Today the Chairman and CEO of BP visited Washington DC. In an attempt to apologize publicly for the oil mess, they had yet another publicity gaffe.
The Chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg said, "I hear comments sometimes that large oil companies are greedy companies or don't care, but that is not the case with BP. We care about the small people." Good grief.
Clearly, Mr. Svanberg has English as a second language. I heard one report that he is Swedish. Perhaps I am naïve, but I tend to believe that the gaffe is more a result of his use of the English language -- and not an incredible insensitivity on his part.
There are several lessons for the new executive in this -- but I will point out just two.
First, if you are working with a co-worker, client/customer, supplier, etc. whose first language is not English, remember to allow for the benefit of the doubt. What gets translated in their brain and comes out of their mouth, often does not fit with our social norms or may not even be politically correct. Don’t automatically assume that it is an insult. They may not realize the impact of what they have said.
Second, if you are an executive whose first language isn’t English, you need to spend probably more time that you would like on assuring understanding of your English. Don’t assume that your interpretation is the one that your English-speaking colleagues will understand. Yes, the burden is on you for this. Not fair, but realistic. Practice your delivery, understand the idioms, and take the time to assure yourself that what you wanted to say actually came across to your colleagues.
And overall? The lesson for native and non-native English speakers is that our language is a difficult language. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Don’t be offended. Strive, instead, for understanding.
Cheers!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
6-14-10 What is Your Budget?
Every executive has a budget. And every executive knows exactly where he/she stands on spending the budget. No matter what level of executive you are, you will have budget constraints. Which leads me to one of the comments made by my survey participants. Remember I asked each participant what one thing that they wished they had known when they became an executive.
We know from the execution function of the executive skills and traits model that financial acumen is an important skill for the new and/or aspiring executive (1-13-10 Execution Skills -- Now go DO something!). This comment is an interesting twist on that financial acumen skill.
One particular executive said, “I discovered there was a tremendous amount of money needlessly tied up in reserve accounts and a lot of energy wasted hiding/holding on to those reserves”.
Okay, quit shaking your head. We all do it. Somewhere, buried deep in your budget is a slush fund. You “grew up” learning that reserves were required. If you didn’t have some extra funds in your back pocket, how could you possibly survive and pay for any unk-unks? Or how would you fund any unexpected opportunities?
So now you are asking… “are we all wrong? Should we not have reserves?” Well, yes and no. Unfortunately, there isn’t a straight answer on this one.
When is it appropriate? Perhaps when times are good because then the impact of reserves isn’t felt too keenly. Or perhaps when you are introducing a new product, when you can’t possibly have identified all of the problems and hitches that you will encounter. Or, as irritating as it is, when you know that your following year’s budget will be dependent on this year’s budget, including reserves.
You can tell that my survey participant didn’t think reserves were such a good idea. And there are times when he is right. How much time do you spend concealing or defending your reserves? Is it really worth the time and effort you put into it? I’ve seen some executives spend more man-hours defending a slush fund than the fund was actually worth. I just wanted to tell him that he wasn’t being very smart in choosing his battle.
Or have you checked into the overall financial health of the company lately? If your company is one of the companies that is laying off, I would suggest that you pony up your reserve immediately. There isn’t any reserve that compares to saving jobs. Or if your company is borrowing heavily just to stay afloat, then again, cough up the reserves.
Be smart about your slush fund and you won’t damage your company or your ability to survive and prosper.
Cheers!
We know from the execution function of the executive skills and traits model that financial acumen is an important skill for the new and/or aspiring executive (1-13-10 Execution Skills -- Now go DO something!). This comment is an interesting twist on that financial acumen skill.
One particular executive said, “I discovered there was a tremendous amount of money needlessly tied up in reserve accounts and a lot of energy wasted hiding/holding on to those reserves”.
Okay, quit shaking your head. We all do it. Somewhere, buried deep in your budget is a slush fund. You “grew up” learning that reserves were required. If you didn’t have some extra funds in your back pocket, how could you possibly survive and pay for any unk-unks? Or how would you fund any unexpected opportunities?
So now you are asking… “are we all wrong? Should we not have reserves?” Well, yes and no. Unfortunately, there isn’t a straight answer on this one.
