In my firm we find certain issues occurring over and over again with clients. Our role allows us to be perhaps a little more objective and to see unhelpful patterns that hold companies back.
One of these recurring themes is something we come across regularly with businesses in the not-for-profit sector and in the socially and environmentally responsible business sectors. This does not apply to all our clients in these sectors but I hope that by highlighting some of these matters, at least some of them will be familiar to people and help them to deal with them.
Popular myths in these sectors include “you have to be a b.....d to get on in business” and “money is dirty”. If your business or organisation feels constrained in fulfilling its potential due to a shortage of money, you might want to look at what myths your team may have unwittingly and subconsciously bought into.
Money is energy, a bi-product of creating something of value. It is neither good nor bad. What people do with it can be either good or bad. In a world that generally runs on the fuel of money, it is hard to make a difference unless you have money to enable you to do so.
It is beyond the scope of this article to go into all the why’s and wherefore’s of these cultural attitudes but there is no doubt for those who believe in these myths, there is plenty of evidence to prove they are right. The problem is that there is an equal amount of evidence that business can be one of the most powerful forces for making a difference and money is the automatic bi-product of a well-managed business producing something truly of value to society.
With this in mind, as a prelude taking action to circumvent these unhelpful, limiting beliefs, a useful exercise is to have your team brainstorm the things that they have heard said about money and business since they were children. There will be a surprising number of recurring themes within these myths. Analysing each one, not looking to prove them right or wrong but seeing where there are examples of them not being the case, you start to get a sense of the cultural bias, particularly in these sectors.
The simple truth is that these self-limiting beliefs are preventing a great deal of good work getting done that could make a huge difference. As lawyers, we see them not only impact the ability to finance excellent projects but also the effectiveness of relationships internally and externally. For example, if the culture is subconsciously that money is bad, how effectively do think you will negotiate with organisations that you want to provide services to? How much do you think you might be constrained in those negotiations fear of “looking bad” if you focus on financial issues? How much of a difference will you make if you do not take these issues on?
I will close with a simple truth: many organisations fold because they are not able to take on these issues - “the path to hell …..” and all that! Call it enlightened self interest if you like, but I have a commitment to turning this around and having organisations be effective.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Making Money in the Age of Aquarius
Trend prediction is always an interesting past-time and one that often results in the trend becoming reality, simply because people believe in it. In the 21st Century, the so-called Age of Aquarius, there is a strong trend towards socially and environmentally friendly business. It does not matter whether we come to the concept as aging hippies or as business people with an enlightened self interest, the trend itself seems undeniable.
This trend shows up in many guises: in “green” products, environmentally friendly industrial processes, corporate social responsibility (CSR), sustainable business (sustainable on many levels) and so on.
Part of the trend involves customers voting with their fee, the power of the internet in spreading official and unofficial news about the activities of corporations being such that a wrong decision can catch a company on the back foot and dramatically reduce its share value overnight.
Increasing consumer demand for fair trade products and organic foods and eco-friendly materials, although still relatively small, shows an insatiable desire and growing demand for businesses to step beyond PR and demonstrate commitment to so-called enlightened approaches.
It seems that in the 21st Century, acceptable models of business involve some sort of responsibility for society and the environment. Even for the most cynical amongst us, we have to accept that the best commercial interests of an organisation are represented by adopting new approaches to business.
Ethical investment and lending institutions such as Triodos Bank and The Co-operative Bank favour such businesses and indeed will only invest in certain types of business consistent with their declared values.
Law firms are having to come into line, offering services that support companies’ effort to take on these fresh approaches. These services range from contract reviews (to make sure that they “walk the talk” in all their dealings) through to corporate governance advice (to make sure that in key corporate decision making the company is on track to benefit from this trend).
The more sophisticated adoption of CSR and other related approaches can involve a thorough re-appraisal of a corporation’s entire approach to the way it conducts business and negotiations, having regard to the impact of saying on the one hand that they are “socially responsible” and then finding that perhaps in some dealings they are less than fair to some business partners. Lawyers advising in this area are faced with the challenge of having to stand back from pure legal advice and help corporations assess the impact of their approaches, seeing whether existing strategies are fair or whether they are imbalanced, tending to create relationships that do not work.
Accountants, too, have to adapt more flexible approaches to improving their bottom line, not simply by pushing for ever-increasingly low supply costs and reduced overheads. We are seeing a trend towards improved profitability in what would have been previously considered unlikely circumstances, where being fairer on prices and being committed to their approach produces customer loyalty that enhances the bottom line.
This trend shows up in many guises: in “green” products, environmentally friendly industrial processes, corporate social responsibility (CSR), sustainable business (sustainable on many levels) and so on.
Part of the trend involves customers voting with their fee, the power of the internet in spreading official and unofficial news about the activities of corporations being such that a wrong decision can catch a company on the back foot and dramatically reduce its share value overnight.
Increasing consumer demand for fair trade products and organic foods and eco-friendly materials, although still relatively small, shows an insatiable desire and growing demand for businesses to step beyond PR and demonstrate commitment to so-called enlightened approaches.
