On 2 MAY 2016, Leicester City won the Premiership of the English Premier league( EPL) 2016. It was most unlikely title triumphs in football history. They had a 5000:1 chance. They had never won an EPL since the earliest recorded games in 1889! That’s in a 127 years.
Here’re some standout things that happened:
1. Buy the best players money can buy. And Leicester’s funding for all the player put together costed less than one player on some other team. In fact the cost of the most used starting XI players was GBP23M while the same for last years winner (Chelsea) was GBP 200M. So they really had to buy the best player for the limited budget. – Talent Acquisition is a big responsibility.
2. Imagine the finish line is beyond where it really is. This helps you over-prepare and finish strong.
3. Unyielding commitment. Winning players visualize the spectacle that they want the spectators to see of them winning-its very powerful. Coach Claudio Ranieri stated. “I told my players: ‘When you go on the pitch and you hear the song ‘Fire’ from Kasabian, that means they want warriors.’ I want to see them as warriors for the fans.”
4. The coach is a forward thinker and multiplier. “I don’t like to speak about what happened..lets focus on tomorrow” when being questioned about an adverse decision.
5. The coach as a multiplier (as opposed to a diminisher) acknowledges that the players are maxed out yet says “we’ll give each other a little more”.
6. Ranieri himself played to his strengths. At 64 he is a father figure and refers to all his players as his own sons. As a leader how does your team perceive your strengths to help them succeed? It’s about what’s in it for them.
7. Holistic wellness is more important then superiority in any one of 6 dimensions. Leicester even had a Thai Monk come bless them, thus boosting their self-confidence and spiritual well-being.
If you study other teams that did not make it to the premiership, the story would not look very different. That’s when you begin to realize that little things matter. Look to do it.
Gurunath Hari is the author of “The 6 Dimensions, Overcome Presenteeism: Excel in work and Life”. He has over 25 years of corporate experience, including leadership and management roles. His working life started at the end of the pre-computer era and continues to the present ‘everything-mobile’ era.
The kindle and hardcopy version of 6 Dimensions book is now available at Amazon!!
(Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author’s own)
The Singapore National Library recently invited me to deliver a talk on the subject with relatively short notice. It was a great privilege to deliver this talk at the Central Public library here in Singapore. A greater privilege to be speaking to an audience of professionals taken from a wide range of domains and industry from academia to real estate to IT management and sales. I am both grateful and deeply honored by their attendance.
In an earlier post there was a quote from Gallup stating ‘Mere transactions between managers and employees are not enough to maximize engagement. Employees value communication from their manager not just about their roles and responsibilities but also about what happens in their lives outside of work. The Gallup study reveals that employees who feel as though their manager is invested in them as people are more likely to be engaged.
My answer as a people manager and a managed employee is – most managers don’t have the social skills, training or tools to do justice to this important communication opportunity. i.e. curiosity about what you do outside of work. All the more reason i applaud the folks which by the way included a bright young student studying to be a radiographer and her professionally engaged parents. One of the reasons i agreed to speak at this venue was to because it was Friday evening and i could get people to attend it right after work with no incentives to attend besides a genuine curiosity. Below are a sample of the feedback and Learnings some of them got. The two numbers in the end are ‘Overall score’ and ‘How likely are you to recommend’
I learnt from this seminar to balance life in 6 dimension. . Its utmost important. 10 10
The ways to overcome prevent adversity. It is within our control. Constant Reframe 8 8
It has widened our hoizon and the scientific way of measuring ourselves 9 9
More structured way to address each of the 6 dimensons . May not be known to me 9 10
I’ve learnt what are the 6 dimensions in life that can affect and influence me. Throught this I managed to realize where my areas of strengths and weaness lies, and I believe this will help me improve my life greatly 9 9
Giving us a clarity on the breakdown of the dimensions and allow us to measure 9 10
Entire concept and exercises were very valuable 10 10
Knowing what are my strengths and weakness 8 8
INTERESTING APPROACH- emphasises holistic wellness. Made me realize that in the long term should look at all dimensions always 10 9
Understand adversity. Well prepared presentation
Hence i am both grateful and deeply honored by their attendance.
Message me if you’d like to run a workshop for you and your staff on this topic in your organization.
Best wishes in your pursuit towards resilience and happy engagement at work and play!
Gurunath Hari is the author of “The 6 Dimensions, Overcome Presenteeism: Excel in work and Life”. He has over 25 years of corporate experience, including leadership and management roles. His working life started at the end of the pre-computer era and continues to the present ‘everything-mobile’ era.
I hope you are enjoying a great day! As many of you know I worked very hard to publish my book, and launched it through Amazon as a Kindle product as well. I appreciate all the help and support you have all shown me along this journey.
