A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

It may sound like complete heresy, but entrepreneurs rarely build companies—they found them.

Founding a company requires a product vision and enough passion to draw a few others to the cause.

Building a company in the 21^st Century requires the ability to both lead and manage.

“Increasingly, the people who are the most effective are those who essentially are both managers and leaders.” –HBS professor David Thomas

Today’s knowledge workers, especially the type that gravitate to and succeed at startups, demand both leadership and management skills from those in charge.

And the key attribute is communication.

“Communication is the real work of leadership. Great leaders spend the bulk of their time communicating, and they know how to employ all three of Aristotle’s rhetorical elements.” –Nitin Nohria, Dean, Harvard Business School.

The best communicators are also the best listeners; moreover, they listen to everyone not just those in certain positions or at X level and above.

But listening and communicating require time and energy and many entrepreneurs are too busy.

They are company founders, not company builders.

Which are you?

Option Sanity™ ensures fairness
Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock process.  It’s so easy a CEO can do it.

Warning.

Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.” Use only as directed.
Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.

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A Friday series exploring Startups and the people who make them go. Read all If the Shoe Fits posts here

Experience teaches that if you absolutely need information frame it as a  question and then shut up.

It’s a tried and true method that every good sales person knows (they call them closing questions) and is guaranteed to get whomever you are talking with to answer specifically.

For most people it’s a diffucult strategy to employ in spite of working 99% of the time.

Often the silence stretches, creating pressure to fill the void, so the askER enumerates, adding detail or “what I mean is…” and the askEE is off the hook and rarely responds to the original question.

Even when the askER stays quiet their mental mouth is moving, framing responses, organizing rebuttals, responding to possible scenarios.

Whether physical or mental, your thoughts drive the words and the more thinking the less listening, because the focus is elsewhere.

In order to get funded you need to hear investors.

In order to sell you need to hear your customers.

In order to manage you need to hear your people.

You can’t hear if you are talking.

Shutting up is key and that means shutting your mental mouth along with your physical one.

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Come visit Option Sanity for an easy-to-understand, simple-to-implement stock process.  It’s so easy a CEO can do it.

Warning.

Do not attempt to use Option Sanity™ without a strong commitment to business planning, financial controls, honesty, ethics, and “doing the right thing.” Use only as directed.
Users of Option Sanity may experience sudden increases in team cohesion and worker satisfaction. In cases where team productivity, retention and company success is greater than typical, expect media interest and invitations as keynote speaker.

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Where does culture originate? How does it spread?

If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been asked these questions or read an article about them I could retire on a private island. Seriously.

Because I’m still being asked I thought I would offer a KISS (keep it simple, stupid) style answer, one that is easy to understand, easy to remember and (relatively) easy to influence.

• Culture originates with the boss and affects everyone below that level.
  It’s your MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy™), i.e., what’s in your head, your values, beliefs and how you implement them, that defines the culture of your organization, whether an entire company or a small team.
• Culture spreads through communication.
  Another MAP function; the way you communicate is a mindset, grounded in your attitude towards others, which, in turn, is based on your personal philosophy.

Make no mistake, culture always flows down—even when radical ideas take root that rise up from the workers.

Call it a “percolation culture” and it only happens when the culture already in place enables ideas to rise and doesn’t kill the messenger if they don’t fly.

In short, if you want to know your culture look deeply into a mirror and listen to all your communications, whether word or action.

And if you feel the need to change your culture use RampUp’s tagline as your mantra: to change what they do change how you think.

Flickr image credit: ZedBee | Zoë Power

See all mY generation posts here.

Successful communications go a long way to sustaining successful relationships.

Relationships are a function of human interaction and whether they are short or long you need to communicate.

When those involved are peers, as in a marriage, good communication is a responsibility of both.

But when one person is subordinate to the other, such as parent and child, it is up to the parent to make sure that whatever is being communicated is understood.

Human interactions in companies are also relationships and follow the same rules.

If you are a manager how do you make sure you are heard?

It’s pretty simple as long as you remember to do it every time, no exceptions.

Did you know that all people have a mental model through which they hear?

That means their understanding of the words you use may have little-to-nothing to do with what you meant when you said them.

It’s a grave tactical error to assume anything else

There are 3 actions you must do to assure that you are heard correctly.

1. Start by carefully explaining your model and your assumptions when giving direction;
2. give your people clear, complete information on the subject. This includes what you want done, project outlines, deadlines, everything—you do not want them to have to keep coming back and asking for more—getting information should not be like pulling teeth; and then
3. check by having them explain it back to you; it’s the only way to be sure that they have actually heard and understood your information, rather than their version of it;
4. do it today, do it tomorrow, do it all the time.

It may feel awkward at first, but eventually it will become second nature.

The more these actions are needed the greater the likelihood of them being perceived as nuisance, but not doing them is a career-killer.

Your payback will come in rising productivity, more motivated people, and lower turnover—all positively affecting your personal bottom line.

Image credit: Torley on flickr

“Clint” used the ‘Chat with Miki” box in the right-hand frame to ask me this question.

