Optimism, a “force multiplier” for leaders

During this primary season, I have been struck time and time again by the breadth of candidates who are critical or concerned about the state of our country and our union.  While the rhetoric has been broadly negative and at times rude/angry/mean spirited & bullying, I am struck by the lack of a vision of hope, opportunity and most notably “optimism” emanating from the candidates and their campaigns.  I am not going to focus this essay on today’s political landscape, but instead center the discussion on this idea of “optimism” as a priority for leaders in business.

 Across my professional career, now spanning more than thirty years and numerous senior executive leadership roles, I have seen the impact of “leadership optimism” (or the opposite, “leadership pessimism/cynicism”) up close and in person.  I have had the chance to work for numerous positive/”optimistic” leaders across my career, as well as working for a few of the opposite “ilk.”  There is no debate in my experience of the organizational impact of “optimistic” leadership qualities vs. a more pessimistic approach. 

Teams will rally behind a leader if she/he “believes” that an objective can be accomplished; and communicates that belief honestly and personally.  Organizations look to their leaders to understand and validate THEIR optimism and confidence in achieving a goal, or overcoming a significant hurdle.  If a leader is “optimistic”, positive and hopeful about the future results and achievements, the broader team is much more likely to be engaged and “optimistic” as well.  Unfortunately the opposite is equally true!  Leaders that exude a negative, critical, and pessimistic approach have little chance to inspire and energize a positive, engaged, “optimistic” organization.

In a previous essay, titled “ Optimism… a priority for leadership and life”  (http://fylegacy.blogspot.com/2011/08/optimism-priority-for-leadership-and.html), I comment on the importance of “optimism” and quote former Secretary of State Colin Powell,

In closing I want to quote former Secretary of State Colin Powell, “Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.” This idea that optimism can and will enhance the impact and success of an organization rings deeply true to me. The idea of “perpetual optimism”, the concept that an optimistic outlook and approach is not episodic, but continual or uninterrupted, is powerful and challenging. The question isn’t whether we will face challenges/issues/problems/setbacks in our work or our lives; we will! The opportunity for all of us is to face these moments with an eye to an “optimistic” approach, always working to have our approach be guided by the facts of the moment AND the possibilities that lie ahead.

While I wrote that essay back in 2011, with our economy still mired deep in the “great recession” and the political landscape in gridlock going into the last presidential election, the need and opportunity for all of us to be more hopeful and “optimistic” today in 2016 again rings true!  This concept of using “optimism” to multiply your leadership impact is a powerful idea.  While former secretary of state Powell is linking this idea back to his distinguished military career, it is equally relevant in the context of business.  It requires us to be intentional in our approach and tone across all the leadership impact moments we might face.

This does NOT mean that we as leaders can be naïve or “Pollyannaish” about the competitive landscape or the business challenges ahead.  We must be candid in our assessment of the business, and then work hard to build clear and decisive plans for the future.  Once those plans are clear and important strategic decisions have been made, execute with energy and “optimism.”  Let everyone see and hear your positive energy and “optimism” for the plan!

As the primary season grinds to a close over the next few weeks and we turn towards the general election in November, I remain hopeful (and I am sincerely trying to be “optimistic”!) that the political dialogue will pivot to one focused on the opportunities for our country ahead, and our potential future leaders’ confidence and “optimism” for those better days to come!  In light of the past few days, with anger and violence regular elements of some candidate’s campaign rallies, this need for hope and “optimism” is required NOW!

Regardless of that potentiality, we all as leaders have the chance to make a more positive and “optimistic” impact in our organizations today.  Don’t wait for some one else to set the tone, or “lead the charge.”  Take action TODAY with your team, your department, your function or your company and lead with a greater sense of hope, potential and “optimism.”  I am confident that you will see the impact across your organization and in the business results to come!

“When you are out of Vanilla, you are out of business!”

Well to start with, this is not an essay focused on ice cream, or for that matter specifically whether you do or do not like vanilla ice cream.   This story is about understanding what your core product/flavor/sku is in the eyes of your consumers, and working hard to NEVER be “out of stock” (oos) on that item.

