A Recipe for Cake

What: Bake a cake.

Why: Because we are celebrating an important birthday.

How:  Poor cake mix into a bowl. Add water. Add 1 egg. Stir for 30 seconds. Pour into a 8 x 10 ungreased pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Cool on rack. Ice.

This may seem overly simplistic, but believe me, the person who wrote this recipe on the back of a cake mix box probably experience several edits before he or she broke it down to a set of perfect, measurable steps.

In the corporate world, we have to do that too. Even if we are planning some major strategy. The challenge is to keep it simple so that it is absolutely, unequivocally true, such that a reasonable and logically individual could not find fault with it or could follow it blindfolded.

Strategy answers these three questions: What is to be accomplished (the end goal); why is this necessary; and how we go about this?  Strategies take time.

When equality is no longer a word . . .

There are very few people in the lifetime, and in fact, in the history of our world, who make a difference long after they are gone. You know who these people are. Great names like Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King come to mind because these people made a difference to people. They were selfless. They lead with vision, not of themselves, but with a vision of the world. A place where we would have compassion for the poor, the hungry and destitute. A place where people make sacrifices for what is important. A place where equality is not just a word, but no longer a word.

Recently my daughter was studying stories of generations past who marched in the streets for peace, who fought in wars, and fought against wars, who cried when Martin Luther King died. Those people who fought those fights and thought those thoughts are likely no longer with us.

During those marches, people would cry out for equality, and it meant something tangible. The right to work. The right to eat in restaurants. The right to go to whatever schools one wanted. The right for personal freedom. The right to be treated . . . like an human being. The right not to be judged, marginalized, minimized or dehumanized by another. These are things worth fighting for still today.

Yet, at least in our part of the world, we no longer shout out words like equality and freedom in the streets. We have institutionalized the battle. Made it part of the corporate fabric of our making. And that's a step in the right direction, as long as it's not the last step. Corporations have the means and ability to provide training and opportunities that give people the means to enjoy freedom as we know it. Corporations create employment so people can have a better life.

We have achieved some enlightenment in the world. Corporations are expected to be "Good corporate citizens" who give money and time to the those who help the less fortunate. They make people development a priority. They teach, coach and mentor people to grow. They create an environment where people can grow and flourish. Good corporate citizens give of their time, money and resources to make the world around them a better place.

All the corporate capital and good will, however, can't change the world unless the individual engages in the change. That's you and me. People caring about others. People getting to know each other. People seeing past our visual or cultural differences and seeing each other as fellow human beings, sharing this life experience.

When you think about it, the word equality is only necessary in a state where it does not exist. And therein lies the question. Will we ever find a time in the world where equality is an ancient term?

And where are we in this continuum, almost 50 years after the riots and the cries for equality?

I asked my daughter what I often ask corporate types - what do you value? What do you care about enough that you would stand up for and stand up against others for? What matters to you that is beyond your own vision, but a vision for the world.

Equality was her answer. Where people are not judged for their gender, or lifestyle. Where people are free to discover the best they can be.

What a great and worthy quest. Imagine a place where equality is no longer quantified by targets on corporate scorecards. Where we no longer count the colors of skin around a table, as if tallying our level of tolerance, or intolerance. Where we can come face to face with a person and not see the difference first.

That she would say equality matters most to her does not surprise me. My daughters have been raised in a house of diversity and adversity. In my house, we have seen and suffered the effects of being turned down for a job because of another person's fear. We have lived with unemployment as a result of small minds. We all, as a result, have learned to keep the secret of our "diversity" to lessen the impact.

The funny thing is, we are not identifiable by race or by ethnicity. But we still experienced this, and continue to from time to time. I understand the quest for equality, but in the continuum, I would hope the ultimate goal is to achieve humanity where people are worth the effort regardless of who they are or where they come from. And I would say everyone deserves a chance to be bright, and to be brilliant. I would say that everyone is good and deserves a chance to prove it.

Listening to my daughters, and watching them, I hope that their generation does take our world to a more humane place than we have been. I hope that they care enough to do more than talk, but to lead, and demonstrate through their actions. I hope that they will take one step closer to that grand vision of a better place that our earthly leaders have shown us.

Walk a while in my shoes.

Anyone who knows me knows that shoes are a big part of my life. I have an abundance of shoes. I love them. They are jewelry for the feet. The perfect conclusion to a great outfit. Or just the thing needed to jazz up something boring. Sometimes they are sensible, and sometimes they are outlandish. Sometimes shoes seem impossible to walk in, and sometimes they seem impossible to fill.

In my work, I find that the most important thing to do every day is to walk awhile in someone's shoes. Understand their perspective. This means asking how this piece of writing will be received? Who is the audience? What will they think? Who is the audience that should receive this? What if they don't? What are the ramifications if the audience is misinformed? What are the ramifications if the audience is informed, but not impressed?

