Feedback from the Real World

One of the advantages of being the first and oldest at something (ExecuNet was founded in 1988) is that when you start collecting data and war stories you can truthfully say "trust me when I tell you....because I can prove it."

So "trust me when I tell you" ever since day one when we spoke to each and every person considering joining this network as well as the wealth of survey information that we have gathered since, that by far and away one of the most profound points of frustration for anyone in a search and senior level executives in particular is the deafening silence that most get when they respond to an ad, be it online or off.

There is a great deal that has been and could be said on this subject and many of us have done so over the years, but I am always looking for more resources to help in setting the right expectation level when it comes to the something like this very sore subject.

Unfortunately, a lot of what has been written on this topic while directionally correct is so filled with platitudes and excuses that in terms of resonating with the reader it simply falls pretty flat. So, when I find something that doesn't and more importantly meets our standard of pragmatism or as we like to say around the office truly is "feedback from the real world" I want to do all I can to make our members as well as others aware of it because there isn't enough of it out there.

Okay, so write this down How to Work with Headhunters by Nick Corcodilos. Many readers of this blog I am sure will recognize Nick's name if for no other reason than he too has been around for a good long while and has a well-deserved following (including myself) of his blog called Ask the Headhunter.

So why am I flogging How to Work with Headhunters? Easy. It speaks my language and if you go to the site Nick has set up to buy the book, I think you will quickly see what I mean.

Words of one syllable, really worthwhile advice from someone from the recruiting world who is willing to be transparent in an effort to try and help people really not just understand the whats and whys, but more importantly the HOWs in dealing with a whole host of issues that few job hunters really understand but which frustrate them by the thousands.

The book contains the answers to 62 "in-your-face" questions, and "in-your-face" is the right phrase. Nick's writing style sort of suggests to me an image of Howard Cosel with a sense of humor. Said differently, you may or may not like what he has to say sometimes, but it is very real, actionable, and as such should help a lot of people deal with "the system" in "real world" terms, and that we like and happily recommend.

People Will Always Pay a Premium for Quality

If you are familiar with ,ExecuNet then it will come as no surprise for you to know that we collect trend information in the executive career management arena.

One of these collection channels we call the Recruiter's Confidence Index. The RCI is a monthly survey of the recruiting community and includes both retained and contingency firms.

The core of the index is focused on their feeling about the market over the next 3-6 months. If you are interested in the latest you can click here.

In doing the survey however, we often will ask some other questions based on trends that we have either read or hear about on a day to day basis.

Recently, we wanted to check and see what the executive recruiting community folks were feeling were their "top business challenges" at this point in time vs. several months ago when the answer was a resounding "what business!"

Among other things, I was struck by the fact that doom and gloom on the nightly newscasts and the front pages notwithstanding, the #1 issue came back as: finding qualified candidates.

To explain: I was struck that this was the top concern not because this is a new issue. Finding top tier talent (what's the buzz word these days - "A" players?) has always been a major challenge, and remains so. [Hence the title of this post] No, what got my attention was not what was on top of the list, but what wasn't even in the top three - specifically the hunt for new business.

This isn't to say that firms that specialize in the sectors that have really been hard hit (Financial Services, Credit, Construction,and Housing) aren't still feeling it big time, for many are, but as a whole, at least based on what people were telling us in the last couple of months, the sky may still be very cloudy and producing occasional severe storms; nonetheless, they are starting to see some light on the far horizon.

And in case you were wondering, #2 was covered by the phrase "client and business issues" (whatever that may mean) and #3 was "relocation." Certainly one can tie the latter to the housing market, and it would also make selling a candidate tougher for sure, but the fact that recruiters' phones were starting to ring (if not off the hook but still ringing) was a good sign.

What are you hearing?

Invent, Invent, Invent

Okay, I admit it, I am a Tom Friedman groupie and if you fall into that category then you will instantly recognize the title of this post as being the title of the Op Ed piece that Friedman wrote for the Sunday NY Times at the end of June.

If you haven't seen this piece then as both as a business leader not to mention a concerned citizen I very much suggest you check it out.

If you don't have the time, the gist of the article is about what Friedman (and others) feel is needed to overcome our current economic woes.

Essentially, the point he makes is that the benchmark UVP that the U.S. has is its creatvity, especially in the creation of breakthrough technology. Not that this by itself is "the answer" as we all know, but it is certainly an essential element.