Have you ever heard this?  “People usually won’t change until the pain of NOT changing exceeds the pain of changing.”

Since this is a pretty common idea I thought I’d share my ideas with everybody.

I’ve heard this and many variations of it over the years, especially when applied to the workplace where it becomes a form of management by threat

For example, if your company or boss decides on a change and people’s jobs hinge on that change, they will change.

The problem is that they will also disengage at some level, maybe a little, but sometimes a lot. Not always obviously, but over time it will show in lower productivity, less creativity and, eventually, higher turnover.

Clint then asked if I thought that vested self-interest could be used instead of increasing the pain.

The answer is absolutely.

VSI is the perfect opposite to increased pain.

By rethinking a desired action, such as change, and presenting it in terms of its value to employees you can trip the VSI switch—but not if it’s a con.

As I’ve said a million times, people are not stupid; if the desired action is not really in their best interests there is nothing you can do that will convince them. VSI will still kick in, but the result will be resume polishing, lots of LinkedIn action and conversations with recruiters.

Clint decided that by using vested self-interest he could reduce the pain of changing. He plans to connect his organization’s goals to his people’s goals, which will effectively reduce the pain and increase the likelihood that they will do what he needs them to do—painlessly.

Handy little item my chat box. Try it, I’m usually here.

Image credit: nkzs on sxc.hu

The other day I was asked, “When do you lead/manage rationally vs. emotionally?”

First, let’s define the terms so there’s no confusion in how they’re being used.

Rationally refers to communicating and appealing to those who are more cerebral, while emotionally means focusing more on feelings—kind of a left brain/right brain—not that one type is cold and the other overwrought.

People hear in different ways and it’s the responsibility of a speaker to communicate so that all can hear.

Over the years, I’ve been told many times by people in managerial roles that having to constantly alter how they present information is hard work and they believe that it’s up to the listener to understand what they’re saying.

As you might guess, I have little tolerance for this kind of thinking, especially when it persists after significant educational efforts. What these people never seem to get is that if “they” can’t hear you “they” certainly won’t do what you want.

It’s not just a choice of rational vs. emotional, it’s understanding your audience and then speaking appropriately.

For instance, if you’re presenting plans for a new building to investors, business, the community and the media you might be inclined to concentrate on relative costs and ROI, since you want to win over the money crowd, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore the esthetics and ambiance.

First, you need to think about the different viewpoints and craft your presentation to include both types of information, even when it’s stuff about which you don’t care, because that way you have it all at your fingertips.

During the presentation a money person suggests that construction costs could be lower by using smaller windows and lower ceilings, but you know that won’t fly with the community and business interests, since they’re concerned more with how the building will look and feel.

If you’ve done your homework, you can show that higher ceilings and larger windows have been proven to increase worker productivity and the improved ambiance means higher rents.

Each group will focus on the information addressing their primary interest with the rest being relegated to backup position, but the important thing is that each heard something positive that directly addressed their concerns.

Doing this is a habit you can cultivate and the fastest way to do so is to make yourself hyper aware of anything that that brings the thought “who cares,” since that’s the information/viewpoint you’re most likely to skip.

None of this is rocket science. It only requires self-awareness that’s backed by a passion to be heard. It’s also not a guarantee that people will agree, but they will hear you and that’s where you need to start.

Image credit: roland

The word on the street is that people hate change.

But another school of thought says it’s not change, but how change is presented and implemented.

I agree with both statements.

Change must be presented intelligently, i.e., in ways that the people involved see the change as positive for themselves and for their situation.

This is the overt side of change that, at its best, addresses both the right and left side of your brain.

But what about the covert side of your brain—the part ruled by habit?

Anybody who has ended a habit, such as smoking, or modified an unconscious characteristic, such as rapid speaking, knows just how difficult it is to change/modify things of which you’re not even aware.

It is this covert side that makes change so difficult.

Any major action or situation has dozens of tiny associated habits and every one of them needs to change or, at least, be modified, because habits are never really broken—they are replaced.

For example, it is the hundreds of covert habits that make changing jobs so traumatic. On top of all the biggies—new company/culture/job/boss/colleagues—are the minutiae of functioning—route to work/parking/mass transit/restrooms/eating/etc.—this list is far longer than the overt list—and far more ignored.

Whether you are managing change for your team or changing yourself, ignoring the covert side allows all those niggling little habits to come back and bite you imperiling your success.

Look at both sides and make lists of what you find and think about how to deal with each, and don’t try to do it alone, it isn’t necessary and it makes a difficult effort harder.

Image credit: MeHere on sxc.hu

See all mY generation posts here.

Reams have been written extolling the virtues of listening.

Consultants and coaches spend hours convincing management to listen to their customers and employees.

Therapists and relationship coaches advocate listening as the foundation of building or healing a marriage.

Psychologists and experts admonish parents to listen to their kids.

But did you know that the secret of listening is found in its letters.

‘Listen’ contains the same letters as ‘silent’, which is logical since you can’t do one without the other!

Image credit: ky_olsen on flickr