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Category: leadership

  • Why Peter Drucker Is Essential for Modern Leaders

    Why Peter Drucker Is Essential for Modern Leaders

    Yesterday on my afternoon walk I was listening to a podcast episode with a famous writer talking to a well known podcaster and author. They are both media-makers who get paid for clicks and impressions, but they deal in ideas. They are very well respected, smart, successful and, because they’ve been doing their media-making so long, wise. They are good examples of what current “thought leaders” look like and how they work.

    The episode is a couple hours long. They made some great points about leadership, management, growth and professional development, and how to stay fully engaged. The principles they shared sounded relevant. But, both of them sound a little burned out and – maybe this is me being a little cynical – not 100% committed to their own ideas.

    Despite all that, I loved it and may even listen again.

    This is just one podcast episode among millions. There are thousands of other thinkers that are in our queues, ready to share some ideas from their TED talks, or their courses, or their mastermind sessions, or their book. 1 month from now, no one will remember these 120 minutes.

    It’s a classic good news/bad news scenario:

    The good news: We’re in a golden age of self-help and advice and personal growth. Ideas and approaches have never been so readily available. There have never been more perspectives and unique voices. Episodes like these offer a helpful dose of thinking and the advice given is usually practical and actionable. I’ve rarely come across thinking that’s demonstrably “bad”. Almost is in the “good, but not great” category of thinking. It’s “content”, a stimulating conversation that, on a good day, pushes my thinking a bit.

    The bad news: It’s only “pretty good” advice, overall. These hosts are giving the people what they want, but the business needs them to tune in next week, too. The content is designed to have a short shelf-life. The editorial agenda is driven by the business model: clicks, sponsorship, ads, selling classes, etc. I wonder how much of the audience is turning to podcast episodes instead of time-tested, enduring ideas. Is “pop” management advice taking the place of “classic” thinking?

    As I look to 2025 and beyond, as AI generated slop meets media-hustling content overload, I’m looking for something solid to turn to. I feel pulled towards the classics.

    That’s why I’m spending more time reading history books, literature from the last two hundred years, and going back to some of the core philosophical works. I’m seeking the ideas and wisdom from earlier eras because i don’t think much of the advice i’m hearing these days is “built to last”.

    In 2025, I’m going to be focusing my business reading on a handful of experts that I believe stand the test of time.

    The top of my list is Peter Drucker.

    Why Drucker? Why should we listen to an old white immigrant guy who died in 2005?

    The Arc of Professionalized Management – He wrote about business strategy and leadership effectiveness from the early 1930s through the 2000’s, a remarkable span in the history of the global economy. He had a front row seat as the American economy became the most powerful economic engine in the world and was in the board rooms (and on the shop floor) as management professionalized and became thing to study.

    The journalistic skepticism – Although he was a lawyer and a historian, he came to his work with the eyes and critical perspective of a journalist. He sought out the stories, dug into the truth, and came out with a compelling narrative based on facts and his own insight.

    Supremely good communicator – He wrote so much and so eloquently that he made the inner workings of General Motors interesting. The writing today – judged by our modern standards – is a little academic, perhaps a little stilted, but the insights and narrative deliver incredibly important points. In many ways, he brought “management” as subject to the masses, giving main street access to the best of what was happening in leading organizations.

    A visionary guide to leading through transformations – He saw what was coming before others, and translated the future for the present. He described the modern corporate conglomerate before it was a thing. He coined the term knowledge worker. He articulated the impending changes in American culture as the economy moved from agriculture and manufacturing to a services-based organization. He was an advocate for technology as a way to unlock better results and create a more meaningful workplace. More importantly, he shared actionable, practical ways to be a better leader and manager while the transformations were underway.

    Hugely influential to generations – Because he wrote for so long and covered so many facets of business management, multiple generations of leaders were shaped by his thinking. Corporate culture is still showing some signs of his teachings, for the better, mostly.

    Management as Liberal Arts – He saw management as one of the Liberal Arts, a pathway for leaders to continue their development as humans. More importantly, he designed programs to help leaders and executives apply a “Liberal Arts” approach, arguing management effectiveness comes from critical analysis, informed by a cross-domain perspective, based in core of history, literature, arts and philosophy.

    Exemplar – I see him as a model for how we can all continue to grow as humans and as leaders, evolving our thinking and our work as we move through the different phases of his career. He never stopped being curious, never slowed down his thinking and was always optimistic about what the future held.