It seems that in the 21st Century, acceptable models of business involve some sort of responsibility for society and the environment. Even for the most cynical amongst us, we have to accept that the best commercial interests of an organisation are represented by adopting new approaches to business.
Ethical investment and lending institutions such as Triodos Bank and The Co-operative Bank favour such businesses and indeed will only invest in certain types of business consistent with their declared values.
Law firms are having to come into line, offering services that support companies’ effort to take on these fresh approaches. These services range from contract reviews (to make sure that they “walk the talk” in all their dealings) through to corporate governance advice (to make sure that in key corporate decision making the company is on track to benefit from this trend).
The more sophisticated adoption of CSR and other related approaches can involve a thorough re-appraisal of a corporation’s entire approach to the way it conducts business and negotiations, having regard to the impact of saying on the one hand that they are “socially responsible” and then finding that perhaps in some dealings they are less than fair to some business partners. Lawyers advising in this area are faced with the challenge of having to stand back from pure legal advice and help corporations assess the impact of their approaches, seeing whether existing strategies are fair or whether they are imbalanced, tending to create relationships that do not work.
Accountants, too, have to adapt more flexible approaches to improving their bottom line, not simply by pushing for ever-increasingly low supply costs and reduced overheads. We are seeing a trend towards improved profitability in what would have been previously considered unlikely circumstances, where being fairer on prices and being committed to their approach produces customer loyalty that enhances the bottom line.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
You Can Fool Some of the People Some of the Time …
“Walking the talk” is a widely used expression and important concept for personal and business integrity. Only to the extent that we “walk the talk” are we perceived, either as individuals or as companies/brands, to have integrity and to command respect.
One of the dilemmas faced by organisations that seek to raise standards and awareness is as to whether to enforce standards and face the significant cost of “policing” those standards or otherwise to leave it to natural forces.
The trend on the internet is to take the latter route. Websites such as eBay and Amazon have rating systems that allow people to rate suppliers and, in the case of eBay, even buyers. Whilst theoretically risky in terms of claims for defamation, these systems work surprisingly well.
We believe that the same thing can be applied to setting standards in other areas. We believe that people are far more savvy than we give ourselves credit for: people often intuitively know when they are being misled. You can fool some of the people some of the time but not all the people all of the time.
They key to this is transparency. In the sector of socially and environmentally friendly business, there are many businesses that profess to be “green” and there are many other businesses that do not say they are green or even allude to their “green activities” for fear of people picking up on the shortcomings. However, being open and transparent about what you are doing, acknowledging your achievements and at the same time acknowledging the shortcomings, perhaps having a private place to fill the gap over time, is far more effective than keeping quiet. The more people who acknowledge the small contribution they make (but do not overstate it), the more people are inspired to take action as the movement gains momentum.
Part of the problem behind the perceived need to keep quiet is a fear of being judged. Highlighting peoples’ shortcomings rather than their achievements serves as a disincentive and tends to extinguish the small sparks of the awakening process.
So why is a lawyer writing about this subject? Because I advocate being consistent in all dealings, having integrity by “walking the talk” being open about positive progress as whilst openly acknowledging the further work to be done.
Openly owning the aspirations and values and incorporating them into all legal relationships (internally and externally) allows the business to exude integrity whilst it develops itself. This spurs loyal support from customers, suppliers and employees. How valuable would that be to your business?
One of the dilemmas faced by organisations that seek to raise standards and awareness is as to whether to enforce standards and face the significant cost of “policing” those standards or otherwise to leave it to natural forces.
The trend on the internet is to take the latter route. Websites such as eBay and Amazon have rating systems that allow people to rate suppliers and, in the case of eBay, even buyers. Whilst theoretically risky in terms of claims for defamation, these systems work surprisingly well.
We believe that the same thing can be applied to setting standards in other areas. We believe that people are far more savvy than we give ourselves credit for: people often intuitively know when they are being misled. You can fool some of the people some of the time but not all the people all of the time.
They key to this is transparency. In the sector of socially and environmentally friendly business, there are many businesses that profess to be “green” and there are many other businesses that do not say they are green or even allude to their “green activities” for fear of people picking up on the shortcomings. However, being open and transparent about what you are doing, acknowledging your achievements and at the same time acknowledging the shortcomings, perhaps having a private place to fill the gap over time, is far more effective than keeping quiet. The more people who acknowledge the small contribution they make (but do not overstate it), the more people are inspired to take action as the movement gains momentum.
Part of the problem behind the perceived need to keep quiet is a fear of being judged. Highlighting peoples’ shortcomings rather than their achievements serves as a disincentive and tends to extinguish the small sparks of the awakening process.
So why is a lawyer writing about this subject? Because I advocate being consistent in all dealings, having integrity by “walking the talk” being open about positive progress as whilst openly acknowledging the further work to be done.
Openly owning the aspirations and values and incorporating them into all legal relationships (internally and externally) allows the business to exude integrity whilst it develops itself. This spurs loyal support from customers, suppliers and employees. How valuable would that be to your business?
