Complacency can be a Killer


I recently saw an e-mail on the OD List that I want to share verbatim with my readers and I have the writer’s permission to do so. The e-mail is written by Allon Shevat, an OD Consultant from Israel.

My comments straight after this e-mail.

“4 years ago, the train station where I board was bombed at 0700 am. (I was to have been on the 0900 am train.) The station was torn apart, the security guard died, and many people waiting in line were maimed.

Ever since then, there is far more security…….but like many things in my country, it is sloppy and undisciplined.

An airport scanner was installed and now, everything goes on the scanner and passengers must personally walk thru a detector after first emptying one’s pockets.

People wait in the sweltering heat to be checked, and at peak hours it is more or less like JKF in peak hours.

The person who mans the scanner is on her cell phone all the time. She yaks and yaks and yaks, and, like many Israelis (and Indians), she has more than one phone; as she yaks, she send text messages on the other phone.

A few weeks ago, I yelled out “what good is this check point when she is not looking at the screen”? She pulled me aside and told me “I will make sure you take the bus”. I showed her my card with my military reserve rank, and she almost passed out. Within two days, I had a written apology and she was given 2 weeks suspension.

Now she is back again, and…..on her phones.

I was faced with a real dilemma. Since our society is VERY VERY tolerant of bad discipline, (life is hard so we all deserve breaks), I know that I have no chance with getting her off her phone or dismissed.

Yesterday I made my decision and filmed her on her phones and sent the clip to the head to the train hq.

Last night I got a call that “she really needs her salary but you are right; we will have a good talk to her and ensure corrective action is taken……in other words……there is to be no change.

Some societies and cultures are sadly more resistant to random acts of responsibility.

My response.

Until the next bombing……

For the past 16 years I have been an independent consultant focusing on Corporate Reputation. Yet, there is another side to me. I am also a trainer and consultant in Occupational Health & Safety – and it is a passion of mine.

For the past 16 years I used to perform Health & Safety training and consulting a few days a month on behalf of an ISO registered OSHA Compliance consultancy.

What I find so enticing is to raise people’s awareness of health & safety issues (dangers) in the workplace. After these workshops delegates cannot express enough gratitude and the statements are always universally the same:

“Thank you for raising my awareness”!

How do we make people more aware about potential crises in the workplace?

This question should interest all managers.

I believe that it is necessary to expose managers to that type of thinking, that we educate and train them, and we share knowledge. The South African Occupational Health & Safety Act has a number of conditions and issues that has made it one of the most benchmarked Acts in the world. One of the interesting requirements and questions that arise from it:

Have you given the employee adequate information, education, and training in his task considering the task, the hazards, potential outcomes and consequences of non-compliance?

jpg_00004473A few years ago I had the opportunity of standing at the top of the Empire State Building in New York. Standing there with the wind blowing me nearly off my feet, I could not help but visualize friends jumping of the burning World Trade Centre.

911 has come and gone. Yet for many organisations the impact, reality and lessons from it does not remain. How many organisations have not slipped back into the normal mode of doing things? Assuming that an incident like 911 will never happen to them?

Recently I was in a building in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa when I decided to use the fire escape instead of the lift, but between the 3rd and 4th floor was a locked gate. When I called the Facilities manager he said the following words to me: “Deon, you worry too much. If a fire breaks out, someone will come and unlock this gate!” No way, in my experience most people look out for number one in any crisis – themselves.

Standing at the 911 site, the thought arose in my mind as to what should an organization do if you are faced with a situation that is beyond an organisation’s normal scope to act? Health & Safety experts teach that 2% of accidents are “Acts of God”, 10% caused by unsafe conditions but that 88% of accidents are caused by unsafe behavior.

How does a company deal with the hand of fate and at the same time protect its reputation and integrity? How can a company come out “smelling like roses”.

One simple lesson is that stakeholders will forgive you for mistakes, but they will not forgive a company for not caring. Therefore in line with industry experience a company who aims to be a good corporate citizen should prepare for any eventual crisis.

But for what and how? Since 9/11, nearly every emergency preparedness and business continuity regulation and industry best practice in the USA has been strengthened, several even mentioning the threat of terrorism as a prime motivation for their enhancements. In South Africa, interest seems to be only to cope with the demands of the latest sporting events.

Considering the following points will help you prepare your organization for the worst.

