Leading Archives

Leadership Dysfunction 2.0

by Alan Culler | Dec 7, 2024 | Leading

“People say I should have known. Maybe. There was that thing at the holiday party, but he was really drunk. The girl was drunk too, by the way. And anyway everybody agreed to drop it and she got another job soon after, so everything worked out.

“He was such a sick programmer, I mean, really elegant code, everybody said so. And the dude was a machine. He totally saved the Techniche voice chat bot project, – made the delivery in three days. People said he was mainlining Red Bull, ‘n’ the client said the bot was like talking to a real person. That Indian accent thing was complete magic, ‘Please to hold the line, while I trensfer you to the You – knighted States. – Halo sar, May I please introduce you to Todd in Topeka who will halp you now. . . . – Haie, Ahm Todd, How kin ah hep you today, sir?’ Still cracks me up.

“I mean, I didn’t know him, really. In the break room once I asked him, ‘Dwayne, dude, why does everybody call you ‘BH,’ and he rolled up his sleeve and showed me the biohazard tattoo and said ‘Afghanistan Recon.’ I thought he was too young to be a vet. Then Howie told me, ‘No dude, that’s his Call of Duty handle.’ Maybe that should have been a clue, but we all play. Dint think anything of it.

“I don’t really get the ‘why,’ if you know what I mean. I mean, sure, HR Karen’s all hands email was really targeted to him ‘. . . so as you RTW you should dress appropriately and leave the camo and tac gear at home.’ And yeah, – his clothes did leave a little to be desired and he didn’t really need to bring a fourteen inch survival Bowie to work. Maybe she should have just spoken to him or, at least, realized that ‘all hands’ goes to the board, including his dad.

“His dad was so helpful with the Sand Hill guys for the mezz and IPO. I wish Karen had thought about that, . . . wait, . . . ‘waddya mean that’s not her name? What? HR Karen is Denise? No. And . . . – oh yeah, was,- – a single Mom with two kids. . .who’ll take. . .? Her mother? Jeezus! I mean, she did send that email the week before complaining about Dwayne. I mean, I had to think who she meant, I mean, everybody called him BH, . . . so he broke some stuff, . . . and what does ‘going postal’ even mean?

“This is just awful. It’s gonna mess people up for months. Maybe we should relax the RTW, ‘cept we take such a hit on productivity with work from home. You’d think the game room and snacks would make people want to come back. We got a big deadline on Goomee2 in ten days. I dunno is it better to be with other people if they’re as shocked as you or better to bury yourself in, . . . right, poor choice of words, . . . better to lose yourself in work at home?

“Y’know what I don’t get is the CSRs and marketing girls, I mean, sure, most of ‘em don‘t get tech, but they’re nice enough and sweet lookin’ -Jeezus what a mess. So much blood. Glass everywhere. Hadda replace all the carpet, and the glass, and half of the cubicles. Insurance paid for most, – thanks for filing those claims. We lost five days cleaning up the center – thank God we had Bangladesh as back up. Stock took a hit, but Charlie was right, – it’s coming back.

“Y’know what burns my ass? It’s a tragedy, I get that. It’s awful, but the media just won’t let it go. I mean, it’s been a month, ‘n’ it coulda been a lot worse if ole Juan hadn’ tackled him, . . . did his wife get the flowers? . . . yeah, just wish that last spray hadn’ gotten ‘em both, I mean I’d just like to ask him, . . . “Why? – I mean BH, . . . – not Juan.

“That’s the thing about mental health. I mean, it’s ‘mental,’ right? Like inside your head, – invisible. But the press will not let it go ‘n’ now it’s the politicians. . . State. . .’n’ Feds. . .

Guns, sure, it’s always the guns. Too bad we have that big ‘No Firearms’ sign on the front door, if HR Karen, . . . ah right, . . . Denise, If Denise had been packin’ this whole thing woulda been a lot less traumatic.

