April 2017

Sekou Andrews – Making the Whole Greater Than the Sum Of Our Smarts!

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Sekou Andrews is an elementary schoolteacher turned actor, musician, national poetry slam champion, entrepreneur, and now the world’s leading Poetic Voice. On any given day, Sekou may deliver an original talk for international marketing executives, give a keynote speech at a leadership conference, or perform pieces for Barack Obama in Oprah’s backyard. His work has been featured on such diverse national media outlets as ABC World News, MSNBC, HBO, Good Morning America, Showtime, MTV and BET. Sekou does more than inspire us with his story; he inspires us with our story. You can learn more about Sekou at http://sekouandrews.com and http://rockstarspeakersecrets.com.

Next week’s guest is Paul Michelman, Editor-in-Chief, MIT Sloan Management Review.

Who You Surround Yourself with Matters (No Matter Where You Live)!

Here’s an excerpt from The Power of Peers: How the Company You Keep Drives Leadership, Growth & Success that explains why who surround yourself matters, no matter where you live or what language you speak.

“In 1976, anthropologist Edward T. Hall created a framework for examining cultures across a spectrum of what he called high-context and low-context communication. Think of a high-context culture as a tightly knit group of insiders. Here, there’s a higher level of mutual understanding and, more often than not, less need for specific explanation when communicating complex ideas. In a low-context culture, cultural norms can be more divergent, and conveying anything complex requires more specific explanation.

“High-context cultures tend to be more collectivist, cooperative, and team oriented, and they hold a deep respect for history and tradition. These cultures are more commonly found in Asia and the Middle East. Lower-context cultures tend to be more competitive, individualistic, and task oriented, with a future orientation and a larger appetite for change. Switzerland, Germany, the U.S., and the U.K. are considered lower-context cultures.

“Richard Dool, a former CEO, Fortune 500 executive, and professor at (now Rutgers University), supports Hall’s findings, explaining that, based on his experience, the dynamics in Germany, the UK, and France are all very different, but they’re all still Western or lower context. ‘They’re more individualistic than others. Now, if you look at the higher-context cultures like India, Japan, and China, they are all very different as well, but peer influence, peer respect, and peer relationships are a common theme. And I would argue they matter even more,’ Dool said.

“This concept of peer respect and peer support is deeply ingrained in high-context cultures— much more so than in the U.S. The degree and the manifestation of peer support and the way it is leveraged can be very different, but the concepts and the foundation are the same no matter where you live in the world.”

Food for thought as we celebrate the Year of the Peer!

Larry Robertson on Community and Creativity

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Larry Robertson is an innovation advisor – a rare combination of many parts that quilt together into a greater whole. He’s the author of two award-winning books – The Language of Man. Learning to Speak Creativity and A Deliberate Pause: Entrepreneurship and its Moment in Human Progress. He’s also the founder of two ventures: Lighthouse Consulting, a firm that for 25 years has guided entrepreneurs and leaders, and a non-profit focused on creativity. These things and more make him a widely sought after expert in the areas creativity, entrepreneurship, and leadership. A quick listen to him ‘live’ in this podcast and in other appearances will immediately show you why.

Serving Life

The title of this post was taken from a powerful 2011 documentary narrated by Forest Whitaker about a group of inmate volunteers who staff their own hospice inside a maximum security prison in Louisiana, where the average sentence is more than 90 years. I became aware of the documentary after spending three days at a residency for prison wardens in Baton Rouge in the Spring of 2016 at the behest of Vistage Worldwide (where I worked at the time), which was exploring the prospect of including prison wardens in Vistage groups.

Here’s how the Warden Exchange eloquently and accurately portrays its mission: The Warden Exchange™ (WE) is a Prison Fellowship program empowering corrections professionals to create a legacy of safer prisons and safer communities. The Warden Exchange convenes thought leaders who exchange innovative ideas and best practices for the moral rehabilitation of inmates. Together, we can create a prison culture conducive to restorative change and successful reentry.

Essentially, wardens from all over the country come together for in-person residencies and online sessions throughout the year to learn from one another. It’s a remarkable collection of leaders who have an unspeakably difficult job. I was privileged to get to know them and blown away by a group visit to Angola – the maximum security prison that was the subject of the documentary. During my three days at the residency, I witnessed the power of peers in its full splendor – wardens learning from one another, the tireless efforts and teamwork of the Angola staff, and prisoners serving life sentences resolved to making their “community” better.