This story emanates from the late 80’s, when I was working for Kraft foods and had been promoted to the role of brand manager, Breyers Ice Cream.  A “sweet” role to be certain, tasting plant samples, competitive offerings, and new flavor formulations were a tough daily routine.  Other than driving my cholesterol through the roof, the job/role was awesome.  Breyers’ was the flagship brand of our division, a historic ice cream brand from the 1860’s and I had the chance to work on its expansion into the western states and to launch Breyers Light, the first premium low-fat ice cream; a great role as I said, and a spot where I learned a lot early in my career.

Early in the job, I went on a “market visit” into New England where I toured grocery stores with our sales manager in that region.  Bob was a veteran of the ice cream business, having worked for Kraft and its predecessor National Dairies fro over 20 years.  Here I was, 3-4 years out of business school, heading into the market with the “old time sales guy.”  Again, a scene ripe for insights and lessons for sure!

I remember distinctly being with Bob on a Monday morning in Boston, hitting a Stop & Shop grocery store early that day.  As we got to the freezer case, heavily picked over after a weekend sale, he asked me what I saw and “what it meant.”  After a few meaningless mumbles on my end, he jumped in to note that the weekend sale had driven a lot of sales, but at that moment we were “out of business.”  Clearly I didn’t have a clue what he meant.  While the freezer case was a mess, I saw plenty of chocolate, strawberry, mint chocolate chip, cherry vanilla, and mint chocolate chip (a personal fave) to name just a few.  This was the moment where he shared, without a lot of critique for you’re truly, that “when you are out strawberry, you are out of stock, but when you are out of Vanilla, you are out of business.”

While a “light bulb moment,” I clearly needed a bit more explanation.  He shared that with vanilla being 30+% of the overall ice cream category, and 40+% for Breyers at that time, not having enough vanilla on hand was a big deal.  Where you ran oos on other flavors, shoppers may switch their choice, and possibly “fill in” with good old Breyers vanilla.  The trouble is the opposite isn’t true!  When you ran oos on Breyers vanilla, shoppers wouldn't substitute with another flavor, they would shift brands and grab their “next favorite” vanilla.  Being oos on vanilla meant being out of business!

This lesson has stuck with me now for almost 30 years and has come up a lot lately in discussions with friends & clients in other businesses.  In the consumer goods landscape, we have seen a wild explosion of flavors / line extensions across a typical grocery store.  In a recent conversation with a client and friend, we were talking about a situation where when they ran an ad/promotion on their products, the best selling flavor/sku would sell out first, with the slower selling flavors “clogging up the shelves” and really not moving.  I blurted out the Breyers Vanilla story and reminded them that when they were out of some crazy flavor they were just oos, but when they were out of their core flavor/sku they were “out of business.”  Whether your business is juices, soups, salsas, dressings, cookies, hummus, or ice cream, this concept is fundamental across the board.

All of this focus on your core item/flavor/sku does not mean to abandon innovation.  Quite the contrary!  Innovation is the lifeblood of any business, and I do believe the adage to “innovate or die.”  Work tirelessly and stay committed to a innovation process, exploring “over the horizon” and creating what might be your best seller in the future!  With that commitment to innovation in place, NEVER lose track of where you are today.

Here are a few suggestions on how to take action on this concept. Regardless of your business/industry/category, work hard to see your product line through the eyes and the wallets of your consumers.  What is your central item/sku/flavor and just how “substitutable” is it really?? .  Insure that you have a broad offering of your items/skus/flavors available for consumers but don't sacrifice your core franchise. 

Be certain that you still have a few packages of your core item, your “Breyers Vanilla,” on hand on the Monday morning after a wildly successful weekend sale.

Four Corner Approach for Talent Assessment and Review

In a recent work session with a wonderful new client, we had a discussion about some of their key executives and how they were performing in their roles.  While not a start-up, this is a small, high growth, privately funded company filled with opportunities and challenges.  As the discussion expanded, I realized that my client had a lot of opinions/feelings/perspectives and experiences with these associates, just no framework to assess/discuss their performance.

