Deserving the Best on Your Team - Winning the War for Talent from the Inside Out

Why do some companies have content, loyal, and highly productive employees while other companies can claim none of these and only wish they could?

Is it that the smarty pants company where everybody’s happy has the nicest building? Is it because of the awesome website? Is it the cool products?

The answers are NO, NO, and NO! Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not like there’s anything wrong with any of these things, it’s just that I don’t believe it’s necessarily about trappings, flash, or hardware. I believe it’s about deserving.

How does your company ensure it “deserves” the best talent?

First, your company must “Invest like you care” – People that will win for you must be valued the way employees believe they should be – not just based on the balance sheet. If employees are treated as liabilities versus assets, you can forget loyalty and passion.

And what does “invest” really mean? I believe this includes 4 key factors: (1) how you find and secure the best talent available; (2) how you pay people what they are worth; (3) how you ensure people have the tools they need to succeed; and (4) how you enable employees to live a fulfilling and balanced life.

The possibilities are endless for a company that has the right people, the best people. If you don’t invest to find, pay, support, and fulfill the best people, can you really expect to get and keep them?

After making the right investments, it’s time to “Listen like you care.” People need to know they matter, and the best way to show it is to really listen to them. Just consider the legendary Harvard business study that described “The Hawthorne Effect.” The study was designed to test changes in productivity resulting from changes in the work environment.

In the study, researchers had the lighting increased in the workplace and saw productivity rise. Then they decreased the lighting and assumed productivity would decrease – but again it increased. The Hawthorne researchers had stumbled upon the fact that workers were just responding to being paid attention to!

Now couple that result with how you personally feel about being listened to and having others demonstrate they believe your opinion is important – isn’t that a great source of fulfillment, loyalty, and motivation?

So maybe your company invests and listens well, but you can still struggle mightily to increase employee contentment, loyalty, and productivity unless you also “Trust like you care.” In The 8th Habit, From Effectiveness to Greatness by Steven R. Covey, the results of a Harris Poll revealed that only 15% believe they work in a high-trust environment. Can we really be content, loyal, and productive when trust does not exist?

Trust comes from many things, obviously including people feeling they are safe from harm. But how about people feeling they can be what they are and do not have to conform unreasonably? I believe that if you want the greatest commitment from people, you’re far more likely to get it if people are asked to be great at what they are, versus trying to be what you want them to be. Leveraging people’s strengths is the ultimate act of leadership trust.

I recall from my own sometimes-painful senior leadership experience that trust is defined by much more than people feeling safe from harm. What I learned is that people really need to be believed in, and also that accomplishing this requires true leadership greatness.

Ask yourself if your company deserves to get and keep the best people. I suggest you consider using these key factors – investing, listening, and trusting – as a checklist to assess your company’s leadership greatness. Ask yourself if your company really cares.

Thanks for sharing time with me and I welcome your thoughts and comments.

A quick update on my search consultancy: I have had the great pleasure of receiving a number of recent referrals to new clients by existing clients and friends in the market. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate these expressions of confidence. Please keep in mind that I am always interested in meeting smart, sophisticated, and principled companies that welcome the value that our firm’s professional search consultancy brings to them. The right people are hard to find and even harder to match to a culture, and I’m proud to be able to help my clients accomplish these goals.

Book Recommendation: The 8th Habit, From Excellence to Greatness – Steven R. Covey

Sincerely,

Jeff Black, Principal Consultant

McDermott & Bull Executive Search

Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 753-1700 ext. 310

2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618

black@mbsearch.net www.mbsearch.net http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/

Relationship Story - Building a Subculture of Starfish

A Relationship Story
Building a Subculture of Starfish

While polls show that confidence in our democracy and our government is near an all-time low, volunteerism and civic participation since the 1970’s are near all-time highs, with 27% of Americans volunteering in 2006. Political scientists are perplexed about this. If confidence is so low, how is it that increasing numbers of people are volunteering?

In the book The Starfish and the Spider by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom, recommended to me by my friend Russ Williams who is the founder of the Passkeys Foundation Jefferson Center for Character Education, the power of decentralized groups and movements is examined - the power of leaderless organizations.

The book describes how a spider dies when its head is cut off, but when you cut a starfish into pieces, each piece just grows into another starfish. There is no head and no leader. The book also describes how decentralized movements also share common characteristics including being driven by a unifying ideology and being inspired by a catalyst.