To help underscore his point, there is what I thought was a great quote at the beginning of the piece in which Friedman quotes Craig Barrett, the former chairman of Intel, who when Tom asked him what he thought the "way out" was said: "Any American kid who wants his driver's license has to finish high school. No diploma - no license. Hey, why would we want to put a kid who can barely add, read or write behind the wheel of a car?"

A tad of an over-simplification for sure, but an attention grabber that helps us to foucs on what I think is the real elephant in the room - the state of education in our country.

If you buy the argument that the world is well into a knowledge driven economy then you would certainly get the point that Barrett was making and one with which I am sure Friedman agrees.

A sample for those who like stats:

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development places the United States 18th among the 36 nations examined, USA Today reported ...

Headed to the top of the heap is South Korea where 93 percent of high school students graduate on time compared with the United States where 75 percent receive their diplomas.

And these are just percentages and say nothing about the "quality" of each. I often wonder if in many high schools they don't give away as many diplomas as are really earned.

I also often wonder why it is that the American business community and most especially those with global footprints don't do far more to lobby and $upport an education system that is desperately deficient.

To say that it is in their self-interest is the understatement of week!

Treadmill Thoughts

"The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all." H.L. Mencken

I suppose I am not unlike most other Americans in that I undoubtedly take the freedoms that I have pretty much for granted. Not that I'm proud of it, but when I look in the mirror I have to admit that it isn't something that I go to bed at night or wake up in the morning thinking about.

That said, as I was on the treadmill at the gym this morning and watching the news and listening to the commentary surrounding our latest poster children for ego driven greed (i.e. Bernie Madoff and Allen Stanford) two thoughts kept surfacing in my mind and as they did, I kept getting madder, going faster and sweating more.

The first thought as I've already said was the anger I felt at listening yet once again to the how these two guys had betrayed the trust of others.

The second, however, was about how they had thrown away the opportunity that living in this country had given to them.

Maybe the second thought came because the 4th is this weekend when we are all reminded of just how fortunate we are to live in this country. It was this second thought that led me to the Mencken quote up top of this post.

Since I have spent my entire career in the business world, and most of that interacting with senior level business leaders, I have had my share of experience in dealing with the "scoundrels" on a personal level as well as reading and hearing about the all too many others (i.e. Ebbers, Lay et al.)

But as I was "cooling down" from my workout, and thinking about these SOBs and what they had elected to do with the freedom and opportunities that living here had given them, I thought to myself that as bad as they were and are, in terms of those who lead businesses in this country (both large and small) the over-whelming majority of them don't really need to be "regulated."

As I think the Mencken quote suggests, laws are written to try and protect the rest of us from the few who choose to use the freedom we enjoy to satisfy their own greed as opposed to using the opportunity they have been given to give back in a way that helps us to grow as a society and country.

Maybe all this sounds rediculously idealistic, however, I have certainly been around long enough to know that like it or not, we actually do need the laws and regs to protect us from the preditors. Caveat emptor hasn't been around as long as it has just because back in the day someone thought it was a clever phrase.

But even with all this "evil" surrounding us why am I optimistic? Because I really do believe that there are far more leaders out there (even lots whose first name might be Bernie or Ken) who lead their departments, divisions, SBUs and companies who have taken advantage of the freedoms we enjoy to lead in a way that make us proud to not just be part of their organization but proud as well to be a citizen of the greatest country on earth.

Enjoy your holiday.

Successful Leaders List

HSM is an organization that has a richly deserved reputation for putting together conferences that rank among the very top tier of executive education for C-Level leadership.

Last year's World Innovation Forum held in New York featured any number of A-List names, one of which was Andrew Zolli who was the closing keynote. Zolli is the founder of Z + Partners, a futures research and strategy consultancy. He also is the force behind an annual conference called Pop!Tech whose focus is on thinking, science, and technology.

To say that the business world has been searching for the Holy Grail of leadership traits, chacteristics or themes is an understatement of the first order, so when someone of Zolli's stature is willing to share some of his thoughts of the subject, it is a list worth sharing.

In his remarks, he offered up the following as the most common behaviors of successful leaders:

• Making the top of the organization accountable
• Embracing user-centered design everywhere
• Treating employees and consumers the same
• Constantly placing a lot of small bets in small increments, then managing and collapsing them
• Leveraging ambient, unused architecture
• Finding and embracing lead users
• Investing and incenting with cash
• Investing in employees before consultants and customers
• Copying existing best practices, but sparingly
• Leveraging innovations outside the company
• Embracing a portfolio management approach
• Systematically scanning for weak signals – the fringe things today that are important tomorrow

Certainly is as good as any list I've seen lately. How does it stack up against your own feelings and experience?