    Drucker is one of those “classic” thinkers that all business people should have on their bookshelf. With 39 books (more?) and countless essays and academic papers, there’s something for everyone and for just about every situation.

    In a time when everything seems to be changing around us, there are too many “real time” experts with an opinion to share. We need the wisdom of those who have gone before us, and we can learn from history through their perspective.

    For business leaders today, thinkers like Drucker are valuable for their ideas on how to make the most of transformation while becoming better leaders and managers at the same time. The podcasts and Youtube videos can be energizing, but when we need insights with integrity, we should be grateful we’ve got a large body of Drucker’s work to turn to.

  • Passing the Torch vs Keeping the Flame Burning

    Passing the Torch vs Keeping the Flame Burning

    This post by Adam Singer has been in an open tab for a while.

    For one, it’s a relevant topic for me right now as I think about work and “my work” in whatever phase I’m in, careerwise.

    And, it’s also relevant because I’m re-reading some fiction by folks that were “late” in their career (viz Philip Roth).

    The post makes the argument that those that have reached “success” in their work – established elders (EE’s) who are creatives, corporates, sports – will hit a point where the impact of their work will no longer grow and may start declining. They might be “past their prime” or perhaps they’re trying too hard or just replaying the hits. They’re just sticking around for the money (e.g. Harrison Ford) or the attention or to stay relevant (e.g. Coppola). Maybe they’re still really good (Lebron), but a couple steps slower.

    When that happens, Singer argues, it’s better for those leaders to shift their focus, from trying to make work that really lands to building up those around them, to nurture the talent.

    At some point, the most meaningful thing you can do isn’t to create more but to help others create. To teach. To nurture. To invest. To build frameworks for a future that doesn’t need you at its center…. Because modernity continues to prop up the old at the cost of the young and pull the ladder up wherever possible, perhaps that’s all they feel they can do (sell the dream to others).

    Singer focuses on the creative industry for most of his EE examples: filmmakers, comedians, and the cultural icons that become symbols in our culture. His examples depend on creative “misses” (but I bet Seinfeld’s movie “worked” financially for Netflix) and artistic wins with mixed commercial impact (Coppola).

    Singer is a marketing guy talking to business folks; I think corporate is his real audience, and the creative examples are common reference points. We all know corporate world is much different than the creative industry, but this essay still prompts a good discussion about his key point: There’s a ton of value in EE’s leaning into mentorship and building the talent around themselves vs “clutching at the levers of power”.

    So why isn’t this happening more in corporate America?

    If you’re on your way “up” in your career, this will most likely resonate with you. You will have seen numerous examples of “established elders” sticking around too long, that should have retired or otherwise gotten out of the way a long time ago. Maybe they’re staying to pay for college for their kids, maybe they still love the corporate game. Maybe they can’t let go of the status (the travel perks, the deference, the parking spot, the doors that open). Practically, they’re taking up the spot you probably want. They probably aren’t investing in helping you build your skills and, in the worst case, they know you’re the competition and are working against you.

    If you’re one of the “Established Elders” yourself, you’ll be sensitive to the age bias inherent in this essay. You know you’re at the top of your game, maybe better than ever. Your experience is a differentiator and wisdom keeps you from making dumb mistakes. Your game has, as they say in pro sports, slowed down because you know it so well. You’re in the sweet spot between experience and performance. You’re the ringer they should call in a clutch situation.

    You’ll also recognize what he doesn’t acknowledge: These days, corporate America doesn’t really give a shit about mentoring and wisdom and talent cultivation. In more stable days, talent and leadership development was a strategic differentiator (e.g. “the GE way”). For the last 20 years though (roughly corresponding to the digital and globalization boom) corporate leaders are working in a much more dynamic, disrupted competitive battlefield as everyone tries to level up their skills while managing costs. Something has to give, and it’s probably talent development.

    There are no real incentives for leaders to build the talent around them anymore, it seams. Short term results will always take priority over culture and talent building. Spending too much time coaching, developing and nurturing talent means either taking their eye off of the “growth” and “impact” ball, or potentially arming their “competition”.

    When it comes time for promotions, the choice may come down to “experienced” culture-building leader who can still deliver “adequate” results OR a younger leader who can crush the results but isn’t great at team development or doesn’t have organizational savvy. You know which way corporate leaning. PE-backed firms? No question.

