Olympic Proportions

It’s here! London 2012, the Summer Games of the XXX Olympiad, opened this past Friday night to the familiar strains of composer, John Williams’ “Olympic Fanfare and Theme” and a worldwide audience of billions. The nearly four hour extravaganza that followed cost millions of dollars to produce and involved thousands of performers. Everything in recent Olympic history has been done on a scale and proportion that seems out of sync with the original intent and spirit of the ancient games.

The modern Olympic games are often marketed as a place where amateur athletes gather for the thrill of competition, the opportunity to push themselves both physically and mentally, and to celebrate the effort rather than the outcome. While this may be true, it is hard not to notice the emphasis on winning and the commercialization that surrounds these events every four years. The staggering 15 billion (estimated) that Britain has invested in the Summer Games is an example of how skewed the proportions of hosting this event have become.

I confess to being competitive myself, although I never played organized sports. It is certainly fun to win and who doesn’t enjoy the accolades that accompany being first in any endeavor? With more than 10,000 athletes competing in the Summer Games only a handful will earn any medals. In every event someone will finish last, or perhaps not at all. Where is the sense of proportion for these competitors? Will they be remembered for their effort and welcomed home regardless of where they placed?

Maybe the reason we have allowed an international event like the Olympic Games to grow so out of proportion is because we have lost our perspective as peoples and nations on so many other things. Consider how much we spend on military armaments each year or how little we invest in the conditions that breed fear and violence. If you live in a developed country reflect on your personal effort to sustain a certain lifestyle while billions of people live in abject poverty every day.

Will the billions spent to host London 2012 be a good investment? Four years from now in Rio de Janeiro don’t be surprised to discover that our sense of proportion hasn’t changed very much. The price tag will be higher, the glitz and glitter of the opening ceremony even more opulent. Somewhere in the storyline will be the same group of athletes who show up to play the game with no expectation of winning. Let’s all learn from them.

Vacation Reflections

If you read last week’s post you already know that today marks the end of my vacation. Bar Harbor, Maine, and the surrounding area proved to be a perfect place for a relaxing getaway. The lifetime memories promised by the chamber of commerce website lived up to even my cynical expectations. Being immersed in a place of such natural beauty was simply an amazing experience and one that I hope to repeat someday.

My experiment with no social media and limited email access proved largely successful, although one client email did require a response. The attempt to disconnect from work was easier than I had imagined. Now my weekly ritual of blog writing marks the first time I have reflected much about business since I left home more than a week ago. Let me share a few observations from the trip.

The pristine beauty of Maine’s coastline remains etched in my memory. The shore waters were clear and cold, the air was crisp and clean. For the hundreds of Maine residents who call Mount Desert Island home, the images I experienced may easily be taken for granted. The many entrepreneurs whose small businesses serve the 4 million annual visitors to the area surely aren’t among them. They understand the value of customer service and worked hard to make us feel welcome on our trip.

There was Tim Adelmann, the owner of Adelmann’s Deli and Grill, who not only cooked the food for a very late lunch but regaled us with stories about the area, his colorful career, and his family. Besides enjoying sandwiches, some unbelievably tasty onion rings, and ice cream, we left feeling like we had made a new friend. Our cottage owner and hostess, Kathy Combs, took time to acclimate us to the area when we first checked in and was always available to answer questions or assist us during our stay.

Although we didn’t meet other proprietors in the same way, their influence was felt through well-trained staff. There was the attentive waitress at The Chart Room, the engaging driver and guide for our carriage ride to Day Mountain Summit, and the naturalist who entertained us on our sunset nature cruise. It was easy to observe that these employees really enjoyed their work. Somewhere in the background was a leader who made this happen by hiring well and providing excellent training.

As someone who admires the entrepreneurial spirit that is the engine of our economy, I couldn’t help but notice how these Bar Harbor businesses contributed to my memorable vacation. Their attention to customer needs, focus on quality, and commitment to employee training have made them successful in spite of the considerable obstacles they all face. I’m hoping many of them will find time during the off-season to relax themselves.

Time Off

The website promises romance, adventure, a rock-bound coast, and soaring granite cliffs. There will be stonewall-lined and tree-covered roads leading to the village, sweeping vistas from atop Cadillac Mountain, and a special mystique associated with the area. Since I have never been to Bar Harbor, Maine, I can only hope the experience will match these enticing descriptions. Perhaps my cynicism shows in that previous sentence, but I know how hard it usually is to actually enjoy time off from work.

My wife and I will already be settled into our cottage for rest and relaxation when this blog is posted on July 15. My struggles with time off stem largely from lifelong workaholic tendencies. I’m surely not the only leader whose self-esteem is tied closely to work. It’s a battle I constantly wage with mixed results. So what will I do on this trip to break away from the daily routines of business?

I will begin by abandoning my social media apps for the entire trip. No LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter. This isn’t the first time I have tried this tactic and my previous success during last year’s vacation has convinced me it can be done. Any photos or comments about the trip will need to wait. This might actually be harder on my friends and colleagues.

