Author: Nailia Tasseel

Martin and I recently ran a couple of workshops at the CiB conference in Brighton, which focused on employee engagement. How I am beginning to resent that phrase ‘employee engagement’. I would much prefer to use the term ‘connectivity’. Perhaps that’s a subject for another day.

Anyway… what was interesting was hearing from the delegates what the key barriers are to getting strategic messages embedded in the organisation. In no particular order, these were what the common obstacles are:

• Management (don’t just think middle management either – the blocks can come from senior managers as much as the middle managers! In fact, when we referred to middle managers as being ‘the granite wall’, one delegate went as far as calling senior management ‘the brick wall’).

• Too many messages, and too much complexity

• Management speak and tone of voice – ‘corporate claptrap’ and jargon, and a fear of informality

• Complexity of the organisation (diverse and disparate audiences)

• Varying interpretation of messages

• ‘Too many cooks’, or too many decision-makers involved

• Lack of clear message from the top

• Truth and honesty (or lack of it) about failure

• Inability for people to see where they fit in / relevance

• The conflict between communications and senior managers

What was so interesting to me was the frustration that so many communicators feel at being unable to influence senior managers and be seen as strategic partners rather than simply tactical deliverers. How close – or how far away – are we to having a Communications Director on the Board? Will this ever happen, and what will change in organisations to create that shift? Will organisations ever appreciate the true importance of communication, or are senior leaders simply paying lip-service to it? Do communicators need to focus more on outcomes rather than process, and do those outcomes link to the objectives of the business?

Lastly, I’d like to finish with a story about something that happened this week, which goes to show that telling the wrong kind of story can come back and bite you in the proverbial butt! The Chairman of some publishing company I’d never heard of was trying to sell me advertising space as part of a new venture – a directory of business reports aimed at C-level executives. Now I’m always suspicious of people who give themselves high-brow titles when in fact they come from a tiny little company where the Chairman is equally the chief cook and bottle washer – or are merely salespeople selling advertising space. It really smacks of arrogance. Just your name will do, thank you very much. The cost of the space was only £5k, but it was £5k that I didn’t actually believe would add value in this particular case. He was doing a reasonably good job at trying to persuade me, nevertheless, but my decision to firmly decline was made when the individual concerned sympathetically and helpfully agreed that £5k was a lot of money…and for a reasonably small company it was like spending one’s own personal money. Like the £5k wristwatch he had bought himself the previous week.

Have a great weekend.

I’m in the middle of Allan Leighton’s book on Leadership, which is refreshingly honest and down to earth. It gives some fascinating insights from some of the captains of industry on the qualities of a good leader, illustrated through their own stories, drawn from their own experiences. Sir Philip Green, Surinder Arora, Stuart Rose, Jacqueline Gold, Richard Baker, Justin King, James Dyson….the list goes on.

What I love about this book is the sheer honesty of some of these leaders, including Allan Leighton himself. The stories told about their success demonstrate qualities such as self-belief, perserverance, getting close to your people and understanding the jobs they do, good communication, listening, acting on gut feeling, taking a leaf out of others’ book(s) (ie copying good ideas!), and constantly adapting to change.

But what jumped out at me was the humility of some of these great figureheads and business icons – unafraid to talk about the mistakes they have made and how they have learned from them. There are plenty of hints and tips throughout (‘Leadership Lesssons’), but it seems to me that one of the great qualities as a leader is to admit, publicly, that they don’t always know more than others, that they are not always right, and that sometimes you have to eat humble pie before moving on. The masses in the organisation will respect you all the more for it. We are only human, after all, and as Allan points out, you can’t lead a huge organisation at the age of forty having done it all yourself.

I couldn’t possibly pick out one quote that summarises all this… you will have to read the book. There is a lot about change, including Theory E (economically-driven CEO’s who focus on restructure, cost-savings etc) and Theory O (organisationally-driven CEO’s who focus on getting the best out of their people in times of change). There is also a useful checklist to identify how good or bad your organisation is (the 7 C’s test). All I would say, is that whatever your view of Mr Leighton and his approach to business, some of his advice is just basic, human and makes total and utter sense.