Work Matters

I am a fan of Robert Sutton which hardly makes me unique in that I am sure his fan base runs well into the thousands if not tens of thousands. Sutton's own blog is called Work Matters. He also writes for The Huffington Post when he is not writing books.

Sutton's latest book as most know carries the attention getting title of: The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't. If you are among those organization leaders who are always looking for the ways and means to keep moving toward a work environment where the only yelling tends to come when celebrating success, and you haven't checked this book out, put it on your summer reading list!

Anyway, the purpose of this post wasn't to flog Sutton's book but rather to point readers to his blog and a posting titled: The Asshole and Umpire. It was posted on the 15th.

Colorful language aside, it is an interesting commentary on conflict resolution and among other things helps to reinforce the time-honored rule of effective management 101: Praise in Public, Punish in Private.

Poco a poco se crusa el mar

The Fed numbers report that came out today were described by CNN Money.com as "positive signs."

Jobless claims came in at 601,000 which while a big number at least was less than the prior report. In addition, retail sales showed a gain for the first time in three months.

Eveyone has his/her own "touch points" that they watch to try and read the economic tea leaves. One of the ones we have been using since 2003 is what we call the Recruiter Confidence Index.

For those who may not be familiar with the index, it is based on a monthly survey of executive search firms conducted by ExecuNet. Designed to forecast job growth at the executive level, a reading above 50 percent indicates recruiters expect the number of search assignments in the next six months will increase. Independent analysis of the RCI has confirmed it is a leading indicator for the executive employment market.

We post the index on our public website so if you are not a member, you can still check it out by clicking here.

Better still, we have recently twisted Mark Anderson's arm (Mark is ExecuNet's President and Chief Economist) to add some of his own commentary. If that's of interest you can hear what he has to say by clicking here or by doing a search on ExecuNet on YouTube.

All of which is to say, that while things like 600,000+ are still distrubingly a lot bigger than any of us would like, and a gain for retail sales for the first time in three months is hardly the hockey stick we all would wish for, at least it is one more sign that while we have a long, long way to go, maybe we are on the right path.

Let's hope.

Another Chicken & Egg Story

When it comes to the economy it has always been about confidence (or so the talking heads tell us). To hear them tell it, it is almost like a self-fulfilling prophesy. If we as consumers think things are getting better, they get better. If we start to lose confidence, then the charts go the other way.

Every day in the papers (what few are left) or on the crawling headlines on CNBC or MSNBC not to mention tons of tweets, we get the word:

Index on pending housing sales has gone up. (yea)

Oil prices are heading up again. (boo)

Fewer banks failed this month. (yea)

Number of people filing on-going unemployment claims declines for first time since January. (yea)

Unemployment rate jumps to 9.4% (boo)

and on it goes....

So what are we to believe? Beats the hell out of me, but in case you hadn't stumbled across it yet, and since everyone likes to look at employment as a key indicator, check this out:

Recruiter Confidence Climbs To Highest Level In Eleven Months

ExecuNet's Recruiter Confidence Index (RCI) surged 16 points higher in May, as the executive search industry's outlook for the employment market improved for the third consecutive month amid signs that economic conditions are stabilizing. The RCI now stands at its highest level since June 2008.

Introduced in May 2003, the Recruiter Confidence Index is based on a monthly survey of executive search firms conducted by ExecuNet.

Designed to forecast job growth at the executive level, a reading above 50 percent indicates recruiters expect the number of search assignments in the next six months will increase. Independent analysis of the RCI has confirmed it is a leading indicator for the executive employment market

Yes, I know that the unemployment rate hit 9.4% and will likely keep going up for a while, nonetheless I am very encouraged by what our RCI is showing. Not just because it has made it back above 50, but more importantly because we firmly believe that it has proven to be a leading indicator as the copy above states.

I also know, based on our penchant for "instant" fixes, that there are still millions who are struggling to work through these tough times, and that the positive signs that we see (be they home-grown such as our own RCI data or whatever), the "good news" isn't going to happen fast enough.

Those who know me would probably tell you that I tend to be a half-empty type, but that is not my feeling at this point.

Manic? No. Euphoric? No. Feeling better? Yes. Press on, press on, press on!

Never Be Afraid To Hire People Who Are Smarter Than You Are

In terms of "followers" neither Seth Godin or GL Hoffman need any introduction in either the blogosphere or Twitter worlds.

However, and in case you missed Seth's post a "Clean Sheet of Paper" and GL's value added, the links are included here as a public service.