Going The Extra Mile
I want to share with you a recent experience which, although with a client but with a contact, could have easily have been with one of our clients.
I met with a young lady who I will call “Sue”. We met to discuss how she could support Lawyers for Change. In doing so she told me that she did workshops about “peace”. At this stage she was attempting to set up her own business but was not clear about it. We took time out to discuss that and my first comment to her was that “peace” was not a product but a by-product of how people behave in the same way that money is a by-product of giving something of value.
Indeed, we explored the subject of providing something of value and it was obvious to her then that “peace” could not be a product as it had no value as a service and yet was obviously inspiring for her.
Through this discussion, Sue began to see that in fact what she was providing was training; training that would help people build up a picture of their vision, of their ideal world if you like. It is a world that would be personal to each of her training participants but the probable outcome is a world in which everyone is fulfilled and in which there would be greater peace, hence it being a “by-product”.
Sue left our meeting not only having seen how she could benefit from and contribute to Lawyers for Change but also having a sense of her new found business which would also bring greater fun and fulfilment in work whilst also reducing stress levels. This is an example of the often unusual conversations we have with clients and contacts alike. Its what we believe is truly an alternative approach to legal services - adding value.
I met with a young lady who I will call “Sue”. We met to discuss how she could support Lawyers for Change. In doing so she told me that she did workshops about “peace”. At this stage she was attempting to set up her own business but was not clear about it. We took time out to discuss that and my first comment to her was that “peace” was not a product but a by-product of how people behave in the same way that money is a by-product of giving something of value.
Indeed, we explored the subject of providing something of value and it was obvious to her then that “peace” could not be a product as it had no value as a service and yet was obviously inspiring for her.
Through this discussion, Sue began to see that in fact what she was providing was training; training that would help people build up a picture of their vision, of their ideal world if you like. It is a world that would be personal to each of her training participants but the probable outcome is a world in which everyone is fulfilled and in which there would be greater peace, hence it being a “by-product”.
Sue left our meeting not only having seen how she could benefit from and contribute to Lawyers for Change but also having a sense of her new found business which would also bring greater fun and fulfilment in work whilst also reducing stress levels. This is an example of the often unusual conversations we have with clients and contacts alike. Its what we believe is truly an alternative approach to legal services - adding value.
Business Revolution or Evolution?
There is a business movement that is gaining momentum all the time, a movement that embraces profit in a socially, economically and environmentally responsible context. That values-driven businesses out-perform their competitors by up to 750% (Harvard Business School research) is testament to the value of getting clarity on the purpose, principles and values that belie an organisation.
The work of visionaries like Neil Crofts (Authentic Business – www.authenticbusiness.co.uk) has done much to take forward the concepts of “authentic business”, “purpose-driven” and “values-driven” business. Innocent, Neal’s Yard Remedies and Yeo Valley Farm are examples of the phenomenal success that can be achieved by taking on this approach.
Old business hands will be familiar with “mission statements” and the often shallow impact they have had on businesses in the past. These are not the same as businesses that are purpose – and values-driven: being purpose and values driven requires reassessment of every aspect of an organisation in order to ensure that it is consistent with the purpose and values. It is that that radiates out and shines, inspiring the customer base and producing outstanding results.
Once the purpose and values have been identified, assessing an organisation’s position in relation to all its stakeholders, not just its shareholders, is an essential step. This involves looking at the nature of the relationship with everyone having an interest in the business, from the shareholders to the employees, from suppliers to customers, from founders to the public at large.
In assessing existing relationships (as well as new ones), the organisation has to look at whether it “walks the talk” in everything it says and does. This includes the shareholders agreements, joint venture agreements, employment contracts, terms and conditions of business and any other representation of the relationship between the organisation and its stakeholders. The challenge is then to re-create those documents that are inconsistent and to do so in a manner that reflects the purpose and values of the organisation.
Making the commitment to the purpose and values instantly highlights the shortfall in ones relationships from the ideal and allows one to start the process of “walking the talk”. This takes place over time and it should be properly considered and not rushed into. However, once it has been done, the organisation experiences a boost in morale and clarity of focus.
The work of visionaries like Neil Crofts (Authentic Business – www.authenticbusiness.co.uk) has done much to take forward the concepts of “authentic business”, “purpose-driven” and “values-driven” business. Innocent, Neal’s Yard Remedies and Yeo Valley Farm are examples of the phenomenal success that can be achieved by taking on this approach.
Old business hands will be familiar with “mission statements” and the often shallow impact they have had on businesses in the past. These are not the same as businesses that are purpose – and values-driven: being purpose and values driven requires reassessment of every aspect of an organisation in order to ensure that it is consistent with the purpose and values. It is that that radiates out and shines, inspiring the customer base and producing outstanding results.
Once the purpose and values have been identified, assessing an organisation’s position in relation to all its stakeholders, not just its shareholders, is an essential step. This involves looking at the nature of the relationship with everyone having an interest in the business, from the shareholders to the employees, from suppliers to customers, from founders to the public at large.
