FountainBlue's October 2024 Newsletter
As the weather shifts from humid and unbearably hot to temperate and even chilly, I’m ruminating on the changes I’ve been personally navigating personally and professionally. There’s nothing new there - we’re all doing that, especially now.
But what’s different is that I’ve decided to be proactive about navigating those changes. I used these three questions to help me make a choice that’s more productive and strategic for me.
What are you doing out of habit or obligation and what would it look like if you stopped?
What is the long-term impact given the short-term choice?
Who do you want to see in the mirror each morning and how can you make her/him shine?
What are YOUR thoughts as you ride the waves of change?
Level Up Your Culture
Change is the common ground that connects us all.
Leading through this change is no easy feat, but keeping your people informed and helping them feel empowered will help them feel the sense of agency which will help drive engagement and level up your culture.
It starts at Level ONE where there’s a Culture of Clarity.
Everyone across the organization must understand:
why they’re doing what they’re doing (the vision, values, principles)
what the opportunities and challenges ahead are (mission and goals)
how everyone is contributing and supporting the impact (roles and responsibilities)
what success looks like (milestones, targets and outcomes)
As a leader, ensure transparent and proactive communication to build clarity and engagement, the foundation of success.
As a manager and staff member, ask the questions to ensure you understand the why, the what, the how about the way things are done. Ensure you are clear on the definition for success.
At Level TWO, it becomes critical to create a Culture of Inclusivity and Connection.
Everyone across the organization must understand that:
diversity is the foundation of innovation
broad acceptance and inclusiveness lead to broader engagement and agency
including a diverse range of others, when managed well, leads to better business results
connecting with people with differing perspectives benefits yourself and other stakeholders professionally, socially and culturally
As a leader, build and grow a culture based on trust and openness which connects people and welcomes diverse perspectives.
As a manager and staff member, commit to consistently include and work with diverse stakeholders to deliver targeted outcomes.
At Level THREE, there’s a Culture of Collaboration.
Everyone across the organization must understand how:
working with diverse teams serves the innovation agenda
sharing resources and ideas creates larger opportunities and results
connecting across teams, roles and backgrounds energizes a wider swath of stakeholders
co-owning collaboration successes benefits individuals, teams, products and organizations
As a leader, provide the training, support and resources so that your teams can create a fail-forward, innovation-focused culture.
As a manager and staff member, push through the hurdles to connecting and collaborating and leverage incremental successes as you deliver a wider range of disparate solutions.
At Level FOUR, there’s sufficient Clarity, Connection and Collaboration to increase the Synergy needed to build and deliver extraordinary results.
Everyone across the organization benefits from:
Clarity of goals, roles, responsibilities, progress
Connections between, within and across people, teams and organization
Collaborations which deliver strategic outcomes
Synergistic flow states when the three ‘C’ elements come together
As a leader, envision, inspire, and communicate the aspirational goals which engage and empower everyone to contribute.
As a manager and staff member, break through the barriers which cause confusion, dissension, and in-fighting, for maintaining a flow state requires clarity, connection and collaboration.
Keep the following in mind:
These thoughts are based on what I’ve seen work for dozens of client companies and over a hundred leaders over the past two decades. Feedback, suggestions and input are always welcome.
We are all likely at higher levels on better days, and we are not all at the same level on all teams and for all projects on any day.
We may be at a higher level in certain functions/roles/product lines/teams, etc., and a lower level in other areas. However, the assumption is that if we focus on building the clarity, connection and collaboration elements across an organization/team/function etc., there’s an increased likelihood that all stakeholders benefit.
It is the responsibility of everyone at all levels to ask the questions and raise the bar so that we can all be more clear, so we can better connect and collaborate with a broader set of stakeholders and address a wider range of challenges and opportunities.
The premise is that each level is dependent on successes from the lower levels. For example, it’s hard to be in a flow state if there isn’t collaboration. It’s hard to collaborate if there’s no connection. And it’s hard to feel a connection with the people or the project if there’s no clarity. So if you’ve read to the end of the blog, you’ll get this for the bottom line:
The secret to leveling up from one stage to another is to provide more CLARITY, add more CONNECTION and facilitate more COLLABORATIONS.
It’s my fervent belief that communicating with Clarity, Connection and Collaboration will help us all better deliver on both the innovation agenda, and on the cultural imperative.
