Case Study: Should I resign?

Bob has been in this career field for 30 years with 8 years in this particular organization. For the last 6 months he is not feeling good about the leadership of his organization. He operates as a satellite of 5 people away from the home office.

Here are his most pressing concerns:

  • Lack of support from the main office. Sporadic communication and conflicting direction.
  • Failure to support his desire to move an employee off his team who is not a good fit
  • Forcing the team to operate with less equipment by denying requests for upgrades
  • Feeling burned out
  • Feels the leadership is not being fully truthful with him
  • Leadership reacting to complaints from clients without asking for clarification from him

These concerns are weighing heavily on him and he is seriously considering leaving. The focus of his coaching is to gain clarity on what to do next.

We started with two overarching questions:

  1. What is the impact you are making or want to continue to make in this position?
    1. How are the current conditions affecting those goals?
  2. What would you regret if you left now?

These questions have gotten him off to a good start in defining what is important to him in this position and his career.

He wanted to dig deeper and sought out guidance from a moral perspective. We did find some guidance from J. Patrick Dobel in his book Public Integrity. There, Dobel explores the moral criteria for resigning from public office, which we found useful in this instance.

Dobel develops the construct of three domains to consider for resignation. In each domain individuals must be able to:

  1. Maintain their personal moral capacities and commitments
  2. Live up to the obligations of the office
  3. Remain effective

If an individual is compromised in any one area, trust is damaged and provides strong moral reasoning for resigning. If compromised in two areas there is a moral obligation to resign.

Interestingly, working through this has provided significant personal insight along with insight into the organization. No final decision at this time however, he has implemented new behaviors, strategies, and boundaries as triggers for action.

Think of a situation where you were considering resigning. How easy was it for you to rationalize your reasoning to stay, even though one or more of the above criteria was met?

A reasonable exercise may be to deliberately define the threshold in each category. For example.

What does it mean to be unable to maintain your moral capacity or commitments?

A violation in that domain may be your inability to push back against leadership decisions in areas you are morally obligated to act. Maybe you have been cut out of meetings or committees because the leadership knows you will disagree on moral grounds. Or, your organization is taking on a new line of business you disagree with morally.

What about a violation of living up to the obligation of the office?

Suppose your role is to provide unbiased expert input. If opportunities to provide input have been eliminated or your leadership ignores the data because of their agenda, that is probably a violation.

Lastly, remaining effective.

This may manifest itself by being “sidelined” by new policies, procedures, or restructuring that renders you ineffective in your role. Your job is to do X and a new arrangement has created so much distance from the decision making you have little to no influence.

You are ineffective.

Have you ever experienced or witnessed a situation such at this? If so, you probably found it frustrating, stressful, and at times consuming your mental capacity.

When we witness a peer in this situation, we usually see a tendency to rationalize not resigning. They think they can do more from the inside. As an observer, we will think this is a no-brainer – it’s time to go.

These are not easy dilemmas to analyze when you are immersed in a situation. It is difficult to work through your thresholds for each domain, based on your specifics. Individuals need time, space, and an object sounding board to assist.

What are your thoughts on criteria or questions to guide someone through a resignation decision?

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On Memorial Day Remember the Those We Lost & Support The Families Left Behind

I was having a conversation years ago on Memorial Day with a colleague who lost her brother during the Vietnam War. She expressed the intense sadness and loss she has every year at family events. She said she tries to picture what he would look like and what his life may have been. He was killed when he was in his early 20’s.

When they take family photos, she tries to picture him in those photos, thinking that he should be part of this. She feels the tragedy of his shortened life with each missed celebration. The birthdays, graduations, holidays, and simple family gatherings.

When she shared this with me, he had died over 40 years ago. I was taken aback by how much his death still had an impact on her. It made me think about my family events and what if I or another family member was not in the photos. How different would life have been for all of us?

On Memorial Day, it is important to remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice while serving our country.

It is also important to remember and support the families who have lost loved ones. They pay a price daily. What would you want if you were in their shoes carrying the invisible and unique burden of loss?

Have a Happy & Safe Memorial Day Weekend!

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Leadership Journey Lesson 6 – How Did the Era Affect Your Leadership?

What would you call the leadership style or theory you are experiencing in your current work environment?

When I ask that question, I get all kinds of answers.  Mostly, are a description of their current work experience and interaction with their supervisor.

“We are a remote team with a leader responsible for our daily production.”

“I am an independent contributor to a design team. As long as I deliver my requirements on time, I have very little interaction.”

