CHANGE you can TRUST
TRUST that you make the CHANGE
We’ve talked over the past few months about how creating and growing a trust-based, change-embracing workforce is THE differentiator as we continue to navigate into a future nobody can predict. This month, we will talk about HOW to create the CHANGE you can TRUST, as well as to TRUST that you can make the CHANGE.
Below are thoughts for implementing CHANGE you can TRUST:
Align with your personal purpose and values while aligning the stakeholders to the organization’s mission, vision and values.
Accept that change is a given, and adopt technologies, processes, and strategies which would help everyone to navigate these changes, in concert with an ecosystem of stakeholders.
Think, speak and act in a way which makes a difference in a way which empowers, enables, and inspires other stakeholders to do the same.
Communicate with integrity, transparency, and passion in order to connect, inspire, and drive measurable outcomes which benefit stakeholders.
Embrace the input of a wide range of stakeholders for that’s what it takes to navigate into a future nobody can predict.
Below are thoughts for helping you TRUST that you make the CHANGE:
Know yourself - your strengths, weaknesses, abilities, and limitations - so that you know how you can best help yourself and others navigate the change.
Surround yourself with people who share your values and motivations and can work with you to embrace changes to come.
Choose to be actively involved in the planning and implementation of a change, in a role which best suits your skills and abilities and talents, and best benefits others.
Embrace the challenges and failures as learning opportunities for yourself and those you touch.
Be curious about the macro- and micro- trends which are impacting us all, and knowledgeable about how they are impacting other organizations and leaders.
The changes are inevitable. How you navigate those changes is a CHOICE. So create change you can trust, and trust that you can change.
Notes from last month’s When She Speaks Online Program
FountainBlue's April 14 When She Speaks program, on the topic of 'Employee Experience as the X Factor'. Please join me in thanking our esteemed panelists and our hosts at Gigamon.
We were fortunate to have such knowledgable, dynamic leaders speaking on the importance of delivering an exceptional employee experience. They were clear on the business and cultural value for providing an exceptional experience, but also all how to do so, despite the obstacles we each encounter in this time of great change. Below is a compilation of their advice and best practice.
Be a Problem-Solver
Independent of your role and responsibility, work with others to do what it takes to accomplish set goals and deliver value.
Empower everyone to help create that competitive edge for your team and organization, so you can attract, develop, promote and retain top talent.
When conflicts arise, assume positively intent and deeply listen to each party with a mind toward resolving the issue at hand and re-focusing on delivering value.
Be a 'People Person'
Truly care about the people you're working with and empathetically communicate how much you care with thoughts, words and actions.
Take care of your employees end-to-end, from the ongoing to the training, with coaching and support.
Welcome opportunities to continuously improve through feedback, coaching, training, etc.,
Communicate, Connect, and Deliver
Clearly communicate and connect with others, while collaborating to continue to deliver value.
Motivate employees to rally behind the vision and the cause, and serve customers by delivering value.
Create and grow a culture which is fun, warm and inviting, welcoming diversity of thoughts and emphasizing collaboration while delivering on milestones.
Be Courageous and See Things Through
Respectfully meet objections, problems and obstacles head-on, rather than burying, delaying and deferring issues.
With that said, address problems with an open mind so that you can better problem-solve around the issues at hand, rather than the emotions around the issues.
The bottom line is that Employee Experience is the X Factor which delivers the value for the team, the organization, and its customers, so act accordingly.
Notes from last month’s Front Line Managers Online Program
FountainBlue's April 7 Front Line Managers Online program was on the topic of 'Resolving Conflicts When Stakes are High'. Please join me in thanking our panelists.
as a People Leader - Tammy Sanders, Lam Research
as a Program Leader - Dennise Gearty, Cisco
as an Engineering Leader - Kamal Kharrat, Bestow
We were fortunate to have such experienced, empathetic, and wise panelists speaking on such an important topic this afternoon. Their experience and background was wide-ranging, but they had much in common which helped them navigate conflict-ridden scenarios at work.
They are great communicators who listen deeply and empathetically.
They care deeply about their product, team and organization and are invested in the success of all.
They are resourceful, open-minded and resilient when tackling issues and committed to delivering results for the people they serve, making each conflict a learning opportunity in disguise.
Below is a compilation of best practices from our esteemed panelists.
Know Thyself.
Know yourself - your strengths, foibles, idiosyncrasies, your weaknesses etc., so that you can better self-manage, and help others to manage themselves.
Lead with Humility, Empathy and Kindness.
Be Other-Focused.
Make the time to develop relationships with those you work with.
Accept that we are all different and welcome the differing perspectives.
Know your audience.
Listen Deeply and Fully.
Align to Core Values as well as Business Imperatives.
Focus on a common purpose rather than personal vendettas and political maneuvering.
Align to corporate values as you work with the team on achieving milestones and objectives.
Prioritize conflicts so that business deliverables are met, even if that means an important area of conflict is temporarily tabled.
Keep conflict front and center, call out when conflict goes 'under-cover' - if an agreement is reached, make sure parties abide to the agreement for example.
Build a Resilient and Open Culture.
Make sure that everyone, particularly in a hybrid world, feels welcome, included and safe to share their perspectives.
Clearly communicate on values and expectations.
Transparently communicate when conflicts arise.
Invite diverse input from a wide range of perspectives.
Welcome respectful and constructive feedback and conflicts, but don't let it get personal.
Keep Growing.
Leverage learnings from conflicts to keep growing.