These questions are never easy, and what's more, the art of communication is just that, an art. The problem is that because most people are capable of creating audible sounds that resemble our language, it doesn't mean they can communicate, or understand the art of communicating. Afterall, I can count, but that doesn't make me an accountant. And therein lies the problem. As a communicator with a journalistic soul (or is that sole), and a penchant for poetry and prose, we have a quest for truthfulness, honesty and respectfulness in the written and spoken word. These are worthy attributes, and they require one to be brave, creative and concise.

For the accomplished writer, this is easy. After all, a good writer can make Kraft dinner sound interesting. But the writer does not own the message. The message really belongs to the communicator. That could be a CEO, a board member or a community spokes person. And despite our brilliance, sometimes, however, the writer's best and well intended works, no matter how artfully krafted, are rejected and left on the cutting room floor.

When we prepare to communicate, we often think of the external or internal audience -the media, the shareholder, the staff, suppliers, partners . . . but do we think of our boss? The one who ultimately is the gate keeper of the message. To avoid the cutting room floor, one needs to consider the decision maker as part of the audience.

That takes time. It takes understanding. It means making mistakes and writing, and rewriting, and rewriting. It means being objective, and listening to what it is that the gate keeper is looking for? What are his or her concerns? What is his or her communication style? What can we do to get the message across and still satisfy even the most skid dish of all gate keepers.

To be a great and worthy writer and communicator, the concept of voice must be mastered. Voice is the identity of a piece. And the writer is never the voice. The writer is merely the conduit through which the message must flow to its audience. A temporary vessel of ideas and thoughts, that once released, take on the voice of the intended persona.

So, it all comes back to shoes. Who's shoes are we trying to fill? If the message where to come from a person(a), who is the person. What is his or her position on the matter. Who is he or she talking to? What is the style of the speaker? How can this message be best communicated by this persona.

When it's all said and done, writing is a both a passion and a thankless profession for those of us to choose to do this. It requires commitment on the part of the writer and the ability to let go of the creation so that others can learn from it, enjoy it, and hang it on the refrigerator. It must stand alone, if only for a fleeting moment or a life time.

Potential on the Table

A few years ago, I met a great speaker / strategist at a conference. We talked for a while, and he said, your employer must love you. I replied, "my employer does not even know what I think about."

In the workforce, I wonder how many times we see the potential of others and whether we even look for it? If we did, what would we see? I am sure that in any given group of people there are people who would love to delve into something great and significant, but are restricted by their job description.

That is such a shame, because people who have a desire to do something generally do, and if they cannot do it where they are, they will go find another place to share their talent, ideas and energy.

You've heard of the lateral promotion. There's also lateral movement from organization to organization. And then there's promotion by leaving. Often times people leave an organization for more of something. More money. More opportunity. More leadership opportunities. More what ever it is they need.

In the book "First Break all the Rules", the writer busts open common held management myths. He says investing in employees is a myth, because we only have to invest in those who can help the organization move forward.

It's a good point. Invest time and energy into the people who can be part of the future. But this brings me back to my first question: do we ask our employees to put their potential on the table? Would we know who they are?

A case for peace

How many times are we guided by other forces - pushed into decisions that we may make if we had all the information. Have you ever noticed how many times you are given a choice or a task, and you realize you don't have enough information to make a decision, but yet you make it any way. These are never good decisions. In fact, anything that is produced under this circumstance just can not be good. Rushing to the finish line is really just a lesson in triage. And inevitably, the aftermath follows. Mistakes happen. Small things. Big things. It doesn't matter. Mistakes are mistakes. And they require explanation and recovery.

So I wonder if we know this, why do we allow ourselves to be disadvantaged this way? Why do we give up our best effort under duress?

The answer, I think, is to prepare for the inevitable. The disaster. The thing that you hate to imagine, or say out loud, but does inevitably happen. In business, we call this risk management. It requires time and forethought. Preplanning, and contingency planning for the what ifs.

Often times when we do plan for risks, we are avoiding the real risks because these are the ones that we don't want to imagine. These are the types of risks that may be highly improbable, but if they happened, the impact would be huge. These kinds of risks are called "perfect risks", or black swans. These kinds of risks are those that are game changing. They alter our lives immediately and ever after. We spend lots of time trying to understand what happened, why, and what to do about it. How to prevent it from ever happening again. 911 is a good example of a perfect risk. The imaginable happened. And it does inevitably. And I believe in the inevitable.

It is important however not to be afraid of the inevitable. It is better to face it head on. Go face to face with it, and you will find that it is not the giant that it could be.

The good thing about a disaster, however, is that it gives us time to reflect. To consider what we would do different. And that's good. As long as we remember to do that.

As humans, however, we tend to forget. We are optimists. We like to do things, and we don't like to plan (at least most of us don't). We like to execute something (or someone when things go wrong), but we don't like to imagine possibilities. And finally, we don't like to work together.

So what's the big barrier? Honesty, I think. What if we said out loud what could happen? What we are afraid of. What would be game changing and life altering. What if we confronted unrealistic demands with a reasonable solution that meets every one's needs. What if we sat down and talked, honestly, about why we can't talk or work together.

This can't be that difficult. It's not like we are talking about world peace.

