The Pressure To Appear Confident

Do you feel pressure at times to appear confident in your decisions and plans? Are you actually certain, or are you trying to put on a brave face for your team members and/or external constituents? Are you afraid of appearing as though you are not sure how to proceed, or how the future will unfold for your organization? Fast Company's Kate O'Neill addresses the topic of confidence in a great new article titled Why the best leaders embrace ‘strategic disappointment’ (and how you can, too)  

O'Neill argues that the more success you have, the more likely you will disappointment your followers at some point. After all, expectations grow quickly if you deliver good results.  Moreover, she argues that you are probably not pushing the boundaries of innovation if you never disappoint.  O'Neill argues that we have to work through lofty expectations and potential disappointment, rather than trying to avoid ever disappointing others.  Managing expectations (our own and others' expectations) means understanding feelings of confidence very clearly. She writes: 

Part of the challenge is that we fundamentally misunderstand confidence. As Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman explains, “Subjective confidence in a judgment is not a reasoned evaluation of the probability that this judgment is correct. Confidence is a feeling, which reflects the coherence of the information and the cognitive ease of processing it.”  In other words, our feeling of confidence often has more to do with how neatly our story fits together than with its actual likelihood of being correct. This creates a dangerous dynamic in leadership, where seemingly “confident” decisions may simply reflect coherent but flawed narratives, especially when those narratives align with what stakeholders want to hear... True confidence comes not from eliminating uncertainty, but from understanding precisely what we know and what we don’t, and responding appropriately.

In my view, this last sentence makes a crucial point. The best leaders acknowledge the gaps in their own knowledge and expertise.  As Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says, they are "learn-it-all" leaders, not "know-it-all" leaders.  You can be confident without fooling yourself into thinking you have made all the correct assumptions and have made clear and accurate predictions of how the future will unfold.  Christa Quarles, CEO of Alludo, put it well when she says that effective and authentic leaders explain, "Here's what I know.  Here's what I don't know.  Now let's assemble the team and the people to go solve those problems in a holistic way."  

What are Your REAL Values?

Lila Maclellan has written an important story for Fortune titled "The recent debacles at Boeing and Meta highlight the dangers of shrugging off employee concerns."  Boeing, of course, has been saddled with product quality and safety troubles for several years, including two fatal crashes of the Boeing 737 MAX, about which I wrote a case study.   Meta has had repeated instances of internet safety and privacy issues, for which senior leaders dismissed or downplayed employee concerns.  

In this article, Maclellan cites Ann Skeet, senior director at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University.  Skeet says, “When people bring things to your attention, it’s an opportunity to reset expectations and to clarify culture.  But if the leadership says that we can continue even when people are surfacing things they feel are inconsistent with the organization’s espoused values, it suggests there is another set of values that are actually being applied.”  

Skeet makes an important distinction here between an organization's espoused values and its values-in-use (a concept first articulated by Chris Argyris).  The espoused values are those that we find on the placard posted on the wall, or articulated by senior leaders when addressing employees and other stakeholders.  The values-in-use are the REAL values as identified by the ACTIONS of the leaders in the organization.   When employees perceive a serious disconnect between the espoused values and the values-in-use, then disenchantment and disengagement rise.    Some people stay silent in the face of serious problems.  Others simply exit the organization.  Leaders at all levels need to constantly ask themselves: Are we walking the talk?  Are we living up to our espoused values?  Or, are employees perceiving us as disingenuous?  If so, why has that perception arisen?

The Kyte Baby CEO Apologizes: Could the Apology Do More Harm Than Good?

Source: https://marketoonist.com/2017/04/corporateapologies.html

 
CNN's Ramishah Maruf reported this week about the severe backlash that occurred recently for a children's clothing brand with a cult-like following.   Kyte Baby is one of several popular brands of bamboo fiber clothing for kids.  These brands market their clothing as better for children's skin.  According to Kyte Baby's website, "Bamboo is, simply, the Goldilocks of fabrics—not too hot, not too cold. It’s temperature-regulating, and while we’re pretty confident it’s the softest fabric you’ll ever feel, it’s also super stretchy to grow with baby and fit longer. Perfect for crying babies, busy toddlers, and tired parents alike."