1. Remember that the very things you believe cannot happen to your organisation can. Professor Ian Mitroff, who for more than 20 years headed up the Institute for Crisis Management ran a crisis management workshop in New York about two weeks before 911 happened. Most of the executives present, represented multi-national companies. In compiling likely risks, car bombs featured at the top of the list. However no one mentioned “flying bombs”. Mitroff goes on to say that something is lacking, and that “That something is our ability to think comprehensively about crisis”. Are you thinking comprehensively about crisis?

2. Equip yourself with knowledge so that you can help your organization be better prepared. One of the most frequent comments I hear from clients is not that they do not know the answers, but that they don’t know the right questions to get started in their planning or to persuade management to allocate resources for this planning. You can read the various good books out there in bookshops or you could equip yourself in the short term by attending training workshops such as my Crisis Management & Communication workshops.

3. Talk to the specialists (consultants, local authorities and emergency management service providers) in your area. If possible, contact your suppliers and find out who has done this type of planning before so that you can reduce your organisation’s learning curve.

4. Revisit the basics of crisis management. I walk into many organisations to do OSHA Compliance workshops only to find out that the organisation have not recently conducted any fire drills, if any. To assume that everyone will be able to escape the building and be accounted for is dangerous. One large firm affected by 9/11 took more than three days to account for its personnel because they lost their primary means to track and contact employees.

5. Appoint one person who is responsible for crisis preparedness across the organization and communicate his or her identity to managers at all levels.

Ensure each crisis planning team (strategic crisis management, business continuity, crisis communications, disaster recovery, emergency response, employee impact, etc.) knows the relationship between their plan(s) and the overall organization’s crisis management goals and objectives. (I provide a two day training course that enables managers to create one integrated crisis management action plan that can assist you. Or, you can purchase my Crisis Toolkit).

6. Audit your organisation’s crisis plans. The audit should cover evacuation/egress planning, personnel accountability, emergency system shutdown procedures, correct names/numbers on emergency phone lists, media and other stakeholder communications guidelines, family communications guidelines, expectations for employee communications and support.

6. Consider holding a table top exercise or discussion around a likely event.

Brainstorm likely crises; determine the roles each team member is expected to play while responding to an incident will help identify strengths and weaknesses in your organization’s ability to respond, especially for teams requiring interaction during the response. Scenario planning is a helpful tool leading to overall preparedness. No organization does everything well, and exercises are a terrific way to highlight improvement needs for multiple areas at one time.

(I work together with organisations to design, develop and facilitate likely scenarios unique to that organisation. I assisted ATNS with that before the World Cup Soccer event, and assisted the Department of Statistics during the Census 2011)

7. Nearly every survey taken after 9/11 has shown that the most overlooked area of crisis preparedness is the human and communication side. When Saambou, the South African bank closed down one employee committed suicide.

Work closely with EAP (Employee Assistance) experts, psychologists, the church and other specialists to determine modes of action prior to problems happening. Communication is integral to making any plan work and should be factored in from the outset.

8. It isn’t enough to know that your organization is better prepared. The impact of a crisis may become an industry issue and affect your business.

The Marikana shooting incidents and riots have placed an unnecessary burden on the Mining Industry in South Africa and has the potential to negatively impact investment in South Africa, and this at a time, just as we are getting things right.

Build alliances with suppliers and industry experts before a crisis breaks, so that you can make use of this expertise when the time comes.

There is lots can be done, but the biggest danger is that of Complacency. Complacency to the extent that people tell me they attended a first aid workshop 8 years ago.

Is your capability/competency still current? If not, you may just hurt the other person.

How sharp is your axe? How current are your Crisis Management & Crisis Communication plans and Capability?

Let me share with you a story written by the late Stephen Covey.

Once upon a time, a very strong woodcutter asked for a job to a timber merchant, and he got it. The pay was good and so were the working conditions. For that reason, the woodcutter was determined to do his best. His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he was supposed to work. The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees “Congratulations,” the boss said. “Carry on that way!”.


Very motivated with the boss’s words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could bring only 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but could bring 10 trees only. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees. “I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought.
He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on. “When was the last time you sharpened your Axe?” the boss asked.

“Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my Axe. I have been very busy trying to cut more trees for you.”

Complacency is akin to not sharpening your axe.

Executives Need to Learn a New Style of Decision-making


Reputation Risk has been described as elusive and difficult to manage. Some have even called it “Soft issues, tangible impacts”.