    The “Learning and Development” people will protest, but we all know it’s true. There isn’t an established staff role these days for experienced, wise leaders who are not crushing it, performance wise. If you’re not absolutely nailing the revenue and profit targets, if you’re not making highly visible, tangible impact to margins and customer satisfaction, if you’re not bringing genuine technical innovation, you’re going to be on the bubble.

    Singer implies EEs can be a part of an important effort to nurture the next generation of contributors and makers and company builders. He’s talking about entertainment and culture, but I read this as a plea to our corporate culture makers, too:

    We should normalize this transition: die helping and passing the torch, starting this process with generous amounts of time and energy left. Build something greater than yourself by letting it belong to someone else. We need a culture with enough wisdom to nurture what’s next, not languish in its own self-indulgent nostalgia.

    I got lucky. I worked in two organizations where it was clear, but never expressly acknowledged, that there were a handful of “established” leaders on the org chart to help guide and teach the next generation. They were good, maybe not great, at delivering results. But, they were superior in communicating the culture, advising rising talent, guiding folks through the organizational matrix and helping to share lore inside the corporate walls. They were kept around to help grow the talent around them.

    There are so many excellent talent builders that are getting churned out in the endless re-orgs, RIFs, and resets. I wish there was a role for leaders to step into when they stepped “down” or, as Singer hints at, “grow up”. How do corporations create roles for experienced leaders where they can be valued for supporting and developing the talent? Do those even exist anymore?

    Its happening in some organizations today. An interesting example was at AirBNB where Chip Conley was hired on as a “mentor” and OG in the hospitality business. He was there to build leadership talent, and impart wisdom. Not sure how it worked in practice, but it’s a hopeful case study.

    Meanwhile, there are a ton of folks exploring fractional / interim / contract / project roles. A lot of these leaders have deep wells of experience and wisdom to share. They are dabbling in “coaching” too. However, there isn’t a great pathway for the EE’s to interact with the “rising talent”.

  • Grief in the Workplace

    Grief in the Workplace

    Sometimes a work coffee isn’t just for work. 

    I’ve been spending a lot of time reconnecting with folks over breakfasts, coffees and happy hours, partly to catch up and partly as a semi-structured effort to get clarity about what, if anything, I should be doing with my career. The teams at Good Day Cafe and Hope Breakfast Bar are starting to recognize me and my weird breakfast orders. 

    The career stuff is still cloudy, but I’m loving this limbo-like mode and the conversations that I get to be part of. Most of my meetings are with folks who are either committed to working Indy or are on the client side, looking for a chance to jump. There’s a ton of energy out there, a lot of really smart, high integrity folks aiming to do cool work. Lots of interest in startups, new marketing agencies, leaders moving into consulting and, of course, the AI gold rush. 

    These are, almost without exception, enjoyable and positive meetings1. The vibe is optimistic that great opportunities are right around the corner. We chit chat, catch up, make some connections and generally try to be social. But, we all know why we’re there, ultimately: To help each other find some interesting work and keep our careers moving forward. 

    All of us show up for “work” stuff like coffee meetings with some version of a game face on. After the initial pleasantries, we put on a bit of a front, we code switch to “work mode”. The social part is a welcome side benefit, but most of the time it’s kind of perfunctory. 

    However, once in a while, a little bit of reality peeks through the manners. It seems like the push to be “your authentic self” is working and some of the talk touches on the real stuff, the honest shit that’s really going on. 

    Not surprisingly, when the conversation gets a little deeper, when the discussion turns to “why consulting now” or “what’s motivating you to go indy” I hear leaders articulate a deep sense of conflict between competing pressures: The realities of work vs their “real life”, personal ambitions vs a sense of duty to others. Push/Pull. Not just tension, but anguish.

    More often than not, it’s not just “normal” life stress. Stress gets alleviated. These good people have something that stays with them. 

    It shouldn’t be a surprise (now) that we’re feeling conflicted about the volume and intensity of work. After a horrible pandemic, in the midst of historic cultural and economic change, when politics seep into everything, we still have work. No one is coming to save us. The bills – the actual and metaphorical ones – must be paid. We can’t let up.