“I work in a totally hierarchical organization with my Program Manager responsible for production. He is continually on us to meet our metrics. Fortunately, we have incentives when we are ahead of schedule or exceed our production and quality standards.”

The trends of the times have an impact on many parts of our lives; fashion, politics, and even leadership

Think about your leadership journey and the leadership trends you experienced the last two years. My guess is it was different than previously experienced.  Did you work remotely, hybrid, or in person but distanced. Some of us were ignored by colleagues and bosses while others suffered through micromanagement to include software monitoring.

Look at the leadership trends that influenced how you led and were led. Start from your current position and go back to your first.

Here is look at leadership practices that were in vogue over the past 40-50 years. Compare your experience to the times.

The 2000’s

Most recently leadership theories and practices center around complexity, inclusivity, and servant leadership.

Have you heard about the requirement for leaders to adapt our VUCA world (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous)? Leaders are mandated to be inclusive and transparent in how they lead. Include followers in the leadership process while serving those they lead. Servant leaders work for those they lead, providing the environment and resources for success.

Shared, Collaborative, and Collective Leadership are the practices from the early 2000’s. These attempted to reduce hierarchy by making organizations flatter and more collaborative. The person best suited for leading a particular task was designated the leader, rather than always having the same team lead. 

Agile program management was popularized. It allowed teams to prototype, move quickly, and be flexible. Teams became able to adapt to stakeholders and market conditions. 

The 1990’s

In the early 1990’s there was transactional leadership followed by transformational as coined by James McGregor Burns. Transactional leadership focused on leaders incentivizing work through transactions. Pay for performance, benefits, bonuses, over time. There was little focus on the individual.

Transformational leadership, was concerned more with the relationships between leaders and workers. Quality interactions between the leader and workers provided inspiration, positive results, and fulfillment. Both the leader and those being led benefited from the relationship and cared for each other.

Prior to the 1990’s

There were the contingent and situational leadership models. Leaders were taught to adapt the style to the context of their environment.

Behavioral leadership focused on actions and skills of the leaders, which was preceded by trait theory and the Great Man theory.

The Great Man theory; leaders are born not made. Trait theory: identify, and develop the traits and characteristics of effective leaders.

Leadership has evolved extensively from being about the leader to being about those being led. Though there was a time frame where a particular leadership theory or style dominated, all survived to some degree.

If you have worked with folks who were in the workforce prior to 1990, you have experienced leaders imbued with the Great Man Theory. They were born leaders, have all the answers and lead from the top.

Some fields of work have been difficult to change. Think a traditional versus modern style manufacturing facility. Traditional may feel very top down with one person in charge. Modern; collaborative, inclusive, flexible, and operates with input from the folks on the line.

Your Analysis

How has the leadership style you experienced over time affected you? What leadership style was popular in your first position and what is in place now?

Have you progressed or are you clinging to practices that worked earlier in your career?

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Your Leadership Journey Lesson 3 – How Your Leaders’ Impacted Your Leadership

Who was the leader you most enjoyed working with? Who was the leader you least enjoyed working with?

What was the impact of their leadership on how you lead today? That is the focus of lesson 3.

Review

You built a timeline starting with your first professional position through your current position and identified each stop on your journey.

At each spot you have identified the following elements of your leadership:

  • Your Role
  • How you got to that position
  • How you led
  • How effective you were

You followed that short analysis with insights about yourself at each stop.  Then you ventured to write your definition of leadership at the beginning of your journey and what it is now.

In lesson 2 you went deeper by adding more detail on your leadership. You assessed four elements of your leadership:

  • Transactional – How much of your leadership was as a transactional leader?
  • Transformational – How much of your leadership was transformational?
  • Power/Authority – Where did you get your power and authority from in each position?
  • Relationships – What were your key relationships at each stop?

Today’s Activity

Up to this point this has been about you. Now let’s examine how your leaders impacted you. Who was your leader at each stop? You may have had several leaders depending on your longevity at each position.

For each leader assess them on the following:

  • Transactional – What portion of their leadership was transactional?
  • Transformational – What portion of their leadership was transformational?
  • Power/Authority – Where did they get their power and authority?
  • Relationships – What were their key relationships?

You may want to document an example for each item to solidify the behavior you observed. This is all from your perspective. On Power/Authority think about how much came from those being led.

Reflection and Insights

What insights can you draw from the leaders who led you?

Some considerations. How did you feel when you were around that leader? Did they invoke certain emotions such as inspiration or stress? Maybe you were not around them very much or avoided them. Those insights may mean something.