Why? Why is it difficult to manage? Well, for one few know how an issue or crisis can erupt. It may or may not. An issue may be material or not.

To understand reputation risk you need to understand some basic tenets of risk and reputation. Risk is something that causes a sudden and unforeseen event leading to loss of expected income, damage to property or harm to individuals. It is the possibility that a future event may cause harm.

Pure risk – a Risk that results only in loss, damage, disruption or injury whilst speculative risk – is a risk which carries the potential of either a loss or a gain. Risk is also a combination of probability and consequences.

In my own consulting work I define, Reputational Risk as the loss of earnings that occur in a situation of negative public opinion. It normally results when the reasonable expectations of stakeholders are not met and culminates in loss of sales, share value decreases and breakdown of relationships. It is the adverse operational and financial impact to business performance when the company’s good name gets tarnished.

In the case of many of the corporate disasters a decision was taken without due thought, to its implications, and hence it backfired. It is thus important to realise that a decision has reputational implications if it has the potential to affect the relationship between the company and any of its stakeholders. In other words, it is difficult to think of a decision that does not have reputational implications. I believe that we can go a long way to minimise corporate disasters if we teach directors and senior executives the value of perception management, stakeholder reputation and good ethics.

By exposing them to these concepts the likelihood of reputation damage can be minimized since they will factor reputation earlier into the decision making mix. My reasoning is that in most of the Corporate Disasters currently there is a pattern of limited and distorted decision making. Many decisions are made not considering all the angles and potential impact zones.

Every decision that an organisation must make has four broad sets of implications. The obvious three sets of implications are operational, financial and legal.

The fourth set of implications is generally ignored, delegated or included in the process only on the basis of the “gut instinct” of one of the participants. This fourth set of implications is reputational.

The reputational implications of a business decision can be defined as those that impact the way in which an organization is regarded by those with whom it interacts, including shareholders, customers and employees, as well as suppliers, government regulators, the media and even competitors (and any other stakeholder). This fits in well with the ecology model of organisational effectiveness. The New Collins Concise English Dictionary defines ecology as:”The study of the relationships between living organisms and their environment, the set of relationships of a particular organism with its environment.”

This means that the ecology model is concerned with the organisation’s ability to deal with internal and external contingencies, and its ability to manage interrelationships between stakeholders in the context of its environment. Any organisation is dependent on its stakeholders for support and the strategic importance of any stakeholder depends on how dependent the organisation is upon it. And this relationship can change over a period of time or due to indiscretions.

Reputation, most managers today would agree, is an asset, even if only a perceptual asset (or, if mismanaged, a liability). It certainly is not optional. Every corporation, organization, institution, individual has a reputation. The only option is whether to manage it or allow it to be inferred. If reputation is a strategic resource and if it is to add value, it should be managed with the same care and attention as any asset. It should be obvious that if a decision has four broad sets of implications, and only three are formally and routinely considered, the potential exists for flawed decision making. After all, the role of a manager is to manage all the assets under his or her control effectively.

Most Directors, leaders and managers have never received training in managing an organisation’s reputation, yet some studies now show that reputation can make up as much as 55% of an organisation’s share price. They receive training in Corporate Governance, but companies tend to forget why governance is important. The end purpose of governance is to be perceived in an excellent manner by your stakeholders. Thus the end purpose of governance is to have an excellent reputation.

A large proportion of intangible assets is thus not being adequately managed and may be at risk in today’s knowledge based economy.

By getting directors and senior managers to interact and learn about the link between reputation and effective decision making you will raise the ante, improve their competences and minimise the likelihood of reputation damage. Davis Young, in “Building your company’s good name” wrote:

“Every employee needs training to understand the impact their actions have on your company’s good name and its business success. This training needs to start the day they are hired, with daily reinforcement thereafter, if only through leadership modelling. Every employee must understand the importance of his or her actions in terms of what those will mean to the organisation’s reputation”

Companies, who do not provide reputation management training to their directors, and senior executives, are at RISK.

 

How to Project a Positive Corporate Image


Plant 3370498035_8b8ba70861_mPrice Waterhouse Coopers years ago referred in one their booklets that reputation has two main components namely:

  • Perception- How the company is perceived by all stakeholders and;
  • Reality – the truth about a company’s policies, practices, procedures, systems and performance.

Perception is thus closely related to the image that a company projects.

