What is the Business Culture in your Company?

Every Company has a dominant Business Culture. A specific and original culture focused on some areas, aspects and functions of the business.

This culture comes first from the personality and background of the Founder, the Owner, the CEO or the Managing Director. Then it is the product of the organization’s history, of the top management team and shareholders, of their policies, views, opinions, interactions, styles, decisions.

Each Business Culture creates its specific vocabulary, jargon, its perception, logic and understanding of the environment and key drivers of the business.

Some examples ...

Some cultures and organizations are very oriented towards Sales. Everything is about selling. The sales people are the kings, they hold the truth. Everything is organized to respond to their demands and requirements. Sales are perceived to be the essence of the Company’s success.

Other cultures focus on Marketing. On-line, offline, exhibitions, events, advertising, communication, product marketing...

Other Companies are Technology based...Research, training, licences, patents, conferences, expertise, latest releases....

Others on Manufacturing, how to optimize the assets, the plants, the machines, the overall effectiveness and uptime, the maintenance,...

Others on Quality, are obsessed by high standards of product an/or service quality

Others on Operations, Innovation, Logistics...

The variations are infinite...

Most commonly though, Business Cultures are driven by Financials. They talk the shareholders’ and banks’ language and have become compulsory. The Finance Guys are in charge... Margins, ROI, Costs, Cash, EBITDA, Capital Employed, Bottom line... They are the ones who give the pace...

All these areas, competences and functions are totally useful to the company’s performance.

Each of the cultures and expertise bring something crucial and vital to the business...

But they also have possible excesses and drawbacks...

The role of the Top Management is to create a balance

between all these departments, cultures and areas. It is to arbitrate between them to efficiently and flexibly drive the business to growth and success.

A Company’s Business Culture is of great importance: it has created its past and present performance and achievements. It has built what the company has become today.

But the questions might be: 
Is our Business Culture still relevant and effective today? Is it adapted to tomorrow’s challenges?

Is the Top Management's arbitrage performing? 

What Business Culture is dominating your business at the moment?

Is it really 100% useful to the company's health and growth?

Or

Are there any drawbacks you would like to point out?

What changes would create value or generate new opportunities for the future?

How do you handle the pressure with your teams?

How do you avoid dumping all the pressure onto your teams?

One of the great challenges of the executives is managing the pressure that comes from above, from the shareholders, from line managers, from competition, from conjuncture... It is to avoid simply forwarding all the pressure to the teams ...

The role of the manager / leader is to create a context in which the teams are challenged and mobilized but always feel motivated and confident.

With increasing pressure and no confidence, collaborators do not work in an optimal way. They become defensive, get tense, paralysed. They do not dare to try new things, to change, to evolve, to give the extra effort.

When the context is difficult, on the contrary, they can close themselves up and avoid being noticed. As if the only fear was to be the next on the list...

In the current economic climate, corporate executives become stressed and paralysed by the pressure of delivering results in the short term ...

...Whereas they should be fighting for flexibility, for agility, for teams to reinvent themselves... to achieve excellence, to innovate, to create new strategies, tactics, fortified products and services...

What do you think?
How do you manage the pressure with your team?

ASK FOR HELP.... Don't be afraid....

What do you see? Understand? How do you decide to interpret it?

Each of us have our view of the world.

Our reality.
Our interpretation of the world.Different, unique, original.

We interpret our surroundings according to our history, our experiences, our actions, our commitments.
Our interpretations justify our actions past and present, what we do, what we don't do, what we dare do and what we dare not imagine or undertake.

If we are not careful, we can fool ourselves with our own interpretations, the ones that give sense to the events of our lives. We can build oriented, distorted, exaggerated realities...

Growing as a person is to begin to understand our interpretations of the world in which we exaggerate and fool ourselves. It's identifying these perceptions that do not serve us, that generate thoughts or beliefs that are not helping us, that limit us, that take away our initiative and freedom.

To begin this process, you have to become aware of these phenomena without judging or blaming yourself.
And you need to want to go beyond appearances and evidences... to learn and grow.

What do you decide to see? To understand? 
How do you decide to interpret it?

Do you happen to be indifferent?

Love or hate, but never be indifferent.

Indifference is the worst abuse.

Indifference is denying the existence, not respecting, leaving no space to the other.

Lately, in your working or personal life, are there any people you related or worked with and towards whom you remained indifferent? ... People you did not take the time to listen, to share with... You didn't even take a minute to know about them, recognize them, let them talk, connect.