I didn’t know what to expect when I attended the residency last year, but I am grateful for having had the experience and for staying in touch with National Director for the Warden Exchange, Pedro Moreno. As a result, I led a workshop for about 40 wardens in Houston earlier today, and the group was amazing. (I also had the pleasure of talking to Burl Cain, the person who transformed Angola from the bloodiest prison in the U.S. to what it’s become today). I wish everyone could see these incredible leaders, up close and personal, to appreciate the work they do to make our society better. Best of all, they are doing it together, serving life one peer at a time!

(By the way, if you’ve never seen Serving Life, buckle up and check it out!)

Can’t Think of An Issue to Discuss With Your Group, What if…?

A common topic of conversation in the peer group workshops I conduct is that CEOs and business leaders contend they don’t always find it easy to think of a subject or issue to raise with their peers during their monthly meeting. Among the five factors or five conditions necessary to a high performing peer group is fostering valuable interaction. The problem is, you can’t have valuable interaction if you don’t have anything to interact about.

Most members see the time they spend with their peer group as when they work on their business, rather than in their business. These meetings are designed to be spent tackling the larger strategic issues that don’t often their get their due during the course of a hectic work week. That being the case, if you don’t have a pressing business issue or opportunity to raise with your group, then work on your business by calling upon your list of what if?… questions (the list you should start today)!

It’s a basic crisis communication planning tool. You simply identify the crises that could shut down or severely disrupt your business, prioritize them by the amount of damage they could cause and the likelihood they could occur, and plan a strategy for how you would handle them. What if a natural disaster destroyed your headquarters? What if your right hand person left the company without warning? What if a new competitor entered your industry sector with a disruptive technology that threatened your very existence as an organization? Your what if?… questions could be framed as opportunities as well. For example, what if your biggest competitor when out of business?

Next time you’re stuck for an issue to discuss with your peer group, grab your list of what if?… questions and pick one. Your question will likely apply to everyone, and because of it, you’ll get the whole group started on developing the kind of comprehensive strategies that could save you, your fellow members, and their respective companies someday!

LinkedIn’s Pat Wadors Talks About Finding the Right People

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Pat Wadors is the Chief Human Resources Officer at LinkedIn. Since 2013, in addition to hiring, retaining and inspiring top talent, Pat is responsible for all employee-related HR programs, including compensation and benefits, and performance management. She came to LinkedIn from Plantronics, where she was Senior Vice President of Human Resources. From August 2011 until August 2012, Pat also served as the HR Executive Advisor to Twitter. Previously, Pat held senior leadership positions at Yahoo!, Align Technologies, Applied Materials, Merck Pharmaceutical, Viacom International, and Calvin Klein Cosmetics. She holds a BS in Business Administration from Ramapo College, with a major in Human Resources Management and a minor in Psychology.

Next week’s guest Larry Robertson, Founder, Lighthouse Consulting.

Lolly Daskal and the Leadership Gap

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As we open the second quarter of the Year of the Peer, we do so as a member of the C-Suite Radio family. To get us started, we are joined by Lolly Daskal.

Lolly Daskal is a best-selling author and one of the most sought-after executive leadership coaches in the world. Her extensive expertise spans 14 countries, six languages and hundreds of companies. As founder and CEO of Lead From Within, her proprietary leadership program serves as a catalyst for leaders who want to enhance their performance and make a meaningful difference in their companies and in the world. Lolly’s proprietary insights are the subject of her new book, The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness.

Lolly was designated a Top-50 Leadership and Management Expert by Inc. magazine, and Huffington Post honored her with the title of The Most Inspiring Woman in the World.

Next week’s guest, LinkedIn Chief Human Resources Officer, Pat Wadors.

Year of the Peer Joins C-Suite Radio Family and Announces Q2 Schedule

C-Suite Radio Chairman, Jeffrey Hayzlett recently welcomed Year of the Peer with Leo Bottary to the C-Suite Radio family, “Leo leads conversations about leadership, collaboration, and our future, that you just won’t get anywhere else. If you’re a leader of any organization at any level, or you want to be one someday, this show is for you.”

