Musings at Altitude

“I’ve given my heart and soul to this company.”

I’ve heard it a lot over the last several months.  In some cases, it was said by those who were being let go and would no longer be part of that company going forward.  In other cases, it was said by folks struggling to make a difference in a company they were still part of.  And yet in other cases, it was said by owners of a company that were still chasing that dream, a dream so visible on the horizon and yet so challenging to reach. 

Regardless of the circumstance, when it was said, even with the very different situations, it was said with a gut wrenching emotion that made it incredibly clear that their time with the company was so much more than just a job.  It was a bond that far transcended a paycheck, and it was a connection that made any change or potential change in the relationship something inconceivable because of the devotion rendered and the commitments made during the time that the individual and others in that company shared a journey together.

As I think back on each time this has been said, I can say without hesitation that each individual did indeed give their hearts to their companies. 

The needed and required commitment brought sacrifice:

• in time with their families and time for themselves
• in pay because they could have made more elsewhere
• in goals because they subordinated their dreams to chase together the dreams of the company

The needed and required commitment brought pain:

• when folks were let go because of the changing economic conditions or strategic direction of the company
• when things were done wrong and tough decisions were made in response to those wrongdoings
• when dreams were crushed and the pursuit terminated for things sometimes outside the control of any of the team members

And yet, the needed and required commitment created memories:

• through successes that came in pursuit of the dream
• through relationships developed as the teams expanded
• through challenges overcome as each individual developed and grew in their roles

Each individual did indeed sacrifice.

Each individual did indeed suffer pain.

And yet, each individual did indeed find those cherished memories.

It’s never easy giving your heart to an organization, because when you do, you commit to the sacrifice that is needed and you open yourself up for the pain that inevitably comes.

But those memories, whether or not the dream is achieved, trump the sacrifice and the pain.

I know this personally.

I bet you do to.

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I had the fortunate opportunity to meet with several serial and very successful entrepreneurs yesterday.  Each was very different, but each had nuggets of truth that led me to the list below for what any of us need to do in a startup environment:

(1) Define – at the very beginning, decide what kind of company you’re going to be and then build up from that foundation

(2) Focus – sounds simple, but all of us know that it’s easy to stray and then lose the anchor of what we originally wanted to be; this included focus on plan, focus on cash, and focus on capability to deliver

(3) Prioritize – also sounds simple, but we routinely make the mistake of targeting too many things at one time and thus successfully accomplishing none of them

(4) Leverage – with each success, leverage who you now know and what you’ve now learned to know more and deliver better

(5) Learn – start with an in depth understanding of your market and an assumptive assessment of your potential market share, but revise constantly; don’t stick with your assumptions that you went in with if you’re getting clear feedback from the market that something very different is going to happen

(6) Listen – build a team of advisors that challenge you and candidly poke holes; don’t surround yourself with a bunch of validators; the validators do not stretch you

(7) Dream – the early days are tough, but it’s critical to constantly remember the dream and use that to motivate yourself and the team during the toughest of times

(8) Deliver – the quickest way to success and the slippery slope to failure if done haphazardly; when you commit, deliver beyond expectations

(9) Share – be open and candid with the team; be very generous with rewards as success comes

(10) Celebrate – small victories are awesome…celebrate them

Short and simple list.

Awesome.

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My son works for the world’s largest corporation.  He came home a couple weeks ago and said, “I’m going to write a book “Life at the Bottom of the World’s Largest Corporation.”  He then spent the next hour or two talking about the ignorance of his managers, the hypocrisy of the corporation itself, and the frustrations he feels about working in a system that according to him, “just doesn’t work.”

I was thinking about my son and his book writing dream right after the Super Bowl as I joined millions of others watching “The Undercover Boss”, and I smiled as the President and COO of Waste Management left the comfort and insulation of his “top floor office” to go down and experience life at the lowest levels of his company.  He worked undercover in trash separation, trash collecting, portable toilet cleaning, landfill cleanup and administration.  At each stop, he seemed to be very enlightened about the insanity of policies that he and his team created up top that were passed down for implementation.  More importantly, he seemed to see very clearly the impact those policies had on the very people who he needed to do their jobs well in order for Waste Management to be the company he wanted them to be.

The show ended with him talking individually to each one of the people he worked with during his undercover assignment, and then him opening his heart to his entire team as he explained what he did and briefed them on what he had learned, what he was going to do with what he learned, and what he hoped could be changed throughout the company because of his experience.

I wonder what would happen if the leaders of every company went undercover and spent time at the bottom of their organizations doing the critical work needed to deliver the revenue and income they expected AND held people accountable for.  I listen to the stories my son tells, and I wonder if those in significant roles of his company have spent any time doing the work that he’s expected to do every single day.  I also wonder if the managers just one or two levels above him remember what it was like to be “on the floor” as they get promoted and seem to immediately forget about what it was like just years or even months earlier when they were in the very same position.