Another way of defining the elements of reputation is that it consists of:

  • Images - what stakeholders think of a company,
  • Identity – what the company say it is, and
  • Personality – what the company is all about.

The alignment of these factors is vital if we want to build, sustain and protect an organisation’s reputation.

Each one of us plays a part in this by representing the company we work for.

The question is whether we project a positive or a negative image? The way we dress, talk, act, and feel expresses this reality of the company to the outside community.

Specifically what we say to others and how we act adds to the images of the organisation. It is therefore important to evaluate what your employees and stakeholders such as the Media are saying about your organisation. If we want to protect and build our company’s reputation, image being just one element, we have to influence this process.

I believe that the way to do that is to reflect on the actions we should use to make our employees become loyal in an era of continual downsizing, restructuring and other changes, and the feelings we should express about our company and what it is accomplishing in the community.

In this process we have to enlist the support of all employees. This process is not the domain of only the Communications department.

Here are a couple of ideas and suggestions that may help:

- Conduct research into what stakeholders such as employees are saying about your company.

- Conduct research into the actions you want from employees (Example – All employees will effectively neutralise any negative comments about our company and work to project a positive image), the methods that can be used to measure progress towards projecting a positive company image, and the incentives that might be used to help employees project a positive company image.

- Develop a list of suggested actions* on how to project a positive image that can be handed to each employee as part of an outreach & training program.

- Meet with employees to share this list of suggestions.

- Launch a formal program together with incentives. This has to be a process of selling the benefits to employees, not just telling them what to say, otherwise it will just be received as management propaganda.

* Suggested List:

- Relate positive stories or observations about our company, internally and externally. By telling only the good things we can prevent the spread of negative messages.

- Relate details selectively. Not every interaction with a customer or another person needs to become a “Truth and reconciliation” affair. You don’t have to confess just because some one asked for the details.

- Make a positive remark to neutralise a negative statement about the company. Support your company.

- Do what is important to you and let others know what you value.

Remember that your actions stand for what you are and what stakeholders believe the company is all about. This is closely related to stated company values.

(Or are you just working for the money?)

- Learn about and tell the little known positive things the company is involved in. Make it a point to discover these and to spread the good word about your organisation.

By influencing what employees are saying about an organisation, we can directly affect our reputation in the market and workplace.

Nothing is New


There is a Zen saying, “To the one wearing sandals, the whole world is leather”. 

So, that is where Maslow got his statement – “If the only thing you have is a hammer, you tend to treat everything as a nail”.

So, nothing is new.

The art of originality is forgetting where you heard something in the first place.

Reputation is like a Burning Flame


The reason for the custom header photo – Reputation is like a flame, easily blown out and fickle unless you keep the flame going.

A person’s or Business’s Reputation needs constant attention – building it, sustaining it and protecting it, and when the time comes that things go wrong – effort and attention to restore it.

I am here to assist you.

Drivers of Company Vehicles–What Impact do they have on Reputation?


The manner and way in which a company’s employees use the road can significantly harm the company’s public image and reputation.

The other day I was nearly wiped out by a truck that moved from one lane to another without indicating. Best of all, on the back of the truck was a notice with the words: “How’s my driving? Phone this number!” What a joke!

The way employees drive or ride on the road is a reflection of the company’s image, and highly visible to members of the public, many of whom may be customers of the company.  Road crashes involving company vehicles, especially delivery ones, are also very visible, especially when pictures or company names are reported in the media. Court cases following crashes or prosecutions for driving offences are also reported in the local and national media.

On the positive side, companies which are proud of their road safety performance should include details of their driver management approach, targets and performance in health and safety reports on their websites.

A Humorous Look at Transparency


A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings.

The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs.

When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbour. Before she says a word, Bob says, ‘I’ll give you $800 to drop that towel.’

After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob, after a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves.

The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, ‘Who was that?’

‘It was Bob the next door neighbour’, she replies.

‘Great’, the husband says, ‘did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?’

Moral of the Story:

If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your stakeholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

The Triple Filter Test–One Way to stop Gossiping & Rumours


In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem.

One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said, “Do you know what I just heard about your friend?”

“Hold on a minute,” Socrates replied. “Before telling me anything I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called the Triple Filter Test.”

“Triple filter?”

“That’s right,” Socrates continued. “Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say. That’s why I call it the triple filter test. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?”

“No,” the man said, “actually I just heard about it and…”

“All right,” said Socrates. “So you don’t really know if it’s true or not.