Far be it from me to try to value add to what these two guys have to say, but the thought struck me that in a sense what both were talking about is (at least for me) one of the most uncomfortable tasks any of us have to do as managers.

If you're a Jeopardy fan, the category is Management "D"ilemmas. The Answer: The toughest thing for most managers to do consistantly and well.

Question: What is delegation?

Is that what you wrote down?

When In Doubt

Given the "latest in the series" as they say (i.e. Madoff and Stanford) many of the talking heads both on and offline have dusted off all the stuff they wrote when they were writing about Ebbers, Lay, et al each of whom were desparately jocking for space in the papers, on blogs and the FBI's Most Wanted List.

I guess I probably should include the likes of Citi, BOA, Freddie Mac, etc. as part of "the list" too, but I think I am still too ticked off to deal with it. I am still at the "let's draw and quarter them" stage.

Anyway, every time I read or hear about this stuff, I just can't help wondering why such a simple and fundamental set of values seems to have been lost by so many of those who used to carry around the title of "leader."

I figured if everybody else was doing it, maybe I should dust of my "when in doubt" file and see what I had saved. What turned up was the following from Norman Augustine.

Here's what he had to say:

How can one decide what the ethically correct thing to do is? Answer the following questions:

1. Is it legal?

2. If someone else did "this to you," would you think it was fair?

3. Would you be content if this were to appear on the front page of your hometown newspaper?

4. Would you like your mother to see you do this?

I suppose that instead of this list he could have just said why not try the one that starts with "Do unto others..." but I guess he thought that one was already spoken for.

Anybody out there have any suggestions who we might send these guidelines to who might have missed the memo?

The Keys to Influence

If you think that all recruiters care or talk about is putting warm bodies into open boxes, you might want to check out Jason Davis' site Recruiting Blogs.com.

Sure there are lots of posts regarding the care and feeding of recruiting practices both in and out of cyberspace. But beyond subject matter in which you would have little interest unless you were a part of the staffing world, there is a good deal of very insightful thoughts on a wide variety of topics in which any business executive would have an interest and is one of the reasons I try to see what folks over there are talking about.

Not surprisingly, when John Sumser starts a topic on this site, it is not only widely read but usually prompts lots of commentary, and his recent post entitled The Keys to Influence was no exception.

Indeed, one of the things I have learned in writing my own blog over the past four years is that I can't just sit down and fire up a post, which is probably why (along with time management that's in desparate need of first aid) I don't post as frequently as many others. For me, I have to genuinely feel I have something I want to say, and often when reading Sumser commentary, it gins up those feelings.

I also have discovered over the years that there are certain subjects on the business front that spark my interest, the role of leadership being one of them. And it's that which caused me to be one of those who commented on the aforementioned posting of John's.

Some of the most spirited discussions amongst ExecuNet members over the years have also been on the topic of leadership, and the fact that it continues to be simply underscores the fact that while we all understand how critical leadership is for any enterprise, it is also clear that we all have an opinion that almost by definition is preceeded by a thought such as: "I can't prove it, but this is what I believe..." and this has always struck me as one of the key criteria that earns people the label of "thought leader" versus simply subject matter expert.

My take? Experts collect data and are often "book smart." Real thought leaders make you feel that they not only understand the data but at the same time give one the confidence to move beyond the "book" answer.

What is your definition of a thought leader?

A Light or an Oncoming Train?

Ever since we published this year's Executive Job Market Intelligence Report I have been getting lots of cards and letters (okay not cards and letters, really emails and "tweets") but in any case, lots of feedback on how much our members and others who have seen the report appreciate the work that went into it.

As we all know all too well, the world is very quick to let you know when you screw up and not quite so fast to let you know when they think you have done something right. The positive vibes we have received become even more satisfying, and this forum gives me the chance to say thanks to those who have taken the time to let us know the value they feel is contained in the nearly 20 pages of facts, figures, and analysis.

If you have not yet seen the report, while I can't offer up a full copy since it is a part of membership in ExecuNet, we have put together an executive summary which is available here.

If you would rather listen than read, Total Picture Radio's Peter Clayton stopped by galactic headquarters this week and taped an interview on this year's report with Mark Anderson and myself. It runs roughly 30 minutes.

If you do take the time to listen, I would be interested in your comments in terms of how you are interpreting the data you follow be it gathered formally or in water cooler conversations. Is what you are seeing the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel or an oncoming train?

And The Winner Is...