It appears that an ideology in our country is driving increased volunteerism, even in the face of unprecedented Machiavellian forces and an “it’s all about me” and “empty glitz” culture. What can we do, as individuals and in our companies, to contribute to growth of the movement to do well by doing good (a phrase coined by Benjamin Franklin)?

We can contribute to this emerging subculture of difference makers in two ways – through our works and through our words. We all know that others (employees and our own kids) learn more from what we do than what we say; we must actively set an example. However, our choice of language and the power of our words can set a tone to encourage growing momentum toward difference making.

Here is what seems to be a good example. Within McDermott & Bull, the firm where I serve as an executive search consultant, a “starfish” kind of movement has begun – spearheaded by Jenn Moody, one of our team members. On September 23rd, a team of 20+ from our firm is participating in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure to fight breast cancer, a disease that affects 1 of every 8 women (yes, that’s right, 1 in 8!)

With Jenn encouraging us (our catalyst), and inspired by the Mother of another of our team members currently recovering from the disease (our ideology), we have joined this cause to raise both awareness about the disease and money to help serve those who can’t afford testing or treatment. The volunteer effort among the people in our firm is a great example of a decentralized movement that will help to change the priorities, language, and the example set by those of us who participate.

Why should we consider doing things like this? Why not just go on our Machiavellian way and maximize wealth and pleasure without spending time and energy trying to help those who have less than we do?

Beyond it being just the right thing to do, there is also a very practical argument. Through our efforts to support underprivileged people and communities, some who otherwise may make choices out of desperation or disillusionment, we may help to reduce poor choices; I would argue that desperation and disillusionment contribute to a lot of ills in our society, so working to minimize them is in the best interest of everyone.

How much better could our world be if volunteerism, and the caring that goes along with it, could increase from the current 27% to even just 30-35%? It’s not so much to ask - the 27% number was only 21% less than 20 years ago. Our works and our words can help to make this possible. Let’s all consider what we can do to help make the example greater through our works and the voice louder through our words.

Thanks for sharing your time with me. I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Recommended Links: Passkeys Foundation Jefferson Center for Character Education – Russ Williams http://www.passkeys.org/index.html

Book Recommendation: The Starfish and the Spider by Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom

Sincerely, Jeff BlackPrincipal Consultant, McDermott & Bull Executive SearchCell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 753-1700 ext. 3102 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618
black@mbsearch.net www.mbsearch.net http://www.blogger.com/Application%20Data/Microsoft/Word/www.mbsearch.net

Relationship Story - A Glimpse of Hometown Reality

A Relationship Story
A Glimpse of Hometown Reality

This Spring I traveled with my great friends Tom, Roger, and Bob on our annual ball park pilgrimage, this time to Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and capped off at Yankee Stadium in New York. This would be fulfilling enough for a bunch of baseball nuts, but it seems we always have to make it a full-scale cultural experience as well.

This time, just as we had the year before in Roger’s New Jersey hometown, we took a side trip to visit Bob’s hometown in New Castle, Pennsylvania. The impact on all of us was thoroughly unexpected and taught two big lessons for me – one personal and one professional. I think you all will be able to relate as well.

Bob wanted to know better what the town his folks grew up in was like. New Castle had been a thriving city in the first half of the 20th century right up until about the time Bob’s folks moved the family to California.

The town park must have been an obvious source of pride with a wonderful meeting hall, a giant community swimming pool, and a beautifully crafted lattice-covered merry-go-round. You could envision the bustle of activity in those early days with hundreds of kids swimming on summer days and a festive carnival atmosphere in a beautiful hometown setting.

However, what we saw was something else, something sad. What we saw was a town that time had passed by.

The meeting hall was still being used by a dwindling group of aging long-time residents, but the dance club itself was doing all the work to keep things going and the place looked rundown. Down a little hill was the intricate lattice building where a merry-go-round once stood but had long since vanished. Across a bridge and up a hill was what remained of the pool and locker rooms, now chained up, waterless, and covered with the graffiti of the bored remaining youth of the town.

Stopping to talk to a man who was there with his little girl we were struck by his comment about how the town offered no opportunity for the young people, only minimum wage jobs. You see, the town is a bit too far from Pittsburgh for a reasonable commute, and all the young folks cannot wait to move away.

None of this seems too surprising, but the ironic and powerful images were the plaques all around the park that proudly proclaimed the major park renovation project funded by the State just 15 years ago. Just imagine the passion of the civic leaders that lobbied hard to make this happen, yet there were really no signs that the effort had any lasting effect, as even this facelift had long-since fallen.