People say I should have known. How’re ya gonna know what goes on inside someone’s head. Somebody has a bad day and yells at one of the girls, or someone has a fight with his wife and throws a stapler, breaks some coffee mugs, and dents a partition, is that such a big deal? Yeah, maybe, . . . well there’s risk in everything, . . . life is a risk, . . . I could walk out the door today ‘n’ get run over by a beer truck, wouldn’t that be a cryin’ shame, . . . risk.

“Still I wish I knew. . . Why?. . .

“He was such a great coder. . .

“So No, Carol, I don’t want to talk to the Senator. ‘N’ no more reporters, OK? Say ‘we’re cooperating fully with the investigation, ‘n’ I’m unavailable for comment.’

“Oh, ‘n’ Carol, wouldya be a love ‘n’ run to Star, ‘n’ get me another Venti Carmel Macchiato with triple shot Red Eye, yeah with whipped ‘n’ four packets of the natural sugar, y’know the ones in the brown packets.

“That’s great, Babycakes. I’ll be in the game room. Gotta Foosball rematch with Howie.”

Avoiding Leadership Dysfunction

AI “Personalization:” Everything Old is New Again

by Alan Culler | Nov 12, 2024 | Leading

By Bob Musial and Alan Culler

Alan Culler and I are comfortable calling ourselves “old sales guys.” Recently, we each watched a video where a consultant described how a company could connect with its customers using information that they already had, “personalizing” the customer experience.

The young man wasn’t a great presenter, but there was nothing wrong with the content he presented:

Don’t ask people to give you the same information over and over again, as an Urgent Care did to him.
Don’t try to sell a dishwasher to someone who just bought one from you.
If you know a person’s dog died, stop sending them treat ads.
Use some common sense screening. If something doesn’t fit a buying pattern – a cane bought buy a thirty-year old – maybe it was a gift. Don’t send the hearing aid ad.

He advised his audience to be careful about how and when you use Artificial Intelligence (AI) because you can make the customer’s experience “personal” or not-so-much.

“Well, Duh,” said one of us to the other. It seemed like customer relations 101 to us.

We then regaled each other with some of our very own worst marketing experiences as customers:

“Dear, <<FIRST NAME>> That’s how I was addressed,”” said Bob. “This is a simple error of connecting to the “first name” column on an Excel flat file, but failing to make the link to column content. The real problem is no one looked at the resulting email mailing to catch the mistake, so no matter how targeted the content was [it wasn’t] it gets deleted. (Oh yeah, it was sent by a self-professed ‘sales guru.)”

Alan described his frustration with ordering books online. “I typically read historical or science fiction, but my recommended books immediately fill up with whatever I ordered last. This is especially bad after Christmas when I buy the grandkids books. I have five columns of early readers and Where’s Waldo.”

We then went on to described our best most personalized customer experience.

“Hong Kong, 1997” said Alan. “The hotel clerk took me to my room to check me in and my bags magically followed. She took my passport and credit card and noticed that my birthday was the next day. Starting with a 7 am wake-up call, everyone I met in the hotel wished me ‘Happy Birthday.’ My breakfast was comped and the cab driver the doorman called wished me Happy Birthday as I left his cab.”

Bob said. “I grew up in a small town. I’d pick up stuff at the local grocery for my Mom. The butcher would know what my mother ordered so if I couldn’t read the list or forgot, he helped out. I always got to pick out two penny candies.”

So, what does all that have to do with AI and personalization?

As a society, we are moving towards a seamless electronic sales and service process. Banks, tech companies, on-line booksellers strive to take the costly human being out of the transaction. Some hide call center phone numbers and direct people to online chat-bots. In those cases, the interaction between humans and AI may quickly deteriorate, leading the customer to utter the four most-dreaded words of request, “Speak to an agent.” When you do get to a real person, it soon becomes apparent that call centers measure customer service representatives on metrics like average call handle time, cross-selling on service calls, and not on call resolution or customer satisfaction, not a happy experience.

Now we want technology to “personalize” the customer experience.