Now let’s try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?”

“No, on the contrary…”

“So,” Socrates continued, “you want to tell me something bad about him, but you’re not certain it’s true. You may still pass the test though, because there’s one filter left: the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?”

“No, not really.”

“Well,” concluded Socrates, “if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?”

This is why Socrates was a great philosopher & held in such high esteem.

Next time someone starts gossiping, you know what to do.

Must Read – Leading Transformation & Captivating Communities by Brian Solis


Brian Solis’s new e- book “Leading Transformation & Captivating Communities” is a must read for anyone involved in Stakeholder Management and Change Action.

Here’s a quote from it: Social media has started a revolution in how people connect, learn and communicate, and its effects cannot be undone.

Here is a direct link to it – http://changethis.com/manifesto/89.02.LeadingTransformation/pdf/89.02.LeadingTransformation.pdf

I want this PR position, but they say I do not have enough experience! What Now?


How often do I not hear these words.

So, what now?

Well, you have choices, and one of those is to think laterally or out-of-the-box about it.

Many years ago I studied PR only to find the market in my geographical area too small too absorb new students never mind interns. So what did I do?

Well I never lost sight of what I enjoyed, but I multiskilled in three other directions. In the meantime I studied and got involved in PR – more about PR, reading every bit I could lay my hands on – formal situations as well as informally. Today I find myself as a management consultant to the very PR Profession. All my other skills combined with PR I have been able to repack into the holistic field of Reputation Management.

That is the one thing – continuous learning and application – anywhere, anyway and anyhow , just like David Bowie sang.

Secondly – How do you get experience if no one wants to give you a chance? Let me use an example – What does a person do that have just been retrenched? Most people try and find similar work, a few start thinking laterally and apply their skills in other areas. With other words they think of themselves as walking skills portfolios – not just a label – a PR person.

So you have a number of options:

  1. Try to get into PR in the traditional way
  2. Use your PR skills in other areas
  3. Start your own PR thing – formally or informally. Thus get a job in another direction. Then offer your skills to non-profits etc. after hours that way you get the best of both worlds.

Remember George Bernard Shaw said: “Some people look at a situation and say why? I look at a situation and say Why not!” The Russian scientist Szyigorksi said “Discovery means to look at something that very one else sees and thinking something different”.

If I was a person in that position I would immediately read a book called Zen and the Art of Making a Living by Laurence G. Boldt – a brilliant piece of work combining both practical issues and mythology. If that book does not stimulate you in weird and wonderful ways to look at your career choice, few will.

Barclays–More than a Scandal Flowchart


An Article in the UK Telegraph caught my attention this morning.

In an article Barclays libor scandal:lock them up Jeremy Warner writes “

Virtually all financial scandals follow the same pattern. First there is the initial exposure of wrong doing, then comes the mitigating claim that it was common practice and everyone was up to it, and finally it emerges that the regulators knew all along but failed to act.

This is a flowchart, but what this article clearly shows is that there is a problem with mind-sets in the Banking world.

Corporate culture i.e the way we intuitively do things is regarded as one of the 3 main culprits in Reputation Risk. By now, it should be obvious that there is a mind-set of greed and taking chances in the Banking world.

It is also well known that Reputation Risk is created by regulatory failures. Hence the importance of Compliance Officers in the New World.

However, what the Competition Commission in South Africa has revealed is that often it is the prevailing level of thinking that causes problems and issues. AND, some of that thinking occurs intuitively. With other words, it has been ingrained in some.

Immediately what comes up in my head is the Cycle of Learning. Moving from Unconscious incompetence right through to Unconscious Competence. Except that Unconscious Competence is the most dangerous stage of learning.

Overcoming this will take a lot of unlearning.

It should also be rather obvious that some serious work needs to be done in the Financial sector by OD (Organisation Development/Organizational Behavior ) experts to create unlearning.

Jeremy Warner ends of the article with a statement – “If this were a pharmaceutical company, it would by now have been stripped of its licenses, closed down and its officials had up for endangering the public”

I fully concur. Years ago someone joked and said: “ Bankers are manicured pawnbrokers”.

Well, it is time that we are no longer pawns. As consumers we have choice. BUT, what happens if an industry can no longer be trusted.

This is the danger that regulators are underestimating.

Lobbying & Advocacy Resource


I came across a book called Lobbying & Advocacy by Deanna R. Gelak at Exclusive Books in Hyde Park last week and immediately thought of those who specialise in Government Relations, lobbying & advocacy work.