    And, the pressure is closer to home, too, for a lot of folks. Everybody’s got something heavy going on in the background, taking up mental and emotional cycles. Men, women. Parents, singles. It’s not a specific demographic, either. Millennials I am talking to are caring for aging or sick parents. Boomers are dealing with partners who are battling something (or they’re dealing with something themselves). X’ers are crushed in the middle: Their kids might be struggling and their parents are aging at the same time. Parents who have passed away, siblings who can’t be helped. It’s all right below the surface. But we still have to work. 

    I’m not an expert on grief (yet), but based on the stories I’m hearing over breakfast and coffee it sure seems like a lot of us are moving through some version of it: A mixture of sadness, mourning (for lost loved ones, for careers that might have been, for what might be passing them by) and fear (of what might happen, of what’s going to happen) and a general sense that something important, something that should be there, is missing. 

    To me grief is the sense of confusion, futility and loss when we don’t have the familiar to hang on to, when we’re knocked off our axis a bit, but we’re expected to move on, move forward, into the future, same as it ever was.

    But, for so many, they know, in ways small and large, obvious and hidden, their lives will never be the same. Something profound, maybe un-nameable, has changed. But the work goes on. 

    Go to a cafe at 10:30 and watch the “work” meetings, and you’ll see good people having animated conversations. You’ll sense the positive buzz, you’ll get a contact high from the energy. But now, after hearing some deeply moving stories, I know a lot of those folks are keeping some very important emotional plates spinning while trying to keep their game face on. 

    Working Through It

    There’s a pattern to these networking meetings. I truly love hearing how folks tell their stories, what they share, what they exclude, where they put emphasis and what they want from me, their audience. It’s a give and take on a couple levels: first the practical, then the personal, and sometimes the real shit. All of it is good. 

    Work is the ultimate coping mechanism. Career discussions are positive, necessary distractions. Plus, momentum on the work front creates psychic distance from the real-world stuff causing the pain. But, it’s always back there, the heaviness of grief, like a weight on a scale, keeping us out of balance. 

    In those moments when the authentic stuff breaks through the semi-formality, we all have a role to play to support each other. We can switch out of “work guy” mode into “human” mode. We can do our part to be a receiver of stories, a listener to testimonies and a giver of full attention. We can’t solve anything for anyone (that’s not the job to be done, anyway), but we can be there, we can be present, ready to be useful when someone needs a just a bit of grace or a small kindness. 

    Work is something we can hold onto while we’re figuring out how to climb out of the grief. Or, at least, try to hold it off. Even if we’re not really talking about “work”, let’s keep talking about work, together. Let’s keep trying to help each other. It’s a small, good way to be useful when everything else feels out of control. 

    1. well, except for one very memorable meeting where the other person clearly had no idea who I was, never looked me up on LinkedIn or anything, didn’t remember why we were meeting, couldn’t remember who suggested we meet. In fairness, the meeting was set up 5 weeks before we actually had the appointment. They still showed up, though! Ended up being a good talk ↩︎

  • Company Creeds?

    Read this post today via Hacker News, about the power (and need) for writing and documentation in distributed orgs. Thoughtful post, and a good reminder for us at work.

    Meanwhile, really curious about Automatic’s company creed. It’s their values, but in the style of a creed. It’s a little over the top for me, a recovering Catholic, but it’s a powerful idea.

    And, happily, it reminded me of the Non-Conformist Oath, too.

  • In Search of A Leadership Capability Stack

    I just completed a project for a client that included a review of their digital marketing capabilities. Our job was to support the leadership team in developing a roadmap to improve a couple key marketing capabilities so they could go from “good” to “great” over the next couple years. It’s work every marketing leader should do.

    As I met with leaders inside the org and as I tapped other folks I know outside the org for input, i realized the classic consultants dilemma: the roadmap is only the map. You might have the best plan in the world, but you need good drivers to reach the destination.

    After we wrapped up the project, I knew the real work would come down to leadership: Decision making, maintaining prioritization, supporting the team, advising “up” and “around” all while delivering the “good manager” behaviors. Luckily, the folks we worked with were skilled, experienced leaders who were committed to their team and building the teams’ skills, first. (It was inspiring to hear them talk about growing the team’s abilities while rebuilding the capabilities). They are pros. They know how to do the job of leading a team inside a complex org.

    But, i think leading the team is only half the battle. They also have to manage themselves.