Quickly, in typical “Levisay fashion,” I grabbed a marker and went to the flip chart and started drawing out my “Four Corner Strategy” for talent assessment.  While certainly not groundbreaking in any way, it gave us a framework to work through relating to each exec, allowing us to have a more structured discussion, and in a number of cases was pretty illuminating in it’s implications.

“Four Corner” Approach

With marker in hand, I drew out a large box, with a 4x4 grid inside, and identified each of the four quadrants: 1.) Skills, 2.) Experience, 3) Motivation, 4.) Work Ethic.  We then had a discussion as to whether any of the boxes should be weighted more or less than one another.  For our discussion, we kept each the equal weight, but could have made adjustments at this step.  With the grid set, we pulled up a specific individual and their specific role and made sure that we were clear about the role’s requirements.  With that set, we went through each of the grids with surprising clarity and efficiency:

1    1.) Skills:  having just reviewed the skills required for the role, it was pretty easy to assess whether the individual had the skills, and more importantly had demonstrated those required skills on the job.  After a quick review, I asked my client to rate the associate 1-10 (1 being low, 5 being fair, 10 being exceptional)

2    2.) Experience: In the same manner, we thought about the experiences someone needed to perform this role well, and again after a quick review, I hade my client rate the associate 1-10.

3    3.) Motivation: While a little less tangible that the “factors” above, we discussed how “motivated/energized/engaged” the associate was to do their role; not overall in their work life, but the specific job that we were discussing.  Again another rating 1-10.

4    4.) Work Ethic:  Was the associate showing a strong drive to get their job done, close out emails/calls with peers or customers, working hard to get major objectives done, etc.  This is a very “visible” part of the review and drove a quick review and rating.  Again score 1-10.

With the 4x4 grid complete, it was interesting to review the ratings!  While only the first time through, we had rated a few associates in similar roles, and their “cumulative scores” ranged dramatically.  One individual scored a 17, while another scored a 28 and at the beginning of the discussion we knew there were differences, but now we had a way/framework to dig in.  While not exactly like an academic grading system, I did encourage my client to think that a cumulative score of 36 (9 out of 10 average score on each factor) would be outstanding, a 32 (8 out of 10 average) would be very good, a 28 (7 out of 10 average) adequate, and anything below 26 (a 6.5 out of 10 average) we should think about as unacceptable.  Well to say the least the scores of the individuals raised some serious questions, and actions are underway to work on performance improvement plans and possibly an impending exit.

I share this story not to myopically advocate this approach over another model. There are numerous talent assessment frameworks being utilized broadly in business today, and many of them work very well.  I am a strong advocate of adopting a single framework and “working it hard’ across your team.  Find an approach that works for you and use it consistently across departments and functions.  Build skills as senior executives on how to assess and develop talent within your organization, and after a 30+year business career I am more convinced than ever that human talent is and will be the most precious resource for executives in business.

Turn your intentions into action in 2016

Over the years and numerous essays on this blog, I have often commented on the need to focus on the “actions” of the moment. Whether when I was advising the reader to “act with an intent” or when I advised readers to “watch the feet” (both previous essays), my focus was and continues to be on the power of action in our business and personal lives. I deeply believe that while we have an infinite inability to affect yesterday, we have an infinite ability to affect “the tomorrows” of our lives by taking action now.


It is traditional to start the new-year with a set of resolutions or “intentions”, things we aspire to do or stop doing in the year ahead. My focus today is on the spark of action required to make good intentions come true, and the realization that the time to act is now!


In a very unusual way, I am living this axiom out in my personal life, having had knee replacement surgery on December 30, 2015. Over the past few years I have struggled with a worsening condition with an arthritic knee. As a college student, I was injured playing soccer and after 30 years of “babying the knee”, I started having significant issues three years ago. Like many in my situation, I tried a number of therapies, hoping to avoid surgery. A year of PT, followed by cortisone shots seemed a good approach but the knee continued to weaken. I am not sure what I was waiting on, but I guess I just “hoped” it would improve on its’ own. Well to say “hope is not a strategy” is an understatement in my case.