Although this book has a lot of US examples it is FULL of useful techniques and practical tips that I think will help any Corporate Affairs department a lot. It is available for R740.

It contains a lot of information on how to manage a Government Public Affairs Outreach Department. All you have to do is to supplement the information in the book with how to engage with Parliament and various Government Departments in South Africa, and you should have the best of both worlds.

Lobbying

Here are the links:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/10975815/Lobbying-and-Advocacy-sample-pages

Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/Lobbying-Advocacy-Strategies-Recommendations-Compliance/dp/1587331004

The book contains:

* Practical resources and methods for maintaining compliance and staying abreast of ethical and legal requirements.

* Practical tips, research based methods, and step-by-step guides for communicating with policymakers in every venue most

effectively, including telephone calls, emails, Congressional meetings, testifying before Congress, building coalitions, and working with the press.

* Extensive list of Lobbying and Advocacy Resources.

Hope this info is useful.

Stakeholder Reputation Management Master Class 7–8 June in Johannesburg


I will facilitate my premier training course at the Apollo Hotel In Randburg, Johannesburg from the 7th – 8th June.

This 2 day training course is the only one of its kind in Southern Africa. It was developed to bridge the gap between stakeholders and organizations wanting to develop and enhance their reputations.

Since its inception in 2006, the Stakeholder Reputation Master Class has received many accolades and became established as the must-attend course for industry experts looking to share best practices about stakeholder management and building company reputation. See references.

This 2 -day course shows business leaders and managers how to establish and maintain positive, mutually beneficial stakeholder relations. It examines amongst many things the steps, hints and practices necessary to build lasting collaborative relationships, which should ultimately result in a better reputation.

Based on a synthesis of ideas from community relations, marketing, strategic communication, reputation and stakeholder management, organizational change, sustainability and CSI thinking, it offers an integrated framework, as well as practical tools for developing new kinds of collaborative relationships.

To find out more, go to: http://stakeholderreputation.invite43.com/

Understanding & Analysing Stakeholder Positions


 

justdoitI am often asked what the difference is between a stakeholder interest and a stakeholder position.

Here is a distinction that might help you next time when doing stakeholder or issue management analysis.

Positions versus Interests

Positions:

  • What they say
  • Where they stand
  • How they feel

Interests:

  • Why they say it
  • How they got there
  • Why they care

It is important to make this distinction in decision- making and stakeholder prioritisation in an issue. NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) competency would come in handy here, so you could carefully analyse the language being used.

The Perceptual Position is another technique that I have found particularly useful. It comes from the brilliant book – NLP at Work by Sue Knight. NLP at Work is frequently described as one of the classics in NLP. It was the book that pioneered the application of NLP into business and made what had been previously a ‘dark art’ into an accessible practical concept that translated totally into the everyday world of influence, OD & Stakeholder Management.

She describes Perceptual positions are a way of appreciating situations from different standpoints.

Perceptual positions provide a balanced approach to thinking, not only about outcomes but about any other situation. In situations where you feel there is little or no understanding or progress, perceptual positions can provide a way of developing understanding and creating new choices.

This is a very powerful technique for finding congruent solutions especially during engagement periods.

There are many different ways of thinking about situations.

To begin with it is useful to consider the three primary positions.

1st Position

The 1st Position is seeing, hearing and feeling the situation through your own eyes, ears and emotions. You think in terms of what is important to you, what you want to achieve. Your language contains words such as ‘I feel”, “I want”, ‘I hear”, “I see”. The ‘I’ refers to your own way of perceiving the situation. Essentially you are experiencing the situation as you in your own shoes.

2nd Position

The 2nd Position is like stepping into the shoes of the other person and experiencing the situation as if you are them. When you are really in the other person’s shoes and not just intellectualising about them, then what you (the other person) are doing and saying makes sense. No matter how bizarre someone’s behaviour may seem, in their shoes it is normal. It is the best choice they have. When you are really in 2nd position you use ‘I’ meaning the other person because for this moment you are them. The ‘walk a mile in another man’s moccasins’ position.

3rd Position

The 3rd Position is the ability to stand back from a situation and experience it as if you are a detached observer. In your mind, you are able to see and hear yourself and the other person as if you are a third person. It is rather like being a fly on the wall. You are unlikely to have emotions in this position.