What about values? How aligned were your values with those of your leaders? How did you know the leaders’ values?

Are you still in touch with them or how would a chance meeting with them feel?

Last insight. Reflecting on your leadership today, how did the leader impact your current leadership today?

You may want to have a single page for each stop on your journey.

 

 

 

 

 

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Leadership Impact: Offboarding

Remember how excited you were when you landed that position you coveted?

How was your onboarding process? It may have gone something like this. You checked in with HR, maybe they assigned a peer to assist you, maybe a mentor, and possibly introduced, recognized, or welcomed you with a small social event.

What has been your experience offboarding, personally or just watching from a distance. For those leaving on negative terms it could have been an escorted trip out the door. For most it is an HR department task of closing out pay, benefits, turning in ID cards, and being removed from the email system. What about the social side? Was there any kind of event, formal or informal with the team? A social event such as a team meeting, lunch, or a simple team gathering?

 

Here are two impactful offboarding events related to me by clients.

A senior member of a virtual team of 30, notified his leadership he was looking at the possibility of transitioning in about 90 days. He had been part of this team for 4+ years and was an impact player. He ultimately took a new position and gave his leadership and team 30 days’ notice.

On his final day, a couple of folks reached and chatted wishing him luck and he received several cards wishing him well. Nothing from the organization or his team officially. No group social event such as a virtual send off.

Impact: He left that organization very disappointed and unappreciated.

 

This next scenario was related to me by a coworker of the person offboarding. The individual departing was a line worker in an organization of approximately 100 people, all working in one building. He was a 6-year veteran leaving on very positive terms for an educational opportunity. Hence, the date of departure was on the calendar well in advance. On his final day a small recognition and get-together was planned by the leadership at lunch. As luck would have it, 8 inches of snow fell that day and they worked virtually for a couple of days.

The leadership never reached out to reschedule. Hence, no social recognition of his departure other than coworkers who reached out individually. He had since created his own Happy Hour event to say his goodbyes to a select crowd.

Impact: Assume this happened to you. What would be the impact on you?

 

Our work is social by nature and we all want to be recognized as a contributor to the mission. Organizations do not owe us anything more than our contract stipulates, right?

A portion of my coaching practice is in career transitions. In transitions “Information Meetings” have become the accepted method for networking while job searching. Those are short one-on-one meetings to learn about an organization. Discussions revolve around all aspects of work; the position, opportunities, and culture. What does the offboarding process say about your organization?

In teaching information meetings to my clients, I always recommend “…seek out alumni of organizations you are interested in.” Why, because alumni are unencumbered with what they can say. Most will freely share their experiences and opinions.

Offboarding is the final touchpoint an individual may have with you, your team, or your organization. What do you want that to look like? How does it contribute to the recognized culture of the team?

Culture is the entire experience from starting to leaving a team, small business, or large corporation. Cultures will form, be deliberate about forming the culture you want. Be deliberate with offboarding.

 

Here are some practices I have seen you may want to consider. A monthly social gathering to recognize those joining or leaving the team. A standard gift to recognize folks moving on to new challenges. The creation of alumni groups, on Facebook or LinkedIn, to keep former employees connected. The groups have proven to positively impact recruiting and goodwill.

These practices made offboarding a key component of companies deliberately managing their culture. Everyone wants to be celebrated and recognized.

What does offboarding look like for your team or organization? Do you know its current impact? Should it be more deliberate?

Ask your alumni and get their opinion.

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Leadership Impact: Charisma

I googled “Charismatic Leadership Examples” and here is the result:

Martin Luther King, Adolf Hitler, Fidel Castro, Nelson Mandel, Winston Churchill.

Some observations:

  • Not all are positive leaders
  • All inspired actions by their followers

Charismatic leadership is defined as a leader who uses communication skills, persuasiveness, and charm to influence others.

On the short list above, there is a mix of very positive and negative results effected by the leaders ability to motivate followers to embrace and execute their vision. So where does the power lie with charismatic leaders? With the leader or with the followers?

Pick your most favorite and least favorite charismatic leaders. How did they make your feel? What impact did their message have on you?

Below is a list of 14 charismatic leaders from different time frames and professions. On a scale of 1-10 score them based on the impact they make on you, positive or negative.

I will go out on a limb and say that most of your scores were near the extremes, closer to 1 or 10 rather than 5. Charismatic leaders inspire and make us want to follow them based on the vision they create. We often have a strong emotional connection about them.