When is it appropriate? Perhaps when times are good because then the impact of reserves isn’t felt too keenly. Or perhaps when you are introducing a new product, when you can’t possibly have identified all of the problems and hitches that you will encounter. Or, as irritating as it is, when you know that your following year’s budget will be dependent on this year’s budget, including reserves.
You can tell that my survey participant didn’t think reserves were such a good idea. And there are times when he is right. How much time do you spend concealing or defending your reserves? Is it really worth the time and effort you put into it? I’ve seen some executives spend more man-hours defending a slush fund than the fund was actually worth. I just wanted to tell him that he wasn’t being very smart in choosing his battle.
Or have you checked into the overall financial health of the company lately? If your company is one of the companies that is laying off, I would suggest that you pony up your reserve immediately. There isn’t any reserve that compares to saving jobs. Or if your company is borrowing heavily just to stay afloat, then again, cough up the reserves.
Be smart about your slush fund and you won’t damage your company or your ability to survive and prosper.
Cheers!
Friday, June 11, 2010
6-11-10 An Oily BP Mess
I suspect that you might have noticed that I have not written anything about the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf. Why? Perhaps because every time I watch the stories about the results of the blowout, I am just heartsick by the damage that it is doing to the Gulf. And, like most normal mortals, I’ve been practicing my finely honed head-in-the-sand routine. I can’t fix it, so I ignore it. Not a good management skill, but one that we all have (and, on occasion, use).
So now that I’ve sufficiently prodded myself, I do have a few things to say about the disaster -- at least in a larger context.
In the past, I’ve talked about disaster preparedness (3-29-10 Tornado! and 3-1-10 Earthquakes and Such), risk tolerance (4-14-10 What's Your Tolerance Level?), and safety (2-26-10 Are Safety and Growth Mutually Exclusive?). But today, I thought that I would approach it from a different perspective.
Someone asked me an interesting question once --- one that I believe applies here. “Are you so busy eliminating risk that you forgot to manage it?” As you might imagine, in the aerospace industry we take the elimination of risk seriously. Each of us in the industry takes it personally when a plane falls out of the sky -- whether or not it was one that we built. We are a risk adverse lot and go to great lengths to eliminate it. So what is the fundamental flaw in this? The original question answers that. Huh?
Well, the sad truth is that, no matter the industry, we can’t eliminate all risk. It would be like wrapping your kid in bubble wrap, all kinds of protective sports pads, a helmet, hockey gloves, racquetball goggles, shin guards, etc. and then sending him/her out to play in a war zone. You didn’t eliminate the risk. You can’t stop the war. But you could manage the risk by keeping your child at home. Okay, not the best analogy for the parents out there, but you get my point.
I am naïve or trusting enough to believe that BP spent so much time trying the eliminate the risk associated with deep water drilling that they forgot to manage it. Why? Because part of managing risk is putting contingency plans in place. Given the response by BP (and the government), I don’t see any evidence of contingency plans. Seems to me that all involved are making recovery plans up on the fly. Now don’t get me wrong, the ability to operate on the fly is also important. But it is a helluva lot easier to do when you at least have some rudimentary backup or “what if” plans in place.
As an executive, you are right to want to eliminate risk. But at some point, you will have to acknowledge that you cannot eliminate all the risk. You have to stop and define the remaining risk and then you absolutely must put plans in place. Call them contingeny plans, what if plans, risk management plans -- call them what you want. Just make sure that you have the ability to manage risk.
Cheers!
So now that I’ve sufficiently prodded myself, I do have a few things to say about the disaster -- at least in a larger context.
In the past, I’ve talked about disaster preparedness (3-29-10 Tornado! and 3-1-10 Earthquakes and Such), risk tolerance (4-14-10 What's Your Tolerance Level?), and safety (2-26-10 Are Safety and Growth Mutually Exclusive?). But today, I thought that I would approach it from a different perspective.
Someone asked me an interesting question once --- one that I believe applies here. “Are you so busy eliminating risk that you forgot to manage it?” As you might imagine, in the aerospace industry we take the elimination of risk seriously. Each of us in the industry takes it personally when a plane falls out of the sky -- whether or not it was one that we built. We are a risk adverse lot and go to great lengths to eliminate it. So what is the fundamental flaw in this? The original question answers that. Huh?