Imbalanced positions occur when the above method is not followed and it is often followed by resistance to change and stalling.

Skilful Stakeholder Managers instinctively use all three positions as a way of taking a balanced approach to a situation.

The definition of the word – Stake


j0402541What is a Stakeholder?

Most course delegates say that it is someone who has an interest in you. But, that is only partially correct. Yes, they might be interested, but what are they going to do with that “interest”?

Many definitions exist with probably the one that says it best – A Stakeholder is an individual or group that can impact the organization or be impacted upon by the organization.

However, few people ever stop to define the word – stake.

Maslow said if the only thing you have is a hammer you tend to treat everything as a nail. This is why definitions to me is a vital tool in ensuring common understanding.

The word stake refers to a rational or emotional stake. Thus a stake can be financial/economic in nature(ownership), it could be an interest stake, a legal one, a moral stake, an emotional one or in the case of the media – a public interest stake i.e. the public has the right to know..

Understanding a stakeholder’s stake or positioning on an issue is vital. Just because an issue is financial in nature does not mean that it does not have emotional issues attached.

For instance when companies offer stakeholders like the community money to move away from an area where they want to mine or build a dam, they often find the resistance by the community – frustrating.

The reason – Land has memories attached to it. I was sitting on my lawn the other day, when in my mind’s eye I saw my 2 kids who are now both in their late 20′s running and playing on the lawn.

Then I realised why this lawn means so much to me. It’s the memories, the emotional connection that counts.

My advice. Think carefully about what stakes are involved in an issue. If you do not know and understand your stakeholders needs, wants, desires and expectations, you could err in making value judgements about their positioning.

Or to say it succinctly – Think twice who you are going to get into bed with.

The 30-second Communication Seminar


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There are three steps to successful communication:

The first is to know what you want.

The second step is to find out what the other person wants.

The third step is to discover how both of you can win.

Successful communication is communication that achieves the desired result.

Education & Training Programs Woefully Reputation Deficient


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On the 2nd September 2010 I made a point in a blog post Discuss. Dissect. Decide that Reputation is a mission – critical task and is of such importance that it should be included in every meeting’s agenda and be included as a must in the Company Learning & Development Training Calendar – as a must and not an elective.

My point and reservations have now been vindicated through some interesting research by a company ReputationInc .

Here are the main facts they discovered by examining the curriculums of the leading Executive MBA programs identified by the Financial Times. They were looking to see how reputation was incorporated into the course work.

  • 1 in 5 leading EMBA programs teach none of the 10 core reputation disciplines
  • Just one of the 50 leading EMBAs has ‘Reputation’ as a core module
  • Communications & relationship building skills are taught in less than 20% of programs
  • Government & policy relations is covered by fewer than 1 in 5 EMBA program
  • Governance and ethics is the most popular reputation discipline being taught to business leaders today (no surprise there)

ReputationInc cites McKinsey research that found that one-half of global CEOs say managing external affairs is one of their top-three priorities. Yet one fifth of the world’s top 50 global Executive MBA programs do not offer any training in the core disciplines of reputation management.

They report that the missing disciplines include CSR, stakeholder engagement, government relations, communications, and reputation management strategy.
 
More worrying still, just two of the top 50 business schools surveyed offer a dedicated reputation module and 80% offer no training on either public affairs or external communications – the two core “hands-on” skills executives need to build reputation. “The results reveal a frightening gap between the reputation skills business leaders must possess in 2012 and the cursory attention they get in the traditional executive MBA.” 
                                                         
The programs with the highest ranked scores for including reputation are Henley Business School, Essec/Mannheim, and the University of Texas at Austin: McCombs.
 
I also agree with this statement: “On this evidence, companies and shareholders should be concerned that Executive MBA programmes risk creating ineffective business leaders who leave academia without the skills to actively manage the precious asset of corporate reputation,” said John Mahony, CEO, ReputationInc.  “Reputation management skills are vital for today’s CEO who sets the tone and mood for a corporation and must lead from the front in communicating the purpose of the brand and its value to society.

Many managers are not born ready to meet this challenge and will benefit from coaching and confidence building in reputation, something today’s Executive MBA courses fail to adequately provide.”

The problem though is that it is not just MBA modules that lack this, but also Director training programs, Government Officials training, town councillors development programs and Internal Learning & Development programs that suffer from this lack.

