Fast:Forward Farther

For the past 18 months, I worked with two groups of senior leaders at a global organization. These 10 talented individuals from the U.S., Mexico, Australia, and India were hand-picked by top executives for a multi-faceted program that included designing and delivering a project to hopefully create a new initiative for the company. They also participated in two in-person bootcamps, five live online 3.5 hours events and peer-to-peer coaching.

The final challenge last week was for each group – self-named ‘Shinconsiners’ and ‘True Northians’ – to present their prototype to members of the ELT. This 60-minute Teams meeting was divided into thirds: presentation, Q&A, feedback. The judges were complimentary… and tough. They asked powerful questions, and despite all the planning, research, testing, revision and practice, both groups were held accountable for missing some key insights.

Other coaches worked with the two teams whose members are based in Europe. One of those received a score of 21 out of 24 from the ELT and their idea was immediately greenlighted. The other one scored 15 and was denied. The two I coached earned equal scores of 18… with the possibility for approval after revisions.

In addition to their substantial learning as participants, it was a great experience for me to facilitate the journey, especially from seeing how they approached each task along the way.

Now the opportunity ahead for them is to continue excelling in their roles and someday be added to the ELT – with one perhaps rising to be the future CEO. Of course, that’s a high bar… especially since three more groups just started the second iteration of the program. I’m excited to work with one to see how much they grow. 

A couple years ago, a potential new client called me to discuss the SOW I had sent him. “When I do the math,” he said, “your hourly rate for a coaching session is more than I pay my attorney!” I asked how old his attorney is and he said 35. “You’re not paying me for the hour,” I said. “You’re paying me for the 40 years of business experience that I bring to each session.”

This story came back to me this week as I read about the creation of the iconic ‘Citi’ logo. Thirty-five years ago, when Citibank and Travelers merged, they needed a new image, so they contacted legendary designer Paula Scher. Sitting in the initial meeting, she allegedly sketched it out on a napkin in one iteration. When a Citi official questioned what she was charging for such a simple idea, she said: “It’s done in a second and 34 years.”

There’s an MBA-speak term for this: Labor Perception Bias. When things happen quickly, recipients often push back… feeling what they’re paying a lot for should take a lot of time.

There’s also a parable that brings it to life:

A factory owner hired an engineer to fix a broken engine. After a few seconds, the engineer took a hammer, made one strike, and the engine hummed back to life. When he received the bill, the owner protested greatly. So the engineer gave him a new invoice: “Hammer strike – $1; Knowing where to strike: $1,000.”

Helping my clients unleash greatness is the culmination of decades of learning, hundreds of hours of training and continuing education, and 11,000 hours of working side-by-side to achieve their coaching goals. Sometimes they arrive at the solution faster than they expected.

Hat Tip to yourstory.com where I saw the Citibank and Labor Perception Bias tales. Unfortunately, there was no ‘by line’ so I don’t know who wrote it. “Bad Generative AI!” 

In his heyday, Steve Martin created some memorable lines:

“We’re two wild and crazy guys!”

“Always…no wait…never…” 

“I thought yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life, but it turns out today is.”

“A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.”

“Boy, those French! They have a different word for everything.” 

My favorite, from his 1977 album Let’s Get Small, is when he would refer to making a grievous mistake and slough it off with an extended, “Well, excuuuus me.” I stole borrowed it when I emceed high school football pep rallies that fall – even appearing with an arrow through my head – and received big laughs. 

Now 46 years later it seems way too often folks use that approach to justify behavior that most would find unacceptable. From politicians, to clergy, to CEOs, egregious mistakes are explained away as ‘oopsies’ that attempt to minimize the impact of actions.

Perhaps the rest of us could learn something from the legendary comic that would discourage such behavior: “I’ve heard lots of people lie to themselves but they never fool anyone.” 

Yesterday, I gave a keynote for the Houston chapter of IREM (Institute for Real Estate Management). The topic was ‘Five Generations of Talent’ in the workforce for the first time in our nation’s history. A lot is written about this unique period, including a book by Jean M. Twenge, PhD, published last month, appropriately titled: Generations.

During my research I spoke to some clients to gain their perspective. A VP in charge of Europe for a plant-based food company said:

Every generation feels the next one is less committed. I think it’s more accurate to say each has a different mindset. The key to engaging them is aligning the organization’s culture and principles. Start there.

Placing broad characteristics on people requires generalizing… and not everyone fits the category. In the case of generations, one way demographers categorize them is by the technology they encountered around age 10… and what happened culturally in their twenties.

For instance, as 10-year-olds in 1956, the first Boomers were watching the spread of television… spending their afternoons with Annette and Cubby on the Mickey Mouse Club. Meanwhile, the early Millennials –in 1991 – experienced the expansion of the Internet.

From a cultural perspective, Silents – as twenty somethings in the 60’s – championed the Women’s and Civil Rights movements, while Gen X – in the 80’s – witnessed both the Challenger explosion and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The latest entry into the workforce – currently comprising 25% and growing quickly – is Gen Z… those born starting in 1997. Only 61% consider work to be ‘a significant part of their identity,’ as compared to 86% of Boomers. Yet, they’re seen as: ‘highly ambitious’… ‘optimistic and upbeat’… and ‘practical and realistic.’ They also ‘pursue their passions’ and ‘voice views fearlessly.’ Much more, in fact, than their parents and grandparents.

As my VP client suggested, each generation looks at the next one and tends to undervalue them. Personally, I believe we’re in good hands… especially with Gen Alpha coming up fast. They’ll be in the workforce in five short years. Of course, us gray-haired veterans will need to do our job and align culture and principles to help them launch.