It’s an unfortunate tendency for folks to lose perspective during that climb up the corporate ladder.  We tend to spend more time looking up than empathizing down, and the result is a push for policies and practices that seem perfect to achieve the goals of the upper management but may not be practical at all when implemented and may not come close to achieving the objectives.  More importantly, those upwardly mobile managers and executives construct a self imposed chasm between themselves and the very people doing the work of the company, and the people doing the work then view with suspicion and distrust anything that comes flowing down and is thrown across that chasm.

If my son does indeed write a book, I’m anxious to read it.  The stories have been quite amazing, and the chasm seemingly quite large!  I’d certainly learn a lot from it, and maybe some of his current chain of command would read and learn as well!

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Have you experienced love in your business environment?

That time when members of a team join together in a bond that far transcends the unity in battle that they face on a day to day business basis.

That time when partners come together and share a relationship that goes well beyond the trust that is required to achieve dramatic results in a joint business quest.

That time when client and servicing team share a common purpose, common mission, and common commitment to excellence beyond belief in the execution of that mission, and in so doing, the bruises and smiles that come from the battle create emotions and ties that last for life.

It’s definitely possible.

It’s certainly something I dream of and then cherish when I find it in my business life.

But it doesn’t happen naturally, and it’s rarely unconditionally.

It takes work.

It takes alignment.

It takes common purpose and enormous passion.

It takes a belief in your team and a tremendous respect for your customer or partner.

It takes a knowledge of each other that goes beyond the work place.

It takes a level of sacrifice that puts others before self.

It takes trials and tough times.

And it more often than not ends in great success.

Love in business certainly isn’t a bad thing.

It’s actually a very important thing.

And it can be critical in the toughest of business times.

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In business, the best things don’t always happen fast…

…developing competencies takes time…

…opening new geographies takes time…

…identifying the right partners takes time…

…establishing trust between partners takes time…

…leveraging the strengths of both companies takes time…

…finding the right people to maximize the partnership takes time…

…winning the big one takes time…

…achieving dramatic results takes time…

But when that speed is perfect and the necessary time is taken, phenabulous things can happen.

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We had a tough sermon at church today, with the message coming from Luke 17.  Verse 10 really hit home (New Living Translation):

In the same way, when you obey me you should say, “We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.”

Christ was teaching His disciples that the sacrificial work that they were expected to do was equivalent to the standard duties of a servant.  Our expectations here on earth should not be for praise, or affirmation, or rewards, but instead, when we do what is expected, we have simply done our duty.

It’s been 8 hours now and I’m still thinking about it.  That’s the sign of a good sermon.

Here are some takeaways from both the spoken and unspoken words:

(1) Since Christ specifically said, “when you obey me”, we can assume He was talking about the minimum requirements for obedience, sinlessness and sacrificial love to name two

(2) Since we know that it’s impossible to live a sinless life and incredibly hard to sacrificially love all the time, we know that anything we do is below the minimum expected requirements of Christ

(3) Since we know we can’t even come close to the minimum expected requirements of Christ, thank goodness for God’s grace and forgiveness

As I continued to ponder on the sermon, other things became clear:

(4) Any good deeds that we do here on this earth should not be for praise, affirmation, or reward; those good deeds are what’s minimally expected

(5) Since we have evidence in the Bible of the sins and shortcomings of those God loved dearly, even when we come up short we can count on the love of our Creator

If you’re like me, the meaning in the verse was pretty tough – check your ego at the door because the good work you do is what is expected to meet the minimum essential requirements for obedience.  But God’s message is also very clear – “I’ll love you even though I know you’ll come up short.”

Thank goodness for minimum requirements even if the highest of expectations.  More importantly, thank goodness for love and forgiveness when we all come up short.

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Dream big.

Plan big.

Promise big.

Communicate big.

Hire big.

Execute big.

Assess big.

Correct big.

Finish big.

Share big.

Reward big.

Dream big again.

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Start at Starbucks.

Strategize in the office.

Go back to Starbucks for a meeting.

Return to the office for a call and more strategizing.

Get a Starbucks delivered to the office and work through lunch.

Participate in a conference call.

Go back to Starbucks for an afternoon discussion.

Return to the office for more strategizing.

Go to dinner for collaboration and strategizing.

Head to the hotel for a night cap.

Learn life lessons from a very senior sales/BD guy at the bar.

Pick up his tab and agree to meet again in April when both of us return.

Ponder the day’s discussions and capture the thoughts, images, and dreams so you don’t forget.

Finally get to bed after midnight.

Was anything accomplished?

I have pages upon pages of notes.

I have new ideas, some great recommendations, and several very important affirmations of path and plan.

I have new tasks from the boss and recurring expecations from the team.

I have several things becoming much clearer and several other things getting much murkier.

I have a couple of new “ah hah’s” with several additional “duh’s”.

So, a perfect day?

Pretty close!

Only thing missing, “closed huge deal”!