It seemed to all of us that the town could not see what an anachronism it had sadly become, holding on to hopes that the Music Man scene of the uniformed brass band marching on parade would stay true for New Castle forever.

For me there are two parallels that hit me hard. The personal one is watching our two college-age daughters establish themselves and “grow away” from Laura and me. It’s easy to try to hold on too tight. I’ll bet a lot of you can relate.

At the same time I can’t help but feel that many businesses struggle to face a rapidly-changing world as creative competition has crept in and many new options like globalization are an ever-present force.

Parents and businesses alike are faced with the same challenge – to avoid the trap of holding on too tightly to their Music Man ideal in the face of grim reality.

New Castle, Pennsylvania has not had a clear view of reality and seems to be losing the war. In our families and our companies we must not allow ourselves to suffer the same fate. We must grasp the challenge of releasing control and embracing the new world we face. Our kids, our customers, and our family and business stakeholders deserve no less.

Thanks for sharing time with me. I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Sincerely,

Jeff Black
Principal Consultant, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 753-1700 ext. 310
2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618
black@mbsearch.net www.mbsearch.net http://www.blogger.com/www.mbsearch.net

A Relationship Story - Igniting the Creative Spark

A Relationship Story
Igniting the Creative Spark

Creativity is the fuel source for innovation and growth in successful businesses. It’s true for me in my McDermott & Bull retained search practice and it’s equally true for major enterprises like Ingram Micro, The Capital Group, and The Irvine Company. For all of us, unleashing success could be a function of unlocking creativity. So how does it work?

After doing some reading on this subject, I realized this could be a perfect opportunity to learn what our community thinks about igniting creativity. Recently I asked all of you:

“Think about creativity in organizations. Do you believe that creativity is better maximized in organizations through a culture that strongly encourages individuality or one that strongly encourages teaming?”

I received a staggering 575 responses, and I thank you all for that. The community response was a whopping 75% majority believing creativity is better fostered in organizations that emphasize teaming versus individuality.

Also, 10% of the people wouldn’t or couldn’t answer the question. Of course, it’s obvious the question was limiting and simplistic, but it wasn’t a trick question. You see, during my reading on this subject I had a hunch about what most business people might believe about this. Yes, in fact, the experts disagree with our majority. I thought it might be fascinating to juxtapose the prevailing perceptions against the empirical evidence. Here’s what I learned:

First, my friend Bertha Masuda, Founder and Principal of the Compensation Solutions Consulting firm Vivient Consulting, had shared an article with me called “Igniting the Creative Spark” by Professor Barry Staw from the U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business.

Staw’s 15 years of research on creativity contended that, by every measure, groups that encourage individualism proved more creative than groups emphasizing teaming, and the advantages of an individualistic culture are especially important when innovation is the explicit goal. Now don’t think I’m suggesting there is no value in teaming, just stay with me here…

Soon after reading this article I read a fascinating book called The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki. It describes how the solutions derived from the collective wisdom of the crowd are always better than the solution of even the most prestigious expert. However - and here is the most compelling learning - the members of the crowd must be sufficiently independent to allow their individual creativity to combine into a “perfect” answer. Answers from teams that lacked member independence proved ineffective.

Surowiecki suggested that issues such as peer pressure and “groupthink” can significantly stifle the expression of individual creativity in a team setting.

An example of valuing the individual can be found in one of our most iconic modern institutions – Google (a McDermott & Bull client, by the way). The bright Googlers get to spend 20% of their time free to pursue projects of their choice, and many of Google’s best ideas have been generated as a function of this unique practice.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that 75% of us are wrong. Teaming is highly valued by all of us. No one would question that great ideas are fueled by people working together. However, a zeal for teaming as a panacea for every approach and solution may dilute the extraordinary power of individual creativity in organizations. So test the experts! Here’s an idea you could try with your teams:

For your next brainstorming, instead of people attending without thinking in advance, try asking them to work on ideas individually. Even consider asking them to send ideas in anonymously, especially if people might be unwilling to share their thoughts in a group. Just imagine the power of a brainstorming if you really had all the ideas instead of just the ones people will blurt out in a meeting. If the experts are right at all, maybe the team’s true potential might be realized.

Thank you for sharing time with me. I welcome your thoughts and comments. I would be pleased to serve as a speaker for your companies or groups on subjects pertaining to acquiring and keeping the best talent, and of course, please let me know if I can assist with the talent acquisition needs of your company or others you know. Thank you.

