one simple question.

    Adam suggested taking anything you are worried about hurting the culture of your organization and asking candidates how common they think it is.   For example, “What percentage of the population do you think is fundamentally selfish?”  Then it is your job to ask them how they came up with that estimate.  If their answer gets back to the fact that they think people are fundamentally selfish, then they are most likely fundamentally selfish.  Steer clear.

    4. Hire disagreeable givers.  

    People who are takers are not the same thing as people who are disagreeable.  You can be agreeable and be a giver or a taker and be disagreeable and be a giver or a taker.  Think four-box grid. Disagreeable givers aren’t afraid to speak up, saying what no one wants to say, which leads to better results. They are more committed advocates for original thinking and are often disagreeing because they are intensely loyal and passionate about the company and the mission.  You need to hear them; they give through challenging.

    For more on this idea, take a look at Adam’s Ted Talk on the subject.

    5. In order for people and companies to thrive, build a culture that welcomes upward challenge.

    When was the last time you questioned or disagreed with your boss?  Do you feel comfortable doing so?  If not, and if you aren’t alone in your organization, most likely your company isn’t capable of remarkable results.  Adam cited Bridgewater,  a company where, “no one has the right to hold a critical opinion without speaking up about it.”   Their website says the culture is one in which, “meaningful relationships are pursued through radical truth and radical transparency.”   One dimension of performance evaluations at Bridegewater is challenging upward.  People are actually rated on whether or not they challenge their boss and their boss’ boss, all the way up the ladder.   The company has consistently outperformed its competition in the market.

    6. Create a negative feedback video.  

    Most people hate to be challenged and hate to receive negative feedback.  But Adam’s talk emphasized that both are necessary for a great culture to thrive. Great leaders seek out both challenge and negative feedback.  He showed a hilarious video of his colleagues all reading negative feedback they received from students.  When employees saw the negative feedback videos there was an 11% increase in a growth mindset.  Creating such a video shows you can take it and opens people up to realize that there is nothing that can’t be voiced.  It is the beginning of a culture where people can speak truth to ideas.

    7. To communicate original ideas, give people a reference with a tune they know.  

    If you have a truly original idea, most likely people lack the schema or reference point to understand it.  If you can relate your idea to another in a different context (for example,  the match.com for companies and job seekers) people are more likely to understand and be open to your idea. “You have to take your unfamiliar idea and make it familiar,” says Adam.  The more you know outside of your organization and your industry, the better you are at making connections to get your ideas adopted.

    8. People who really believe in a mission and are able to contribute in the most meaningful ways are ruthless prioritizers.

    People in this category are able to not pursue a good idea because it isn’t as good as another idea.  What you aren’t working on is often more important than what you are working on.

    9. Crowdsource questions, problems and requests making it easier for people to be givers. It’s imperative to create channels for knowledge sharing.

    This gives people the opportunity to ask for help, especially when they have an unproven idea.  An innovation tournament where problems and requests are presented and people work together on solving them is a good way to put this idea into action.

     

    Adam Grant’s points at #SHRM18 and in any of his other talks or books show what makes him one of the world’s 10 most influential management thinkers and a part of Fortune’s 40 under 40.  His ideas are 1) grounded in research and 2) unconventional. His ideas disprove the status quo with data and science. He’s the type of scientist-practitioner we should all strive to be.

    Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World

    Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success

     

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    Consider Culture Contribution When Hiring 

    2017 Book of the Year

     

  • Mental Health in the Workplace… What Can You Do?

    Mental Health in the Workplace… What Can You Do?

    Recently I talked about authenticity during employee hardships. With recent events in the news, including the deaths of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, I wanted to dive deeper into how employers can help employees in need.

    Mental health is an ever-growing concern in our nation. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness:

    • Approximately 1 in 5 adults (43.5 millions) in the U.S. experience mental illness in a given year.
    • One in 25 of those Americans suffer a serious mental illness in a given year that substantially interferes with or limits one or more major life activities.
    • 9% of adults in the U.S. have had at least one major depressive episode in the past year.
    • 1% of adults in the U.S. experienced an anxiety disorder such as PTSD, OCD, or specific phobias.

    With mental illness so prevalent in our nation, what can employers do to help employees who suffer from mental illness?