At the core of the word personalization, is . . . “person.”

Persons listen to other people. They hear what is important to the other person (customer). The “seller” offers products or services of value based upon what is important to the customer.

“Personalization”, whether AI enabled or not, is data driven.

In the past, a person might have taken notes about a spouse’s name or a favorite sports team, because it was the basis of a shared “personal” moment, a connection that embodied our shared humanity that gives me, “the seller,” permission to reconnect to learn more about you, “the customer,” to meet your need.

That sales person might have kept a client file, or a notebook. Later that information might have been transferred to a spreadsheet and then Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software like Salesforce.com.

Marketers might have tracked advertisement response rates and purchase history in handwritten documents, then spreadsheets, then ad tracker software.

The key to success of data-driven personalization, whether notebook or software, is keeping the data up to date, and knowing when to use it, and not abuse it.

Unfortunately during the process, “common sense” frequently takes a back seat to technology.

AI can automate data collection and mimic intimate interactions of years past. Computer code, an algorithm, can take the notes, remember the purchase history, recognize patterns of response to certain words, and “personally” recommend a product or service. This technology can dramatically shorten the time required to gather and analyze data from multiple sources to create targeted, meaningful communications.

AI also can portend disaster, ever-faster poorly targeted, even insulting marketing communications that drive customers away rather than attract them.

As you begin the AI or non-AI personalization journey, plan for data accuracy reviews, empathy, and judgement, in short, human insight and oversight. AI programmers and marketers must talk to each other, as the cartoon above illustrates.

Thie AI journey requires detailed knowledge of the customer demographics, and psychographics and the judgement to know when to use it. In the past a customer might have shared a spouse’s name and a savvy salesperson had the judgement to know when and how to inquire after the spouse without sounding creepy.

As AI develops can we trust it to respect privacy, i.e., not be creepy?

The software engineers who develop artificial intelligence are driven by the questions “What’s possible? What can we do?” Marketers must represent the business question, “What makes sense to generate customer acquisition and retention, revenue and profit? And someone must look at “What should we do? What’s right?”

It is a delicate balance between Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning and human Soft Skills like communication, critical thinking, creativity and empathy.

Clients and prospects will appreciate receiving well-timed, personalized communications, messages that make them feel that their business is valued. When done well, it will also help to contribute to positive word of mouth referrals.

However, when not done well . . . word of mouth works both ways.

About Bob and Alan

with piercing blue eyes Bob Musial

Bob Musial helps clients with business development that encompasses a wide spectrum of disciplines and industries. He frequently uses personalized humor (like the cartoon in this article), to set the stage for conveying a message in a relatable and memorable manner. Bob has a long history of personalized communications built from conversations with contacts, storing “likes and dislikes” information in a custom database designed to deepen relationships. He is the author of Soft Skills, Hard Returns.

Alan Culler is a retired strategic change consultant and author who worked with multi-billion dollar global companies to help them innovate, integrate, and improve processes, productivity and profitability. He is the author of Traveling the Consulting Road and has a new book coming out soon, Change Leader? Who Me?

Good Grief

by Alan Culler | Nov 12, 2024 | Leading

Here, in the United States of America, we just had the quadrennial shouting match we call our presidential elections. We are a very divided country. We have been divided since our founding according to how much government we want and where the locus of power should reside, federal, state, or local. Now we are also divided by the character of our neighborhood, rural or urban, by education and whether we work primarily with skilled hands or knowledge and keyboards. We are also divided by race, religion, gender, and how recently our ancestors immigrated to these shores. (This is not a complete list. ☹)

Despite these multi-vectored bifurcations, our republic is primarily a two party system. Sure there might be four or five parties on a ballot, but they never garner enough votes to be anything other than a spoiler in a close election. This was a close election, not as close as 2000 or even 2016, but close, and there may be some whining about spoilers, but mostly the election is over.

The emotions of one party can be described with “E’ words: endorsed, elated, enthusiastic, ebullient. Emotions on the other side could be described with ‘D’ words: disappointed, dismayed, distraught, depressed.