However, consumers revolted recently when news emerged about Kyte Baby's response to an employee's request to work remotely.  The employee had given birth, and their new child was being cared for in a hospital's neonatal intensive care unit.  Kyte Baby denied the employee's request.  Consumers decried the decision on various social media platforms.  Kyte Baby's CEO and founder Ying Liu issued an apology via TikTok.  Apparently, many customers considered the apology insincere and highly scripted.  Liu returned to TikTok to apologize for the poor apology!  The question, of course, is whether the damage has already been done, and whether the brand can now bounce back. 

This episode caused me to turn to the scholarly research on corporate apologies. I found an interesting study by Tessa Basford, Lynn Offermann and Tara Behrend in the Journal of Business Ethics.  In their studies, these scholars found that, "Whereas sincere apologies generated the most favorable follower reactions, insincere apologies often appeared worse than non-apologies... apparently, Chesterton was right - insincere apologies may add insult to injury."  They found that leaders who issue sincere apologies tend to viewed as more humble, and they tend to be perceived as transformational leaders.  

The lesson is clear - take a deep breath and don't rush that apology after making a significant error.  Don't over-script your apology.  Speak from the heart, and empathize with those who have been harmed.  Often, people obsess over the precise wording of an apology.  However, keep in mind that HOW you deliver the words may matter as much, if not more, than WHAT words you use.  

A Genuine Apology Goes a Long Way

Ben Cohen reports today in the Wall Street Journal about a remarkable apology email issued by Andrew Benin, chief executive of Graza, a startup that sells squeezable bottles of extra-virgin olive oil.  Unfortunately, the company did not cope effectively with high customer demand during the holidays.  Many people received their packages late, and some packages were damaged.  Customers complained of leaking olive oil bottles.  Cohen drafted a detailed apology and sent it to over 35,000 Graza customers.  Cohen described the rather unconventional email:

The mea culpa from a one-year-old company with the subject line “Learning from our mistakes” was just about the opposite of a typical corporate response. It explained in plain English and candid detail what went wrong and why. It took accountability for those errors and offered a discount on future orders. It was raw, transparent about uncertainty and messy with typos and misspellings. It was also oddly entertaining and strangely charming.

You can read the entire email for yourself if you view Cohen's article on the Wall Street Journal website.  Like Cohen, I found the apology very genuine and sincere, and it didn't feel as robotic as many corporate apology emails do (I could do without the spelling and grammatical errors though. I am a professor after all).  In Cohen's article, he cites author Marjorie Ingall's advice for issuing apologies.  

1. Say you’re sorry.

2. For what you did.

3. Show you understand why it was bad.

4. Only explain if you need to; don’t make excuses.

5. Say why it won’t happen again.

6. Offer to make up for it.

The six recommendations seems sensible.  However, the real reason for the effectiveness of the Graza email seems to be in the tone, not just the content itself.  You can do the six things above, and yet you may still write a robotic email that sounds inauthentic.  Did this email work? Well, 867 people actually replied to the email, many quite positively. One said, “Thanks for your honesty. I wish more businesses did the same.”

Authentic Leadership

Source: Business Wire

When we transition to a different leadership role, we can and should think carefully about the new skills and behaviors that will be required to succeed in that new position.  For instance, as people shift from a role as a functional expert to being leader of a cross-functional team, they need to consider how much more important their team formation and building skills will be, as opposed to their particular expertise about certain subject matter.  Similarly, when a C-suite executive becomes promoted to CEO, they need to consider how many more outward-facing activities in which they will need to engage, including investor relations, major customer relationship management, outreach to public officials, and the like. 

Having said that, one cannot fundamentally change their leadership style.  Attempts to do so often cause others to perceive leaders as inauthentic.  You are who you are.  You can't and shouldn't try to adapt your style simply because you have a new role.  Naturally, you should be engaging in self-reflection and adapting based on what you learn from experience.  However, you can't alter your DNA as a leader. Lauren Hobart, the new CEO at Dick's Sporting Goods, articulated this challenge well in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal. She said,

In this case, Ed (her predecessor) and the board tapped me. When they came and said, “You’re the person,” immediately my thoughts were that I had to change my entire management style. I have been a person who is extremely open. I write letters. In my time as chief marketing officer, I wrote weekly emails to the marketing team, and I would tell them stories about my kids, or about my mom, or a fight I had, or this or that realization about the business. It was always very nonpresidential, in my opinion. I did say to Ed, “Now I’m going to have to change absolutely everything. I can’t be posting selfies in emails to the whole group and to the whole company.” He disagreed and said, “What got Lauren Hobart to be in this position is Lauren Hobart, and we don’t want Lauren Hobart to change.” And so, I haven’t held back at all.