Well, the sad truth is that, no matter the industry, we can’t eliminate all risk. It would be like wrapping your kid in bubble wrap, all kinds of protective sports pads, a helmet, hockey gloves, racquetball goggles, shin guards, etc. and then sending him/her out to play in a war zone. You didn’t eliminate the risk. You can’t stop the war. But you could manage the risk by keeping your child at home. Okay, not the best analogy for the parents out there, but you get my point.
I am naïve or trusting enough to believe that BP spent so much time trying the eliminate the risk associated with deep water drilling that they forgot to manage it. Why? Because part of managing risk is putting contingency plans in place. Given the response by BP (and the government), I don’t see any evidence of contingency plans. Seems to me that all involved are making recovery plans up on the fly. Now don’t get me wrong, the ability to operate on the fly is also important. But it is a helluva lot easier to do when you at least have some rudimentary backup or “what if” plans in place.
As an executive, you are right to want to eliminate risk. But at some point, you will have to acknowledge that you cannot eliminate all the risk. You have to stop and define the remaining risk and then you absolutely must put plans in place. Call them contingeny plans, what if plans, risk management plans -- call them what you want. Just make sure that you have the ability to manage risk.
Cheers!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
6-9-10 Shoulda Told Me #11
Practice makes perfect. Hmmm, I guess maybe that someone DID tell me. I can distinctly remember my mom telling me (relative to music) that practice makes perfect.
Unfortunately, just because Mom said so, didn’t necessarily mean that I easily translated that to my professional life. Duh.
In the past, I’ve talked about the communication skills that I defined in my model for executive skills and traits (1-4-10 Let’s Talk). And I’ve also talked about preparation, knowing/reading your audience, and how to seal the deal (3-12-10 Yea, There’s a Presentation for That). But today, I’m even more focused.
I still remember giving my very first presentation. No, I don’t remember the topic, but I do remember my physical reaction to the actual “giving of the presentation”. Frankly, it was horrible. Before I started and during the entire pitch, I had an awful case of the butterflies. I’m pretty sure that when I got up in the front of the room and looked out at the audience, all they saw was a terrified young woman with a bona fide deer-in-the-headlights look going on. My mouth was so dry you could’ve spun cotton in there. And my hands shook as I put up the first view foil. (For those of you under 40, we didn’t have Powerpoint back then. We had someone type up our presentation and then copy it to transparencies which were then shown on the screen. Heck, I’m guessing they don’t even make the transparencies or the display machines anymore!). And answering questions was excruciating as my brain seemed to have taken a vacation to less stressful climes.
That had to be the longest half hour of my life. But somehow I muddled through.
And I swore that it would never happen again.
So I did my research. I identified a couple of people that I thought were very good at giving presentations. And then I took the time to meet with them and ask a lot of questions.
The very best advice I got? Practice. If you want something bad enough, its worth some practice. And I decided that I wanted to be GOOD at giving presentations or talking in front of groups of people.
I finally realized that it really wasn’t so dumb to stand in front of the mirror and give my presentation to myself. Or it wasn’t so dumb to give the presentation in my car on the way to work. Or it wasn’t so dumb to ask a trusted colleague to listen to a dry run. All of these….. Over and over.
Did it help? Well, yes. I like to think that I ended up being pretty good at delivering pitches. At least others told me so. I will tell you that I never eliminated the butterflies (and that’s okay, because I felt that kept me on my toes). But I was able to minimize the nervous reactions during the pitch and I was able to rein my brain in so that it stayed in place during those q & a sessions.
So, I sure wish someone had told me sooner that practice makes perfect at work too!
Cheers!
Unfortunately, just because Mom said so, didn’t necessarily mean that I easily translated that to my professional life. Duh.
In the past, I’ve talked about the communication skills that I defined in my model for executive skills and traits (1-4-10 Let’s Talk). And I’ve also talked about preparation, knowing/reading your audience, and how to seal the deal (3-12-10 Yea, There’s a Presentation for That). But today, I’m even more focused.