Last November, hiking in the NC Mountains with a friend, I lost my footing and fell, partly due to my weak knee, and suffered a head injury. Luckily I did not fracture my skull, but did suffer a concussion and received 12 “staples” in my head. A major wakeup call for sure, when an afternoon walk/hike turns into almost a life-threatening incident! I was lucky for sure, and am doing fine, but my “hope it improves” strategy nearly had significant negative consequences.


Once I recovered a bit, I immediately investigated knee surgeons in Atlanta, scheduled appointments, and long story short, had a very successful operation just before the new year and have been recovering well since the surgery. While I have a long way to go to get “back to normal,” I know that I am on the right path and with the right focus on my PT regimen, I will be stronger and more capable than I had been in just a few months. Progress and improvement through action!


It’s in this spirit that I write this essay today; and while my story is personal and deals with a health/medical situation, the same spirit relates to the landscape of business. We have been in the midst of a tremendous growth cycle coming out of the pits of the “great recession” in March of 2009. Since the end of World War Two, the average U.S. growth cycle has been between 5 and 6 years and while that does not predict the length of our current cycle, we must all agree that business and economics do move in cycles and that we are well into a mature growth cycle as we enter 2016. Regardless of the almost 400 pt. drop of the Dow last Friday, it’s impossible to predict the timing of the market so don't try. Stay focused on your business instead and push yourselves to drive those lurking “good ideas” or “emerging hypotheses” into actions in the market quickly. Before you know it, the cycle might change, you and your business might find itself behind plan, and you will NEED ideas immediately to deploy into the marketplace to change unacceptable trends. Don’t wait for you business to slip and have it’s proverbial “head injury.” Take action immediately and be the guide /director of the results and success that lie in your future.


As you enter 2016, take a few moments and scan you business, personal and possibly even you medical landscapes. Are there situations that you just “hope will get better on their own?” Are there ideas or innovations that are on a back burner somewhere that you just haven’t had the time or inclination to pursue fully? Regardless of the situation, don’t wait, and don’t let yourself be deceived that “hope is a strategy.” Take actions now and turn your intentions into action in 2016!

The "Double Deposit"

It was thirty years ago last week, in early December of 1985, that I made a major mistake with my personal finances.  In hindsight, I think back upon that moment with surprisingly fond memories, but at the time is was a moment of fear and anxiety.  I share this story, in the spirit of the holiday season, to be a reminder of the “potential” and kindness of strangers.

I had started my business career just a few months before, graduating from Vanderbilt with my “newly minted” MBA, and taking a great role as a Marketing Assistant with Kimberly Clark.  After a few months of sales training in the field, (a wonderful experience that will be fodder for a future essay) I was assigned a role on a brand team at HQ, in Neenah Wisconsin. 

Having moved to Wisconsin in October of 1985, to a great little apartment near City Park in Appleton, I dove into my new job, new neighborhood, and new friends with gusto.  Everything was going great, I loved my job and my first boss (Bruce Paynter was my boss at the time who I have written about extensively on this blog.  Take a look at the archive to find those essays when you have a moment.) and was feeling great as we started getting close to Christmas.

An unusual reality about working for Kimberly Clark (often referred to simply as “KC”) was that they ran payroll for management once a month.  While it certainly does not seem like much in retrospect, my annual salary, net of appropriate withholdings and deductions, was sent out via check 12 times a year.  I was pretty typical of many of my peers at the time; I was single with little to no savings, some significant student loans, and a new job where I wanted to be succesful and use as a foundation for future executive roles and a long-term business career.

Everything seemed to be going just fine as we entered early December of that year.  I had purchased Christmas presents for my family, a plane ticket to go visit my girlfriend (now wife of 28 years) Jennie in Atlanta, had my car serviced and winterized in advance of a tough Wisconsin winter and still had a enough in my checkbook to “make it” to my early January paycheck.

It was a snowy Friday night that I came back to my apartment after hitting happy hour with “the gang from work” and picked up a voice message on my new, high tech home answering machine.  It was a message from a “Ms. Ratzenberger from the Valley Bank”, letting me know that my account at the bank had been frozen because I was “thousands of dollars overdrawn” and that I needed to come to the bank in person on Monday morning!!!  I can still remember the feeling of panic that hit me that cold night.  Whatever lingering effects of the “good cheer” from happy hour were washed away by a rising sensation of fear, anxiety and stomach acid.