So we were fortunate enough a few weeks ago to get icon Bill George who many may recognize as former Medtronic CEO, Harvard professor, and best-selling author, to serve as the judge in what we called The Bill George Challenge. I first mentioned something about it here in a post called: Semper Fi & The Challenge of Leadership

The Challenge was for members to tell Bill what they would have to change about their leadership style to adapt to a more participatory management practice. What role models would they reference? How would they measure the result to assess whether the effort to make such a change was worthwhile for themselves and their organization — would specific behaviors or aspects of the culture also change?

The responses from the membership were incredible, and while there can only be one winner (he gets to be Bill George's guest at HSM's World Business Forum) I am sure that we'll put together a collection of the responses to share.
For now, however, I wanted to thank our winner and former Healthcare CEO, Jay Jarrell, for giving us the okay to let the readers here gain from his thoughts on the subject. Here is what Jay had to say. Once read, it is easy to see why Bill George picked it.

Mr. George,

There is an old adage about having to step inside the shoes of another to understand that person's actions. I believe this understanding is the starting point for practicing participatory management. Asking questions, such as what would motivate me to participate or what would make me work harder, have always guided me in eliciting stronger participation from my staff and others. I have always found that it is my responsibility to create not only the environment for all to participate, but also, to have that occur.

From this beginning, it is a matter of having the generosity to reward success and share the financial success, the patience to listen and communicate, the good sense to encourage, the intelligent curiosity to probe and ask questions, the diligent work ethic to demonstrate personally the more routine daily actions of making sure all that I can make happen in an outstanding way does happen, and the character and integrity to reward.

I am constantly finding myself falling short of practicing what I preach. Believing in participatory management and its benefits is easy, as are having most of the characteristics I described above and practicing them. However, there are two characteristics that I find I typically over time short change.

I often don't take the time to personally reward, believing the receipt alone of previously agreed upon monetary or other awards is sufficient. Also, I find myself not making the effort each day to make the contacts to ensure all of the strategic steps of a certain goal are occurring as well as possible.

To correct the above, I have begun writing out each evening a daily plan for the next day to make sure I practice each of those steps.

President Obama has been inspiring whether you agree with him on all policies or not, and in these dire economic times, he will have to become even more so. I intend to take inspiration from him and try to communicate better a vision and hope for better times.

Measuring the benefit of practicing participatory management may be somewhat subjective, but I can see it clearly. Certainly, achieving your revenue and profitability goals or chosen other specific goals that are quantifiable are a great indication, but industry or even national or international economic crises, as we are now incurring, can prevent financial goals from occurring. I can see the benefit of having practiced good participatory management in the constant flow of ideas and suggestions on a daily basis.

If personnel at all levels down to the lowest are not comfortable in greeting me by my first name, if they are not comfortable being able to tell me their ideas or even just what is oing on at their level that day and how it can help achieve certain company goals, and if they are not completely knowledgeable of the company's goals and the problems the company is facing that month, then I have not achieved my goal.

Those cultural changes of all employees knowing what I know and enthusiastically participating in the achievement of company goals are measurement enough.

The philosophy I try to follow comes from playing and following sports. It's the team that wins or loses, not the individual. By including all employees in my circle, by empowering them with as much knowledge and information as possible, by communicating the company's goals, and then by offering significant rewards and recognition for their achievement, I've used as much leverage as I can bring. The more people a company has working together and intensely toward shared goals, the greater its chance for success.

Thank you for this opportunity.
Jay Jarrell

Congratulations Jay, enjoy the forum. New York in October is a great place to be.

Signs of Spring?

For those who read this blog from time to time and are wondering what the heck the "good hands" are doing with a springlike sprout of who knows what growing up through the what's left of my 401(k), the answer is that this is the cover of ExecuNet's 17th annual Executive Job Market Intelligence Report, a copy of which went out to all our members last week.

For those who may not be familiar with how the data is gathered, each year the survey goes to all our CareerSmart members (i.e. executives) as well as our RecruitSmart members (i.e. company HR executives as well as search firms). In addtion, this year we also partnered with several organizations as well: Financial Executives International, Forbes Media, Goldjobs.com, MENG (Marketing Executives Networking Group) and Dillitone Systems Search Consult.

The result was a wealth of data (e.g. more than 4,500 executive responses and 450+ search firm and corporate HR responses)that after more than two months of analysis translated into this year's eighteen page report.

Given the digital shorthand nature of the today's world I suppose one could argue that from an attention span perspective it is 17.5 pages too long, but I sure didn't think so.

Am I proud of it? For sure. Am I biased? Of course, but based on what we have heard from members thus far, they feel it has a lot to say in a time when most of us are anxious to listen.

