REWORKING OUR NET

At yesterday’s lunch, we overheard – okay, deliberately – a twinned table talking about business development, referrals – and networking.

[Yeah, we like to eavesdrop.  It reveals a whole ‘nother side of humanity.  Sometimes funny or not.  But always enlightening.]

That started us on the topic, and the ways in which we abuse networking.  Just remember these various and sundry conversations:

“Boy, my business isn’t what it should be.  Gotta start networking … again.”

“Alice just got laid off.  Wonder when she’s gonna understand the value of networking.”

“I’m going to a (fill in the blanks) conference next month.  Guess I better stock up on my business cards as hand-outs.”

The concept of one-way connections just doesn’t work anymore.  Sure, information on individuals is more plentiful than ever, whether we Google, LinkIn, gtweet, or otherwise contact new and old acquaintances.  And the e-friendships do work, at least for a while.

Cynical-ness and skepticism, though, win out.  In the back of our minds:  What does s/he want?  Why are they bothering with me – and I’m not sure I can do anything?

Here’s our solution:  Swap the word for ‘relationshipping.’  It better connotes what we should  be doing:  Giving, rather than receiving.  Asking for the beginnings of a business friendship.  Inquiring about your health and welfare first, then, later, talking about me.  Providing value in the forms of time and thought, from scanning and sending an article of interest to mutually beneficial introductions.  Being old-fashioned enough to enjoy face-to-face conversations, and the delight of human connections.

Yup, it’s a favorite topic, one we tend to return to.  People, too.

DOWN ON THE FARM

General Motors and silos continue to be linked in the media.

And in our minds.

According to new GM CEO Mary Barra in her Congressional testimonies, the auto company’s managers operated in isolation, failing to connect and act on evidence that’s now been linked to fatal accidents.  That, in the words of Harvard guru Ranjay Gulati, smacks of protectionist behavior, decision-making conflicts, and just general inside-out perspectives.

Sound like any business you know?

Regardless:  In the mid-Aughts, after studying a number of different companies (e.g., GE Healthcare, Jones Lang LaSalle, Cisco, Starbucks), Gulati proffered his four-C solution to silo-busting:

• Coordination to share customer information and labor
• Cooperation, along with metrics, that will dethrone the current power structure
• Capability development, when customer-centric generalists also see a clear career pathway and
• Connection, or strategic alliances with other companies.

Later in the decade (or in this one), he holds up IBM’s Smarter Planet initiative as an example of a sword that demolishes silos, saying that values and concomitant images, symbols, and stories, will support the beginnings of a new culture.

Ahem. 

There’s one ‘c’ he’s forgotten:  Communications.  A discipline that, better than any others inside companies, can explain, educate, and elucidate employees on ‘what customers want.’  A function that, almost automatically, delivers awareness and drives actions on behalf of the corporation.  A mindset that will, either alone or in tandem with L&D/HR, establish parameters and ways in which an outside-in perspective reigns.

Ee-i-ee-i-oh, Mr. MacDonald.

HOW DO YOU SPELL IT?

Of late, we’ve been pondering success. 

Maybe because of sitting through relatives’ graduation ceremonies, where speakers always tell captive audiences to “do their best, make their mark, give back.”

Or maybe because of the annual Bloomberg Businessweek round-up of commencement quotes, coupled with a many-paged special on success.

Either way, it prompted us to stop.

Those profiled in the mag have little in common.   Except all are originals, in their own way.  The Fault is in Our Stars John Green created a unique conversation with teens – direct, sympathetic, intelligent.  Shaq of Shaquille O’Neal fame fastidiously manages his brand, a peculiar kind of goofiness … sort of an oversize fun kid attitude.  Max Temkin and friends launched Cards against Humanity, a decidedly non-Internet game encouraging people to spend time together, sans Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, and other e-distractions.

The other share-able attribute?  Again, each person gives back.  In different ways.  It might be product or time or a particular philanthropy.  What mattered most was the act of doing things for other people.

It’s what Robert Greenleaf meant when he talked servant-leaders in the 1970s.  Those execs who put people first, help them develop to their highest potential, and share power.  The top of the pyramid, he felt, has to show caring attitudes and actions, building a solid foundation for performance for both the individual and the organization. 

In these uncertain days, we feel, giving is vastly under-rated.  It’s part of our definition of success.  And yours?

VOX NOT-SO POPULI

Columnists (no names here) have called it a “dead medium.”

Psychological researchers say 40 percent of UK office workers admit to nervousness when using it.

And serious therapies exist to reduce the onset and existence of telephobia. 

Yup, you got it:  The fear of the phone.

It’s not a yesterday statistic (the survey we cite was conducted in 2013).  Nor is it limited to 18 to 24ers who are, in large part, tied to texting and emailing.  Rather, many employees these days (94 percent according to the study) simply prefer email over any other communication channel.

Why?  Let us list the ways telephone talk is shunned:

• It can be intrusive
• Playing phone tag is annoying
• We can’t read what someone’s really thinking
• It’s time consuming (retrieving and listening to messages)
• The caller rambles
• It’s too much of an expectation (to return calls)
• It’s rude … and an imposition.

Seriously?   We’re sad.  Friends and family aside, a telephone call – like snail mail – can brighten our day.  A real-time exchange, even one that’s sudden, allows us to find out what’s going on, without reading between the e-lines.  It gives us permission to simply listen, to emote, to interact with colleagues, vendors, peers, managers, and leaders.  At our best, we can be comfortable and confident, and bring clarity to a conversation that, yes, might have rambled. 

What would Alexander Graham Bell say?  “To ask the value of speech is like asking the value of life.”

FRIENDS, WITH BENEFITS

Umpty-ump research studies tell us it’s good to have friends at work.  Social scientists – academic and commercial types – tick off the reasons; friends …

• Act as antidotes to declining employee engagement
• Provide relief from stress (eight out of ten of us suffer from it)
• Bond through a common sense of purpose
• Improve productivity and profitability
• Help with employee retention.

Yet few of these seers tell how, exactly, to find buddies in the 8 to 5 maelstrom.  There are some pretty obvious no-nos, like senior-senior manager with his/her staff member. 

And then there’s the matter of trust.  These days, the sharing of lives and values, somehow, seems risky.  Employment is not necessarily secure, and it feels better to carefully find those with whom to bond.  Besides, separating work and life is a good thing to do.

On the other hand, psychologists point out, we’re social animals, in social institutions.  So if leaders set the stage for appropriate camaraderie, the culture becomes that much stronger and its workforce, more resistant to outside forces. 

Puzzled?  The answer just could be part of orientation, onboarding, new hire initiation or whatever it’s called.  Right now, companies like Hyatt are assigning buddies to just arrived employees, individuals who will help with insights and questions.  That kind of match depends on (we hope) some rigorous screening and assessment, working to fit diverse peoples together for a longer-term relationship.  It sure helps when a tenured someone helps out a newbie, with no strings attached.

Now that’s what we call friends, with benefits.