Notes from last month’s Front Line Managers Online Program
FountainBlue's September 5 Front Line Managers Online program was on the topic of 'Connecting Global Hybrid Teams'. Please join me in thanking our panelists.
as a Marketing Leader - Robin Kwok Product Marketing Lead, Core & Growth PanasonicWell
as a Program Leader - Sondra Bollar, Senior Director of Program Management, Oracle
as a Technical Leader - Sam Gupta, Technical Program Manager, Pure Storage
We were fortunate to have such passionate, diverse and articulate panelists speak on the topic of Connecting Global Hybrid teams. Although they represented a range of perspectives and backgrounds, they had much in common:
They are seasoned people managers who motivate and inspire their teams to deliver business results.
They are experienced leaders adept at agilely addressing the technical, logistical, process and market challenges which naturally arise as technology companies evolve and grow.
They are exceptional problem solvers with successful track records, and are committed to driving the success of their teams, their organization, and the community overall.
Below is a summary of their insights and advice around connecting global hybrid teams.
Be Strategic.
Communicate aspirational goals which connect the team, independent of where they are located, of whether they meet in person, of their educational and professional background.
Create opportunities for teams to be collaborative and creative in making progress toward these aspirational goals.
Be clear on what's known, do what you can to identify the unknowns, and help manage the feelings around the things that are unknown.
Make detailed plans and work with people above, below and around you to proactively address the changes which inevitably occur as you implement the plan.
Leverage the tools which allow you and your team to embrace the hybrid strategy adopted by your organization.
Break up projects into manageable chunks that global hybrid teams can manage efficiently.
Put People First.
Put your people first, as they are the key to delivering both short term goals and long-term results.
Make the time to meet and connect socially.
Collaborate with your team to draw on the diverse perspectives of everyone.
Build a culture where everyone feels safe to speak up and participate.
Be Culturally Sensitive.
Be flexible and adaptable enough to work with people from other cultures, from other timezones, with other perspectives. In fact, understanding their needs and accommodating their needs will help drive both engagement *and* results.
Have the cultural awareness to know the social boundaries.
Walk a mile in the shoes of others, so that you can better understand their perspective.
Communicate and Connect.
Be clear on the roles and responsibilities for all parties and collaborate to define how these jobs and tasks will be shared across the team and between teams.
As a manager and leader of global teams, don't expect to always get it right because everything is changing so fast, but keep trying to get it right, especially around communication.
Practice leading and managing in nonprofits and with mentoring.
Advice for working with a 'dysfunctional' team:
Collaborate with the team to create and/or fix the team culture so that the team performs well and connects with teammates.
Work with the team to create a communication and management style which better connects people *and* better delivers results consistently and sustainably.
The trend toward managing and leading global hybrid teams will continue to grow and evolve, so leaning into your skills, knowledge and success will positively impact the team you've joined.
Notes from last month’s When She Speaks Online Program
FountainBlue's September 12 When She Speaks program was on the topic of 'One of the Onlys'. Please join me in thanking our esteemed panelists.
Facilitator Linda Holroyd, CEO, FountainBlue
Panelist Tony Deblauwe, VP, Human Resources, Celigo
Panelist Cynthia Dote, R&D Operations Leader, Pure Storage
Panelist Suchitra Narayen, GVP & Deputy General Counsel, North America Commercial Legal, Informatica
Panelist Krista Pavlakos, Vice President, Digital and Communications, Renesas
We were fortunate to have such experienced, diverse and seasoned professionals join this month's interactive discussion. They represented a wide range of interests and backgrounds, but they had much in common:
They were 'different' than those around them and yet found a way to be included, to be heard, and to contribute broadly.
They challenged themselves and others to be open-minded, flexible and agile in order to serve both the business interests of the organization, but also to address the personal and cultural interests of the people involved.
Below is a summary of their best practices on how to be included, empowered and heard as 'one of the onlys'.
Know Yourself.
Leverage your strengths, weaknesses and capabilities, while committing to represent yourself and others who are in the minority.
Be fully, authentically yourself, rather than settling for a diluted version of what someone else told you to be/want you to become.
Adopt an open-minded and learning mindset, even if it makes you feel uncomfortable.
Be Strategic and Resilient.
Strategically plan and deliver to business objectives, engaging a wide range of individual people, ideas and perspectives.