    I wish our work would have addressed need all leaders have today to build (or rebuild) their own personal leadership skills. Like any leaders of change, they’re going to need the “traditional” competencies a good manager/director/vp needs – Develop a vision, communicate the vision, create strategies, guide the team, build a plan, deliver results, etc – but they’re also going to need to be high performing at some personal leadership (or personal management) skills to maintain effectiveness. How do you fight politics? How do you recognize when someone else’s skills are getting in your way? How do you sustain the energy and effort to make real change happen?

    Every leader today needs to build their own capacity to drive change and sustain their teams, otherwise the org and the work will suck the energy out of them.

    What are the critical personal leadership capabilities a Director or VP needs to have today, to keep moving forward and not get crushed by change? What’s in your “stack” for leading yourself? Are you working on:

    • Staying centered – Intellectually, emotionally, in the present; When change and a dynamic life/work balance try to throw you off. Can you bring yourself back to the moment, in the present, and find “level”?
    • Staying committed – When there are reasons and pressure to change your mind; when politics or social dynamics may create the wrong sort of influence, do you have the ability to stay committed to your vision, to your decisions
    • Staying responsive – Knowing when to change direction, make a fast decision, pursue an emergent opportunity. Sometimes it means changing priorities. Sometimes it means stopping what’s not working
    • Creating Clarity – Having the ability to create a clear picture of the situation, to cut through ambiguity and “could be” or “Should be” to get at “what is”, and then create action. The ability to bring yourself (and possibly your team) back to focus.
    • Executive Functioning – Are you aware of how you make decisions and how you’re processing and acting on information. Are you responding intuitively all the time? Are you pre-processing and over- analyzing all the time? Do you know how your brain is or isn’t helping you over time?
    • Growing – Do you have the ability to add new skills, build new insights into your own abilities, take in feedback and modify what you’re doing to get better at it? Are you actively developing yourself? Making time to practice and review and reflect in an effort to build and grow?

    I’m working on understanding my own “capabilities” stack as a leader/manager/individual. It’s definitely one of those “the more you know the less you know” situations. So, i’m trying to connect with more leaders to see how they are, in effect, managing themselves. I’m not looking for “hacks” or shortcuts, but i am looking for the ways these leaders are building a practice around their own development.

    Ultimately, i wonder if I need my own Capability Maturity Model and my own roadmap, to get me from “current state” to my desired “future state”. Who do i hire to help me with that?

    Beyond these skills, it’s also clear that every leader needs to have, for themselves, some assets to help them in their work. It’s the sort of obvious stuff – A clear vision for themselves, a trusted set of advisors, tools to help them learn and develop their skills, a sense of their own history, an actual plan to grow and develop – but that’s for another post.

  • Groundhog Day, Together On Zoom

    Groundhog Day, Together On Zoom

    Staying Optimistic At Work When Everything is Hard

    We’re now seven months into the slog of this pandemic. Those of us who can work — and can work from home — are probably feeling fortunate that, despite the hassle of zoom and video calls, we’re able to keep the train mostly on the tracks.

    But, I’m sensing that, for a lot of us, the routine is starting to feel a little bit empty. Like the movie Ground Hog day, but without Bill Murray. Maybe our moods are getting a little jagged, and the humor is getting a little dark. And, maybe that future we’re building towards is getting a little cloudier. We’re trying to do good work, meaningfully, to create something better and, if we’re lucky, more useful. This rock won’t push itself up that hill, you know.

    But, it’s getting harder. Trying to do it from the basement or home office is going to get lonely, if it hasn’t already. After a while, it’s all going to feel like most days are our worst days, when work is bullshit and we can’t really see the point of it. (Or, maybe the work really is bullshit, pandemic or not; that’s another post)

    It doesn’t help that the virtual world we’re working in is overcooked and populated by a lot of empty wannabes. Those of us who pretty much live and work online are pepper sprayed with positivity and hustle-secrets by bros hawking their classes and private communities. I read too many click-baity headlines and I get worried for those under-employed journalism kids getting crappy hourly wages to crank them out, seeking just a bit of a career toehold so they can get off their parents’ payroll. There’s too much glossy snark and manufactured “I’m living my truth” first person stuff from stay at home moms and dads who dream of becoming the next Tim Ferriss or Glennon Doyle, the edge cases who actually did it, who jumped off the “real job” grind. I’m avoiding Youtube because it seems like every video is over-dosed with ads featuring some guy pitching me their course that will teach me how to sell my course, so I don’t have to work for the man anymore.