In assessing existing relationships (as well as new ones), the organisation has to look at whether it “walks the talk” in everything it says and does. This includes the shareholders agreements, joint venture agreements, employment contracts, terms and conditions of business and any other representation of the relationship between the organisation and its stakeholders. The challenge is then to re-create those documents that are inconsistent and to do so in a manner that reflects the purpose and values of the organisation.
Making the commitment to the purpose and values instantly highlights the shortfall in ones relationships from the ideal and allows one to start the process of “walking the talk”. This takes place over time and it should be properly considered and not rushed into. However, once it has been done, the organisation experiences a boost in morale and clarity of focus.
Terms and Conditions – Just a Conversation?
In business, terms and conditions represent the ‘glue’ in the relationship. They are a communication between a business and its customer/client. Why is it then that so many terms and conditions sound stuffy and cold, particularly for service businesses? How would it be if your terms of business were user friendly, like a conversation with your customer? Do you think it would enhance the relationship to have a communication that sounds like it is coming from you?
Such an approach may not suit every business, but for most it works: you might start with an attempt to write down an imagined conversation with a customer in which you explain your terms and conditions provided they are needed. If you do not have up to date terms of business, you might want to take the opportunity of updating them but otherwise you can use your existing terms as the basis for the new “conversation” and then all you would need to do is have the existing terms checked against the new version you have written to see that they cover everything legally and do not expose you to unreasonable risks and that they are user friendly.
To help you do this for yourself and to illustrate what we are talking about, we have a number of sample paragraphs below. Please feel free to use them as you wish. The key is to create user friendly contracts in all your busines relationships.
Sample “conversation” clauses.
“We are really proud of our service and we want to make sure that you are really happy with it too. Our terms are designed to be fair to both of us and disagree, please feel free to make comments on them.”
“In the unlikely event of problems between us, our liability to you is going to be limited to £X because that is the maximum amount to which we are insured for each claim. If this does not meet your needs, please raise this with us as we may be able to arrange special insurance for you at cost.”
“Your privacy is important to us. We take trouble to keep your personal information safe and secure and only accessible to those members of our team who need to have access to it. We keep your personal information for up to six years after which it will be deleted.”
“The aim of our service is to give greater efficiency to your business and to help you make more money. In doing that we believe it is important that we are straight with each other in all communications, open, honest and transparent. We promise to be this way and ask that you do the same with us. Please raise any concerns you have with us so that any problems can be dealt with early on.”
“We are committed to having a good working relationship with you at all times. In order to do that, it is important that we both follow the terms that we agree between us and we agree any alterations to it. If at any time either one of us is not happy with what the other one is doing, we will let each other know as soon as possible. We will specify what is not working and ask the other person to deal with it. If there is anything material that is either not capable of being made good or is not made good after [30 days] then either one of us can end the contract giving each other notice in writing.”
Contrast this with “either party may terminate this agreement either immediately in the case of a breach of contract which is not capable of being remedied or otherwise at any time after [30 days] upon receipt of notice of breach specifying the breach complained of unless such breach has been remedied to the reasonable satisfaction of the complaining party.
Such an approach may not suit every business, but for most it works: you might start with an attempt to write down an imagined conversation with a customer in which you explain your terms and conditions provided they are needed. If you do not have up to date terms of business, you might want to take the opportunity of updating them but otherwise you can use your existing terms as the basis for the new “conversation” and then all you would need to do is have the existing terms checked against the new version you have written to see that they cover everything legally and do not expose you to unreasonable risks and that they are user friendly.
To help you do this for yourself and to illustrate what we are talking about, we have a number of sample paragraphs below. Please feel free to use them as you wish. The key is to create user friendly contracts in all your busines relationships.
Sample “conversation” clauses.
“We are really proud of our service and we want to make sure that you are really happy with it too. Our terms are designed to be fair to both of us and disagree, please feel free to make comments on them.”
“In the unlikely event of problems between us, our liability to you is going to be limited to £X because that is the maximum amount to which we are insured for each claim. If this does not meet your needs, please raise this with us as we may be able to arrange special insurance for you at cost.”
“Your privacy is important to us. We take trouble to keep your personal information safe and secure and only accessible to those members of our team who need to have access to it. We keep your personal information for up to six years after which it will be deleted.”
“The aim of our service is to give greater efficiency to your business and to help you make more money. In doing that we believe it is important that we are straight with each other in all communications, open, honest and transparent. We promise to be this way and ask that you do the same with us. Please raise any concerns you have with us so that any problems can be dealt with early on.”
“We are committed to having a good working relationship with you at all times. In order to do that, it is important that we both follow the terms that we agree between us and we agree any alterations to it. If at any time either one of us is not happy with what the other one is doing, we will let each other know as soon as possible. We will specify what is not working and ask the other person to deal with it. If there is anything material that is either not capable of being made good or is not made good after [30 days] then either one of us can end the contract giving each other notice in writing.”