If you don't happen to be a member of ExecuNet, but would like to check out an Executive Summary, we have one available which you can get by clicking here.

You Are Better Than You Think

Dave,

I have been in the nonprofit sector for 24 years and am looking for a new career challenge.

What is the best way to do this?

I have been the CEO of a Foundation in Ohio for the past 10 years. I have achieved every goal set for me over the past 24 years. (I have boxes of awards)

Please advise a plan for me.

I am interested in working for UPS but I have done nonprofit work for so long I don't know how to market myself to a for profit company.

With not too much by way of changing some of the variables in the note you see here, the issue raised by this member is not unlike that with which many of our members wrestle and who contact us virtually on a daily basis. And given the current environment in which we find ourselves there are an awful lot of executives worrying about where I could go if.....

Not being a certified career counselor, I am not sure I could "advise a plan", but I guess I could share what I think based on my experience with ExecuNet for the past 21 years and which I have tagged onto the 25 years running around Corporate America before that.

So if I were talking to this guy, I would probably say something like this:

I don’t care if you have been working in the NFP world or not, the fact of the matter is that you have been running a business just like any other CEO has had to and I also suspect that if your organization doesn’t “make a profit” it would be out of business just like a company in the public or private sector would be. Said a different way, I think this is more about mind set than anything else.

I would guess if you thought about it, you would find that many of the problems faced by UPS or anyone else for that matter you have in some form or another faced in your career as well. It is a matter of degree to be sure, but the issues are not all that much different.

I am being a bit simplistic on purpose to try and make the point that the things that have made you successful as an organization head is what you are selling. Where you applied those skills really is beside the point. Yes it will be a challenge in some case to get some people to see that, but with some thought and practice, you will be able to find what resonates with those who in fact can be influenced, be they at UPS or somewhere else.

Is it easy to do? No. Is it possible? Yes.

The Light of Day Test

"Perceptions are real to those who hold them."

I don't remember where I first heard this phrase or even if it was a quote from someone, but in my experience I have found there is great truth in it.

How one measures the "value" of someone to an enterprise is like talking about "quality." It is a subjective term, and obviously means different things to different people.

It has also been my experience that if someone is judged to have significant "value" to a business and is recognized for this by way of title, compensation or otherwise, the real test for those who have made the judgment comes when the decision is made public.

When I was in the corporate world we used to call this "the light of day test" and on more than one occasion it was a good notion to apply to actions before deciding whether or not to take them be they personnel moves or otherwise because once made public, it didn't take long to see and sense if the person's peers as well as the rest of the organization agreed or disagreed with the action.
We still seeem to live and work in a world where "score" is kept on lots of different criteria and AIG, etc. notwithstanding I doubt this sort of score keeping is going to go away anytime soon, and as speechless as I am at what we have all heard and read over past few weeks, I am not even arguing that it should.

At the end of day, if the decisions that senior leaders make in terms of handing out kudos (monatary or otherwise) pass the light of day test first, they are probably not going to find themselves the lead story on the 24/7 news cycles for weeks at a time.

Someone much smarter than I am taught me a long time ago that as managers we really get paid to do just three things: hire, fire, and evaluate.

Translation: We are paid to exercise judgement and what makes that so uncomfortable at times is that subjective judgement is just that. I can't defend it other than to say "after considering all the factors, this is what I feel is the right thing to do (i.e. this is my belief).

Beliefs come from personal value systems and where value systems are absent or broken we get the Madoffs of the world.

What Would Your Mother Say?

One of the features that ExecuNet members have and make great use of is our Roundtable discussion groups.

I still think that the most powerful learnings on almost any subject come from peers, and when I get my daily digest of these discussions it does nothing more but add to that feeling. It is just great stuff.

One of the topics a lot of members have been talking about, not surprisingly, was the AIG stuff and the perceptions thereof. Obviously it made most of us sick and for all the right reasons.

In reading through the discussion thread on our GM Roundtable, one of the posts struck me to the point where I wanted to reach out to its author and ask if I could share it here. Fortunately, member Bill Jackson told me it was okay and once you have read it, I hope you'll agree that what he had to say makes all kinds of sense.

First we have no idea what the contracts said. Were these retention agreements put in place years ago to keep people from bolting that guaranteed the payments regardless of performance? Were they performance based contracts? Were they earn outs as part of an acquisition? Since we don't know, we really can't comment.