In a crisis we look for charismatic leaders to show us the way. Why? Probably because of how they make us feel.

In the above list how many leaders resonated with you and how many gave you a feeling of discord? Any that you vehemently defended and/or castigated? I am sure we all had both.

The power in charismatic leaders is in the followers. We give them their power; through loyalty, devotedly following, supporting, and identifying with them. To the point of not being objective about their performance.

Our examples so far are all high-profile leaders. What does the science say about charisma in organizations like yours. In a Harvard Business Review Article titled Too Much Charisma Can Make Leaders Look Less Effective the authors confirm, within organizations there is a sort of “Sweet Spot” for charisma in a leader and their effectiveness. Too little does not work. Too much, definitely a problem. On the too much end of the spectrum, research concluded everyone can see the overuse of charisma except the leader.

The leader believes all is fine trusting their charisma to get things done.

One of the primary downfalls of relying on charisma as a long-term strategy is the leader loses touch and credibility with the operational nature of the organization. Too strategic to the point they are ineffective with their operational duties.

Several other observations on charisma are the temporal effects on the rise and fall of charisma. Remember it is the follower who assesses the degree of charisma, not the leader. In short term situations such as interviews, presentations, and networking, individuals with high charisma are seen as effective. The more time you spend the more you get to know and work with individuals, the less positive one feels about them. Familiarity builds contempt.

Conversely, individuals on the low end of the charisma scale often experience a steady climb the more they become comfortable and known in an organization.

As illustrated in the blog post Leadership Impact: Competence vs Confidence where displayed confidence becomes a proxy for competence, we have to guard again misinterpreting charisma as competence. In ourselves and others.

Some conclusions. As leaders we all need a level of charisma to effectively inspire and motivate our teams. However, if overused or relied on long term as the primary leadership tool, it will become a liability. Self awareness, understanding ourselves, and getting the right feedback is critical to know when we are crossing that threshold.

As followers we need to consider the objective criteria attracting us to a leader. Are we being charmed and wooed by the leader or are they actually effective in leading us where we want to go?

A bit of skepticism can go a long way. Skepticism about ourselves as a leader and those leading us.

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Veterans: A Source of Underutilized Talent in the Workforce

Did you know that on the last day of Sept 2021 job openings, a measure of labor demand, was reported at 10.4 million. The reason was not weak demand, it was employers unable to find workers they considered qualified.

Jobs are available, qualified workers are what employers are missing.

Does your workplace need dedicated, highly motivated, and adaptable workers who learn quickly and are capable of leading others through uncertain challenges? Everybody does. How have you or your organization tapped into the veteran population?

Look back at the applications received and interviews conducted over the past two years, how many veterans made it to the interview level?

I coach over 30 transitioning veterans a year and hear the stories of frustration and challenges of the transition process. I have seen veterans land their dream job and also have seen a lot of frustration and rejection.

You might think that highly educated and trained individuals should find their next chapter outside the military fairly easily. Not necessarily the case, separating military members contend with unfounded stereotypes and biases. Here are some thoughts to consider.

When you hear “U.S. Active-Duty Service Member” what is the picture that comes to mind?

When you hear “U.S. Veteran in the work place” what is the picture that comes to mind?

For the active-duty service member a typical picture is a US serviceman in sand colored combat gear with their weapon at the ready. I deliberately said man not woman. Women now make up almost 15% of our force.

In the workplace did the image of a young professional man or woman in a business suit come to mind? Not likely.

A large portion of the civilian workforce does not understand what a veteran can bring to their workplace. Worse yet veterans contend with significant bias.

According to the Cohen Veterans Network here are some stereotypes:

  • Two-Thirds (67%) of Americans believe the Majority of Veterans Experience PTSD
  • One in Four (26%) Americans believe the Majority of People with PTSD are Violent/Dangerous
  • Nearly One in Four (23%) Americans believe PTSD is Not Treatable

If hiring managers believe they are looking across the table at someone with PTSD that is untreatable and very likely violent or dangerous, the veteran’s prospects are not good.

The facts are that Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are impacted by PTSD at a rate of 11-20%. Those impacted are not by default dangerous, and the condition is treatable.

So how are veterans actually doing in the workplace?  The overall unemployment rate in the U.S. at the end of August was 4.8% with the veteran unemployment rate at 3.6%. Better than their peers. A significant achievement considering the challenges.

A disappointment is many veterans are under employed. Meaning they are employed at a level below their education and skill level. According to Recruitmilitary.com 57% of veterans are underemployed,15.7% higher than the non-veteran population.