Contrast this with “either party may terminate this agreement either immediately in the case of a breach of contract which is not capable of being remedied or otherwise at any time after [30 days] upon receipt of notice of breach specifying the breach complained of unless such breach has been remedied to the reasonable satisfaction of the complaining party.
How to Turbo-Charge your Business
What would it be like if you could keep all your people happy, have a great working life and make more money? For most of us that sounds like an unobtainable dream. However, there are clear strategies you can adopt which can make this reality.
Creating Value
The key to all this is creating value. Creating value is something you do not only for your customers but also for yourself and your team. The first thing to look at is making sure that your product adds value to the lives or businesses of your customers. You also want to make sure that working in the organisation adds value to the lives of the people involved in it.
To the extent you add value in all directions, you also make money as a natural by product. Focusing on money never produces the best results. That does not mean that you cannot increase performance by focusing on money but to do so is ultimately usually at the cost of internal relations and/or the well being of your team and/or the loyalty of your customer base.
Making the Dream Reality
Stage 1:
Ask yourself and your team:
(1) What is the underlying purpose of our business? For example, if you are a software company providing simple accounts packages, besides the purpose of making money and for creating good quality accounting software, there will be underlying values that drive the business and motivate most of the team (if they are on board). This could be, for instance, empowering small businesses or empowering small businesses to take proper control of their finances or some such purpose. Focusing on the true, underlying nature of what drives a company can give renewed vigour to business owners and their teams. The process gets everyone in touch with their authentic selves and helps create a truly authentic business.
(2) What are the core values of our organisation? Look at the core values by which you operate the business or, at least, aspire to do so. For example, what is important to you? Openness? Good customer relations? Honesty? Integrity? Look at all those values that you count as fundamental to your existence. Having done that, honestly appraise yourselves as to where you currently stand on each aspect of your values. Highlighting your purpose and values allows you to stop and acknowledge yourself for those things that you are doing well and to take stock of those things that perhaps fall short of the mark. In turn, this allows everyone in your team to “own” the issues and to take responsibility for gradually bringing everything into line with your purpose and values.
Stage 2:
Be consistent in everything. Look at all your relationships to see whether they are appropriately documented and documented in a way that reflects your purpose and values:
terms and conditions (i.e. your relationship with your customers), including website terms);
employment contracts;
joint ventures and partnering arrangements;
supplier terms;
dealings with other stakeholders including the general public (where relevant).
Once you have highlighted your purpose and values, undertaking an honest appraisal of where you currently stand and audited your relationships with various stakeholders in your business, the time may have come to take a step back and reappraise your legal documentation.
Creating Value
The key to all this is creating value. Creating value is something you do not only for your customers but also for yourself and your team. The first thing to look at is making sure that your product adds value to the lives or businesses of your customers. You also want to make sure that working in the organisation adds value to the lives of the people involved in it.
To the extent you add value in all directions, you also make money as a natural by product. Focusing on money never produces the best results. That does not mean that you cannot increase performance by focusing on money but to do so is ultimately usually at the cost of internal relations and/or the well being of your team and/or the loyalty of your customer base.
Making the Dream Reality
Stage 1:
Ask yourself and your team:
(1) What is the underlying purpose of our business? For example, if you are a software company providing simple accounts packages, besides the purpose of making money and for creating good quality accounting software, there will be underlying values that drive the business and motivate most of the team (if they are on board). This could be, for instance, empowering small businesses or empowering small businesses to take proper control of their finances or some such purpose. Focusing on the true, underlying nature of what drives a company can give renewed vigour to business owners and their teams. The process gets everyone in touch with their authentic selves and helps create a truly authentic business.
(2) What are the core values of our organisation? Look at the core values by which you operate the business or, at least, aspire to do so. For example, what is important to you? Openness? Good customer relations? Honesty? Integrity? Look at all those values that you count as fundamental to your existence. Having done that, honestly appraise yourselves as to where you currently stand on each aspect of your values. Highlighting your purpose and values allows you to stop and acknowledge yourself for those things that you are doing well and to take stock of those things that perhaps fall short of the mark. In turn, this allows everyone in your team to “own” the issues and to take responsibility for gradually bringing everything into line with your purpose and values.
Stage 2:
Be consistent in everything. Look at all your relationships to see whether they are appropriately documented and documented in a way that reflects your purpose and values:
terms and conditions (i.e. your relationship with your customers), including website terms);
employment contracts;
joint ventures and partnering arrangements;
supplier terms;
dealings with other stakeholders including the general public (where relevant).
Once you have highlighted your purpose and values, undertaking an honest appraisal of where you currently stand and audited your relationships with various stakeholders in your business, the time may have come to take a step back and reappraise your legal documentation.
Effective Leadership for 21st Century Organisations
Traditional leadership
Traditional leadership styles from the 19th and 20th Centuries tended to involve strict hierarchies, superiority, winners and losers. To lead, people felt the need to prove they are better than everyone else. Leadership was about “power” and its abuse, loneliness and affectations.