I couldn’t be happier than to share this journey with C-Suite Radio! For 50 weeks, I’ve committed to invite some of the best minds in the world to share their insights, stories, and recommendations about how we can work together more effectively – to seek common ground and see one another for our special gifts rather than our differences. I am so appreciative of the guests who appeared on the show in Q1. Here’s the guest lineup for Q2!

April 6 Lolly Daskal, Founder, Lead From Within

13 Pat Wadors, CHRO LinkedIn

20 Larry Robertson, Founder Lighthouse Consulting

27 Sekou Andrews, Poetic Voice

May 4 Paul Michelman, MIT Sloan Management Review

11 Marian Salzman, CEO Havas PR, US

18 Ryan Foland, Managing Partner, InfluenceTree

25 Gini Dietrich, CEO Arment-Dietrich

June 1 Leo Bottary & Randy Cantrell (Year of the Peer Update)

8 Jeffrey Hayzlett, Chairman, C-Suite Holdings, LLC

15 Christina L. Martini, Partner at DLA Piper LLP (US)

22 Scott Mordell, CEO, YPO

29 Jimmy LeBlanc/Perry Stagg, Louisiana Department of Corrections

This podcast is one of several initiatives designed to encourage leaders everywhere to collaborate more effectively. Enjoy!

About C-Suite Radio:

C-Suite Radio is the premier source of the world’s leading business podcasts for C-Suite leaders and business executives, featuring shows covering a range of topics, including sales, marketing, leadership, social media, finance, and management. C-Suite radio features premium content from top thought leaders, designed to increase knowledge, deepen understanding, and build skills to enhance readers’ personal and professional lives. Visit C-Suite Radio online and follow them on Facebook and Twitter. For more information, visit http://www.c-suiteradio.com.

UConn Women’s Basketball: 9,923 #AndCounting

Friday night, I was on a Delta flight from JFK to San Diego, where I took advantage of the free satellite tv to watch the women’s college basketball semi-final games from the Final Four in Dallas. I was especially interested in the second game between Mississippi State and the University of Connecticut. UConn has become even more famous this year for having won 111 consecutive basketball games. And after losing three seniors, who were the top three picks in the WNBA last year, this would have been a rebuilding year for any other program in America; yet, UConn was back to the Final Four – streak intact and on the doorstep of winning its fifth straight national title.

While I enjoyed the streak as much as any UConn fan, I was far more impressed by the team culture that makes such a streak possible – one that doesn’t measure itself against its opponents so much as set its own standard of excellence. One that inspires a relentless commitment to getting better each and every day. I’m not sure when it started, but the hashtag #AndCounting took on a life of its own once UConn broke its own record (90) for consecutive NCAA basketball wins (men or women), and with each win thereafter, it was always noted, for example, as 100 #AndCounting, etc.

The prevailing thinking across the country, and especially for UConn fans, was that this team showed no signs of losing, and if they didn’t lose this year, everything points to their being even better next year. ESPN’s Kara Lawson speculated that because of this, 200 consecutive wins wasn’t out of the question. But as head coach Geno Auriemma warned everyone time and time again, all streaks come to an end. Unfortunately for UConn, it ended on Friday night with a buzzer beater in overtime.

The winning streak and program’s 11 national championships are great headlines, but they aren’t the story. The story and the lessons the coaching staff and these young women have to teach all of us lie in the team’s culture. The streak that I believe matters most to the coaching staff, and should matter most to the players, is the number of consecutive days they add to perpetuating a winning culture and honoring the players who came before them. In fairness, during many interviews I watched throughout the season, the players talked about this quite a bit. They don’t focus on the result; they focus on what makes the result possible.

To that end, I’ve created a new UConn streak. Let’s call it the UConn culture streak. I’ll mark its beginning as January 31, 1990 – the day the UConn women’s basketball team played its first game at the then new Gampel Pavilion. The following year, the team would advance to its first Final Four, and in 1995, go on to win its first national championship. The rest is history. As of today, its culture streak is 9,923 days #AndCounting. Congratulations to UConn on a wonderful season and for showing all of us what commitment to excellence and teamwork is all about.