"David has not only helped executives and employees of my company and others to envision and strategize better business platforms, he has also given them the immediately useful tools they need to implement necessary changes. I do not think that anyone in the marketplace is able to do what he does as well as he does it, and as a client I can tell you that any company and its department heads would be grateful to you if you could give them access to his talent."
* * * * * If you have gone to this link first, there's probably a good reason for it--and it's not just because of the fact that it is the first link on our home page. As a leader, you know that any good corporate strategy ultimately involves helping all of your people to carefully analyze their talents so that they can be the best that they can be. At the same time, you have to remove any management obstacles that might erode morale anywhere in the organization. Not too long ago, I conducted an intensive management development session for Reed Exhibition Companies and received some nice letters about the effectiveness of the session from many officers of the company and the people who worked with them. But one of the most astute and pertinent of all letters I received did not come from a company officer, it came from a sales executive, Erich Herbert. He gave me permission to quote his letter so I will share some of it here:
Erich's letter was long (almost three pages) and in his letter he covered the subject of team-building exhaustively. Yet, all of his points kept returning to concept of respect. Analyzing Erich's letter, I have come to the conclusion that one of the reasons why Reed Exhibition Companies is so successful (as the largest trade show company in the world) is not necessarily just because its leaders talk about respect (which they do), but because the principles of respect have permeated the organization through every layer and are communicated to the customers by people such as Erich. The Undeniable Secret of Organizational Health and Productivity No company wants to have morale problems, low productivity, and high turnover. But even some of the best companies face these issues. Yet, leaders are often confused by the bewildering inability of many departmental managers to communicate on even the simplest "team-building" agendas. What should they do? Fortunately, some companies out there have paved the way for others by creating visible and sensible models of organizational health. Simply put, healthy companies are companies where people feel at home, and where they gladly show up early and leave later than they have to simply because they enjoy their work and the atmosphere where they work. Here are the basic "rules of reality" that most of the leading companies who are known for their "best practice" leadership know to be true: 1. Human beings are capable of unlimited performance when they are treated with respect. 2. Psychological health is maximized when people strive to be kind, calm and respectful under all circumstances, no matter what. 3. Mental clarity and decision making are maximized when human beings are calm. 4. It is impossible for human beings to remain calm and mentally clear when work environments allow hostility, superiority, disrespect or arrogance in any form. 5. The way human beings talk to each other for better or worse is the single greatest predictor of psychological health or illness. (From David Snyder, "How to Stay Competitive Without Losing Your Soul", in progress.)
So, those are the principles that many leading companies know to be true. But why is it so hard to enforce these principles, even if they seem to be common sense, and why is it so hard to train people to apply them in the workplace? The answer seems to be twofold. 1. Few of us feel we have time to manage work, personal lives, or team relationships. Everyone from the CEO on down is doing the work of 1.5 people at least. "Efficiency tools" such as sales force automation programs or even email technology have made most of us "addicted" to the concept of efficiency. Often times high speed "junk thought" or "junk decisions" have replaced meaningful, well-placed business moves. Customers receive customized spam in the form of "personal" mailings and anyone from a mile away can tell they've been mass marketed. For many workers, the joy is gone and there's nothing to look up to but a computer. 2. Standardized testing hysteria in most public schools has gradually eroded classrooms to the point that critical thinking and problem-solving and technical writing skills no longer exist. Employers notice that these skills are missing from team members but don't know what to do about it. Many falsely assume that their new recruits are lazy. They're not. They've been conditioned to be dependent and not independent thinkers. It's difficult for dependent thinkers to think out of the box or shown decision-making initiative. (For more information on what you can do about this infuriating national phenomenon see link G - Critical Thinking, Quality of Instruction and Leadership Training for Educators ) Although everyone knows the two problems cited above are paramount they are seldom effectively addressed in the workplace. Here are two primary reasons for that problem: 1. Many consultants and companies are feverishly peddling "one size fits all" programs for team building, "performance assessment" and leadership training. Many of these programs are not effective because they make the assumption that any two companies are alike, which they are not. ALL COMPANIES ARE DIFFERENT AND THEIR PROBLEMS ARE USUALLY COMPLEX AND NEED SPECIFIC SOLUTIONS BASED UPON RESEARCH AND NON-BIASED EMPLOYEE INTERVIEWS. (Incidentally, you should beware of "performance evaluation" peddlers to some extent. Use of these instruments for promotion or hiring purposes can get you sued. For more information see link D. Employee Assessment and Performance Training Tools Reality Check) 2. Some consultants positioning themselves as "strategists" don't know very much about training or feel they're too good to do it. Many trainers have never given the first thought to strategy. But businesses need staff development programs that address both training and strategy at the same time. That's the whole point. For information on how this concept applies to real business, please read the letter from Tom Livaccari, former Director of Business Development and Account Management at Dennis Interactive (the internet division of Dennis Maxim, the largest publisher in the U.K.) The letter is reproduced on the following link: N. Sample Letter of Recommendation from a Global Client Solution: Because of intellectual property theft on the Internet, we only provide full text training and strategic intervention proposals to legitimate clients or potential customers who have contacted us first. However, we can briefly say that our strategy for helping companies with team-building, morale, productivity, or competitive positioning issues is as follows: 1. We research all company training issues in-depth before we propose interventions. When we do use interventions we only use pre-developed team building programs and assessment tools as general guides for improving quality of work and quality of relationships. For the most part our programs are built from scratch. 2. All of our programs incorporate high level strategic planning with down-to-earth nuts and bolts training on specific skills employees need to be more productive, including: 1. Time Management and Prioritization Skills 2. Planning and Organizing Skills 3. Customer Service Skills 4. Critical Thinking and Presentation Skills 5. Business and Technical/Scientific Writing Skills 6. Verbal Communication and Persuasion Skills 7. Visioning and Future-Planning Skills 8. Relationship Building and Interpersonal Skills 9. Diplomacy 10. Negotiation 3. We do not use jargon, buzzwords, buzz concepts, or cookie cutter programs. We still believe that the human mind is capable of analysis, meaningful thought and unlimited creativity--so we use it freely. For more information email us at dsnyder@mindread.net, or call 252.747.1339.
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