Should I Cater to Others or Stay Authentic?

Source: pixy.org

Imagine that you are headed to a job interview, pitching your business plan, or making a presentation to colleagues.  Should you try to align your words and actions to the other party's preferences and interests?  Or, should you simply remain authentic?   In other words, is catering to others the right strategy if you wish to persuade and influence others?   Scholars Ovul Sezer, Francesca Gino, and Laura Huang asked those very questions to over 500 working adults.   Two-thirds of the respondents indicated they would cater to the other party, and over 70% thought that would an effective strategy.   Are they right?  

Sezer and her colleagues studied that question in a series of studies.  They published their results recently in a paper titled "“To be or not to be your authentic self? Catering to others’ preferences hinders performance.”    The Kenan-Flager School of Business at UNC-Chapel Hill recently profiled this research.  Here's an excerpt from their description: 

In one study, Sezer and her colleagues recruited 258 students and working adults and split them into two groups – some serving as interviewers for a fictional job, some as interviewees. They randomly assigned interviewees to one of two strategies: Either to try to cater to the interviewer’s perceived interests or be authentic.  The interviewees who were told to cater reported higher levels of anxiety. The interviewees who were told to act authentically, on the other hand, got higher performance ratings from the interviewers.

Perhaps most interesting, though, were the results of a real-world competition. Some 166 entrepreneurs participated in a fast-pitch competition at a private university in the Northeast, each striving to become one of 10 semifinalists. They presented their business ideas to a panel of three judges – experienced angel investors.

Afterward, the entrepreneurs completed a short questionnaire for Sezer and her colleagues. Likewise, the judges filled out short score cards for each pitch they heard.  The entrepreneurs who chose to cater to the judges rather than acting authentically had worse outcomes – based both on whether they ended up as semifinalists and the judges’ opinion about the viability of their ideas.

Of course, this research does not suggest that you should ignore the other party's interests and preferences completely.   You need to understand your audience, do your homework, and think very carefully about how they are most likely to be persuaded.   However, it is a careful balancing act.  It's one thing to know your audience, and it's quite another to think you can fool them about your own preferences, interests, and desires.  In sum, give your audience credit.  They are going to see through the B.S. in most cases.  Honesty is indeed the best policy.  

Walking the Walk on Culture

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Adam Bryant used to write the terrific Corner Office column for the New York Times.  In that column, he interviewed successful leaders from large and small enterprises.   He's now moved on to become a Managing Director at Merryck and Company, but he still publishes some terrific interviews as articles on LinkedIn.  In a recent interview, he spoke with Mike LaBianca, senior vice president and global head of human resources for Sony Interactive Entertainment - PlayStation.  He asked LaBianca to comment on organizational culture.   Here's what LaBianca told him: 

For leaders, you have to walk the talk. You can talk about all sorts of cultural initiatives, but if you don’t see the leader actually putting those into practice, it actually hinders the development of a culture rather than helps it.

I started my career at Hewlett Packard, and probably the most impactful moment of my career was meeting Dave Packard for the first time. I think he was the chairman at the time. I had only been there five weeks, and I was in accounting. I went to give a report to his secretary, who was away from his desk. He came out and said, “Can I help you?” And I said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Packard. I didn’t mean to disturb you.” And he said, “Nonsense. Show it to me.” 

He looked at me, put his arm around me, and said, “You know, I want to thank you for deciding to invest your career with us. It’s very important that we have people out of college who believe in our mission, believe in what we’re doing. You’re going to be what makes HP great.” It had a very meaningful effect on me. He continued to believe in taking the time to get to know every employee the moment that he could and expressing his support and thanks. That’s the most powerful cultural moment that I’ve ever experienced anywhere.

I think LaBianca is right on the money.   What can leaders do with this advice about walking the walk?  They have to assess their employees' impressions of the culture.  Do people feel as though senior leaders' actions match their words?  Is there a serious disconnect there - a case of empty talk?   Sometimes, leaders won't get straight answers to these questions if they ask themselves, particularly if a major disconnect occurs.  They'll need some help.   They cannot ignore the problem though.  Cynicism can be a pernicious thing in organizations, and it often spreads quickly throughout an organization.  

The Impact of Inauthentic Behavior: How Does It Feel to be a Phony?

