“A voice of calm, with a bias for action”

First and foremost this is an essay about listening.  Listening to associates, friends, and colleagues who have known you for a while and whose council we should learn to trust more and more over time.  I have the pleasure/honor to have a number of colleagues and friends whom I have worked with over the past 20+ years.  One such friend/colleague (named Cathy) that I have worked closely with over the past 20+ years shared the advice which makes up the title of this essay.

Since the start of 2016, I have been busy with an expanding consulting business.  All in all, I have worked with and eleven different clients this year ranging from small start-up food companies, to a global pharmaceutical company, to private equity firms and venture funds.  As an operating executive with over 30 years of experience, I have been a bit surprised, challenged and inspired by the range of work and the dynamic client situations.  I guess that’s one way of saying that it’s been a great year at Levisay Consulting LLC. (See more at www.levisayconsulting.com)

Now with all that said, I am currently busy with a number of clients who are facing significant moment s of change.  Situations include dramatic changes in mgmt., strategic challenges with acquisitions, funding challenges and on-coming cash flow issues, predatory actions by competitors, and the list goes on.  Everywhere I turn, I have clients who are dealing with organizations that seem literally on the edge of “coming apart,” and the stress/challenges that they are facing are significant and immediate.   It is in this context that Cathy shared her “words of wisdom” last week.

It was in one of our daily calls; Cathy is active with me in the consulting business, that I shared the latest “craziness” in a certain client’s organization.  As I was venting about the situation, trying to figure our MY best role and plan for attack, Cathy share that “you should be a voice of calm, with a bias for action.”  Twelve simple words, spoken over an early morning phone call, so filled with wisdom and perspective!    Immediately the words rang true and while they were certainly applicable to the situation I was dealing with that day, they were words of advice that are applicable in EVERY situation where I am working today.  Lets dig into each element of her advice:

“Voice of Calm:” Her suggestion was not only for me to remain calm, but also to work on communicating that attitude to the clients and organizations where I am working today.  Just as I have share the notion in a previous essay that leaders need to have a “teachable point of view,” not just a silent/quiet understanding of the work at hand, so Cathy is nudging me to be an active agent of “calm.”

“Bias for action:” So often in moments of challenge/change and stress, organizations get focused on and “scared” of all the change occurring, and literally become “immobilized” in their fear/concern.  Leaders need to understand and acknowledge the issues at hand regardless of the situation, sympathizing and not ignoring the issues/problems of the current reality.  It is equally true that leaders need to guide a path ahead, being action oriented in times of challenge, and focused on how to achieve a “better tomorrow.”

Well Cathy’s advice has really hit home, and I am working to bring those words to life across my client interactions today.  She knows me well, and has a clear sense of what I can and should be doing to be more effective in my assignment of the moment.  I hope that you all have people in you life like Cathy whom you can go to for advice, friends/colleagues that know you deeply and whose advice not only can help you, but all whom you touch!

Two Opposing Truths

One simple yet challenging idea that I DID NOT learn in business school has to do with the challenging reality of balancing “two opposing truths” in business at the same moment.  How to drive growth AND cut costs?  How to inspire the team AND improve productivity simultaneously?  Etc.

The idea of dealing with moments when you have to grapple with “opposing truths” is a constant dynamic in a busy, growing career in business today.  I faced it often at Bolthouse Farms.  How to accelerate the innovation process to be able to launch new sku’s every 6 months while trying to simplify the production process at the plant??  How to grow share and beat key competitors every IRI period while meeting or exceeding our profit goals??  As you can see, the list goes on!!

In my experience, the key factor is not to deny this reality… there are opposing truths, face that dynamic don’t run from it!  The key is to remember F. Scott Fitzgerald’s quote below and “retain the ability to function.”  Don’t let this challenging dynamic slow you down.  Keep your action orientation and tempo up.  Take a look at one of my blog essays, “Act with Intent” to give you and your team a few ideas on how to move forward regardless of the complexity of the moment.

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function."

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Remember, all businesses are hard and face challenging moments.  I am sure that you have seen that reality in your past, you probably are seeing it today and will continue to experience it in your future.  The trick is to dive into the challenge at hand, the dynamic of “two opposing truths,” and chart a course for action in the days /weeks ahead.  Your approach won’t be perfect (mine never was!!) but if you stay active and nimble, course correcting as you go, you will avoid the chance for the “opposing truths” to slow your organization down and you will increase your chances for future success exponentially!