I still remember giving my very first presentation. No, I don’t remember the topic, but I do remember my physical reaction to the actual “giving of the presentation”. Frankly, it was horrible. Before I started and during the entire pitch, I had an awful case of the butterflies. I’m pretty sure that when I got up in the front of the room and looked out at the audience, all they saw was a terrified young woman with a bona fide deer-in-the-headlights look going on. My mouth was so dry you could’ve spun cotton in there. And my hands shook as I put up the first view foil. (For those of you under 40, we didn’t have Powerpoint back then. We had someone type up our presentation and then copy it to transparencies which were then shown on the screen. Heck, I’m guessing they don’t even make the transparencies or the display machines anymore!). And answering questions was excruciating as my brain seemed to have taken a vacation to less stressful climes.
That had to be the longest half hour of my life. But somehow I muddled through.
And I swore that it would never happen again.
So I did my research. I identified a couple of people that I thought were very good at giving presentations. And then I took the time to meet with them and ask a lot of questions.
The very best advice I got? Practice. If you want something bad enough, its worth some practice. And I decided that I wanted to be GOOD at giving presentations or talking in front of groups of people.
I finally realized that it really wasn’t so dumb to stand in front of the mirror and give my presentation to myself. Or it wasn’t so dumb to give the presentation in my car on the way to work. Or it wasn’t so dumb to ask a trusted colleague to listen to a dry run. All of these….. Over and over.
Did it help? Well, yes. I like to think that I ended up being pretty good at delivering pitches. At least others told me so. I will tell you that I never eliminated the butterflies (and that’s okay, because I felt that kept me on my toes). But I was able to minimize the nervous reactions during the pitch and I was able to rein my brain in so that it stayed in place during those q & a sessions.
So, I sure wish someone had told me sooner that practice makes perfect at work too!
Cheers!
Monday, June 7, 2010
6-7-10 Pomp and Circumstance
In the past, I’ve talked quite a bit about the need for the new executive to have outstanding communication skills. In fact, the Executive Skills and Traits Model has an entire section devoted to communication (12-30-09 Morphing to a Model and 1-4-10 Let's Talk ). If you are like me, you intuitively know how important those skills related to communication are. However, for me, reading some model or some dry explanation of a concept doesn’t really bring home the importance of it within the day-to-day business life of the executive.
One of my survey participants gave some feedback that gives an interesting view on the importance of the communication skill set -- a view that I hadn‘t considered in the past. This executive said, “I wish that I had known more about the amount of time required to be spent in ritual and ceremonial activities -- all employee meetings, service milestones, customer program visits, production milestone rollouts, community events, etc. The skill desired is to be able to speak extemporaneously in a variety of settings on a variety of topics in front of large crowds of stakeholders.”
Hmmmmm. Packed into those two simple sentences is an amazing amount of info for the new executive to consider.
First, of course, is the surprise that many executives experience when they realize how much time they will spend in activities that they perceive as having nothing to do with their job. Wrong! You are now a figurehead for your organization and for your company. That means you have to lead those ritual and ceremonial activities. That takes time -- a lot of time. You need to plan for it and you absolutely must make sure that you don’t short-change these activities.
Second, you may not like leading these type of activities, but you better learn to be good at it. For example, it is up to you to make the new product rollout celebration a happy and rewarding time for the employees that have worked so hard to make the new product happen. This is your chance to publicly say thank you to all those that have given so much of themselves.
Third, there are the large crowds that are usually associated with ceremonial activities. Ack! I know that there are some folks that truly enjoy speaking to large crowds of people. Not me, personally, of course. I was like most executives -- butterflies, dry mouth, etc. But I learned to do it. I had to. And as a new executive, so do you.
And finally, there is the whole idea of balancing planned comments vs. extemporaneous comments. When you lead one of the ceremonial events, you don’t want to stand up there and woodenly read a prepared speech. And on the other hand, you also don’t want to get up there and speak off-the-cuff. Why? Because, unless you are very good or very experienced at off-the-cuff speaking, you WILL screw it up. Trust me on this -- I’ve seen it happen many times.
So take the time, work with your support team, and script the event. Think about what makes the day special for everyone in attendance. Ponder who should be called out for special recognition. Determine the special effects needed to make the point. Write a speech. Read it aloud. Often. In other words, prepare! And then on the day of the event, you will be ready. Put the speech in your pocket and then tell people how special they are. If you have practiced, you have the words in your mind --- you don’t need to read them off of the sheet of paper. Yes, you will still have butterflies and yes, you will probably make a couple of mistakes. But that’s okay -- those butterflies and those unk-unks are what keep you sharp and on your toes.