    The relentless hustle and commercialism of this new workplace is toxic and transactional like the old one, just in a different way. It just reinforces the fear among us working alone, at home, that we’re not only in the wrong job, but that we’re not trying hard enough.

    So how do we stay grounded? How do we see the meaning in the work, the satisfaction in the routine?

    On my best days, I remind myself, in the words of the philosopher, that I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.

    Remember how Phil Connors escaped the bleakness of those Feb 2 day-loops? Hint: It wasn’t just waking up next to Andie McDowelI.

    On my good days, I can wake up and see pretty clearly what we’re trying to do at Fahren:

    • There’s a leader out there, trying to make something important happen at their job.

    • It doesn’t matter too much what it is, but they’re probably trying to put some technology to better use.

    • They might be trying to bring something new into the world.

    • They know there’s a better way to work, some techniques they can use to do something smarter. 

    • They want to keep growing and getting better. As workers, as leaders. As humans. They might be using their job to enact some real improvements in how they think, how they act and how they perform.

    • They want help. They’re open to getting some ideas and support from a team that has gone through it before.

    • Maybe they just want to hire an outside firm so they can work with likeminded people, so they don’t get stuck being a lifer in the old way.

    • We can help. We can help that person solve their problem, to learn something new, to get a job done.

    • We can help them make their own transformation, while they are changing the work they do.

    Our chosen work is to help people develop and grow while they accomplish something important using the best, leading edge techniques and tools. That’s not a mission statement, or a slogan. It’s a reminder, a commitment.

    Maybe that’s too optimistic? Perhaps a little naive? Well, that’s the choice I’m making. It’s how I want to view the world we’re working in now and I’ll keep doing it, even after the pandemic is over. I want my business to be successful, but I can’t keep working on it if cash is the only thing that drops to the bottom line.

    We’re all swimming in tech. Technology is the water. But, when we click off zoom and look out the window, we have each other, good and bad, on the other side.

    We work with people. We’re working for them, and in their own way, they’re working through us. 

    I don’t want to be stuck in a loop of emails and Zoom. This choice is my way out.

  • GSD: The Maker’s Schedule for the CEO?

    GSD: The Maker’s Schedule for the CEO?

    We’re a couple years into our “startup” journey with Fahren and, oh man, am I learning a lot about how NOT to manage my schedule. But, I think there might be a better way.

    While I’m proud of what we’ve been able to do in our short time, I’m one of those guys that can’t stop thinking about how to do more and do it better. As the CEO/Founder, it’s my responsibility to make sure we’re on track and driving this whole thing forward. It’s humbling to say it, but “clock management”- my time management skills (or lack thereof) – might be one of the things that is creating drag for us. If we want to accelerate, I have to be better at GSD.

    My whole career has been an attempt to excel in what Paul Graham calls the “manager schedule”. Its been a schedule designed around 1-2 hour meetings, lot’s of variety throughout the day, and, a blend between quick decisions and deep consideration. Successful managers and directors and VPs were the busy ones, stacked up in meeting. A day full of meetings typically indicated more busy-ness and, by the power of the transitive property, more busy-ness meant “success”. In other words, a typical workday in corporate America is mixed bag of start/stop, high and low pressure, inefficiency. In those days, I had to come into work at 5 AM to get my “deep work” done in the quiet hours before the meetings started. It was a weird schedule, but, I was pretty good at that.

    The team at GoKart Labs (RIP) were super talented makers, some of the best, most creative folks I’ve ever worked with. There, I learned the importance of the “Maker” schedule, where the focus was on the deep work that resulted in smart, clever solutions to gnarly problems, whether it was technical, creative or product strategy. I understood (and still do) the problem of context switching, and the lost creative momentum and productivity that happens when you are on the hook to make something great, but your day is broken up into 1 hour meetings. Back then, because I was a manager at the time, that was sort of a theoretical problem. Now the shit is real to me.

    At Fahren, we’re building the business and, as the CEO/Founder, I’m a both a manager and builder, too. I’m a maker of things: Proposals, strategies, concepts, blog posts, etc. I’m supposed to be both a doer while I work “on” the business (i.e. figure out our healthcare plan options, pick some software for X), a doer while I work “in” the business (e.g. work on client engagements) and a maker (of ideas, posts, industry analysis etc). I’ve been trying to do all of it on a “Managers” schedule and it’s not working especially well. I have to make some changes, fast.