In the latter part of the 20th Century, there was a gradual decline in hierarchies which is evermore the case in the first decade of the 21st Century.
So how does this impact business? What does it suggest about leadership and success in the twenty first Century?
Facets of leadership in the 21st Century
From my experience, successful businesses (be they high quality start-ups or companies looking for rapid growth), recognise new values essential to their success. It is “out with the old” and in with:
“flat structures”;
inclusive management style that involves all people in the organisation, not just senior management;
openness and transparency;
genuinely equal opportunities, regardless of race, ethnic origins, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities etc.;
empowering – i.e. committed to empowering each and every member of the team.
Enlightened leadership
21st Century leadership is not about bullying and high-handedness or even intellectual or financial superiority. It is about playing to strengths, working around or minimising weaknesses, authenticity and not being fazed by challenges. Above all, it is about being straight in communications both internally and externally.
Powerful language
The new style is about “can-do” mentality and about avoiding disempowering language. Words such as “I’ll try to” or “I need you to...” and other indirect language undermine the communication: “trying” to do anything is preparing for failure, not taking personal responsibility for causing something to happen. Using language that suggests there is another reason for why someone should do something rather than simply that you want them to do it makes people look weak so, “needing” someone to do something is in fact rarely authentic – and should normally be replaced by “I want you to do X please” or some equivalent straight communication.
“Walking the talk”
Last but not least, leadership in the 21st Century is about “walking the talk” of the organisation. However, the organisation first needs to be clear about what it is “talking” about before it can walk it and then it needs to make sure that it is consistent in everything it does: this is anything from internal relations (with colleagues) through to external relations with customers, suppliers and the public at law.
Making it “real”
We believe that law is the “glue” of society, the structure behind relationships that either has them work or not. A leader has to make sure that all of his/her relationships work. Where the relationships are recognised as being important to the organisation (and we cannot conceive of an organisation where they are not), special attention needs to be paid to making sure that all documented relationships are consistent with the values of the organisation and the style of leadership. Are your communications straight, open, honest and fair? When did you last look at your employment contracts, shareholder’s agreements, terms of business, web site terms, partnering agreements and purchase contracts? Are they consistent with who you say you are?
Traditional leadership styles from the 19th and 20th Centuries tended to involve strict hierarchies, superiority, winners and losers. To lead, people felt the need to prove they are better than everyone else. Leadership was about “power” and its abuse, loneliness and affectations.
In the latter part of the 20th Century, there was a gradual decline in hierarchies which is evermore the case in the first decade of the 21st Century.
So how does this impact business? What does it suggest about leadership and success in the twenty first Century?
Facets of leadership in the 21st Century
From my experience, successful businesses (be they high quality start-ups or companies looking for rapid growth), recognise new values essential to their success. It is “out with the old” and in with:
“flat structures”;
inclusive management style that involves all people in the organisation, not just senior management;
openness and transparency;
genuinely equal opportunities, regardless of race, ethnic origins, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities etc.;
empowering – i.e. committed to empowering each and every member of the team.
Enlightened leadership
21st Century leadership is not about bullying and high-handedness or even intellectual or financial superiority. It is about playing to strengths, working around or minimising weaknesses, authenticity and not being fazed by challenges. Above all, it is about being straight in communications both internally and externally.
Powerful language
The new style is about “can-do” mentality and about avoiding disempowering language. Words such as “I’ll try to” or “I need you to...” and other indirect language undermine the communication: “trying” to do anything is preparing for failure, not taking personal responsibility for causing something to happen. Using language that suggests there is another reason for why someone should do something rather than simply that you want them to do it makes people look weak so, “needing” someone to do something is in fact rarely authentic – and should normally be replaced by “I want you to do X please” or some equivalent straight communication.
“Walking the talk”
Last but not least, leadership in the 21st Century is about “walking the talk” of the organisation. However, the organisation first needs to be clear about what it is “talking” about before it can walk it and then it needs to make sure that it is consistent in everything it does: this is anything from internal relations (with colleagues) through to external relations with customers, suppliers and the public at law.
Making it “real”
We believe that law is the “glue” of society, the structure behind relationships that either has them work or not. A leader has to make sure that all of his/her relationships work. Where the relationships are recognised as being important to the organisation (and we cannot conceive of an organisation where they are not), special attention needs to be paid to making sure that all documented relationships are consistent with the values of the organisation and the style of leadership. Are your communications straight, open, honest and fair? When did you last look at your employment contracts, shareholder’s agreements, terms of business, web site terms, partnering agreements and purchase contracts? Are they consistent with who you say you are?
A New Emerging Economy
I believe that there is a new wave of business coming, a business revolution that offers new hope for those who are uncomfortable with globalisation and money-driven business. I say this from the gentle groundswell of businesses approaching us, wanting to make a difference in the world.
I am not referring to revolution that makes making money dirty or wrong. On the contrary, businesses that embrace new approaches such as purpose- and values-driven business and ethical business practices tend to out perform their competitors by as much as 750% in terms of profitability.