Cheers!
One of my survey participants gave some feedback that gives an interesting view on the importance of the communication skill set -- a view that I hadn‘t considered in the past. This executive said, “I wish that I had known more about the amount of time required to be spent in ritual and ceremonial activities -- all employee meetings, service milestones, customer program visits, production milestone rollouts, community events, etc. The skill desired is to be able to speak extemporaneously in a variety of settings on a variety of topics in front of large crowds of stakeholders.”
Hmmmmm. Packed into those two simple sentences is an amazing amount of info for the new executive to consider.
First, of course, is the surprise that many executives experience when they realize how much time they will spend in activities that they perceive as having nothing to do with their job. Wrong! You are now a figurehead for your organization and for your company. That means you have to lead those ritual and ceremonial activities. That takes time -- a lot of time. You need to plan for it and you absolutely must make sure that you don’t short-change these activities.
Second, you may not like leading these type of activities, but you better learn to be good at it. For example, it is up to you to make the new product rollout celebration a happy and rewarding time for the employees that have worked so hard to make the new product happen. This is your chance to publicly say thank you to all those that have given so much of themselves.
Third, there are the large crowds that are usually associated with ceremonial activities. Ack! I know that there are some folks that truly enjoy speaking to large crowds of people. Not me, personally, of course. I was like most executives -- butterflies, dry mouth, etc. But I learned to do it. I had to. And as a new executive, so do you.
And finally, there is the whole idea of balancing planned comments vs. extemporaneous comments. When you lead one of the ceremonial events, you don’t want to stand up there and woodenly read a prepared speech. And on the other hand, you also don’t want to get up there and speak off-the-cuff. Why? Because, unless you are very good or very experienced at off-the-cuff speaking, you WILL screw it up. Trust me on this -- I’ve seen it happen many times.
So take the time, work with your support team, and script the event. Think about what makes the day special for everyone in attendance. Ponder who should be called out for special recognition. Determine the special effects needed to make the point. Write a speech. Read it aloud. Often. In other words, prepare! And then on the day of the event, you will be ready. Put the speech in your pocket and then tell people how special they are. If you have practiced, you have the words in your mind --- you don’t need to read them off of the sheet of paper. Yes, you will still have butterflies and yes, you will probably make a couple of mistakes. But that’s okay -- those butterflies and those unk-unks are what keep you sharp and on your toes.
Cheers!
Friday, June 4, 2010
6-4-10 Who Do You Admire?
I was reading an article yesterday where people commented on what woman they admired or were positively influenced by. Interesting reading…… Of course, it got me to thinking about what woman (or women, in my case) had a positive influence in my life. Four of them came immediately to mind.
My maternal grandmother was an amazing woman. While we aren’t Southerners, she always struck me as the quintessential Southern woman. Unfailingly polite and accommodating, but with a strength that was amazing. While she had definite ideas about what was “right and proper” (in the true Southern belle genre), she never imposed her views on us. And to hear her talk about the things she had done and seen -- which she thought was nothing special -- was always amazing to me.
And of course, there is my maternal aunt. She has learned, time and again, how to accept, deal with, and then live with serious diseases. I continue to be impressed and influenced by the strength she displays in dealing with the emotional and physical difficulties she faces. And her sense of humor --- well, let’s just say that when people finally look past her physical difficulties, they discover a hilarious woman.
There is my sister. An amazing woman that has, with her husband, raised three wonderful young adults. All while living abroad, working, and traveling. I can’t imagine the strength it takes to have the serenity that she always displays. She is the calming influence in today’s modern world.
And finally, there is my mom. Like her mother, she is a kind and amazing woman. She raised a family at a VERY young age. And I think we all turned out okay. She displays an amazing amount of strength when dealing with change (and she has seen a lot here lately). Her ability to adapt is an inspiration to me.
The common theme here? Strength. The women I admire have positively influenced me by teaching me about the strength required to not only get through the big bumps in life, but also just to get through the small bumps of day-to-day living. I admire and love them all.
Who has positively influenced your life? Who do you admire? It doesn’t have to be a family member. It might be someone at work, at church, or in the community. I (and my readers) would LOVE to hear your story.