On Wednesday morning, roughly six hours after the race was called, a Life Coach LinkedIn connection from Texas, posted “Are you ready for change?”

He went on to describe “D’ word reactions as fear of, and resistance to, change. And gave advice to the losing side not to “spend all your time fighting it. . .[but]. . .accept it and move forward.” I’m abbreviating substantially.

In fairness, during the last two elections each side has spent four years fighting the elected party and I’m sure this person’s intentions were good, but the timing and the “get over it” message struck me as a bit smug,

I responded with a lecture of my own (again abbreviating substantially):

“People don’t fear change; they fear loss, loss of self-definition, and things they believe in. Mostly they fear loss of autonomy or choice for changes they feel are done to them. So they don’t resist change; they resist your change.”

He responded with a quote from his book, advising me to “cross the fear zone.”

At this point I disengaged, but four days later, I recalled a diagram from much earlier in my career, which I used to “help” people through change.

Moving from denial and resistance to change requires changing focus from the past to future and the personal to the collective

The ‘u’ depicted is “The Emotional Cycle of Change from Gemini Consulting, which is based upon Elizabeth Kübler Ross’s 5 Stages of Grief Model. The matrix is the orientation shift (moving from past to future and personal to corporate).

As a youngish organization development consultant I thought, “if asked,” I could help people move from denial to commitment, making the shift from past to future and personal to company.

I recognize now how naïve that was, but at least I recognized that someone would have to ask for my help. As American psychologist Carl Rogers said in “The Helping Relationship,” “help is defined by the recipient, . . . help that is not asked for is rarely perceived as help, . . but rather as interference.”

Elizabeth Kübler Ross’s 5 Stages of Grief are:

Shock, including disbelief and denial
Anger, directed at the deceased, self, or lashing out at anyone
Bargaining, with God, the medical community, family, “if I do this will you save him (me)
Depression, “nothing will ever be the same again, I can’t go on”
Acceptance, “It’s over; life goes on.”

Since I created my diagram, I have lost both parents, one sister, one nephew, and a close friend and business partner. I have grieved myself and been around many others who are grieving.

I have worked with people in companies in “hostile takeovers,” and other acquisitions. I have coached business owners whose business failed. I have reorganized companies, seeing people who’ve devoted their lives to one business unit or function, transferred, radically altering their business “identity.” I observed many people go through the “Emotional Cycle of Change.

It doesn’t matter which curve you are on; whether you are grieving loss of a loved one or emotionally processing change, these things are true:

It is an individual journey. You are processing your emotion, you must do it yourself.
It isn’t a straight line or a one-way journey. You bounce back and forth between phases.
You can get stuck in one phase –“De Nile [denial] is not just a river in Egypt,” Is funny for a reason. And perhaps you know someone stuck in anger, – Louis Black’s comedy and his role in Inside Out – are parodies of that.
You can’t just – skip to the end. Some individuals might spend less time in one phase or another, but all those emotions are there.

There was a time when I made fun of organizational development consultants who conducted funerals for the old ways, carrying certain values forward into the new. I still think it’s a little woo-woo, but I understand the usefulness.

I saw the remnants of denial left by not saying goodbye to the old. British European Airways (BEA) and British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) still each had different British Airways logos eight years after they became BA. Some field workers at BP still wore their Arco and Amoco coveralls ten years after the acquisitions. Cries of “foreign interference” in the 2016 election and “Stop the Steal” in the 2020 election made working together impossible.

Giving my LinkedIn connection the benefit of the doubt, perhaps he just wanted people to work together. Judging from the comments below, several ‘E’-word people found his post helpful.