I have just one more goal I would ask you to help me achieve…A Bestseller’s Distinction!
My book went on sale 20 July, 2016. Please take a minute out of your day, and for the price of a coffee, pick up the Kindle version of my book “The 6 Dimensions: Overcome Presenteeism: Excel In Work And Life – Powerful New Ways To Know What’s Stopping You And Do What It Takes To Get Ahead” by clicking any one of these 5 countries’ Amazon links that’s most convenient to you for an instant download.
US : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SCRMWCC
UK : http://tinyurl.com/T6DUK
Japan : http://tinyurl.com/T6DJP
India : http://tinyurl.com/T6DIN
Canada : http://tiny.cc/T6D
With a little help from you I hope to make the bestsellers list.
I appreciate your help and support, and want to thank you sincerely from the bottom of my heart!
Warmest regards,
Gurunath Hari
Review
“This book very effectively uses presenteeism as a springboard to confront corporate wellness in a sophisticated yet practical manner” Gary Johns (PhD, Wayne State) Professor, Department of Management, Concordia UniversityResearch Chair in ManagementAuthor of Presenteeism in the Workplace: A Review and Research
“Presenteeism is even a more costly problem for business than absenteeism, and this book helps to understand what an individual can do to overcome it and get better work-life balance” Prof. Sir Cary L. Cooper, CBE Distinguished Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health Manchster University Management School, England, and Co author of Wellbeing: Productivity and Happiness at Work.
“Hari offers a practical and meaningful solution that is applicable to everyone in today’s challenging workplace. By addressing the growing problem of Presenteeism, companies can use Hari’s insights to make a positive change and gain the benefits of fully engaged employees”. John R. Myers, President and CEO of the TRACOM Groupco-author of SOCIAL STYLE:The Ah Ha’s of Effective Relationships
Prof. Sir Cary Cooper invented the word Presenteeism more than a decade ago. It’s a word that few had heard. That was, until Hillary Clinton made it famous a couple weeks ago. But for researchers and authors on the topic, Presenteeism has been well known. They look at it as a serious and significant opportunity for organizations to boost performance and productivity. One of the corporate world’s biggest strategic omissions. This was not the new shiny object that entices and makes organizations vie with each other to adopt. But all that may change very soon as CEOs begin to wonder, ‘Could this be happening in my company?’
So read on if you have become more aware of the need to know how you can benefit from addressing presenteeism. Presenteeism is defined as the phenomenon of people who are unwell going to the workplace. Researchers look at tackling presenteeism as a serious and significant opportunity for organizations to boost performance and productivity, in ways that are fundamental to the ‘human’ in the human resource.
That approach is not to send the unwell employee home, or asking the unwell employee to take leave. The approach is a lot more strategic. Its about proactively assessing and actively managing the 11underlying barriers that could make an employee ‘unwell’. Researchers in Rhode Island came out with a study titled, Well-Being Assessment for Productivity A Well-Being Approach to Presenteeism in July 2011 wherein these 11 factors are called out. See the pix below taken from the study:
(Reproduced with permission from the publisher)
The study indicates that the current approach of focusing on physical health alone is flawed and only address 1 i.e. Health, out of 11 factors that can cause an employee to become a presentee. Hillary Clinton’s pneumonia must have been attracted from the environment. Preceding her pneumonia were damaging media coverage and her opponent openly calling out her health as weak. Neurologically this does not go un-noticed and would have resulted in higher cortisol levels thus lowering the capabilities of her immune system. Adding on to this may be financial i.e. generating adequate funds for her fund-guzzling campaign and the sheer physical strain of running the campaign trail. So we just called out 4 dimensions of wellness that are under strain. i.e. Mental, Environmental, physical, financial out of 6. The other two being Social and Spiritual. (Ref: The 6 Dimensions, Overcome Presenteeism: Excel in work and life, Black Card Books, 1st edition). Companies that have somehow partially figured a way to help employees manage some or all of these 11 factors land up being called out as the best places to work.
There is now a more robust and implementable strategy to tackle Presenteeism. No its not to convert it to absenteeism. That’s a rather dumb approach. Peakism is a brand new approach to an age old problem that has been begging a solution for several decades. http://www.hrmasia.com/content/exclusive-presenteeism-peakism
The article details the entire implementation approach. If you’d like to know more on how to make a start for your organization reach out to me for a free consultation.
Gurunath Hari is the author of Amazon International Best seller “The 6 Dimensions, Overcome Presenteeism: Excel in work and Life”. He has over 25 years of corporate experience, including leadership and management roles. His working life started at the end of the pre-computer era and continues to the present ‘everything-mobile’ era.
The kindle and hardcopy version of 6 Dimensions book is available at Amazon.