I wish I had been a fly on the wall at the recent Management Today lunch discussion between some of the UK’s top corporate leaders (Adam Crozier, Royal Mail, Sir Martin Sorrell, WPP, David Brennan, AstraZeneca, Val Gooding, Bupa, Lord Crisp, ex-NHS, Paul Coby, BA, Jane McKenzie, Henley College, Miranda Kennett, First Class Coach and Ian Powell, PwC).

Some refreshingly honest views were expressed on how to manage complexity. Whether you agree with how these leaders are managing their businesses or not, the debate demonstrates a great mix of past experience and learning, which I found a fascinating read. Ian Powell (PwC), hit the nail on the head when he said: “If you have a very complex organisation that you are trying to control, your messages from the top need to be absolutely crystal-clear. I guess all of you at some point, when you first get to any leadership position, think you have to be terribly clever and come up with a fantastic strategy; it happened to me. Then you realise about two weeks into it that you have to articulate that strategy about two million times over the next five years so that everybody understands it, and that it is simplicity that really matters.”

This rings so true for us. The business stories we tell for our clients hide layers and layers of complex financial modelling, processes, systems, plans, projections, insights and analysis, based on past experience, current reality and future vision. Even the most simple businesses add layers of complexity as they grow, yet the people who make it all happen cannot hope to understand the level of complexity that makes up the big picture. Which is why we focus on making it simple. People remember things if they are made simple and are joined up in a logical way, and articulating strategy just has to be done in a clear and simple way. Of course, those messages will create the start of a new level of complexity, but you have to start somewhere.

And then John Maeda has something to say in his book ‘The Laws Of Simplicity’….

To make anything simple, you need to apply ‘thoughtful reduction’; that’s why the iPod has fewer features than rival media players. Where you can’t reduce- and too much reduction destroys the value of your product – you have to hide complexity; which is why Google has almost nothing on its home page. But for your simplified product to succeed, it has also to appear more valuable than more complex products, something you achieve with classy materials and clever marketing; which is why Bang & Olufsen’s remote controls are heavier than you’d expect.

Right team….let’s look at our paper stock…..

Hmmmm, having a bit of writers’ block today, but I’ve found a great quote…

“Australian Aborigines say that the big stories—the stories worth telling and retelling, the ones in which you may find the meaning of your life—are forever stalking the right teller, sniffing and tracking like predators hunting their prey in the bush.”

Robert Moss, Dreamgates

Today is World Storytelling Day, which started in Sweden in 2003, and is a global celebration of the art of oral storytelling. It is celebrated every year on the Spring equinox in the northern hemisphere, the first day of Autumn equinox in the southern. On World Storytelling Day, as many people as possible tell and listen to stories in as many languages and at as many places as possible, during the same day and night.

Each year, many of the individual storytelling events that take place around the globe are linked by a common theme. The 2008 theme is Dream.

We are always delighted to hear of great business stories, so today’s the day for sharing them!

Nice article in Personnel Today about Storytelling as a tool to create emotional buy-in for training and development departments.  Well, we’re not exactly a ‘training company’, but they’re right in explaining why this approach is so powerful.  This topic is becoming ever-more prevalent in business circles, and for good reason…

Communications consultancy CHA has recently published a report which highlights some fairly worrying news about the disengagement of employees and why they don’t seem to find their work worthwhile or meaningful.

It may surprise business leaders, who are at the sharp end of performance, profitability and productivity, that however much THEY are stimulated and motivated by what they do at work, it’s not always the same story across their organisation. To the point that however much money is at stake, it’s not always the ker-ching factor (personal or that of the business) that makes people tick. In a world where burn-out is a serious business for therapists, life coaches, health advisors and recruitment agencies, there’s no greater argument for engaging employees and explaining the why as well as the what and how. The Financial Times gets closer to this. Have a read.

“We don’t do average.
Average is middle of the road,
and middle of the road is
where you get run over.”

Another great one from the
eminent clothing brand Howies.