    1. Understand, and make sure employees understand, what mental health benefits are covered under your health insurance plan. Going over the benefits coverage annually during open enrollment is a perfect time to educate employees on what is covered. If an employee comes to you, remind them that their insurance includes coverage for mental health services.
    2. If you don’t already have one, consider adding an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to your benefits package. Employees can contact the EAP confidentially, receive immediate counseling services for work related or personal issues, and if needed, the EAP will assist the employee with finding a mental health professional in their local area. Employers see an increase in productivity, reduced time off, reduced turnover, reduction in work related injuries, and more. It’s a win-win.
    3. Listen. Listen to your employees and take what they say seriously. If you have an employee who comes to you concerned about a co-worker, don’t take their concern lightly. If an employee comes to you to discuss a problem they are having, take the time to sit and really hear what they have to say. Sometimes all that is needed is someone to listen and show compassion. Sometimes more is needed, and that is when #1 and #2 may come in handy.
    4. Understand that sometimes it is bigger than you. There may be cases in which you aren’t equipped to help. I once called the local police and had them conduct a welfare check on an employee who showed signs of extreme mental distress and made an insinuative comment to a coworker one day before leaving work about what he’d do if he had a gun. (I had also provided this employee with information on his mental health coverage and the EAP).

    There are also many programs and resources that employees can access within their communities, as well as online. These include:

    • National Suicide Prevention Lifeline- 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
    • Alabama Department of Mental Health- 1-800-367-0955
    • National Alliance on Mental Health- 1-800-950-NAMI
    • Project Semicolon- projectsemicolon.com

    Remember that mental illness may be covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act. If an employee comes forward with their mental illness and requests accommodations, be sure to follow your organization’s ADA accommodation request procedures. If an employee needs to take leave for a mental illness, be sure to see if they qualify for leave under FMLA.

    For more information on mental health in the workplace, check out the Center for Workplace Mental Health.

  • 6 Ways to Build Energy

    6 Ways to Build Energy

    “…every movement of your body, every emotion you have, and every thought that passes through your mind is an expenditure of energy. Just as everything that happens outside in the physical world requires energy, everything that happens inside requires an expenditure of energy.” From The Untethered Soul

    “Coach, I’m tired,” said one little boy to my husband on his 7-8 year-old baseball team. Practice had only been going on for ten minutes and they hadn’t even been running.

    To which my husband asked, “Why are you tired?”

    “Well, I played at the trampoline park all day.  I’m wore out,” he said.

    This humorous encounter led my husband to set guidelines for the team on what activities were okay for them to engage in prior to their first All-Star tournament game on Saturday.

    Swimming? No. Riding your bike or running around the neighborhood all day?  No.  And definitely no trampoline park.

    My husband’s goal is conserve his players’ energy so they have enough gas in their tanks for a 5:30 pm game in the summer heat.

    He may take baseball too seriously, but I think this encounter holds an important lesson for us all.

    We all have a finite amount of energy to give. Whether it is physical energy as in this example or emotional or mental energy, we often expend it on things and people that do not lead to positive outcomes or results. We come to things that we need to be fully engaged in totally drained.  And it’s not because of the activity in the present, it’s the activity in the past.

    I know I struggle with this, do you?  In thinking about ways to combat it:

    1. Examine your commitments and tasks by things that leave you drained, energized, or neutral.   I’ve seen planners and time management systems organized around this mindset.   It makes a lot of sense.   Also, I would encourage you to analyze your relationships or people by this mindset as well.
    2. Get rid of most of the things that drain you. We’ve all got to do laundry in our life,  whether is actual laundry or metaphorical laundry, that no one find particular energy in. We also have relationships that leave us at a net loss in energy for a period, but dedication to this person(s) is important.  Hello, anyone that has ever been sleep deprived because of a newborn at home. However, much of what drains us is optional.  I would encourage you to eliminate at least two things this week that drain you.  Say no to something.
    3. For the draining tasks you just can’t abandon, chunk them together and schedule time to get them done. Often being able to check off multiple things on your to-do list at once, even if they are tasks you dislike, can lead to increased energy.
    4. Add one thing to your week that builds energy for you.  It could be a workout, a good night’s sleep, or a particular activity (like what I’m doing now, writing energizes me) that leads to more energy.  Schedule a time to do this each week like it is any other appointment you can’t take off your calendar.
    5. If you are a part of a team at work and/or a team at home, make your draining, energizing and neutral list as a group.   You’ll probably be surprised to find that you aren’t assigning responsibilities based on what builds energy for individuals and thus the team.  Swap tasks around as needed and appropriate.
    6. Realize everything you do is an opportunity to shine your light. Light requires energy. Ask yourself regularly, Am I shining or am I not?

    “The more you stay open, the more energy flow you can build…it starts flowing out of you…..What’s more, the energy [flowing out of you] affects other people.  People can pick up on your energy, and you’re feeding them with this flow.  You become a source of light for those around you.” From The Untethered Soul

     

  • Your Title Should Not Define You

    Your Title Should Not Define You

    Guest blog written by: Steve Graham

    Job titles serve a purpose. Titles identify roles and responsibilities within an organization.  They should not define who you are. Many of my coaching clients have enjoyed successful careers, but they desire to make a change.  Too often, my clients are defined by their title and this makes it harder for them to make the desired change.   For example, a top performing sales professional may identify as, “only a sales person”, without understanding who they truly are.  What makes them a top sales performer is more about who they are than a title.