What breaks the camel’s back almost always is when a dilemma is converted to a problem and ‘solved’. This and the fact that there exists of a myriad of dilemmatic constructs within corporate philosophy and culture in every organization, makes for a disaster waiting to happen.
It happened in Wells Fargo recently. On first pass everything about corporate strategy, values, mission and vision looks fine and in place. Then you get this:
Wells Fargo, will be the poster child of what is actually happening in some shade or form, in almost every tech and banking and sales driven organization today i.e. not everyone in leadership in the organization are aware or adept at recognizing, calling out and managing these dilemmas daily. If you think about that for a second, you’ll know its scary. On the other hand, reading a situation as a dilemma and not a problem – and managing it as such- is the one sure way to get ‘out of the box’ and start thinking.
The purpose of this post is 2 fold.
1. To remind the esteemed users of Linkedin about recognizing dilemmas. (You guys are smart and you can go and do your learning on what a dilemma is. Please don’t guess)
2. Attempt to pinpoint a couple of ‘seat belts’ that were not worn – for whatever emotional reasons or otherwise, that the referenced article alludes to.
Even seasoned CEO’s like John Stumpf could be blind-sided or lead to believe that the tactics are right. The dilemma for Wells Fargo’s CEO would have been:
“How do we expand revenue and profit while adhering to our ethical values”.
Here is the 3-point corporate strategy of Wells Fargo that will help drive business results- The WHAT:
Deepen relationships and attract new customers
Seamlessly serve our customers – anywhere, any time
Consistently earn customer trust through sound risk management
Looks alright. There’s more print in there ofcourse. Things start getting dilemmatic as we go deeper. Here are the 6 points of Priorities:
Putting customers first: We want to be the first provider our customers think of when they need their next financial product. Warning: Please wear your Seat belt when you drive this. How about if it was re-phrased, “Create the experience for our customers to want us first when they need their financial product”. — This will force the question, ‘How do we do that’ and…that’s where innovative thinking begins.
Growing revenue: Wells Fargo is a growth company that believes the key to the bottom line is the top line. Thank you. This is basic finance 1 o 1. Warning: Please wear your Seat belt when you drive this.
Managing expenses: When we find wise ways to reduce our expenses, we free up funds to benefit our customers, invest in the future, and reward our shareholders. It gets interesting with the next: Here was THE seat belt:
Living our vision and values: Every day when we come to work, we have the opportunity to bring our vision and values to life. ” . . There’s an old saying: Actions speak louder than words. We need to show people what we believe. They need to see our vision and values come alive in everyday actions, not just in posters on the wall. Our customers need to see us doing the right thing and helping them succeed financially. Our team members need to see us respecting, honoring, caring for, and appreciating one another. Our communities need to see us taking part and investing in projects that are important to them. That’s how we truly bring our vision and values to life.” “Our reputation extends from our character, not the other way around. . . . If it’s the right thing to do, it will be good for our reputation”. How true, and….you did..?
Connecting with communities and stakeholders: “……And our financial performance has been recognized by individual and institutional investors alike, who through their investments have made Wells Fargo one of the most valuable banks in the U.S. and the world”. Here’s a dilemma. Does this sentence belong here?
Managing risk ;”We understand that to continue our success and meet the heightened expectations of our key stakeholders, we must excel in all types of risk management, including credit, market, liquidity, operational, information security, compliance, model, and reputational risk”. Whose. . . (and perhaps in retrospect should it be called: Managing dilemmas)
Oh! yeah. All this is great. Good to know. And how exactly is this supposed to help when you are loading me with ‘Eight is Great’?.
Here are Wells’ five primary values that are based on their vision which is “We want to satisfy our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially.”
People as a competitive advantage
Ethics: . . .”We have to earn that trust every day by behaving ethically; rewarding open, honest, two-way communication; and holding ourselves accountable for the decisions we make and the actions we take”.
What’s right for customers ( Eight is Great. “The analytics called these out. For over 2 million unauthorized customers” they might say. There’s more in the referenced article. Our interest is in the learnings)
Diversity and inclusion and,
Leadership
So what’s the remedy:
Ask yourself:
Can we achieve this
Can I and every employee, list our company’s values by heart
Do I and every employee understand how these values help or hinder each one of us to achieve this.
If there are values that are likely to hinder us, “How many of my company’s values will I need to break to achieve this”.
If your mind starts throwing out ideas of the values that you see yourself needing to break, Don’t balk, call it out! Call for a brainstorming session immediately! and make it happen. More the values that are likely to be compromised the more the significance of your brainstorming results are likely to be — in protecting you, and the company.