This dynamic is not only a reality in the business world.  The 13^th century Persian poet/theologian/scholar Rumi writes:

“There is an invisible strength within us; when it recognizes two opposing objects of desire, it grows stronger.”

As a father who recently “dropped off” his oldest child at college, I deeply relate to Rumi’s quote.  After 18 years of nurturing your child, and helping them prepare for the step of independence, its seemed VERY distressing that we left him at his dorm and flew home Sunday morning.  We deeply want him to be independent and successful on his own AND we deeply miss him from our everyday home life…. “Two opposing objects of desire!”

Whether in business or in my personal life, I try to take inspiration and guidance from these two different sources.  Don’t deny the reality of balancing “two opposing truths!”  Embrace the truth and explore each opposing position/side.  Dig into the Paradox, but don't let the challenge disable your ability to act.  Try to keep the perspective that these moments actually teach us a lot about our world, our business situation and ourselves and use that “learning” to drive you to a better outcome.  Obviously easier said than done but true nonetheless… good luck!!

Be-> Do-> Say, the required “order” of transformation and impact!

In today’s world of instant/immediate messaging and communication, this essay’s topic may seem odd, old fashioned or out of step.  We are absolutely bombarded by images and messages, being “pushed out” across a wide range of mediums and platforms.  In truth I am not only a witness to this phenomenon, I am clearly a participant; this essay being the 152^nd that I have posted on this blog since 2009 and now with over 40k page views and readers literally all over the globe, I am a clear perpetrator of this communications/messaging onslaught. 

It’s in this context that I want to reinforce today’s topic.  Recently I have had two consulting projects with two large clients across very different industries, both deeply struggling with moments of change and transformation.  In each situation, I have been working with very talented senior executives faced by very challenging circumstances and obstacles.  In both situations over the past few weeks, I have gone up to a whiteboard/flipchart and wrote out an old lesson from my past….

”Be-> Do-> Say.”

It was over ten years ago, in a very difficult moment of change and transformation at The Coca- Cola Company that I learned this important lesson.  The company had been through a number of senior executive changes/”transitions’ and a series of organizational restructurings and headcount reductions/layoffs.  The business was a mess, the culture was a wreck, and things needed to change.  It was in a senior executive work session, lead by the newly announced CEO Neville Isdell, where I learned this important lesson/concept:  “Be-> Do-> Say!” 

Rather than starting with some communication plan or statements of beliefs/mission/principles/etc. the concept was to “begin” with what we wanted/needed to “be.”  As leaders, we needed to drive growth and innovation across the company and rebuild a broken culture and organization.  The first step was to try to personally “embody” those requirements, not to “talk” about them.  Once clear “what” you were trying to “be,” then you needed to insure that your actions and your team’s actions, (or in other words your “do’s,”) were aligned to what you were trying to “be.”  Then and only then could you start talking about it, in other words the order of the “Be-> Do-> Say” model is the central idea in this story!

For me, two recent consulting engagements have reminded me about this concept from different vectors.  In one situation, I have been working with a wonderful leadership team in a very large, successful global organization.  They are grappling with major issues on how to impact their specific industry and are deeply challenged by the legacy beliefs and practices of a number of their industry partners.  In a recent conversation about this issue and the needs for their industry associates to change, I nudged around this idea of “Be->Do-> Say” and asked them to focus on their own organization.  Before we ask/demand other’s to change, what must we do first to “be” the change we expect in the industry and what actions should we take/ what must we “do” to bring that essence to life.  Only when we are clear and active about our own “Be-> Do” step, can we then go out to the industry and “say” what our expectations are for change and transformation!  While the work is underway with an industry communication moment fast approaching in September, this “reordering” of the approach has been compelling and hopefully productive.

In a second assignment, I am working with a client in a very different industry and situation.   For the past 2-3 years this client has clearly communicated in all of their strategic and annual plans that “Quality and Customer Service” is their first priority.  This has been shared and reinforced all the way from board presentations to meetings with entry-level associates across the organization.  It was beyond alarming to learn that not only have they not lived up to those words/communication platforms, I was being brought in to help in the context of a major breakdown in both areas.  Far from being the “first” priority, it seems that in the reality of the “Be->Do-> Say” dynamic, quality and customer service fell well down on the list of actually executed priorities.  My focus has not been on any new communication plans or presentation decks, but on clarifying the actual implications (the actual work requirements) of this stated commitment to industry leading quality and customer service.  The actual actions across this client over the next few months will determine in this situation if any progress will be achieved.