To be helpful to those grieving or having difficulty with change, a leader might:

Wait to be asked
Start by just listening
Summarize what you have heard.
Assess where someone is on the grief or emotional cycle.
- Someone in Shock or denial mostly needs someone to listen.
- Someone in Anger may need to vent, but be reminded not to seem threatening to self or others.
- Someone ‘bargaining,” or feeling guilty, might be reminded what that sounds like, and asked if they really think it will help.
- A seriously depressed person might be directed to professional help.
- Someone moving towards acceptance, might be encouraged to experiment or to act on things they are committed to in the new order.
Prepare for, and try not to judge, “backsliding,” and “revisiting.”
Avoid saying things like “Get over it,” “Move on,” “let’s look at the bright side. At least you have _____” or “Relax and enjoy it.”

Might these ideas be helpful connecting with the other side in a political divide? Maybe. (See numbers 1and 2). It is probably most important to recognize grief, and give people space to process their emotions.

Change Craft

by Alan Culler | Nov 1, 2024 | Leading

“A woodworker must “apply a thousand skills” to find the ideal use for each piece of wood, respecting the “soul of the tree” and shaping it to realize its true potential”

George Nakashima, architect, artist, builder of beautiful wood furniture worked until his nineties. Now his children carry on his craft.

In the fourteenth century Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a visionary poem, Parlement of Foules, about birds choosing mates and people living joined to nature. He began with a wish for more time to perfect his craft as a poet:

“The lyf so short, the kraft so long to lern”

What writer, woodworker, or musician, or for that matter, electrician, or plumber hasn’t said, “I need more practice to be up to this craft?”

Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers described K. Anders Erikson’s research at the Berlin Academy of Music to posit that it takes 10,000 hours of focused practice to become world class at anything.

The phrase “focused practice” is critical. It means not just total practice time. I’m sure I’ve logged more than 10,000 hours playing the guitar since I started at age thirteen. I’m better than I was at thirteen, but not that much better.

No, this is “focused practice,” that is, practice focused on improvement, breaking down the craft, practicing each part in isolation, getting rigorous feedback, and practicing again, then putting all the craft segments back together. Ten thousand hours of that kind of practice and I’d be a lot better guitarist, woodcarver, or writer.

Ah, but the “lyf so short.”

What is a craft?

The English word “craft” has its origins in the Anglo-Saxon “cræft,” which comes from the German “kraft,” meaning “skill or strength at planning and making.” When we think of craft we think “handmade,” or small batch production, like handmade tables, hand-woven blankets or craft beer.

The building trades, carpentry, electric wiring, plumbing, etc., call their work crafts. Actors talk about their craft; musicians and painters talk about the craft foundations of their art. Craft is based upon unique knowledge and skills, or competencies, the craftsman uses to plan and make with quality. That craftsman increases competence with focused practice.

Is leading change a craft?

Does leading change have unique competencies? Absolutely. Is there an opportunity for focused practice? Uh. . .

Most managers have only a few opportunities to lead change in their career. At least, that used to be the problem. These days between changes in technology, global markets, the environment, demographics and people’s attitudes, it seems like we are facing “constant change.”

Some are stuck in the past, when the craft of change leadership was a rarely used capability that could be left to consultants, staff, and other specialists. Some think a new technology implements itself, or that entering a new market on the other side of the world is about language translation, or that people should “just suck it up and work all the time, like I did.”

The basics of change craft

I could write a book on the subject. In fact, I’m writing a book on this subject, Change Leader? Who Me? Wisdom for those new to leading change, due out at the beginning of next year. This book is mostly about leading change in business, where I spent my career, but I think the concepts are applicable in the public sector, or in personal change as well.

Start with some basic questions.

The most important question is Why?

Because the customers changed – different needs, wants, or expectations. Competitors changed – different providers (e.g., international) or they are better, faster, cheaper.

Or there is a new technology, an opportunity for us to be better, faster, cheaper. Or the rules of the game have changed – new regulations, community standards, a new owner with new targets.

So what?

Do we have to change? Is not changing an option? What is the impact of not changing? When?

These first two questions are about the change mindset, which I wrote about a few weeks ago here. Change happens when people, individuals or groups collectively, internalize the dissatisfaction with the status quo, envision a different future and act, despite any fear of loss. It is the primary job of the change leader to adopt a change mindset and help others to as well.