Authentic Business
This new revolution has also been called “ authentic business” (Neil Crofts) and involves businesses and teams within them getting clear what their purpose is in life and how it can be fulfilled within the business they work in. The business itself distils the combined purposes to satisfy people’s needs and purpose.
Satisfying Stakeholder Needs
The result is a business that looks to satisfy the needs of all stakeholders, not just the shareholders, in which all those stakeholders have a vested interest in the business succeeding; one in which all employees are highly motivated and have people queuing to join the company.
Enhancing Goodwill
Since at Kaltons we discerned that what we are about is creating relationships that work in all areas of life as part of a personal purpose to help fulfil people’s potential, I have experienced real clarity of purpose and a joy in our work.
Filling the Gap
Once the purpose is found, that is just the beginning - we then looked at where our relationships with stakeholders falls short of our expectations and we constantly become aware of relationships that do not work as well as we like them to but, whether they are personal, internal to Kaltons, with our clients or between clients and third parties, the moment we become aware of the shortfall, we take action to deal with it. This is such a gift to each and every member of our team.
How it reflects in our business is in the creative approaches we bring to our work - in one case, a client in dispute with a business partner was given all the usual and appropriate legal advice but was then empowered by one of our team through coaching that enabled effective relationships to continue in the face of adversity.
Getting Started
If you are inspired by the prospect of taking on a purpose, I strongly recommend reading Neil’s book, "Authentic Business" or Richard Jacobs' book "What's Your Purpose?".
I am not referring to revolution that makes making money dirty or wrong. On the contrary, businesses that embrace new approaches such as purpose- and values-driven business and ethical business practices tend to out perform their competitors by as much as 750% in terms of profitability.
Authentic Business
This new revolution has also been called “ authentic business” (Neil Crofts) and involves businesses and teams within them getting clear what their purpose is in life and how it can be fulfilled within the business they work in. The business itself distils the combined purposes to satisfy people’s needs and purpose.
Satisfying Stakeholder Needs
The result is a business that looks to satisfy the needs of all stakeholders, not just the shareholders, in which all those stakeholders have a vested interest in the business succeeding; one in which all employees are highly motivated and have people queuing to join the company.
Enhancing Goodwill
Since at Kaltons we discerned that what we are about is creating relationships that work in all areas of life as part of a personal purpose to help fulfil people’s potential, I have experienced real clarity of purpose and a joy in our work.
Filling the Gap
Once the purpose is found, that is just the beginning - we then looked at where our relationships with stakeholders falls short of our expectations and we constantly become aware of relationships that do not work as well as we like them to but, whether they are personal, internal to Kaltons, with our clients or between clients and third parties, the moment we become aware of the shortfall, we take action to deal with it. This is such a gift to each and every member of our team.
How it reflects in our business is in the creative approaches we bring to our work - in one case, a client in dispute with a business partner was given all the usual and appropriate legal advice but was then empowered by one of our team through coaching that enabled effective relationships to continue in the face of adversity.
Getting Started
If you are inspired by the prospect of taking on a purpose, I strongly recommend reading Neil’s book, "Authentic Business" or Richard Jacobs' book "What's Your Purpose?".
Give Your Ethical Business a Boost
If you are a business that has set up with an ethical basis or has re-orientated itself in that direction, to what extent are your relationships with all the stakeholders in your business consistent with the stated ethical focus of the business? If not, building in congruency can add considerable potency to the business.
Bearing in mind that law is the glue that keeps society together and, in particular, is the glue in the relationships between you and the stakeholders in your business, how much attention has been paid to those relationships to make sure that they are consistent in your commitment to ethical business?
You might want to take the opportunity of identifying all of the stakeholders in your business, looking at the nature of the relationship and any documentation that exists regarding that relationship and then assessing whether the terms of that agreement (or any implied terms where contracts are not actually in writing) are consistent with a company that is ethical.
So what does it mean to be “ethical”? It means a myriad different things and it is not for us to dictate what should be there. Each company will have its own ideas of what that would mean but in our experience companies sometime need support in being able to stand back from the relationship to enable them to see where they are “walking the talk” and where they are not. This then allows you to acknowledge achievements where you are being consistent and to plan bringing consistency over a period of time where it is found to be missing.
Ask yourself, “Who are the “stakeholders” in my business?”. Again, this will vary. It can include the business owners, employees, suppliers/advisors, customers, joint venture partners, strategic alliance, partners and the general public and within these general categories there can be different types of relationships – e.g. with business owners, there may be sleeping partners and our active partners in the business.
Ethically based companies will usually want to make sure that in all their dealings they are open, honest, transparent, fair and balanced.
Bearing in mind that law is the glue that keeps society together and, in particular, is the glue in the relationships between you and the stakeholders in your business, how much attention has been paid to those relationships to make sure that they are consistent in your commitment to ethical business?
You might want to take the opportunity of identifying all of the stakeholders in your business, looking at the nature of the relationship and any documentation that exists regarding that relationship and then assessing whether the terms of that agreement (or any implied terms where contracts are not actually in writing) are consistent with a company that is ethical.