If your mind starts throwing out ideas of the values that you see yourself needing to break, Don’t balk, call it out! Call for a brainstorming session immediately! and make it happen. More the values that are likely to be compromised the more the significance of your brainstorming results are likely to be — in protecting you, and the company.
In summary:
The pressure to perform from CEO downwards is immense.
Getting financial results at any cost is an insidious risk.
Even tho companies have well-written vision, values, priorities and strategy, its not worth the paper its written on unless it is learned and practised.
There will always be dilemmas between improving financial performance and adhering to values. See these as great opportunities for innovative thinking!
Doing the above would cost you a fraction of : what is costs to open 2 million unauthorized accounts, fire 5,300 low level employees and pay $185 million in fees along with loss of trust with the public and shareholders.
If this made sense to you, reach out to someone you trust to vet your corporate culture implementation.
Gurunath Hari is the author of Amazon International Best seller “The 6 Dimensions, Overcome Presenteeism: Excel in work and Life”. He has over 25 years of corporate experience, including leadership and management roles. His working life started at the end of the pre-computer era and continues to the present ‘everything-mobile’ era.
The kindle and hardcopy version of 6 Dimensions book is available at Amazon.
In corporate America sacking 54 poor performers would hardly make the news, but this is Singapore.
Barely two weeks into the new year, Surbana Jurong- a Temasek Holdings-owned infrastructure consultancy, let go 54 employees over a period of 2 weeks. Of the 54, 26 were professionals, with nine in senior positions, including managers, senior executive architects, principal architects and principal engineers. So it does look brutal. The press got to know of this. Given the uncertain economic outlook and a lacklustre labour market the company clarified that these were not retrenchments but they had been let go purely for performance reasons.
All hell breaks lose
The matter got onto the radar of Singapore’s Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say. Speaking in Parliament on Tuesday (February 7), he said, “I spent many years with the labour movement and now MOM. To the best of my recollection, this is the first time an employer has conducted such a major termination exercise and announced publicly it was due to the workers’ poor performance,”. If the organisation cannot substantiate claims that the affected worker’s performance is below the required level, the employer may be ordered to reinstate the worker or offer compensation. How could Surbana have avoided this?
A reconstruction of events
What lead Surbana to this situation?
First, Group chairman Liew Mun Leong reportedly speaks ‘vehemently’ about poor company performance, which will drastically affect the bonuses of those business units that operated below par last year, despite efforts to grow the projects pipeline.
Then, Surbana Jurong group chief executive Wong Heang Fine sends staff a strongly-worded e-mail. With extracts reportedly stating: “. . .More importantly, for those of us who want to do great things, why should our rewards be affected by a small group of colleagues who don’t care about how their poor performance affects our performance negatively?“. Another excerpt from the message read “How can we be the best in class and build a great organisation when employees are not concerned with how they are performing relative to their peers?”
Then came the axe.
“The only reason people do not know much is because they do not care to know. They are incurious. Incuriousity is the oddest and most foolish failing there is.” — Stephen Fry
Now if we were to pause and ask, What if Mr. Wong could have read and acted on this article. There’s a lot of pressure and people managers tend to focus on what’s most near and pressing. This can result in frustration and a loss of purpose among employees. The concept of “peakism” provides a rallying point for organisational leaders to recalibrate how they should nurture performance.
Why is Peakism important to avoid another repeat
CEO Wong is portrayed as a Peak performer. More here. “I have gone up the mountains, and have descended into the depths of the earth. I have flown in a helicopter without doors to film marketing videos. I have worked for both men and women, in the public and private sectors. At each place, I learnt to adapt to different environments. I find pleasure in doing different things and doing the same things differently,” Mr Wong Heang Fine is reported to have stated. Clearly there are several high performing CEO’s like Mr. Wong out there. The problem is there is a massive blind spot gradient in motivation and productivity, coined as motivity gradient in the space between the CEO down to the employee in the trenches. This is similar to the social gradient of health which refers to the fact that inequalities in population health status are related to inequalities in social status. CEOs need to acknowledge this and address it. Old surrogate methods to find this, do not work.
A group of social scientists have provided a validated understanding and acknowledgement of personal and workplace related barriers that could create insidious poor performers also called Presentees. Good news is there is a well tested way to move good performers to greater ones and poor performers to good in a matter of days. The complete methodology to achieve this was published in HRM magazine 15/12. Referenced here for your convenience. If you need help to implement a pilot in your company please feel welcome to reach out to me.
Gurunath Hari is the author of “The 6 Dimensions, Overcome Presenteeism: Excel in work and Life”. He has over 25 years of corporate experience, including executive coaching, leadership and management roles. He is a Peakism principal Pursuer.
The kindle and hardcopy version of 6 Dimensions book is now an Amazon International Bestseller.
(Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author’s own)