Who will help make this change happen?

John Kotter, Harvard professor and author of several books on change leadership has a change requirements model that includes the usual concepts, vision, urgency, communications, short term wins, etc. Kotter though recommends “Building a Guiding Coalition” for the change. He describes this as often a diagonal slice of the organization, with executives, middle managers, and opinion leaders. In my experience these are often people who are outside the current power structure and may be people who have been vocally critical of the status quo.

Jim Collins, author of Good to Great: Why some companies make the leap. . . and others don’t, recommends the first step of change to be “Decide who’s on the bus.” Even individuals making personal change can benefit from this analysis. Who supports you in the change you want to make? Who can help in ways beyond moral support?

My list of criteria for who is on the bus:

Has internalized the ‘Why’
A true problem solver who invests the time to define and analyze a problem, not just someone who suggests “solutions” before having the facts.
Extraordinary communication skills – looking for clarity over eloquence, and simplicity, over “sounding smart.”
People others listen to. (This often has nothing to do with positional power, but everything to do with “craft capability.”)
A least one person who immediately jumps to the “worst case scenario.” This is your risk assessor, your unintended consequences seer. (You don’t want a whole team of doom and gloomers, but one or two with a sense of humor can help avoid disaster.)

What is changing?

People may answer by type of change, more innovation, continuous improvement, integration (aligning systems, processes, and people, to “get on the same page). There is often a progression in types of change, Innovate -Integrate -Improve -Integrate -Repeat.

People also answer this question in terms of discipline, new strategy, technology, operational processes, people-stuff like training, organization, etc. There are often more disciplines that need to change than were initially thought and people-stuff is always central. Companies don’t change unless people do, including the change leader. Who me? Yes, you.

How to change?

I use a simple model:

Insight – discover new data about the why of change.
Action – plan, mobilize, take small steps, measure at every stage.
Results – project results at each stage, inputs, activities, outputs, measure.

And one last thing, expect backsliding, missed targets and failure. Reframe, regroup and…

Don’t Give Up!

With some focused practice you can be a change craftsman.

Who me? Yes, you.

Who Leads the Leader?

by Alan Culler | Oct 6, 2024 | Leading

This picture is a cartoon archetype. A guru, hermit, wiseman sits before the mouth of a cave high in the mountains. Before him sits a young seeker, a supplicant, whose backpack indicates he has climbed high into the mountains looking for answers to his burning question:

“What is the meaning of life?”

The punchlines almost always imply that seeking wisdom externally is unlikely to find it:

“Life? Life is just one darned thing after another.”

“OK, I’ll teach you the meaning of life, if you teach me how to climb down off a mountain.”

“No, No, I’m not a Life Coach, next mountain over.”

Which brings us to the question, where does a leader go for help? A personal guru or spiritual advisor? A leader in another organization? A staff confidant? Her team? A consultant? A coach? A mentor? A therapist?

It depends.

Help

It depends on the kind of help.

If the leader is looking for specific expertise to help the organization, then a staff person, or an expert consultant, or university researcher might be the appropriate choice?

If the leader is unsure how to get the organization to do something, improve, innovate, integrate, then a process consultant might be more appropriate?

If the problem is more personal, the leader’s own behaviors are getting in the way of goal attainment, then perhaps a coach might help?

If the problem is developmental and within the context of an organization, an industry, or a discipline then perhaps relying on a mentor relationship might help?

If the problem is rooted in deeper emotions and is showing up in other areas of life, then perhaps a therapist could help?

Leadership is itself a helping profession, so any of these helping professionals might also provide a model of how to help others.

There are many leaders who ask the people in their own organizations for help, the leadership team, staff specialists, a colleague, or a friend. This works for leaders who ask for input regularly and demonstrate that they want the “straight skinny” and not to be flattered. Some will not believe you and flatter you anyway and the first time you get defensive or blow up at bad news you destroy all the candor you earned to that point.