If you are an employer with a job opening there is a well-trained highly capable veteran looking to be a positive force in your organization. It will take you some time and education to understand how their experience can benefit you. Amazon and GE are two companies that have mastered the process of hiring veterans and are reaping the benefits. Fortune 500 listed #2 and #38 respectively.

With 10.4 million job openings how is the veteran unemployment as high a 3.6%?

Consider the impact on your organization if you mastered the process just as well as Amazon and GE.

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Measure & Take Stock – of the Right Things Regularly

Measure the wrong thing and guess what? You get the wrong results. Want to get the right information? Ask the people closest to the work what you should be assessing.

Starbucks in 2017 put priorities on drive-thru service to the detriment of in-store service, and full staffing. Here is how one employee characterized a store meeting to Business insider on Starbucks solution to the problem:

… the employee left the meeting infuriated, feeling that Starbucks was forcing baristas to take responsibility for customer-service problems caused by other issues like understaffed stores, an increasing demand from mobile and drive-thru orders, and time-intensive drinks. In the meeting, he said, Starbucks essentially ordered employees to find a way to improve the customer experience — or quit the company.

What was being measured? How much do you think the workers’ view differed from corporate’s on what should be measured?

Considerations for Taking Stock

Do you assess the performance of your organization regularly? What are you measuring? How are you measuring it and at what frequency?

Monthly is a typical place. It allows you to look at what has passed and apply the lessons for the upcoming month. Use your organization as a case study for the current month.

Go to day 1 of the month and consider the big goals you set for this year. Calculate that each month is 8% of the year. What portion of the year is complete? For example, on March 1, sixteen percent of the year is complete. Now put a stake in the ground and state where you are in relation to your goal; 10, 15, 21, 28%.

In the early stages of the year all progress can feel small in relation to 100%, the distance yet to go.

Consideration 1:  Present your current state of progress from multiple perspectives. Progress made and progress to go. A look behind you at the distance traveled and obstacles overcome is valuable data. It can be enlightening and have milestones worth celebrating.

What are the metrics you are using? Objective metrics such as; number of units shipped, revenue, growth from last month or year, new orders, the number of clients, are typical measures. Are they the right metrics to tell the story you are looking for? How would the story change if you used subjective or qualitative measures?

What if quantitative metrics showed significant increases in production and revenue with qualitative data indicating decreased employee engagement and job satisfaction?

Consideration 2: Regularly examine the metrics you are using and evaluate how qualitative data might change the story. To measure leadership and culture requires measuring intangibles.

What is the frequency of measuring your initiatives? Does every initiative require the same frequency?  New initiatives, changes, and modifications may require more frequent scrutiny than well-established processes.

Prototyping or proof of concepts may be better suited to evaluating in “Sprints”. “Sprints” are the Agile program management technique that requires evaluation of progress in short intervals.

Consideration 3: Set your metrics at intervals that make sense for the operation. Be flexible and ready to change as directed by the environment.

Regularly assessing performance is an important leadership competency. How often have you considered assessing how you are assessing? What you measure and how you measure it affects the story.

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Getting to Normal – Are We There Yet?

Did you know:

  • That only 53% of individuals in the United States plan on receiving the COVID vaccine
  • That 47% of individuals surveyed believe all children should be vaccinated before in-person learning takes place
  • That 66% of those surveyed do not plan on returning to pre-pandemic activities until “officials” say it is safe to do so or the majority of the population is vaccinated

Invisibly survey

As the leader of a team, organization, company, or business what does that tell you about getting back to normal?  If normal is getting back to pre-pandemic levels of activity and interaction, it is going to take a while. 

Let’s use the internals/externals model below to help you establish the behaviors and culture you want for your workplace. Start with a review of the model using the diagram below for reference.

diagram showcasing internal and external actions

Each individual is a cloud. The rectangle is the environment you work in. The arrows pushing on the cloud are the influences you experience in your environment. The arrows inside your cloud are all the tools individual have to pushback against the environment to maintain their shape.

Let’s name some of those items:

Externals may be the daily pressures of personal and professional life such as; project budget, work schedule, commute, lack of sleep, health concerns, work environment, colleagues, schedule pressure, etc., name more if you like. Some are big arrows some are small. Add your own and give them the relative size they deserve.

Internals are those factors that allow individual to push back against the environment. They may be; education, experience, health, values, respect from colleagues, family support, personal mission, policy and procedures, the team, etc. Add your own and give them the relative size they deserve.