In management, indifference kills. It can be a type of harassment.

If your team members feel like a piece of furniture, like a chair in an office, you are seriously failing somewhere. You are focusing on other fields or directions and it will certainly not contribute to delivering outstanding results.

Do not treat others as you would not like to be treated...

Communicate, socialize and exchange with your team. Make the effort and you will see the impact on their commitment, on their relationship with clients, their motivation, their results!

Is it so complicated?

Do you happen to be indifferent?

How different are you ?

Everyone is different. Original. Unique. Complete.

What about you? How do you differentiate your business, your value, your company, or your business project?

When you are looking for work, creating your business, running your company:
Do you focus on the outside, on what's possible, what seems right, on what works?
Or do you focus on who you are, what you bring, feel, want, your values, ambitions and dreams, on what you believe and you think ...?

Are there models you try to copy?
Or do you work on creating and delivering something new, original and different? ... Something that comes from you, that you'll have created yourself?

A few years ago, copying or replicating what others did was enough. It worked.
Today it's not enough. You need to be different, differentiated,  passionate, connected, unique ... To be yourself.

What are you creating or developing? Can you feel it, do you have a sense of belonging? Is this yours?
Does it make you vibrate and get up in the morning?

What do you bring to your customers, to your company, to the world?
What is your vision?
How do you want to contribute to the world?

Female Leadership and Male Leadership

Companies today have organizations that are increasingly flat and informal.

Hierarchy and responsibilities are more diffuse, more flexible and changing.

We are going from very structured pyramidal organizations to companies with multi level interactions working in networks.

...From a more masculine leadership based on power and control...to a more feminine and tribal leadership that is more diffuse and connected...

In these environments, women are more likely to add value through their intuition, their emotional intelligence, their ability to collaborate, connect and develop social relationships ...

In contrast, men seem more limited in their possibilities...  They tend to be in the game of demonstrating their power, in competing or dominating, which may not be totally compatible with more informal or less hierarchical businesses...

The social models we grew up with determine our behaviours and limit us. Women and men face different challenges:

 Women need to get away from the stereotype of seduction and dependence, and gain confidence in their abilities to be a major player in organizations and society...

 Men need to get out of the stereotypes of the superhero. Getting away from their tendency to compete, they can learn to let go, to accept and manage their emotions, intuition and  vulnerability. With humility and authenticity.

What do you think?
Where do you see yourself?

What do you get out of your meetings?

In companies it is difficult to establish a system of meetings that is balanced, efficient, productive.

You can find extremes ...
Or there are not enough meetings and collaborators suffer from a lack of visibility, information, coordination, coherence and decision ...

Or there are systematic meetings that embrace everything. People get bored. Some talk too much, others say nothing... Always the same ones ... They are a waste of time but you have to be there to please the boss...

What are meetings for?
Meetings are useful to share information, results, situations, points of view, and, above all, to take decisions

Their aim is not to share the latest gossip nor to justify, evaluate or criticize others.
They must not allow to comment or address all topics, nor to exchange everything with everybody...
They should not be a routine, an obligation to reassure the boss ...
And finally they don't absolutely have to be boring, annoying, frustrating.

What meetings do you want and need to create?

Companies need flexibility, agility and commitment. Meetings are an essential device in organizations. To be in alert. To mobilize a team on clear and coordinated objectives . To take action and adapt.

A waste of time?
No!. A productive, optimized and gained time!.

What about you? What do you get out of your meetings?

Is Understanding enough?

Human behaviours can generally be understood, justified, explained.

The relationship patterns, the posture, the style of management or leadership we have are the product of our history, of our family background, our education, our beliefs and opinions, our studies...

These elements have influenced our behaviours. They have programmed the way we react to external stimuli, how we relate to others, to authority, to power, the traps we fall into...
These behaviours may not be efficient in our present  contexts, experiences, and challenges.
Is being aware of it enough to solve the problem?

If you want to break or change your anchored behaviours, it requires you recognize and accept what is happening. To gain in openness and flexibility, you need to learn to feel how you are emotionally structured, your feelings, your reactions...

You then start learning ...

Personal growth is about understanding who you are and how you are, what are your strengths and your weaknesses.
It's about identifying and feeling your emotions, knowing the inclinations and reactions you have and learning to manage them ... For you to be free.

Understanding is not enough. It's a starting point.
Trying, experiencing, experimenting, that's how you learn.