    What defines you has been part of your story since birth.  These include your values, experiences, beliefs, motivators, and other influences.  When we allow our titles to define who we are it limits our potential.  It creates barriers that do not allow for us to see the “who” we are.  What defines you is bigger than any title.  Titles come and go. What defines you is constant.

    According to Gallup research, 55 percent of people in the United States define themselves by their job.  This data is not new and it has been consistent throughout multiple Gallup polls since 1989.  This Gallup study also found that people who love what they do are less concerned about their titles.  Your personal brand has nothing to do with your title.  When I work with clients on personal branding, we start with finding out what defines them.  Your career journey should be guided by what interests you and what you are naturally good at doing.

    In the exploration phase of defining “who” you are, various self-reflection activities and assessments can be used as resources.  I recommend using more than one resource to help in this process.  Two favorite assessments for helping clients define their brand are Gallup’s StrengthsFinder 2.0  and The VIA Survey of Character Strengths.   In my experience, no one assessment can provide all the information you need to define the “who” you are, and that is foundational to developing your personal brand. Consider these steps to help you:

    • Listen to what others say about you. What consistent feedback do you hear?
    • Take some assessments that measure personality and behavioral traits. Look for patterns or consistency in the data.
    • Self-reflection. What do you think about most? What inspires and motivates you?
    • What do you do best? Think about this deeply, what comes naturally to you?

    Another exercise is asking clients to introduce themselves by their name only.  Do not automatically give your title or where you work.  Many people are used to including their title and where they work in social settings.  Break the habit of connecting what you do with who you are.  Of course, in some situations, it is required that you mention your title and where you work during introductions.  If your self-worth is fueled by your title, you will not be well prepared for life issues—like job loss or demotion.  As a kid I enjoyed reading Curious George.  He was always exploring and getting into trouble, but I liked how he was courageous and most of all curious.  You are never too old to explore new things. Take time to explore the “who” you are.

    For decades career coaches have talked about transferrable skills.  These skills are more about what defines you.  A good sales person shares attributes with those who work in fields like fund-raising (development) and recruiting.  The titles are different but what drives the top performers in those fields is what defines them.  It sounds simple, however, some people have a hard time defining the “who they are” apart from their title.  There is more to you than a title.  Remember that titles identify and the “who” defines.

     

    About the Author: 

    Steve Graham serves as vice president for marketing, HR business partner and college instructor. He holds graduate degrees in management and higher education. As a life-long learner, he has additional graduate and professional education in executive and professional coaching, health care administration and strategic human resource management. Steve is also the Founder and President of Valiant Coaching & Talent Development, LLC.

    He is a certified HR professional with The Society for Human Resource Management, certified coach with the International Coach Federation and a Global Career Development Facilitator. His professional memberships include: The Society for Human Resource Management, the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration, Association for Talent Development and International Coach Federation.

  • The 2018 Edition of HR’s Biggest Pain Points

    The 2018 Edition of HR’s Biggest Pain Points

    Each year at the Alabama SHRM State Conference, we survey participants to gain insights into what their biggest pain points are. Before I even looked at the data this year, my guess was that recruiting was at the top of the list or has at least risen to the top of the list. With the unemployment rate now lower than 4% national wide, the pain of finding talent is real.

    But what we saw in the results left talent sourcing/acquisition in the middle of the pack:

    Tied for the highest pain points were leadership training and employee development.  If we look at the data over the three years that we have done the survey, these are both still the top two, with employee development being the highest and leadership training coming in a close second.

    Maybe these are the focus because of the need to retain top talent so that recruiting doesn’t have to become a pain point.

    Of course this is in no way a scientific study and the sample size was small, but it is interesting to consider if these are the biggest pain points, what can be done about them?

    I would suggest the following:

    Radical Candor

    Work Rules

     

    • Create a structured Leadership Training/Development Program.  You can customize this for your company with a reputable vendor or you can select an off-the-shelf program that is right for you.  The key is to make sure the program:
    1. Builds self-awareness in participants (a good program incorporates some type of validated assessment)
    2. Builds understanding of others and helps participants connect their self-awareness to influencing others through self-monitoring
    3. Helps people to think differently and ultimately behave differently
    4. In order to drive home positive behavioral outcomes, incorporating some type of action plan/homework should be required post-training
    5. Should gather individual and organizational metrics to monitor the success of the program

     

    Some resources to consider through Horizon Point to help you with designing or purchasing a leadership training program can be found here:  Key Training Topics. This also includes information about a few of our leadership training partners and their programs:

    I also like these providers/programs:

     

    Sometimes we neglect employee development and leadership training because we just don’t know where to start.  Hopefully these resources will help to get you started if these two things are your biggest pain points.

    What are you biggest pain points?

     

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