The results of decisions made by individuals are the actions and behaviors by the internals and externals. The collection of behaviors set the culture of an organization.

Analyze Your Desired Culture

Start by defining the “Actions/Behaviors”. What are the actions/behaviors you want in your work environment? Pre-pandemic standards or something different. Be specific.

Next, examine the external pressures on an individual. They may be their home environment, the policies and procedures you are putting in place, co-workers, whether they were vaccinated or not, and any others you want to add.

The final step, evaluate the internals of the individuals? Do the individuals trust co-workers to follow the established guidelines, are they vaccinated, what is their risk profile, COVID-19 education, do they live with high-risk individuals, trust or do not trust the vaccine and procedures, or the data from the officials.

Taking the above into account will likely impact individuals differently. The result; a variety of actions and behaviors that will define your culture.

Is it the culture you want?

Deliberately Define Your Culture

Examine the model and determine where you have the ability to influence the environment. I believe you as the leader have a significant impact on the environment. Some examples of external forces you exert are: policy and procedures, safety protocols, communication and education about protocols, protocol enforcement, interactions with dissenters, and personal empathy and example.

If the externals align and support the internals of individuals, I predict you will have the culture you desire. If they conflict, I predict a less desirable culture.

The essential questions for you the leader is: How are your actions setting the desired culture?

Take control by:

  • Defining the desired culture
  • Understanding the external forces you control
  • Understanding the internal forces affecting each individual
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Are You an Influence for Good?

Why are whistleblower calls confidential? The common answer is: to protect the whistleblower.

I agree with the above answer and am profoundly disturbed with the concept. If the whistleblower is telling the truth and is correct with what they are asserting it is very disturbing they need to be protected.

Personal Experiences?

Have you ever felt that you wanted or wished you could make a whistleblower call? What put you in that position? Were you:

  • Marginalized because you disagreed with a leadership position?
  • Pressured to do something you felt was wrong?
  • Moved off a project or to a new position because you raised concerns?

In short, you were unable to overcome the inertia of the culture of your organization to be heard. You likely felt helpless trying to correct a clear wrong.

Workplace Culture Classics

Here are several extreme examples of an organizational culture that resulted in grave consequences:

The Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster – NASA officials pressured individuals to say it was safe to launch.

Well Fargo – Employees opened thousands of unauthorized bank accounts to meet sales goals.

Enron – Created off the books companies to hide losses from investors and the board

Volkswagen – Created software to intentionally report erroneous emission readings during testing

The culture created by leadership was a significant influence in each of the above incidents. All of the events carried great costs to individuals, families, colleagues, clients, communities, and organizations. Good people who knew their actions were wrong, went against their better judgment and contributed to the disasters.

In every case, the leader’s imparted influence directly and indirectly to support their position. When investigators revealed the flawed culture created by the leaders, those responsible engaged in; obfuscation, belittling, scapegoating, and lying.

Investigations revealed people did push back, attempt to sound warnings and bring the issues to the forefront, without success. Those individuals were marginalized, discredited, and many times punished. They felt powerless as their actions could not penetrate the culture and make the desired difference. The organizational culture was too powerful.

Your Organization

What are the chances someone in your organization wishes they could make a whistleblower call? I am serious. Is there someone in your organization trying to be heard that the culture is silencing?

What is the culture you have set for your organization?

Considerations for establishing and evaluating your culture.

Use the diagram below for reference.

diagram showcasing internal and external actions

Externals may be the daily pressures of your personal and professional life such as; project budget, work schedule, your commute, lack of sleep, health concerns, your work environment, you boss, colleagues, schedule pressure, etc., name more if you like. Some are big arrows some are small. Add your own and give them the relative size they are for you.

Internals are those factors that allow you to push back against your environment. They may be items such as; education, experience, health, values, respect from colleagues, family support, personal mission, policy and procedures, your team, etc. Add your own and give them the relative size they are for you.

The actions arrow in the diagram pointing out to the right are the resulting actions and behaviors influenced by the inputs.

Congratulations, you just put together a simple model for analyzing your environment and taking action. Consider the instance above when you felt you wanted be a whistleblower. What forces were impinging on you and what action did you take?

That analysis should tell you something.

Are You an Influence for Good?

Change your perspective and put yourself in the shoes of someone you work with. Evaluate the arrow you are for that individual. Are you a large external arrow that exerts a negative force? Or, are you an influence that reinforces the individual’s internal arrows? What is your contribution to the environment your team operates in?

How do your arrows pressure team members?

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