Learn at emotional and physical levels, not just at rational and intellectual ones. You then start growing...

What do you think? Sounds familiar? Do you recognize yourself in any way?

Professional Search: Specialist or Generalist?

When we are in search of new professional opportunities, jobs, projects or clients, it is advisable to be experts, specialists in our field.
We present what we do best, give examples, we sell our expertise.

It's good to have a specialization, to give a clear message about what we do, what we bring, our added value ....

However, with the rapidly changing labour market, the danger of being a specialist is to lock yourself in your field and not see what is happening around you.
To be competitive you need to constantly keep watch, be in connection with your market, be on the move... You need to keep evolving as a professional, adapt in selling and delivering your speciality...

What type of professional are you on your market? With your customers?
How about trying to be a Specialist and a Generalist!

Leadership is about Context & Connection

Companies struggle to create accountability, ownership and leadership at all levels...

The perception is that there are people who decide and others that execute... The relationships tend to be unbalanced, communications are mainly one way, the connection between deciders and doers is low...

What are the consequences?

Collaborators have low levels of motivation, commitment and engagement. The quality and service standards are average. In a difficult economical environment, the levels of tension and stress build up and paralyse the teams further more...

The truth is, neither the managers nor the collaborators feel happy about the situation...
The former don’t feel confident and trusting with their teams and people.
The latter don’t feel listened to nor taken into account and develop automated and routine attitudes.

You know what: This can change!

Leadership is about creating the Connection and Context that enable change and deliver performance. 
Connection that enhances open and closer communications and develops relationships.
A Context that makes it possible to negotiate alliances with collaborators and teams with a shared commitment on common objectives.

Context & Connection.

Work on these two key drivers and you will create the team engagement and support you've always dreamt of!

The dream team at an arm’s reach! Think about it!

Any thoughts?

Tao of Leadership : Unbiased Leadership

Can you mediate emotional issues without taking sides or picking favourites?

Can you breathe freely and remain relaxed even in the presence of passionate fears and desires?

Are your own conflicts clarified? Is your own house clean?

Can you be gentle with all factions and lead the group without dominating?

Can you remain open and receptive, no matter what issues arise?

Can you know what is emerging, yet keep your peace while others discover for themselves?

Learn to lead in a nourishing manner.

Learn to lead without being possessive.

Learn to be helpful without taking the credit.

Learn to lead without coercion.

You can do this if you remain unbiased, clear, and down-to-earth.

Tao of Leadership -  Lao Tsu

Do ethics require courage?

Once in a while all managers have important and complicated meetings where they need to discuss, argue, give difficult and tough feedbacks.

It's human for them to want to wriggle out sometimes, avoid difficulties or conflict, convince themselves that they can do without ...

Example: you've been postponing telling to a collaborator what's not working, what's going wrong or missing in his work or performance. You've been avoiding it for some time...

Why postpone? The situation could quickly get complicated with serious consequences...

When you have personal ethics, you need to be as honest as possible...
Tell him what is happening in a factual way, share and work with him to define actions, improvement plans, training, coaching, mentoring programs ...

Give him a chance to adapt, to be flexible and to learn!

And you'll learn a lot from doing it!

Companies need managers that have authenticity, courage and ethics.
These values ​​provide pro-activity, flexibility and deliver results.
Don't you think?

Do you need to understand everything?

Coaching is not consulting.
Its aim is not to study, analyse, dissect, evaluate, judge or advise ...
Its goal is to connect with the present moment. With the person or team and what is going on here and now.

Connect to what is important, essential, vital. To that makes sense, what mobilizes, awakens, triggers. To where the energy is.

This is only possible when you sweep out anything that interferes, limiting noises, beliefs, perceptions, thoughts. Precisely these that hide the important.

The coach acts as a mirror to a person, to a system, a team ...
His purpose is not to understand, it's to create movement. To put into action what is key, what is strategic. 

For this, it is more important to feel, experiment and live the experience than to understand.
To create real change.

Would you accept not understanding everything?

Professional Search: Adapt, but to what extent?

The capitalist culture in which we grew up taught us that the economic environment and context are in charge. If we're in search of a job, of new opportunities, projects or clients, we think it is appropriate to adapt to the maximum to sell and deliver our services.

But how far should we adapt?

