Thought Patrol Podcast

Risk.

Don't talk to the CEO or the CFO, in particular, about risk.

Let's talk about momentum. Momentum is very important in organisations. It's what drives you through the small issues. Once you get up to speed, things really start to roll. You get a lot of things happening and momentum is a fantastic attribute to have in an organisation, particularly if you're dealing with change. Once you get some momentum, you can kick it out of the park, can take a long time to get it going. And at this stage in the change management process - you've got your plan, you've removed your obstacles, you've got things on, it's all about how can we get momentum.

Some of it is allocation of resources. Where do we need the resources to be able to do this twice as quickly? We found something here. This is fantastic. Let's get some more people on that. How can we put some more resources in to get that going? Momentum is really around that.

If you're trying to do a hundred things, well, you're not going to get anything done. If it's 10 you know what, you can knock those out of the park. So priorities become very important. People come up with great ideas and you can say, ¡°Is that aligned with the 10 things we're trying to achieve? Yes or no? No. Okay, great. Hold onto it. Next 90 days, let's have a look. Check out the idea, see if it's valid, but right now we're going to focus on these key things.¡± Clarity, focus, making sure people are empowered to go off and fail fast if they have to. You're going to fail at something. Fail fast - do it in six weeks, not a year. So put some resources in, have a good crack at it. ¡°What's the minimum amount we can spend in order to be able to just have a really good run at this? See whether it works and we'll know yes or no whether we've got a business model or a product or a client or something.¡±

So allocation of resources, failing fast when you need to, and the right people.

I mean, I'll take attitude over aptitude all day. I had a wonderful HR manager who I gave an opportunity to. She was in the organisation, the original HR manager. I had a different view on culture. She was always going to be uncomfortable. She left and I promoted a young woman who has extraordinary attitude, just totally dedicated and a great engaging person and is doing a wonderful job. And I said to her, ¡°I'll give you this promotion. I will train you or educate you. I'll do everything I can to make sure you're successful. You just need to give me 100%.¡± And she did. She literally grew another leg, did a phenomenal job. And after we'd done that turn around, she went off and worked for a rec cell and she had a thousand thousand people and it's still in their twenties, as HR manager and now works for a top tier American company. So she's done amazingly well, just a fantastic person. But momentum. She just had it in spades. Lots of energy, brought people along with the understood culture and did a great job.

If there's an issue that needs to be dealt with, call. If there's resource, there's a call. ¡°Yes, yes. Go for it. Sure. What do you think? That's a great idea. Off you go.¡± Quick calls can create momentum. You need to have some review systems in place and success measures. Of course you do.

Momentum is not about putting handbrakes in place. It's about releasing people who are releasing potential.

Don't underestimate how hard it is to go through change and the power of encouragement. We all need a hand on the shoulder from time to time saying, ¡°Hey, you know what? You're doing a great job. Really appreciate what you're doing.¡±I was in middle of a multinational, massive big change management process and I heard of a sales rep in Melbourne had just done a great deal and I've met her a couple of times, wrote her a note and said, ¡°Hey, thank you so much for what you're doing. I heard some great things about what you're up to please¡­I know it's difficult at that moment, but thank you for your perseverance. Really appreciate what you're doing. You're doing a great job. If I had a hundred of you, I'd take over the world.¡± I just encouraged her, send her an email, probably should've picked up the phone and talked to her. But I sent her an email. I found out later from her that the day that she got that email she was going to resign and she took the email and she read it and went ¡°Maybe I'll give this place one more chance.¡± And she did. But she kept the email and put it in a bottom drawer. Anytime she's having a bad day, I have another drawer, pull it out,read it. And found some, got some encouragement out of that simple thing.

So as leaders, we carry some weight. Encourage people, thank people. Just be genuine in your appreciation of those around you and what they're doing, that can create a lot of momentum.

It's all about the people. You can have all the processes, you can have all those things in place, the strategies in place. If the people aren't engaged, you're not encouraging them, training them and investing in them, you're getting them momentum and everything comes to a bit of a halt. So momentum is important. It's all about the people, clarity, fail fast, train people, invest in them, make quick calls when you have to, and get that momentum in. It'll do wonderful things for your business.

Culture of Honour. Oh, I love this. This is really the core of my operating, thinking, my philosophy, is to create a Culture of Honour and it’s a fundamental foundation block for the way that I’ve led different companies over the years and I’ve always tried to operate this way. Sometimes more successfully than others. But really it’s around valuing the individual.

We all have intrinsic value. So each person, regardless of what their role is, whether they’re wrapping parsels or chairman of the board, turning up to the board meeting in a big Merc. Or different roles. Sales. You might be area manager. You could be working on retail. Could be doing a number of different roles, but every single individual, from my perspective, has intrinsic value.

And if you bring that mindset to the table, then you tend to treat people in a different way. You will give everybody dignity and respect and take the time to listen to them.