Turn conflicts into collaborations where appropriate.
Welcome conflict in your life, and look for the learnings with each conflict.
Our panelists all emphasized the importance of open, healthy conflict, even when escalations are involved. Conflict can lead to many great things for individuals, teams and organizations, but only when they are managed well.
Notes from last month’s Front Line Managers Online Program - Europe-friendly time zone
FountainBlue's April 21 Front Line Managers Online program on the topic of 'The Need for Speed'. Please join me in thanking our panelists.
as a Program Leader - Neela Deshpande, Boomi
as a Business Leader - Ronald Goossens, ASML
as a Sales Leader - Karen Muldoon, Coupa
It was great to learn from our esteemed panelists this morning as they spoke on why there's an increased pressure on producing quality results efficiently. Below is a compilation of their suggestions and insights.
Be Strategic and Plan-ful as You Align to the Needs of the Customers and the Goals of the Business
Understand the business goals and customer objectives as well as how choices and actions will impact the speed of delivery and the excellence of the product or service delivered.
Weigh the myriad of factors from the wide range of stakeholders so that you can continue to navigate the win-win solution for everyone.
Make strategic choices so that both the long-term and short-term needs of key stakeholders are served.
Build strategic centers of excellence to best serve all parties.
Communicate and Connect with Everyone Involved for Best Results
Become a trusted adviser, knowledgeably informing all stakeholders on status of projects and problems as well as recommended strategies and actions.
Keep all parties informed on status, direction and choices made.
Welcome direct input and communication, but be clear when everyone needs to commit to a selected direction, unless new information arises which might impact that decision.
Leverage Technologies and Processes to Efficiently Deliver Results
Adopt technologies and solutions which would help you better understand and manage how well you are building and delivering products or services.
Manage your internal costs through automation, modular design, AI solutions, etc., so that you can more efficiently and effectively deliver quality solutions.
Delegate repeatable requirements to tools, processes, automation programs, etc., so that you can focus on solving higher-level problems or developing more complex technologies.
In the end, we agreed that managers and leaders at all levels are challenged to deliver quality results efficiently and effectively, and adopting these and other strategies will help them navigate these tricky waters.
Notes from last month’s VIP Roundtable Online Program
FountainBlue's April 14 VIP Roundtable was on the topic of 'Leading Industry 4.0'. Our executives in attendance represented a wide range of backgrounds, industries and perspectives. Below are definitional thoughts on 'industry 4.0':
Industry 4.0 blur the lines between the physical, digital, and biological worlds - think information technology (IT) meets operations technology (OT) - leveraging technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT, edge computing, lithography, 3D printing and even bioengineering and advanced robotics.
Industry 4.0 represents an era of embedded connectivity, distinguished by the rapid adoption and evolution of technology, the mind-boggling accumulation and management of data, as well as the impressive adoption rates and usage examples which greatly transform how humans experience and know the world around them.
Industry 4.0 technologies, processes and solutions generally associated with manufacturing are being applied to other industries including biopharma, energy, telecommunications, chemical manufacturing, automotive, etc.,
Data is used in the sensing layer with sensors, the storage and transmission layer to filter out relevant data, the 'intelligent-computing' layer through AI and ML for example, to create an actionable dashboard.
Despite their varied backgrounds, our executives agreed on many things:
Change is happening really quickly and is pervasive and impactful across roles and industries.
Supply chain challenges are seriously impacting how leaders can anticipate and manage uncertain demands of global customers.
Below is a compilation of their advice through these rapid changes:
Manage and oversee the collection of large volumes of data so that you can create dashboards for immediate decision-making while also leverage information to make predictions and advise on future actions, based on the unique and evolving requirements of individual customers.
Modeling 'what-if' scenarios can help industry 4.0 leaders better manage through ambiguity, leveraging past, current and projected future data.
Optimize performance leveraging AI/ML and predictive analytics so that you can get in front of problems or at least respond quickly when problems arise.
Convert reactive, unsupervised learnings from the field to proactive, reliable learning so that humans and machines can partner, optimizing how can lead industry 4.0 solutions.
Proactively manage the large volumes of data:
what's needed immediately/urgently for which audience for what purpose
what types of data are relevant
Ensure that solutions that are successful in the labs also lend themselves to mass production/manufacturing.
Integrate both hardware and software solutions to better manage industry 4.0
Below are some new areas of potential Industry 4.0 innovations:
bioprocess development, manufacturing and engineering creating plant-based meat leveraging algae or creating algae-based collagen for cosmetics
Manufacturing of sustainable solutions will be in great demand globally
Supporting companies in implementing sustainable manufacturing processes will benefit all parties
3D printing or additive manufacturing join/add/fuse together materials such as plastics, liquids or powder grains, creating the ability to produce custom-designed, complex shapes or geometries which support efficient manufacturing operations and processes.
Below is a list of 'guardrails' we could implement to frame a productive expansion and leadership of Industry 4.0:
It's about the data - sift through the noise to focus on leveraging the reliable, relevant, urgent, valid data, creating dashboards which could inform action.
Choose sustainable options for leading industry 4.0 efforts.
Ensure security, privacy and access.
Align policies to help safeguard both businesses, individuals and entities from bad actors taking advantage of rapid changes and innovations.
Make sure that there are checks and balances within and outside the organization to ensure efficient delivery goods and services.
The bottom line is that the evolution of industry 4.0 takes a village of passionate, informed and knowledgable executives, acting in collaboration to better serve a larger volume of customers.