Help is defined by the recipient: you have to ask for it and you have to accept it.

Change

One of my favorite punchlines for this cartoon appears in a callout over the seeker’s head:

“Change? Wait, what? I don’t want to change. I was just curious.”

If you ask for advice, people have an expectation you will act on it. Maybe not all of it and maybe not all the time, but people you ask for help expect that you will do something differently as a result, even people you are paying to help you. Coaches expect you to take action on your goals. Strategy consultants expect you to implement the strategy. Mentors expect you to grow.

The leader who asks everyone on his team for advice and follows none of it, soon earns diminishing followership. Also, be careful of playing favorites, you know, asking everyone, but always doing what Marie suggests.

Dependency

Another punchline for this cartoon:

“So, Grasshopper, you feel self-actualized? You have resolved your imposter syndrome and been recognized for achieving your goals? Are you sure others are not just flattering you? Could you be lying to yourself?”

I believe that most consultants, coaches, therapists and even mentors are genuine and offer help solving a problem to put you in a place to solve this problem yourself in the future, to in effect “work themselves out of a job.” If, however, you find yourself asking for the same kind of help over and over again, stop and ask “Why? Whose interests does this serve?”

I have a friend who hires a new personal trainer every year. Sometimes it works. He ran a marathon in under three-and-a half hours. Then he got into triathlons and raved about his swimming and bike coaches. He skied with a professional instructor for two weeks at Jackson Hole and paid for the instructor to fly and ski with him in Vale. (I tried to convince him to fly me to Vail without success.) Now he doesn’t ski.

To be fair, this man devotes most of his energy to his business, which, obviously, pays him quite well. It is clear what his priority is, but I wonder if he is dependent on advisors in that arena too.

Leadership Wisdom

Leaders rise in unusual, abnormal circumstances, war, change, emergencies. I often say that two of the accountabilities of the leader are:

to clarify direction (vison) “This way” and
to attract followers “Follow me.”

It’s OK to ask for help.

Maybe you need help clarifying direction, knowing what to do, when or how. Maybe you need help, getting people “on the same page,” organizing, mobilizing, staying on track, or achieving results. Maybe, as the instrument of whatever change you seek, you need to work on yourself.

It’s OK to ask for help.

Yes, you must be clear about the kind of help you need and ask the right person. Yes, you still have to act on advice even if it means uncomfortably changing something about yourself. Yes, the answer may not be forthcoming because it is within you. But ask anyway.

Here are some other punchlines for this cartoon:

“To achieve your greatest goals sometimes all you have to do is ask.” Steve Jobs

“We cannot teach people anything. We can only help them discover it for themselves” Galileo

“Life is a bubbling fountain.”

“Wait, WHAT?! I climbed all the way up here and that’s it?! ‘Life is a bubbling fountain?’”

“You m-m-mean. . . Life is not a bubbling fountain???”

Pondering Influence

by Alan Culler | Sep 16, 2024 | Leading

Carl asks

“Why? Whaddyer tryin’ t’be an Influencer or sumtin’?”

Carl, a voice from my youth, not a friend exactly, just someone I used to know, questioned why I write this blog, and post on LinkedIn, and Medium, and BizCatalyst 360. He couldn’t understand my motivation. Truthfully, I was having a difficult time explaining it.

“I dunno, I. . .”

“I mean, you’re not getting paid, right? You don’t even carry advertising. Why would you spend your retirement writing this ____? Yunno, Mr. Beast has millions of followers, makes a gazillion dollars and gives people houses, I don’t get why you do this? Just sayin’ . . .”

“I don’t know. I’m just trying to share some things I learned. . . and I like to write . . .I’m not trying to influence anyone.”

That conversation was last spring. Recently, Dr. Ali Anani, one of my LinkedIn connections, posted a piece on Influence, which caused me to reconsider the concept.

What is Influence?