That said, if I were running the place I would have taken every one of the people who were going to get these bonuses into a room and said the following:

"Look, I know you have contracts and you are entitled to these payments. I understand that you may have even based plans on these payments coming. In fact, I'm sure that you may even be able to legally force me to make these payments. But, if we pay these out we are going to create a firestorm in the public eye, congress and the political arena that none of us may survive.

It is in our best interest to not do this now. When we turn this thing around, I can ensure you that your decision to not take these payouts now will be rewarded in the future.

Thus, I've made the decision to not pay these bonuses. I hope you can support me in this, now let's get back to work to making this company great again."

Any good leader needs to understand both the legal and moral responsibility but also what the "optical" view of what you do. If it's not going to look right in the eyes of people who can make your life miserable, you need to deal with that. AIG didn't, and we're seeing the results.

It reminds me of the well known "light of day test" where if you need help in making the right decision just ask yourself "what would your mother say?"

Storytelling

After more than 45 years of being attached to the world of career managment in one way or another, it is pretty easy to think that you've heard it all and in some respects maybe you have. On the other hand, that doesn't change the fact that more often than you might imagine when you hear someone talk on a subject about which you feel you not only have "heard it all before" but think you know a lot about it yourself you realize yet once again that neither is true.

What I mean is that while the subject matter is not new to you, the way in which the presenter conveys a point all of a sudden resonates in a way that sharpens your focus on some critical concepts and helps you to internalize those concepts in a more impactful way.

Such was the case for me when I tuned into Peter Clayton's Total Picture Radio podcast that featured Judy Rosemarin talking about The Magic of Storytelling in a Job Search.

In the interest of full disclosure, I initally wanted to tune into this because I know Judy so well. We have been lucky enough to have her as our point person and facilitator for our networking meetings in NYC for 15+ years as well as a frequent presenter for both our FastTrack and Coffee Break webinars. Point being, as a "fan" I wanted to hear what she had to say.

What blew me away and prompted this post was the "learnings" I got from listening to her talk about "value and values" and "storytelling" in the interview process.

Peter's interview with Judy runs just over 20 minutes, but it is 20 minutes well spent whether you think you have heard it all before or not.

As the Brits would say, at least from my perspective, she was, as usual, "spot on."

Half Full or Half Empty

With the 24/7 "downers" that we all have been hearing for what seems like forever, I was both surprised and pleased to have recieved this video from a friend.

I am guessing that many readers of this blog may have also been fortunate enough to have seen it already but for those who may not have, here's an opportunity to check out something that is not only in my opinion very clever but which also delivers a very powerful and positive message - both of which we could use more of.

Enjoy.

Serving Or Selling - Giving or Getting - Me or You

Patty Azzarello's blog is called The Desired Outcome.

In case her name is new to you, here's a brief bio:

Patty was the youngest person ever to become a general manager at Hewlett Packard
at the age of 33. She ran a $1B global software business at age 35
and became a CEO for the first time at the age of 38. With a scorecard like that, one can't help but say "this feels like someone I should pay some attention to" which when I read her recent posting called "Serving or Selliing" was exactly what I did.

While the post that she wrote was focused on sales and sales strategies, it seemed to me that one could easily overlay much of what she was saying to the job search experience and process.

That by itself would probably not come as a revalation to many. After all, most of us know full well that a job search is, in fact, a sales process. What struck me about this particular post was the emphasis she placed on "serving" vs. "selling."

Naturally, we all like it when we find others who support our beliefs, so maybe this is another reason why I wanted to expose

knowing full well that there are thousands of executives in this economy who are in the middle of a job search and are working as hard as they know how to bring that process to a successful conclusion just as fast as humanly possible in reading the post I thought a great deal of what she was saying.


http://azzarellogroup.com/blog/2009/03/02/serving-or-selling/



Now is the time to be serving/giving.

You will get more business in the short term, and you will be building a foundation of good will, which will pay huge dividends in the future. People remember who helped them in tough times.

And people do business with people they are currently engaged with. Stay engaged. Help.

Even if you are not a sales person, now is a good time to help people.

You build value in your network by putting value into it.

Think of always maintaining a balance of giving more than you take. Then when you need something you will find that help is abundantly available.

In your sales process, anything you give will increase the value of what you ultimately sell.

Semper Fi & The Challenge of Leadership

Over the past few weeks at ExecuNet we have been having a lot of fun with an event called the Bill George Challenge.

Reading that sentence again, it occurs to me that beginning a post by saying something about "fun" in light of the current environment is probably not the best choice of words, so let me rephrase it by saying over the past few weeks we have been both fascinated with and excited by the response to an event called the Bill George Challenge.