I’m also limiting email access to twice a day (provided I have service at all). You might wonder why I don’t give this up as well but I have learned it makes sense to check messages every day. That doesn’t mean I will be responding to requests; my clients already know I won’t be doing that. Instead, for a few minutes each day I will be managing my workload in anticipation of that first day back on the job.

Finally, I hope to plan activities that serve as genuine distractions from my typical business day. Things like reading for fun, hiking, shopping, and day trips so my mind can disconnect from its usual routines. Perhaps this will be the most difficult feat to accomplish because I’m sure I will see reminders of work experiences every day and those email reviews will likely trigger work-related thoughts. I’m counting heavily on the change of scenery to help with this.

The need for time off is obvious. We are all working more hours and doing more things. If you are a leader who can’t seem to disconnect perhaps my ideas will help. I’m reasonably confident this vacation trip will serve its purpose as an opportunity to refresh and reflect. The Bar Harbor website promises fond lifetime memories. My successful implementation of these three strategies while I’m vacationing there will hopefully be one of them.

Turn Up the Heat

It’s the summer season and already much of our nation has been dealing with a stifling heat wave. Yesterday at my family’s picnic in Snyder County Pennsylvania the temperature topped 100 degrees. A fast-moving thunderstorm that passed near the area lit up the sky with vivid flashes of lightning but did little to cool things down. We can expect more of this sweltering weather before the fall season offers a welcome respite from the heat. With that context in mind, I can’t help but draw some analogies between our current hot weather and the heat leaders also need to master to be effective in their various roles.

Leaders are frequently faced with difficult work and challenging projects. How do you make progress under these circumstances? It could be as simple as turning up the heat on ourselves and those around us. When time pressures are severe, progress seems slow, or you are the only one showing up, you might want to turn up the heat. Leaders have an obligation to create a sense of urgency at critical times and that is really what turning up the heat is all about.

If you are worried about the consequences of such action consider some if these benefits. When you turn up the heat you create new energy and commitment to the project. You also encourage others to tell you what they are really thinking about the work and that could dispel some of the imagined problems that can slow progress. Turning up the heat will most certainly be easier than you think and will likely result in better outcomes than you might envision.

To turn up the heat a leader should be aware of, and name, any elephants in the room. An elephant is that real or imagined obstacle or fear that everyone seems to sense but no one wishes to openly acknowledge. You can turn up the heat by simply offering a clear direction for the team after you have allowed everyone to share their ideas. Action tends to light a spark under everyone. Don’t be afraid to ask open-ended questions, trust the value of silence, and allow time for everyone to consider possible options. Turning up the heat should also include a reminder of the consequences for inaction.

I’m not advocating turning up the heat in a punitive way or to use this approach when there are strong opposing views about an issue or problem. Under those circumstances, the extra heat could create a destructive energy that destroys any team. What I am suggesting is that leaders sometimes do need to intervene when a project is stalled. A well-timed application of extra heat may be just what is needed to get things moving in the right direction. No thermostat required.

The Listening Project

My church recently completed the conversion of our old second floor sound booth overlooking the sanctuary into a brand new recording studio, a Listening Room, where people of different generations will be encouraged to share stories with one another. Lead pastor, Joe Hackman envisioned the project in response to our current congregational theme of “Learning to Listen Across the Generations.” Recordings from the sessions will be used during worship services, posted on our church website, and available as podcasts through iTunes. 

I have always believed in the power of story and the role it could play in organizational life. Yet few leaders are adept at engaging employees through this medium. Instead most executives will resort to sterile PowerPoint slide shows full of charts and statistics as their preferred method of communication about everything from sales to service. These data driven presentations simply can’t evoke the same reaction as a compelling story.

My training experience has validated how stories can change our perspectives. When I introduce a concept, like customer service, it is always with some first-person experiences that illustrate what good or bad service feels like. I describe in vivid detail the setting, the various players in the story, and what they did to make my experience memorable. Participants quickly gain insights about how the business and its employees successfully delivered on their service promise.

On other occasions I have found that sharing a deeply personal experience, like my business calling, can have a similar effect. It is rare that I can share this story without some emotions welling up inside and eventually emerging. When this does happen, the audience generally “leans in”, perhaps drawn by the sacredness of raw and real life realities being publicly shared for all to see. By modeling vulnerability, I am inviting others to consider doing the same.

A storytelling approach offers leaders the opportunity to feed our human craving for connection. It is also a powerful agent for social change. Without personal stories, leaders will struggle to attach a visceral meaning to their needs or causes. In my church we have already benefited from various opportunities to hear each others personal and faith journeys. The Listening Project will further strengthen this effort as it captures for current and future generations some of what life for our members has been like.

I’m not advocating that your organization create a recording studio but I would encourage leaders everywhere to embrace the power of storytelling as a communication tool. Learn how to tell your own personal stories, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Leverage stories in your external platforms like social media and websites. Invite employees and customers to share their stories with you and each other. The vulnerable act of telling your story may remind the audience of something similar in their own lives. That is a wonderful gift for everyone.