“The capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of something, or someone, or the effect itself.” (Oxford Dictionary)

It’s one of those words that can be a noun or a verb. Synonyms for the noun include impact, persuasion, clout, domination, and leadership; synonyms for the verb are shape, sway, persuade, affect, inspire, impress, manipulate, guide, and lead.

People talk about the influence of a leader, and that can be negative or positive so dominate, and manipulate sit cheek by jowl with inspire and guide.

Writers on Influence

Writers, long before me, pondered the positive and negative definitions of influence.

In sixteenth century Florence, Niccolo Machiavelli, writing in Discourses on Livi, noted that:

“A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example.”

Machiavelli’s best known writing is The Prince, wherein he advocated a politics completely separated from ethics.

“. . . know how to take possession of popular prejudices and passions, in such a way as to introduce a confusion of principles which makes impossible all understanding . . .”

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, written in 1936, has sold over 30 million copies and the concepts have been used as the basis of countless sales, self-help, and leadership training sessions.

“The only way on earth to influence other people is to talk about what they want and show them how to get it.”

Carnegie’s advice often sounds like what my mother told me, “Smile, and listen,” and what my father did, “Say people’s names three times when you meet them so you’ll remember their name and they’ll know you are paying attention to them.”

In 1982, when I worked at training and consulting firm The Forum Corporation (now Achieve Forum a part of Korn Ferry), I taught their program Influence Management. This program taught how to “get things done through other people, without the use of direct lines of authority.”

The program was based upon competency research on what differentiated high performers in matrix organizations and other high influence environments. There were twenty three behaviors that all correlated around a core of three practices:

Being supportive and helpful
Sharing power in the interest of a shared goal
Behaving in a way that led others to trust you

Being supportive and helpful invites others to reciprocate. Sharing power prioritizes the shared goal over credit. Trust behavior was defined as being sure you share information, involve others in decision making that affects them, and always do what you say you’ll do, (Wouldn’t the world be better, if we all did these things?)

In 1984, Robert Cialdini of Stanford University (now at Arizona State), wrote Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Dr. Cialdini’s research showed influential behaviors included,

reciprocity, give to get
showing commitment and consistency,
social proof (leading by example so others can copy),
demonstrating authority (often knowledge based),
being likeable, by connecting around similarities,
scarcity, appear limited in availability, and
unity, stress the consensus and group bonds that unite.

Cialdini, unlike Machiavelli, and despite the fact that he calls himself the “Godfather of Influence,” does not divorce these behaviors from ethical principles.

Influencer Marketing

OK, influencers didn’t just spring up with YouTube, despite the way that my granddaughter introduced me to Mr. Beast when she was ten.

“Look Grampa, this post by Mr. Beast has 34 million views, and because of the number of eyeballs, advertisers want to be associated with his YouTube site, and provide him with cash to give away houses and cars and stuff. The fact that so many of his posts go viral increases his influence on the market.”

(Did I mention that my son-in-law is in the marketing department of a major business school?)

There have been celebrity spokespeople forever. Roman gladiators advertised oils to fans. “Potter to her Royal Majesty Queen Charlotte,” Wedgewood used royal connections to promote blue-and-white-ware. Nineteenth century actress Lily Langtry promoted Pear’s soap and Santa Claus has been promoting Coca-Cola since 1931.

Social media just changed what it takes to be a celebrity. Now popular online personalities collaborate with brands to promote products, or otherwise sponsor their content. It is powerful stuff, which is why social media companies are creating rules to make it clear that influencers inform fans that they are being paid to promote brands, products or ideas.

Back to Carl

Why?

Do I want to be an influencer? Well maybe a little. I would like it if some wisdom I learned along the way caused someone to change their behavior or avoid a mistake I made.

Do I want to be rich? Not really.

Will I charge for a subscription to this shared knowledge? Probably not. Do I want to employ my writing to sell someone else’s salty snacks or dishwashing soap? Definitely not.

Do I want to be famous?

Well, I’d like a few more people to read what I write. So feel free to share links here. Famous though? Not-so-much.

Sorry, Carl.

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