The danger of over-adapting is that in difficult and tense situations, you search and accept everything that presents itself that looks like work, projects or clients ... And ultimately it does not work!
Moreover, when you over adapt you go astray, you lose yourself, you de-centre yourself, you move gradually away from who you are, your values​​, what you want, where you add value.

How not to fall into the trap? How to refocus?

We all have our individuality, our talent, our originality. Our unique value added.
By over-adapting you lose your specificity. You dilute it.
Reconnect with it. Trust in it, feed it, develop it...
Your uniqueness is your strength. Do not turn away. Focus on it.

Explore the outside world remaining focused on who you are and who you want to be.

Are you clear about what you want? Are you doing something about it?

The day to day life can lead us to forget what we most deeply and intimately want for ourselves, for our lives, for our loved ones.

We don’t think about it, we don’t take the time to really ask ourselves these questions. Over the years we develop stories and beliefs that give meaning and justifications to our life... We build up a comforting logic about what we are living ...

Little by little we start fooling ourselves. We may end up living a life by proxy .... Letting the outside world decide of our lives ...

When you're there, you're like in a tunnel, you are blinded. You find it hard to see any other options, to find any other exits ... It's painful ...

It reminds me of a metaphor.
"Between light and darkness the light always wins "

When you are in the light, darkness completely disappears .
When you're in the dark, a light, however weak and distant it may be, will always bring clarity and direction.

Do not let others nor your dark side show you the way.
Trust your light and let it illuminate your way and your life

Give or Receive ... Receive my best wishes for 2013

Would you say you're more of a giver or a receiver?


Generally do you rather give or receive?


What do others say about you?

A dicton says
Do not complain about what you're getting ...Look more carefully at what you're giving ...!

For these holiday greetings and for 2013 ...
Don’t keep for yourself the love you have in you, for life, for others ...
Share it! Offer it! Multiply it!

With all my heart I wish you

a MERRY CHRISTMAS 

and a
HAPPY and GENEROUS NEW YEAR 2013!

Do you take the time necessary to make it work?

I see a lot of very dynamic and flexible companies where people run like headless chickens to react and respond to clients, colleagues, challenges, to the market, to competition...

There is a lack of clarity about what is really important, what is key to the business, what’s strategic... Some confusion between what is urgent and what is important....

When you don’t put the focus on what’s important, it becomes urgent.
Then everything becomes urgent.
And everybody reacts to urgency...

In that context, are you sure your company is performing at its best?
Do you have the necessary visibility? 
Do you adequately monitor progress and performance?
When appropriate, can you step back, review and adapt what needs to be?

How can you be proactive and not only reactive?
How can you put some structure in the company’s management?

How do you handle it?

Tao of Leadership : Force and Conflict

Leadership: Force & Conflict

The leader who understands how process unfolds uses as little force as possible and runs the group without pressuring people.

When force is used, conflict and argument follow. The group field degenerates. The climate is hostile, neither open nor nourishing.

The wise leader runs the group without fighting to have things a certain way. The leader's touch is light. The leader neither defends nor attacks.

Remember that consciousness, not selfishness, is both the means of teaching and the teaching itself.

Group members will challenge the ego of one who leads egocentrically. But one who leads selflessly and harmoniously will grow and endure.


The Tao of Leadership. by Lao Tsu

Uncertainty

Uncertainty

How do you perceive uncertainty ?
Like a pond filled with crocodiles ready to eat you ? Like an infinity of potential dramas and disasters about to take place ?
Or like a sea of ​​possibilities, of encounters, of exciting opportunities to learn, to experience, enjoy, fail, move on and grow ?

Do you have confidence in what surrounds you ?
How much do you trust yourself ?
Do you take permission to be yourself ?
Do you accept that uncertainty, that the unexpected may feed you, teach you, change you ....?

Are you flexible with what's going on ?
May be you'd rather have everything well controlled, well kept, in its place ... and you get worried when things change, when contexts evolve, when new challenges appear ...

Everything is uncertain. Life is uncertain.

Taking command of your life is about accepting and playing with uncertainty . It's accepting that you can find yourself in uncomfortable situations, facing difficulties or failures... and that you will also live intense moments of joy, happiness and success.

Be flexible.
Learn to accept uncertainty, play with it, enjoy yourself, and the things that need to happen... actually will ...

Accept you may be wrong. Dare. Play. Fall down. Get up. With humour and love.
Accept you don't know everything and trust your intuition, your guts, your heart, they will show you the way.

Trust, get moving, act. It will make things happen.

What do you make of it?