Links and References:

Bertha Masuda – Vivient Consulting www.vivient.com

www.ingrammicro.com www.capgroup.com www.irvinecompany.com

Article Reference: “Individualism-Collectivism and Group Creativity” by Barry Staw and Jack Goncalo, published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, May 2006.

Book Recommendation: The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki.

Sincerely,

Jeff Black
Principal Consultant, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 753-1700 ext. 310
2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618
black@mbsearch.net www.mbsearch.net http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/

A Relationship Story - The Entrepreneur in Us All

A Relationship Story
The Entrepreneur in Us All

What does it really mean to be entrepreneurial? It’s easy to think of “entrepreneur” from a narrow-view perspective – the business person running his own show. I can relate to this view, as I never thought of myself as entrepreneurial when I was in my corporate life, and I truly feel like I’m now “running my own show” (even though I am part of a wonderful firm) since it’s really up to me to build my own business.

However, there is a more universal meaning of “entrepreneurial” that can be identified with by so many more people…

Here’s what I mean. Think about the choices you face every day relative to: (1) doing things the way they have always been done, or (2) trying something new. Just being brave enough to envision new possibilities is really entrepreneurial.

The creativity to envision new ideas, coupled with the nerve to step out and try them - key elements of an entrepreneurial life. You don’t have to run your own business to be a difference maker. You just have to broaden your view of possibility.

Here are some great examples:

“Entrepreneur” is: The ability to see things differently from others and help them learn.

“Entrepreneur” is: Finding ways to waste less and less of your time (and life) by doing things smarter all the time.

“Entrepreneur” is (even this): Proactively solving a problem between yourself and another person, thereby making the relationship work productively versus counterproductively.

Many of us who do not qualify under the conventional definition of entrepreneur may really be: (1) changing ourselves and others for the better in behavior or thought, (2) adding significant value to people and circumstances through creative energy, or (3) living bravely by trusting our own instincts and doing what we think is right.

People who do these things are entrepreneurial just like business owners. They take risks, they are passionate about their ideas and beliefs, and they care about themselves and others enough to try and make a difference. If you are one of these people, give yourself a gift by recognizing these as achievements, give yourself credit for them, and look for ways you can help others see the value they bring to their own life by doing the same.

In the inventive and enlightening marketing book for entrepreneurs, First, Best, or Different by John Bradley Jackson, a wealth of ideas are shared about how the entrepreneur can best position for success. While the book is designed for business owners under the conventional definition of “entrepreneur”, its simple and straightforward thinking offers insight to us all about enriching ourselves in our new and broader definition of living entrepreneurially.

Thank you for sharing time with me. I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Book Recommendation: First, Best, or Different - What Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know About Niche Marketing by John Bradley Jackson. View John’s Blog at http://firstbestordifferent.com/blog

Sincerely,

Jeff Black
Principal Consultant, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 753-1700 ext. 310
2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618
black@mbsearch.net www.mbsearch.net http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/

A Relationship Story - Leadership Part II, The Servant a Team Deserves

A Relationship Story
Leadership Part II - The Servant a Team Deserves

I want to thank you all for an extraordinary response to my recent story entitled “Shining the Hot Lights on a Leadership Lesson”. I received 200 responses from you with great feedback and strong feelings about leadership. If you missed this story, it’s pasted in below so you may review it if you wish.

That story discussed an intentionally limited view of what makes a great leader – the gift of trust and creating a “community” in the team. Many of your observations addressed other tools that make a great leader, and those thoughts are absolutely correct:

(1) Be strategically visionary
(2) Choose the right people
(3) Ensure ideal business processes
(4) Set appropriate goals
(5) Measure accountability
(6) Drive execution

Of course, a great leader has to ensure all of these things happen.

Now here I go again with my deviant approach. I believe a leader can be effective with all 6 of these tools and still fail to build a great business. These 6 tools themselves cannot serve to build loyalty and passion in people; they do not create the synergy among passionate people that makes a business great. I learned this lesson (a bit painfully) during my own experience leading businesses.

For 10 years, I led Hughes/Raytheon Services businesses of up to 1000 employees and $130M in annual revenue. These 6 leadership tools were required in the business, and we employed them well. However, 360 reviews showed there was a lack of passion and commitment among the team, and this was hard for me to understand or to control.

Also during these years, I noticed how extraordinarily well people related to my friend, mentor, and senior staff advisor, retired Navy Captain Ed Whelan. There was a natural comfort level everyone felt in working with Ed; he seemed to bring the best out in everyone. As a mentor Ed tried to help me see the way my leadership behaviors affected the feelings and commitment of the people on the team. I didn’t get it.