Cheers!
My maternal grandmother was an amazing woman. While we aren’t Southerners, she always struck me as the quintessential Southern woman. Unfailingly polite and accommodating, but with a strength that was amazing. While she had definite ideas about what was “right and proper” (in the true Southern belle genre), she never imposed her views on us. And to hear her talk about the things she had done and seen -- which she thought was nothing special -- was always amazing to me.
And of course, there is my maternal aunt. She has learned, time and again, how to accept, deal with, and then live with serious diseases. I continue to be impressed and influenced by the strength she displays in dealing with the emotional and physical difficulties she faces. And her sense of humor --- well, let’s just say that when people finally look past her physical difficulties, they discover a hilarious woman.
There is my sister. An amazing woman that has, with her husband, raised three wonderful young adults. All while living abroad, working, and traveling. I can’t imagine the strength it takes to have the serenity that she always displays. She is the calming influence in today’s modern world.
And finally, there is my mom. Like her mother, she is a kind and amazing woman. She raised a family at a VERY young age. And I think we all turned out okay. She displays an amazing amount of strength when dealing with change (and she has seen a lot here lately). Her ability to adapt is an inspiration to me.
The common theme here? Strength. The women I admire have positively influenced me by teaching me about the strength required to not only get through the big bumps in life, but also just to get through the small bumps of day-to-day living. I admire and love them all.
Who has positively influenced your life? Who do you admire? It doesn’t have to be a family member. It might be someone at work, at church, or in the community. I (and my readers) would LOVE to hear your story.
Cheers!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
6-3-10 Deadlines
So…. Did you ever miss a deadline? One that was either self-imposed or job-imposed? It feels awful to miss a deadline. I can attest to that --- since I missed my normal post yesterday. My sincere apologies to my regular readers. I hate it that you went out to look for the regular post and it never showed up.
Of course, there is a lesson (or two) for the aspiring executive in all of this….. What should I have done differently?
Well, one thing is to quit imposing deadlines on myself! But being the normal human being that I am, that isn’t likely to change anytime soon. Add to that the fact that many (most?) executives are really Type A people, where self-imposed deadlines are a way of life. For whatever reason, Type A people typically operate better under any type of deadline.
Or I could’ve actually planned ahead --- and had a couple of “pre-done” posts on the computer and ready to go. It is kind of interesting that when I was working, I was the “planner”. I arranged everything in my work life (and my personal life!) to mostly military precision. But since I’ve retired, the urge to have that streamlined arrangement isn’t so strong anymore. I’ve truly learned to say “there’s always tomorrow”. Good for the psyche, bad for my readers!
And finally, I could’ve actually alerted my readers that the post was delayed. In work life, it is imperative that when you are first aware that a deadline will be missed, you have to let your boss or whoever is in charge know. Never, NEVER surprise them with a missed deadline. They must always know what is going on -- good or bad.
Again, I apologize to my regular readers for my tardiness. I only hope that you, as a new or aspiring executive, can find some lesson that will help you in your journey.
Cheers!
Of course, there is a lesson (or two) for the aspiring executive in all of this….. What should I have done differently?
Well, one thing is to quit imposing deadlines on myself! But being the normal human being that I am, that isn’t likely to change anytime soon. Add to that the fact that many (most?) executives are really Type A people, where self-imposed deadlines are a way of life. For whatever reason, Type A people typically operate better under any type of deadline.
Or I could’ve actually planned ahead --- and had a couple of “pre-done” posts on the computer and ready to go. It is kind of interesting that when I was working, I was the “planner”. I arranged everything in my work life (and my personal life!) to mostly military precision. But since I’ve retired, the urge to have that streamlined arrangement isn’t so strong anymore. I’ve truly learned to say “there’s always tomorrow”. Good for the psyche, bad for my readers!
And finally, I could’ve actually alerted my readers that the post was delayed. In work life, it is imperative that when you are first aware that a deadline will be missed, you have to let your boss or whoever is in charge know. Never, NEVER surprise them with a missed deadline. They must always know what is going on -- good or bad.
Again, I apologize to my regular readers for my tardiness. I only hope that you, as a new or aspiring executive, can find some lesson that will help you in your journey.
Cheers!
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