Be brave. Be creative. Be concise.

In life, we tend to mark our successes with rewards. We reward our dog for being a dog by giving him a new bone. We reward our children who actually made their bed today with allowance. As employees, we are rewarded for accomplishments in meeting professional standards consistently. Rewards are a short term thank you, and a form of teaching what the standards of performance are, so that we can ultimately achieve that.

Our standards are high for good reason. People are affected when things go awry. Trust is lost. At the very least, reputation is at stake. The unthinkable happens sometimes, and people are affected negatively. Standards leads to trust. Think about it. We expect our surgeon to meet the standards of medical practices. We expect pilots to understand and deliver on their standards. We expect our mailman to understand and deliver on his or her standards by getting the right piece of mail to us every day. We expect car manufacturers to meet a standard with every single car and every single component.

Standards set the pace. Standards of governance. Standards of conduct. Standards of service. Standards of accuracy. All of these standards are in place to safeguard and protect us from things gone awry.

The bottom line is, when we hire someone, or even entertain hiring someone, we expect that they are competent to deliver and understand the standards.

The truth is, that there are some people who can consistently model standards of excellence because they are driven by a personal desire to achieve that in everything they do. These people are probably not the norm. They are probably the people who go the extra mile, every single time. These people are relentless in their pursuit of excellence, because they work for their own reputation. Their current employer just happens to benefit from it.

These people are rare, as you would expect. They are who we look up to. These are the leaders, the ones that rise to the top. The cream of the crop. Their reputation precedes them because they earned it.

Creating a reputation of meeting standards of excellence in every day, every moment, every opportunity is what leadership is all about. My theory is that most people want to do their best, and to be seen as recognized as a rising star, they just need some tools.

My formula is this: Be brave. Be creative. Be concise.

Being brave means taking chances, having the courage to have a vision, even if that vision is inside a box. Being brave means testing new ideas, challenging norms (and bobs, and eds) and being a pioneer of the work. We owe this to ourselves. It is our legacy. Where would we be if the early explorers hadn't taken a chance to sail to the end of the horizon, not knowing if they would fall off the edge of the earth?

Being creative goes with being brave. Creativity is looking for the unseen view; a fresh way of seeing something. Creativty means placing yourself in the shoes of another person and seeing it from another perspective. Creativity leads to better ways of working, better relationships, better results. And creativity inspires more people to want to get involved. Creativity is the color on the walls. The texture of the fabrics. The feeling that it conveys. Without creativity, we would be living in a white wall world. That terrifies me.

Being concise means being clear, purposeful, accurate, objective, rational and thoughtful. Being concise means respecting people's time with ideas that solve problems. When a piece of work is concise, it feels like a solution. Lights go on. Minds change. Doors open. Bells ring. People say things like, "I get it." and "Yes, that's exactly what we need to do next." Conciseness creates confidence and trust. This is so important. Would you let a surgeon operate on you who couldn't be concise? Would you trust a pilot? Would you trust the car you drive?

Standards matter. And they are standards, because we expect them to be the norm. And yes, we do expect a lot from each other, and from ourselves. And since no one of us is an island, we are all affected by others. We are all in this together. We are what we build. What we deliver. The impact that we have. These things add up to a legacy. And no matter who you are, or what you do, that is ultimately your challenge. To create a positive legacy as one who is brave, creative and concise.

The Power of Sequins and Feathers

The other night, I had the privilege of emc-ing an employee recognition gala where the focus of the night was saying thank you to people who do great things for others. This could mean acts of exemplary service, acts of kindness, or acts of bravery. But two things really stood out for me that night. The power of saying thank you, and the power of sequins and feathers.

As the emcee, my job was to welcome the crowd, and to see them through the awards ceremony. So, the questions naturally occurred to me. Would I bore them to death. Would they write on their comment cards - please never let that woman return. What should I wear?

All fear aside, I decided to focus on what was real and within my control. My wardrobe choice. I decided on the "go big or go home" approach - A short sequined dress, black tights and ankle boots. Oh yes, and a black feather boa to top off the ensemble. Now admittedly, this is not regular work attire. But I work for a company that is in the entertainment industry. So if we can't be entertaining, who can?

Admittedly, I was nervous. Having only been on the management team for a year, I am kind of an unknown. And I was a bit nervous to carry the show, and do my part to make the evening memorable for the staff who were attending.

So I did what I often do when I am feeling terrified and insecure. I created a persona and stepped into it, and then . . . well became who I needed to be. One person described my performance as the perfect combination of "glam and goofy." I can live with that. Actually, it`s accurate. My goal was to make everyone comfortable, entertain them as best I could. I also wanted to show my appreciation and thanks to them by doing a good job on stage.

Everyday, there are people who live out their goal to make every day a good day for someone else. These are the people who are stars, and do deserve our thanks. I did my best that night, but sometimes I forget that every day is about making someone`s day better. The fact is, there are a lot of people who do make each day better for others.

Besides the sequins and feathers, this really isn`t that much of a stretch when you think of it.