The research clearly shows that training in managing external relationships is mandatory for all executives (Again a vindication that my Stakeholder Reputation Management course has filled a very important gap these past few years)

It is my belief that the problem is derived from the past where it was believed that Reputation was naturally an extended PR & Communication function and discipline. And, although communication forms and integral part of the discipline, there is now a realisation that Reputation Management requires advanced systemic thinking skills and thorough understanding of intangible issues, reputation and strategic business drivers.

The report goes on to say that “These findings should be a red flag to corporate affairs directors and those responsible for leadership development in global corporations.  Knowingly or not, next generation leaders will be under-prepared
to steward their company’s corporate reputation in the coming decade.”

This statement just reminded me of the conversation in 2010 I had with the Learning & Development Manager of an international bank when they were considering my Stakeholder Reputation Management program for internal use. He was of the opinion that it was not a must, but should be an optional elective for senior executives.

How these words will haunt now. If only the financial services community understood that importance. Just perhaps there may have been less Reputation Damage.

As Warren Buffett, the world’s most astute investor have said many times: “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it, and if you understand this YOU WILL DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY”

Funny though that most managers miss the last part of the quote. The research quoted above shows how important understanding this difference is.

The missing difference in the MBA programs – “ If I do this, or make this decision, will it harm my (own) or my company’s reputation?”

Understanding this difference is vital in an Era where Reputation is the New Bottom Line.

What is the value of Good Stakeholder Relationships?


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Today’s complex business environment requires companies to build relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders. Each of these stakeholders have their own needs, expectations and positions and companies face stakeholder reputation risk if these needs and expectations are not monitored and faced.

Stakeholders offer organizations both opportunity and threat. For instance if an institution has a good reputation with stakeholders they may give the organization more latitude to operate.

On the other hand a poor reputation with the regulators may result in laws being passed that can make it more difficult for an institution to operate. The Consumer Protection Act is a prime example of what happens when the reasonable expectations of stakeholders are not met.

What international research have shown is that there is a lot that organizations can do to positively influence the process of creating good images in stakeholders minds.

The management of and interaction with stakeholders therefore needs careful attention if an organization wants to maximize its opportunities and minimize threats in dealing with stakeholders.

The King 3 Code on Corporate Governance makes specific mention of this need for stakeholder inclusivity (i.e. that the legitimate interests and expectations of stakeholders are considered when deciding in the best interests of the company), stakeholder identification and determination of expectations and needs, the proactive management of stakeholder relationships, and that management should develop a strategy and formulate policies for the management of relationships with each stakeholder grouping.

Research shows that when an organization builds relationships with key stakeholders, it saves the organization money by reducing the costs of litigation, regulation, legislation, pressure campaigns, boycotts, or lost revenue that result from bad relationships.

Good relationships with employees also increase the likelihood that they will be satisfied with the organization and their jobs, which makes them more likely to support and less likely to interfere with the mission of the organization.

In the not so distant past much PR efforts were one-way, designed to measure the effects of communication on stakeholders. Measuring relationships, however, assumes a two-way communication process with effects on both parties in the relationship.

The most productive relationships in the long run are those that benefit both parties in the relationship rather that those designed to benefit the organization only, the so-called Win-Win. Public relations theorists have termed these types of relationships symmetrical and asymmetrical, respectively.

It is my advice that relations with stakeholders be conducted in a context of transparency, honesty and professionalism.

A director of public affairs for a county government once summarized the link between symmetrical public relations and organizational effectiveness: “The main strategy is open communication–by being open, in touch with your various stakeholders, determining what their needs and wants are, how they can best be achieved, and how you can all work together toward common goals. And, I think that’s key with any group and organization that you bring together. That’s what you build trust on, that’s what you build relationships on, and that’s what you accomplish goals with.”

Building positive and lasting relationships should be a key organizational function and strategy.

How to do this I will discuss in more in-depth in my next Stakeholder Reputation Management Master Class in June.

 
What: Stakeholder Reputation Management Master Class
This 2 -day course shows business leaders and managers how to establish and maintain positive, mutually beneficial stakeholder relations. It examines amongst many things the steps, hints and practices necessary to build lasting collaborative relationships, which should ultimately result in a better reputation.
When: Thursday, June 7, 2012 8:30 AM to Friday, June 8, 2012 4:30 PM
Where: Apollo Hotel, Randburg, Johannesburg
Bram Fischer Road
Johannesburg, Gauteng   South Africa