    This isn’t an unexplored dilemma. These days, we’re all dealing with it to some extent. But, it’s one thing when your clock management skills get in your own way, and another when your lack of skills is holding back the rest of your team. Managing the balance between the two types of work is, I believe, a critical skill that any “ready” leader needs to hone. So, I’m going to try a couple adjustments.

    • Workshop Mornings – I’m going to pick at least one morning a week to block off as my “workshop” time, where I can focus on doing the deep work: writing, researching, planning, etc.
    • Meet and Greet Blocks – I’m going to block off a couple afternoons a week for the kind of meetings that would otherwise get interspersed throughout my schedule: Intro meetings, interviews, sales calls, regroups, etc.
    • Office Hours – I’m going to leave my schedule open for a 2-3 hours each week for random, drive-by talks. If folks call or want to video conference, these would be the time slots to do it.
    • No Meeting Fridays – I’m going to try (really hard) to not schedule meetings on Fridays if I can help it. If a client wants to meet, I’ll do it, but I won’t schedule it. In general, Fridays’ don’t seem like the most productive days and, at least in the summer, not much gets done after 1 PM anyway.

    I’m going to try this for the 3rd quarter of 2020 and see how it goes. I’ll make adjustments at the end of September. If you’ve cracked the code on this balance, please let me know how you did it. I’m all ears.

  • Kevin Bauer: Learning To Lead When Plans Meet Reality

    Kevin Bauer is, in some ways, a modern marketing unicorn. He’s got deep e-commerce experience, deep data & analytics experience, and general management/P&L experience. Plus, he’s got intrapreneurial experience, starting up new corporate ventures internationally. And now, he’s getting his entrepreneurial merit badge as the founder of Kessel Digital. It’s safe to say he’s been around the block in more countries that most of us.

    Because of the breadth and depth of Kevin’s experience, I was curious about some of his most formative experiences. You know that saying, “No business plan survives first contact with the customer”? Well, Kevin lived it as key part of a team launching a European subsidiary.

    “We were the huge dominant company in the US and so sure all we’re going to do is you know right click copy and paste”. Of course, there were surprises and hurdles and, as you might imagine, things didn’t go exactly according to plan. Most importantly, one of the key consumer behaviors that drove the business in the US didn’t exist in Europe. The team had to start over after trying for months to get established.

    The key leadership lesson: You have to support a team through the various stages of frustration (even when you’re feeling it too!), and support them through the pivots. All without decreasing the level of effort or intensity.

    Pivots are hard in any situation, but especially when the urgency for results is mixed with the real pressures of a business closure if those results aren’t met. Leaders like Kevin have to make a tough ask of their team members who might be battling fear: “I need you to embrace that fear”.

    Kevin’s insight: If you’re the leader, and you’re asking your team to embrace their fear, you have your own special obligation: Radical Transparency. “I had to be radically transparent about the plans, and how we were going to achieve it. And who was going to have to do what and what the risk was. ”

    This sounds pretty straightforward, but there’s a critical piece woven through the commitment to radical transparency. You better have a really good plan. “If you’re radically transparent but you have no plan and if you’re not organized in your communication… Yeah, then it’s…we’re all just running off the cliff.”

    As Kevin and I wrapped our conversation, I was looking at the concept of transparency differently than I had. Transparency is obviously a clarifier. But it’s really the way to be the most respectful to the people you’re working with and to keep the focus on the action plan, not the anxiety your team might be feeling. It’s a key tool to keeping the energy and effort up through the pivots.

  • Craig Pladson: Put Yourself in A Position to Learn

    Craig Pladson is a marketer and leader I’ve been following for years. I met him after he heckled me (in a good natured way!) at a MiMA talk years ago and we’ve been in an ongoing discussion about brands, digital, marketing and business ever since. The conversations spanned times when we worked together, times when I needed advice, and most recently when i was trying to get smarter about what’s coming next for brands.

    He’s on a new adventure now, building his own consulting practice based on his experience at Digital River, Colle McVoy, General Mills, GoKart Labs, and Ovative.