As my leadership career developed and expanded, I took on new challenges and solved big problems, but I didn’t find the key to earning the heartfelt passion of the teams I led. There was something missing.

Fast forward to early 2005; I was beginning my 3rd year with McDermott & Bull after having decided to leave my corporate life behind. I was feeling increasingly comfortable and effective as a search consultant and had built a strong practice. About this time, I was loaned a book called The Servant by James Hunter. The book described what I believe is the essence of true leadership – selfless, authentic, genuine, and passionate commitment to serving those you lead.

Up to this 2-year point I believed the difference between my old and new lives was that consulting matched my strengths so much better. While this is true, The Servant showed me the real biggest factor was that I had not sufficiently understood the keys to successful Servant Leadership. This was a big hole in my leadership skill set. While I could use the 6 tools above intellectually, Servant Leadership just isn’t intellectual.

Looking back, I now understand what was so special about my friend and mentor Ed. He naturally understood the role of Servant to others - the essence of true leadership. He would have the right answer for these key questions: Do those you serve grow as individuals? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous and more likely themselves to become servants?

I think people deserve a leader who is a true servant, and for the business, there is no replacement for the passion, loyalty, and commitment this can build inside those who we lead.

Thank you for sharing time with me. I welcome your thoughts and comments.

Book Recommendation: The Servant by James Hunter

Sincerely,

Jeff Black
Principal Consultant, McDermott & Bull Executive Search
Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 753-1700 ext. 310
2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618
black@mbsearch.net www.mbsearch.net http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/

A Relationship Story - Goodwill Commitment, a Tribute

A Relationship Story

Goodwill Commitment - A Tribute

2006 was a great year in many ways for me and I hope for all of you as well, and this note will serve as my version of a New Year message, but for me it’s much more.

2006 also brought a couple of extraordinary new challenges to my life. During this year of great experiences in my family, my business, my volunteer activities, and many personal highlights, I also suffered the loss of dear loved ones including my own “Pop”, Charlie Black, and my closest friend in my business life, Chris Cottey.

My Dad squeezed every drop out of his wonderful 84 years, and there are really no regrets. I’m proud to have served on his ship. Losing Chris is a lot different, and there is no way to feel anything but regret about the great years lost. Yes, this is sad, but I’m not looking for anyone to send me a message of condolence. That is not why I needed to write this story.

I want to share a great learning that I have taken away from these experiences, one that I did not expect. You see, it started when I became the unexpected beneficiary of a wonderful piece of life called hospice.

In case you are unfamiliar with hospice, it is a process that allows people to pass away in the most peaceful and nurturing environment possible – in their own homes among loved ones. Hospice is great for the person who is passing, but our hospice experience offered an unexpected epiphany. You see, the really big impact was not on my Dad, it was on me.

These wonderful hospice people make sure every interaction with family members is as caring and sensitive as possible. Their objective with everyone is to “do no harm”. Their deep and heartfelt caring was clear in how they treated me. It made everything so much easier. And while experiencing my loss, to my surprise, I found that I was being taught an extraordinary lesson about my own personal responsibility in dealing with others.

I realized that I must commit myself to treat others with goodwill at heart; I must do it all the time, one interaction after another.

But being realistic, it’s not as if every interaction is easy and positive. Sometimes news may not be good and tough decisions have to be made. However for me, even when the news is hard to deliver, goodwill from the heart must be the foundation I draw on for both positive and the more difficult constructive/negative interactions.

Living this way will serve as the greatest tribute I can offer to both my Dad and my friend Chris.

So Happy New Year my friends; for me, it’s truly a Brand New Year, and I plan to be a better person for the lessons I learned from hospice.

You know, I really could have learned the same things before, if I had just paid closer attention to the way people were treated by Charlie Black and Chris Cottey.

So, how about you? Are there special people in your life that could inspire you and change you…but it’s not happening? Well, just like me, maybe you need to just pay a little closer attention.

Thanks for sharing time with me. I wish you all an extraordinarily fulfilling 2007.

Sincerely,

Jeff Black

Principal Consultant, McDermott & Bull Executive Search

Cell: (714) 356-1949 Office: (949) 753-1700 ext. 310

2 Venture, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92618

black@mbsearch.net www.mbsearch.net http://www.jeffblackmcdermottbull.blogspot.com/