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Over my 28 years of post college education, I’ve been blessed with very intense moments of learning that came from the candid and very honest responses from people replying to things I asked or things I said.  Here are three of those that I remember so vividly even today:

(1)    “Don’t ask for feedback if you don’t want to hear it.”  When I was a young communications officer in the Air Force, I laid out a plan that I thought was quite brilliant.  In fact, it was so brilliant I knew it would positively change the way we were serving our customers at that time and bring great praise and credit to our organization!  As I brought the team together and laid out my plan, I asked them for candid feedback, fully believing I would get the smiles and approval that I was sure was coming.  When I was done talking, a very wise member of my team challenged some of my core premises and identified several flaws in what I wanted to do and what he thought could be accomplished.  As he talked, I flared and eventually cut him off, not wanting to hear what he had to say and certainly not believing what he was saying to be true.  He then said those words that I still remember today…”don’t ask for feedback if you don’t want to hear it.”  And he said it in front of an entire room of people.  I sat back speechless because I knew he was right…about both the flaws in my plan and my hypocrisy about asking for feedback and then not really wanting to hear any of it.  I apologized for my actions and then thanked him for doing exactly what I really needed him and the others to do.  We went on together then to make the plan better and it then did indeed positively change the way we served our customers.  Lesson learned – mean what you say because someone will rightfully take you seriously.

(2)    “Then go do it.”  A few years after the learning experience above, I was called by my customer and asked to report to his office.  When I entered, he threw a proposal at me from one of our contractors and asked me what I thought about it.  I looked at who the proposal was from and then looked at the price – $45M – and then looked at the proposed timing – 14 months – and without even thinking, I said, “based on who it’s from, I could do it for 1/3^rd that price in that same amount of time.”  Without a moment’s hesitation, he said, “Then go do it.”  I certainly didn’t expect that response, and I wasn’t prepared for what it would then take to deliver on my cocky and very poorly thought out response.  For the next 14 months, that project became my life as I focused every fiber of my being trying to deliver on the flippant comment that became a commitment that he then held me accountable for.  Thanks to the heroic efforts of lots of other people who bailed me out, we did indeed deliver the project 2 days short of 14 months and less than 1/3^rd the cost that was proposed.  Lesson learned – when you pop off with what you think you can do, don’t be surprised if someone then holds you accountable to deliver against what you said.

(3)    “You need to learn when to ask for help.”  After leaving the Air Force, I served as the head of client services for a company focused on delivering that next great customer care and billing solution to our customers.  As our engineering and software development teams struggled to deliver against expectations, our customers continued to get more frustrated and the issues that I was facing continued to stack up.  I hunkered down and worked through things in a very serial fashion, creating even more frustration for our customers and ultimately causing undo dismay and challenges for our company.  As the issues mounted, the head of the company and my boss called me in and said, “You need to learn when to ask for help.”  He was right.  Even after years of learning, I was still guilty of taking the “Rambo” approach, sensing if I worked harder or focused more intently I could solve the problems on my own and prevent those problems from being problems for others in the organization.  But it rarely works that way.  Just like the all too true saying, “you don’t lead alone”, you don’t typically solve serious problems alone either.  Lesson learned – there’s something magical when burdens are shared and all team members are mutually aligned to solve the toughest of problems.  It’s true regardless of role or responsibility in an organization. 

I’m very thankful to those who had the courage to provide very candid feedback and equally as thankful to those who held me accountable to produce when I popped off with thoughtless and seemingly irrational commitments.  These have stuck with me for years, and I can still remember who said them, where we were when they were said, and how I felt and reacted based on their comments. 

I guess that’s when you know you learned something…when it’s etched in your mind and in those quiet moments at altitude you relive it and smile.

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In a startup or early growth company, defining moments occur constantly.  It’s that contract that is signed that provides just enough money to make payroll.  It’s that key individual that agrees to join the company at a reduced salary knowing how precious cash is and near instantly delivers that special spark to accelerate momentum.  It’s landing that special partner or client that feels so strongly about the quality of the products, services or team in your company that opens that door that wouldn’t have been opened otherwise and launches a new line of business or provides that desperately needed referral.  It’s that anxious trip to the client site to pick up the payment on an invoice that’s paid in days not weeks and goes straight into the bank to cover the overdraft and fund the company for another short period of time.  It’s that pre-beta demo that wows the client or that cash on delivery of a beta system that provides that proof of possible revenue and ensures that desperately needed investment round occurs.

That euphoria that comes with every defining moment fuels the passion of the team and sparks the fires of entrepreneurial momentum.

But somewhere in the path from small and nimble to big and methodical, defining moments change.  Payments of those critical invoices or winning those much needed contracts or signing those very special team members don’t seem to mean much anymore.  Those incredibly important issues in a small company become routine and mundane in a big company, thus denying the team that much needed elation that comes from achieving those very important successes.

Big is bad when this happens…at least for the team that desperately seeks a feeling of accomplishment or lives for those moments where their individual and collective efforts contribute mightily to the success of the company.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.  Big business can be broken down into growth pods, and growth pods can be challenged to deliver with the same anxiety and tenacity of a startup.  Understandably, each pod contributes to a greater cause in this case, but every pod has the opportunity and expectation to deliver with tactical urgency, achieving near real time success.  In this scenario, defining moments are rampant at the micro executing level, giving all those doing the real business of the company that much needed sense of elation as success is achieved.

To make this work though, those that are managing the bigness need to have great passion and a desperate longing for the smallness.  Otherwise the defining moments are lost in the macro level focus of corporate bureaucracy.

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