    While we talked at length about brands and what’s going to happen to marketing over the next couple years, I really enjoyed hearing him talk about his growth as a leader. I asked him about the experiences where he learned the most, the ones that created the environment for accelerated development. I was expecting it would have been his first job out of school (as part of the Digital River mafia), but it was his most recent role that generated the most discussion. It became clear that one of the drivers to accepting the role was specifically because it would stretch him, an opportunity to, as he said, “put myself in a position where I was intensely learning. I thrive in that type of environment… it keeps me dusted off and pushes me to take a modern approach in how I solve marketing problems.”

    The role was in a fast-growth, high performing organization staffed by great talent. Smart people moving at digital speed. So, how do you lead a team, keep them moving fast, when you’re learning, too? How does a leader strike the balance between fast and frantic, especially when the leader is learning alongside the team? Craig reminded me that a good leader has to make sure “there’s clarity and a forecasted roadmap of where we’re going and why” but that leader must also support a team that’s learning through the inevitable adjustments and pivots. By getting work into market, the team can watch and adjust based on the results, knowing “feedback will start to direct you in a way that continues to lessen the subjectivity of it. “

    I’m someone that takes pride in my ability to stay curious and open to new ideas, but I was inspired by Craig’s intentional, focused effort to create the hard situations where experience transforms into insight. He made it hard on purpose! I’m generally kind of lazy, but when I consider my own history, I know Craig’s instinct is right: Good stuff inevitably comes out of those “crucible” moments, where pressure, curiosity, opportunity and experience get blended and good ideas come out as a result. If we want to keep open, keep growing, we have to seek out and embrace those hard moments, the ones that test us, but put us in a position to learn.

  • Week X: The Hump Week, Together

    Week X: The Hump Week, Together

    I’m no longer sure of what week we’re in of the “Quarantine Times” era but it feels like we’ve been at this for a looong time. As I’ve been talking with people for work and for life, I’m sensing a rising sense of fatigue inside all the energy that carried us through the first part of this time. It’s not anger, it’s not outright frustration, but it feels like we are (or at least I am) stuck in the mud. Seth Levine is right to call it the Week Six Slump.

    This is going to be a time in our lives when we look back with a strange brew of emotions and questions, but right now, in this particular week, I’m in a funk of sorts. I realize how good my family has got it, relatively speaking and i am aware of the privilege that affords me the opportunity to keep working in these times, from home. Work at Fahren is going better than we expected during quarantine. My sons are holding up really well, despite very significant impacts in their schooling and social lives. My family is safe. There are (probably temporary) signs of a comeback in the stock market. Folks want to get on with it, but I’m feeling, well, blah. Funky, not in a good way. Blue.

    Here’s my plan to get out of it:

    • Connect with new folks – Keep reconnecting with folks that aren’t part of my normal routine. Not just for networking, though. I’ve got enough Linkedin contacts. It’s become clear to me that I get energy when I’m listening and learning from people. If i go into conversations with the goal of deep listening, I find an energy there that i really enjoy. If networking is candy, real conversations are whole foods. I want more whole foods.
    • Create more – I’m starting a little writing project that’s just for me, and I love the work so far. I may launch it eventually, but right now, it’s a hobby that’s helping me get my mornings started well.
    • Morning routine – I’ve recommitted to a regular morning routine. It’s a commitment, but it makes the rest of the day so much better.
    • Slow Down – Time is going so fast, it really feels like its slipping away sometimes. I’ve been trying hard to enjoy the moments of each day, and feel gratitude for the chance to work on hard problems, in the moment. Call it mindfulness, call it being present. But, it helps.
    • Give Back – My little company just wrapped up a small project for a non-profit we love and it was a great, tiny project. They’ve got some cool ambitions, but tight resources. We could help at the right time, with the right skills. We covered the costs of the team that delivered the work for the non-profit, and they were thrilled. It could point them in a bold new direction, and it felt great to be able to help with the oddball set of skills i’ve accumulated over the years.
    • Contemplating – I’ve spent the last 14 years of my career focused on “work like a startup”, go faster, etc. But, i wonder if the best strategy is to actually slow it all down and get great at a few things and build upon that excellence? Are we done with the “first mover”, startup era? I’ve been reading Built to Last and Small Giants and it’s been refreshing.

    I know we’ll all get through this and we’ll get over this hump. But, in the meantime, you might get a call or an email from me asking for a chat or to let me bounce an idea off you.