Once again this very simple headline, “Be-> Do-> Say,” is so much easier to describe than to “pull-off” in real life.  It’s not easy to slow the communication “machinery” down, regardless of the organization or situation at hand.  Remember that the order is central to this idea and work hard to focus on the commitments and actions of you and your team BEFORE you spend any time or resources “talking” about them! 

Calculate your “R.O.W." (Return on Work) to maximize impact!

Over the 30+ years of my career, I have had the chance to be part of, and at times lead, some significant projects.  Ranging from the launch of Breyers Light Ice Cream early in my career, to the launch of Coke Zero now more than ten years ago, and more recently the North American expansion of the Bolthouse Farms line of Juices and smoothies, I have had the chance to be part of a number of initiatives that now account for well over $1 billion in annual retail sales.  While the absolute scale is not that important, I have had the chance to learn some vital lessons on the concept of  “R.O.W.” (Return on Work.)

The “R.O.W.” Model:  this concept links directly to the financial concept of “R.O.I.”

ROI is usually expressed as a percentage and is typically used for personal financial decisions, to compare a company's profitability or to compare the efficiency of different investments. The return on investment formula is: ROI = (Net Profit / Cost of Investment) x 100.

In the same vein, I have realized that the MOST precious resource for a business leader is time, or more specifically how she/he CHOOSES to use her/his time.  Over the years I started realizing that the impact of my work, or in other words the “Return On my Work” varied greatly across projects/initiatives.  It dawned on me years ago, and it continues as a work in progress today, that if I could deploy my time to the highest “returning” projects/assignments, I could work on improving my impact in the role assigned.

The “KMX/Coke Zero case”:  While this idea/concept of “R.O.W.” had been “kicking around” in the back of my head for a number of years, it came into clear focus a little more that ten years ago.  I had a senior sales/marketing role at Coke at the time; we were launching a number of new products into the market.  Two of new products from that period that I worked on personally were the now defunct energy drink, “KMX”, and the hugely successful diet soft drink, “Coke Zero.”  It was eye-opening to realize that while it took almost the same amount of time for me and my team to develop and implement the launches of these two projects, the “return” on the work varied greatly.  I remember specifically trying to calculate the number of hours it took us to “sell-in” both items into Walmart.  While not exact, I remember that it took about about 25% more time to “sell-in” “Coke Zero” than it did for the team to “sell-in” “KMX.”  The size and scale of “Coke Zero” was so big, that while it took 25% more time, the “return” on the work was 12.5 TIMES bigger….. a huge “R.O.W.” difference!

Don’t let your calendar be King/Queen:  This idea of being intentional on your personal deployment, and hopefully that of your team as well is powerful if and only if YOU take control of your personal deployment.  Too often I have seen talented leaders fall prey to their own calendar being filled up by others and other people’s meetings/priorities/projects.  You are in control of YOU, and I encourage you strongly to take action against that idea!  Even today as I lead my consulting business, I take time out weekly (if not more often) and “work the calendar” with my trusted work partner and friend Cathy.  We typically work 30-45 days out, looking at upcoming client meetings and travel needs always with an eye to maximize the impact or “R.O.W.” over that period of time. 

Remember the lesson of “Important and Urgent”:  I refer back often to an early essay on this blog titled “Tyranny of the Urgent…5% for #2.” http://fylegacy.blogspot.com/2010/11/tyranny-of-urgent-5-for-2.html

Its one of the most read essays (top 5 out of the 151 I have posted as of today) and it centers on the point of balancing The “Important” and “Urgent” priorities on your plate.  Be careful not to let the “urgent” issues take over your life!  Be careful with technology that over emphasizes the most “urgent” issues/priorities and work to insure that you are taking a balanced view of your landscape allowing you to focus on the issues at hand that are both “Important” and “Urgent.”  Only with the balanced view will you have a chance to improve your “R.O.W.” over time!

Try to apply the “R.O.W.” lens to your work landscape today.  Ask yourself whether you are really spending your time on the issues/projects/initiatives with the highest “return.”  While I think it’s always a work in progress, strive to improve the impact/”return” of your work over time!