Actively participate and contribute, even when the journey is long and hard and the path is unclear.
Make the business case for embracing diversity, so that you have the resources and mindset necessary to think, speak and act like a culture-forward company, embracing divergent people.
Follow through on what you say, think and do, in alignment with corporate core values around diversity, belonging and inclusion.
Communicate and Connect.
Communicate and connect with people strategically and build ecosystems and ally-ships focused on delivering business results.
Learn to be influential and persuasive to ensure that diverse perspectives and ideas are heard and considered.
Create and grow a culture which is open, curious, and tenacious.
Encourage productive and inclusive discussion and brainstorming, making it safe for participation and input.
Our panelists challenged us to dry doing the following things, even if you're one of the onlys:
Find and create a path to get to the outcomes you seek
Represent yourself and others who may not be heard as they are in the minority
Make small steps to build your competence, knowledge and brand, so that you may be invited to participate in the larger projects
I'm impressed with the wisdom our panelists shared this month, and encouraged to think that such high-performing, warm, successful and intelligent people are representing each of us, as one-of-the-onlys.
Notes from last month’s VIP Roundtable Online Program
FountainBlue's September 13 VIP roundtable was on the topic of 'Sustainability Solutions for the Enterprise'. We were fortunate to have a wide range of executives in attendance, representing enterprises as well as startups and representing a wide range of industries. Their experience and expertise covered the gamut from engineering to business and finance, from product and marketing to finance and fundraising. But they had much in common:
their experience, background and leadership helped them fund, grow and scale companies and products.
their ability to work with an ecosystem of stakeholders was instrumental in navigating the intricacies of delivering sustainable solutions for enterprises.
Below is a compilation of their suggested thoughts and best practices around implementing enterprise sustainability solutions:
Highlight the doing-well-while-doing-right mindset by offering sustainability solutions to customers which benefit everyone involved.
Proactively consider how well the enterprise is mitigating each scope of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) https://www.sustain.life/blog/scope-emissions:
Scope 1 emissions – direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by a company
Scope 2 emissions – indirect emissions from purchased electricity, steam, heat, and cooling
Scope 3 emissions – all other emissions associated with a company’s activities
Scope 1 is what you BURN; scope 2 is energy you BUY; and scope 3 is everything BEYOND that.
Focus on not just technology and product innovations but also on legitimate pathways to scale, to address a problem which needs solving in the near term, even if that wasn't the original intention of the product or innovation.
Engage a broad range of stakeholders and create solutions which go beyond solutions for today.
Create a sustainability ERG team and engage in a wide range of projects from hackathons to renewables, from cleanups to recyclables.
Consider also climate equity solutions and solutions for the future as well as solutions for the community.
Work collaboratively to meet sustainability standards such as:
Identify and inventory hazardous chemicals used in operations including the ones identified below through perplexity.ai:
Persistent organic pollutants such as Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), Certain pesticides like DDT
Heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium and chromium
Volatile organic compounds such as benzene, formaldehyde, toluene
Endocrine disruptors such as Bisphenol A (BPA), Phthalates, certain pesticides and flame retardants
Ozone-depleting substances such as HCFCs
Carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction CMR substances
Assess risks and prioritize chemicals for substitution or elimination
Implement safer alternatives where possible
Ensure proper handling, storage and disposal practices
Monitor and report on chemical usage and emissions
Below are some suggested areas of enterprise sustainability innovation:
Create solutions which allow enterprises to more easily and efficiently track and manage their software.
Allow enterprise customers to more easily and proactively manage and anticipate their energy usage.
Design solutions which allow enterprises to track, optimize and upgrade hardware and equipment/view carbon footprint.
Provide solutions which facilitate collaboration between people and departments with the goal of more efficiently and proactively managing energy usage, storage and distribution.
Below are thoughts on how we can better work together to collaborate:
Include a wide range of stakeholders - from entrepreneurs to investors, from policy-makers to governments, from scientists to engineers, across industries, across countries.
Connect with the purpose of leaning in to designing and developing enterprise solutions which benefit all.
Focus on developing projects with purpose, projects which support sustainability objectives while also supporting business imperatives.
Engage everyone on that common mission - to do better for ourselves, for our world, for our future.
The bottom line is that we agreed that our technology progress is impressive, there's much more to be done and that collaborating across the ecosystem is the only way that things can get done.