So what does it mean to be “ethical”? It means a myriad different things and it is not for us to dictate what should be there. Each company will have its own ideas of what that would mean but in our experience companies sometime need support in being able to stand back from the relationship to enable them to see where they are “walking the talk” and where they are not. This then allows you to acknowledge achievements where you are being consistent and to plan bringing consistency over a period of time where it is found to be missing.
Ask yourself, “Who are the “stakeholders” in my business?”. Again, this will vary. It can include the business owners, employees, suppliers/advisors, customers, joint venture partners, strategic alliance, partners and the general public and within these general categories there can be different types of relationships – e.g. with business owners, there may be sleeping partners and our active partners in the business.
Ethically based companies will usually want to make sure that in all their dealings they are open, honest, transparent, fair and balanced.
Key Facets of a Successful Business Relationship
One of the outcomes of a recent seminar we held on the subject of “how to create successful business relationships”, we looked at the responses people gave when analysing relationships that the participants had that were particularly effective.
The interesting thing is that the answers held good for both business and personal relationships (some participants were working on business relationships while others focused on personal ones because they had not yet set up in business).
Whilst the key facets may be strikingly obvious and certainly are not intended to be an exhaustive list, it is amazing how easily we can forget these important aspects and blame others for them not being present. If we take the initiative and instigate whatever it takes to bring some of these key aspects to our business relationships, sometimes being prepared to walk away where the other party does not wish to operate on that basis, truly outstanding business relationships can follow.
The key facets that came up during the recent seminar are:
1. Being straight with each other.
2. Being open with each other.
3. Really listening to each other’s needs and desires and being prepared to accommodate them.
The interesting thing was that relationship did not work, they were somewhat mirroring of these and key assets of relationships that were not effective were:
1. Lack of trust.
2. Lack of common interest.
3. Lack of mutual respect.
4. Lack of communication.
5. Inconsistent values.
The interesting thing for us was that participants in the seminar were able to stand back from their business relationships, see what wasn’t working and then see that even when someone was behaving badly, there was something they could accept responsibility for that would allow them to move on. One woman said that one of her customers only paid her when she went to visit him, otherwise he delayed payment. She realised however that she had never told him that this is unacceptable to her and indeed all she did was moan about him. Talking straight removes much of the strain and pressure caused by ineffective relationships.
Our work in this area has completely shifted how we practice. We stand back from all our work and ask ourselves what we can be responsible for in helping our clients create relationships that work. This allows us to highlight imbalance in commercial contracts and terms that are clearly designed almost to create problems and even to question the overall structure and appropriateness of the deal or the way it is being handled.
So, the seemingly simple statement of being “committed to creating relationships that work” is entirely altering our experience of practice and the end product for our clients, whether the products involves dispute resolution or a commercial deal - as time goes on we will include further articles on this subject and case studies on our website to enable other people to learn from this.
The interesting thing is that the answers held good for both business and personal relationships (some participants were working on business relationships while others focused on personal ones because they had not yet set up in business).
Whilst the key facets may be strikingly obvious and certainly are not intended to be an exhaustive list, it is amazing how easily we can forget these important aspects and blame others for them not being present. If we take the initiative and instigate whatever it takes to bring some of these key aspects to our business relationships, sometimes being prepared to walk away where the other party does not wish to operate on that basis, truly outstanding business relationships can follow.
The key facets that came up during the recent seminar are:
1. Being straight with each other.
2. Being open with each other.
3. Really listening to each other’s needs and desires and being prepared to accommodate them.
The interesting thing was that relationship did not work, they were somewhat mirroring of these and key assets of relationships that were not effective were:
1. Lack of trust.
2. Lack of common interest.
3. Lack of mutual respect.
4. Lack of communication.
5. Inconsistent values.
The interesting thing for us was that participants in the seminar were able to stand back from their business relationships, see what wasn’t working and then see that even when someone was behaving badly, there was something they could accept responsibility for that would allow them to move on. One woman said that one of her customers only paid her when she went to visit him, otherwise he delayed payment. She realised however that she had never told him that this is unacceptable to her and indeed all she did was moan about him. Talking straight removes much of the strain and pressure caused by ineffective relationships.
Our work in this area has completely shifted how we practice. We stand back from all our work and ask ourselves what we can be responsible for in helping our clients create relationships that work. This allows us to highlight imbalance in commercial contracts and terms that are clearly designed almost to create problems and even to question the overall structure and appropriateness of the deal or the way it is being handled.
So, the seemingly simple statement of being “committed to creating relationships that work” is entirely altering our experience of practice and the end product for our clients, whether the products involves dispute resolution or a commercial deal - as time goes on we will include further articles on this subject and case studies on our website to enable other people to learn from this.
Fresh postings
I will now make a point of publishing some pieces I wrote about my views on business and related legal matters. Sometimes the apparent connection with the law is slight but in reality law is all about relationships and I believe our job is to help create those relationships so that they are effective and authentic. I hope these introductory comments will explain the next few posting all made today.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)