In the cool light of a crisp Saturday morning, I tried to figure out what had happened.  I only had the account for a few months, so I pulled out the 2-3 monthly statements and my checkbook to figure it all out.  It only took a few minutes of digging to realize MY error and mistake.  Just about the time of my December paycheck, I was getting to the bottom of the “checkbook register” and the last entry on the first page was my monthly paycheck deposit.  All good so far!  As I turned the check register OVER to start the next page for some unthinkable reason I entered the December monthly paycheck deposit again and added it to my running balance.  (Just a reminder for the younger readers, there was no email/internet/cell phones/e-banking /etc. in 1985.  Just the good old checkbook and the monthly printed statements.)  I had “Double Deposited” my December paycheck and fully spent against it.  I didn’t have enough to “make it to January,” I was indeed thousands of dollars overdrawn and in trouble big time!

It was a long, sleepless, anxiety filled weekend.  I started collecting all the receipts for all my Christmas presents and seeing what I could “get back” if I took them all back to the stores.  I tried to see about what refund I could get from cancelling my plane ticket to go see Jennie for Christmas.  I tried to figure out what I could get as an advance eon my credit card, but with a $300 limit at the time (hilarious) not much there, I even tried to figure out what I could sell my car for if I needed cash fast!  As Monday morning grew closer, my anxiety only grew since I had NO plan to find the money…. what was I going to do???

In hindsight it was a very good decision to arrive at the bank early that morning, dressed in my suit and tie, ready for my meeting with Ms. Ratzenberger.  I sat quietly in the lobby when I was called back to her small office, no plan in hand and nervous and deeply scared.  At first she was stern and a little angry, asking me what had happened and how I could have become overdrawn so quickly after just opening the account a few months before.  Sheepishly I showed her my “double deposit “ error in my checkbook, how I had deposited my monthly paycheck twice and spent against it, stammering on that I wasn't sure what to do or what to sell to come up with the money.  Instead of bearing down on me, she perked up with a surprising question…. “ your monthly paycheck?  Do you work in management for KC?”  While I wasn’t sure that a Marketing Assistant was considered “management,” I said that I was in the marketing department at KC and had been there for six months.  Quickly she left her office to “make a few calls.”

I had no idea what was going on, but I sat silently as she was away from her office for a few minutes.  She returned with a smile on her face, and a stack of papers and forms in her hand.  She shared that she had called KC and confirmed my employment status and salary (I was in management afterall, ha!!).  She also said that she had a “personal loan repayment plan” for my overdrawn amount that would start in January with monthly payments for a year to closeout my “debt.”  Finally, she had the docs for me to convert my MasterCard to a Valley Bank credit card that would lower my interest rates and be linked to the “personal loan repayment plan” above.

Well to say the least I was blown away.  Rather than being some kind of overdrawn deadbeat, I was a valued new and expanding customer of Valley Bank!  I didn't need to sell my car, return the Christmas presents and cancel my flight plans.  What I needed to do was do a good job at work, payoff my loan and credit card bills to the bank on time or early, and NEVER make a “Double Deposit” again!!

As I think back on that moment thirty years ago a few lessons come to mind.  We all make mistakes and always will.  It’s futile to think about living a “fault-free” life.  Instead, we need to focus on how we handle the moments of mistakes when they come, regardless of what side of Ms. Ratzenbergers' desk you find yourself on.  If you are the one who made the blunder, own it!  Don't run from the truth; don't try to “talk your way out of it.”  Be open and honest about what happened and work towards solutions.  If you are on the other side of the desk, dealing with the “offender” find ways to be open as well.  Look for ways to turn the negative moment into a positive opportunity, find ways to turn the “deadbeat debtor” into a valued new customer!  As you head into the holiday season, keep this little "snowy Wisconsin story" in mind and find ways to turn mistakes and errors into moments of generosity and opportunity.