Kellogg Insights reports on the latest research by Francesca Gino, Maryam Kouchaki, and Adam Galinsky.   They examine the impact of inauthentic behavior - or "phoniness" to put it simply.  What happens we were act like phonies, perhaps to stay in the good graces of a boss at work?   These scholars demonstrate that inauthentic behavior actually makes us feel immoral.  Moreover, it makes us want to engage in some moral behavior (e.g. helping or serving others) to compensate for that bad feeling about ourselves.   The scholars suggest that low employee engagement in many workplaces may result, in part, from the fact that people feel immoral about phony behavior that they have engaged in at work.  What's the implication for business leaders.  Here's an excerpt from Kellogg Insights summarizing the scholars' conclusions:

For business leaders, these consequences are worth keeping in mind. If employee dissatisfaction is based on a violation of moral values—even at a subconscious level—it might be worth considering how authentic employees are allowed to be in their particular role. “It seems to be true that to act in accordance with one’s own self, emotions, and values is a fundamental aspect of well-being,” Kouchaki says. “Leaders might want to factor that in. The knowledge that inauthentic behavior has costs and that prosocial behavior”—like assisting or mentoring a colleague—“increases moral self-regard—this is something leaders might consider when designing their organizations.”

Your Front-Line Employees are Your Brand!

Companies spend a great deal of time and money building advertising campaigns, social media strategies, and other promotional vehicles to build brand equity.   For many firms, though, their front-line employees represent the most significant way that customers experience the brand.  Those employees become crucial ambassadors for the brand.  

Starbucks understands the crucial role that front-line employees (the baristas) play.  It has invested heavily in a program to inspire and motivate the baristas, and to help them bring the brand's values to life in each Starbucks location.   The company has created the "Starbucks Leadership Lab" to inculcate the core values of the brand in its workforce.  Here's an excerpt from a Fast Company article about this program:

Starbucks’s Leadership Lab is, as its name implies, part leadership training, with a station that walks store managers through a problem-solving framework. It’s also part trade show, with demonstrations of new products and signs with helpful sales suggestions, such as “tea has the highest profit margins.” The majority of experiences are meant to be educational, including several that give store managers access to top managers of the company’s roasting process, blend development, and customer service.  

But what makes the Leadership Lab different than a typical corporate trade show is the production surrounding all of this. The lights, the music, and the dramatic big screens all help Starbucks marinate its store managers in its brand and culture. It’s theater--a concept that Starbucks itself is built on.  “The merchant’s success depends on his or her ability to tell a story,” writes Schultz. “What people see or hear or smell or do when they enter a space guides their feelings, enticing them to celebrate whatever the seller has to offer.”

In this case, Starbucks is selling its employees the Starbucks brand. And it has given the Leadership Lab the same attention to detail as its store ambiance.  As Valerie O’Neil, Starbucks’ VP of global communications, puts it: “[The experiences] are wrapped in a very inspirational journey, so partners can walk away not only understanding and informed, but feeling it.”

Note that such programs cannot be efforts to simply dictate practices and policies to employees.  It cannot be an attempt to brainwash them regarding the company's goals and values.  It has to be a forum for two-way communication.   The messages and the values conveyed to employees must be authentic.  Store managers must "walk the talk" each and every day.  If not, then such programs will do more harm than good. Associates will feel that they have been misled.  They have to be part of the process, and there must be opportunities for them to express their ideas to management.  The photograph above demonstrates one of the ways in which the associates' ideas and thoughts are captured at the Starbucks Leadership Lab.

 

Johnnie Walker: The Man Who Walked Around The World

My good friend, John Crosby, sent me a link to this video this morning.  The brilliant and creative short film features Scottish actor Robert Carlyle telling us the history of the iconic whiskey brand Johnnie Walker.   The short film offers some fun facts about the company's history, such as the rationale for the square bottle and the slanted label.   Moreover, the constant walking, use of props, and beautiful scenery truly are captivating.

To me, the short film demonstrates the creative way in which companies can use lengthier web videos, on platforms such as YouTube, to do things that you cannot do in a brief 60 second television advertisement.  Sharing the history of a brand in a creative manner can be a wonderful way to reinforce its authenticity.

The genius of this "Keep Walking" brand campaign by Johnnie Walker is that it is wrapping the brand in history and nostalgia while simultaneously offering a message of progress and hope for the future.  That can prove to be a tricky proposition.  No brand wants to be "your father's Oldsmobile" when it comes to categories such as whiskey.  Yet, the history and the roots of the brand are a key part of the image and positioning that make it iconic.   This short film threads the needle beautifully, bringing together past, present, and future in an authentic way.