If you are a member of ExecuNet you are probably familiar with what's been going on, but for those who aren't, Bill George is he former Medtronic CEO, Harvard professor, and best-selling author and someone who is very interested one of today's thought-provoking leadership topics — "leading from behind."

With that in mind, ExecuNet, together with Bill and the World Business Forum, the largest business event in the United States, partnered to offer our members the opportunity...to connect with the world's influential business leaders by participating in the following:

Background: During his inauguration address, President Obama ushered in a "new era of responsibility" suggesting that every citizen should accept responsibility and be held accountable for his or her role in ensuring America's recovery and renewed prosperity. With a "leading from behind" style, Obama is solidifying his position as a leader for the "we" generation (also known as the Millennials).

The Challenge: Tell Bill what you would have to change about your leadership style to adapt to a more participatory management practice. What role models would you reference? How would you measure the result to assess whether the effort to make such a change was worthwhile for you and your organization — would specific behaviors or aspects of the culture also change?

The prize: The ExecuNet member with the best response (to be chosen by Bill himself) will be invited as our guest to the World Business Forum 2009, to be held October 6-7 at Radio City Music Hall® in New York City.

Having read a number of the submissions over the past couple of weeks, I'm glad I am not Bill. It is going to be a very tough call and I know that those members of our Roundtable discussion groups who have been following the responses would agree.

All that said, I came across one response that particularly touched a chord with me, and I thought it worth sharing. If you take the time to read it too, maybe it will resonate with you as well. It needs no further setup from me other than to thank Lynn for allowing me to use it. The rest speaks for itself.

Mr. George,

In regards to your Bill George Challenge, I have put together a few notes which I would like to submit for your review and consideration.

I have had the unique opportunity to have been taught by the best leaders in the world, the United States Marine Corps. I learned as a young Private that a true leader leads from the rear. A true leader can lead from the right or left, but never from the front. Having one's employees/subordinates/whatever you call your employees, have them empowered enough to want to lead with you no matter where you lead from.

I spent 14 years in the USMC, and then entered the civilian lifestyle and work in the Human Resources field by choice. I train, focus, teach and lead from where ever necessary, but never out front like I have to be in seen to be in charge. The best leaders look just like you or I, we blend in and just lead.

I have found in my years since the military that civilian leaders without that military background feel they always have to be upfront and noticed. They have problems when everyone is not looking or paying attention to them in a group situation. I have kept my moral grounding from all the years of experience during my tours of duty, and I lead as my leaders lead....from any place necessary. Please remember, when a platoon or group of individuals are running in a formation, the leader runs on the side leading cadence/chants, not in the front, but on the side. The same way one marches into battle....

When I was a Drill Instructor in the USMC, I told my recruits that once they leave basic training, they will always hear my voice. I may not be there in the building, location, state or even country, but the good things I have taught you will always be in your head and I will be whispering direction from afar. Leading from afar.

So I guess in short, leading from anywhere but the front, is not new. It is the way of our Nation's leaders in the Military. Great to see someone is really interested in showing our civilian leaders that there really is another way.

I am fortunate to work in manufacturing in Southern California and have a great team of 17 in 4 states. I have to lead from afar, I can't be in PA, FL, TX and CA all at once. It is just good solid leadership.

Thank you for your time,

Lynn M. Gomez, SPHR

Well said, Lynn, well said.

Pain and Rescue

Listen to your Dad they say, and I do. Indeed, I am one of the multitude who listens to "Dad" GL Hoffman over at What Would Dad Say. If you follow these postings you will know that this not the first time you have seen him referred to in this space and I am sure it won't be the last.

Part of my admiration comes from the fact that more often than not Hoffman says what I've been thinking only faster, better and with more impact. Other than that he is nothing special.

Nonetheless, if you are not a follower, check out his recent post Pain and Rescue. He makes, as usual, a very good point.

While for sure much of the doom and gloom to which we are subjected 24/7 is very real, it is also true that attitude plays a big role in the mix and certainly has a good deal to do with how we all respond.

I am in no way suggesting that the "pain" isn't real - it is all too real. On the other hand I can't help but be reminded of the old and well-known quote attributed to everyone from Vince Lombardi to Billy Ocean: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."

While the lion's share of membership here at ExecuNet is made up of executives who are currently working, for sure, and as you might expect, we have seen a significant influx of those who through no fault of their own, aren't.

Having been there a couple of times myself, and while I can't speak for how anyone else might feel or react, I would like to think that at least I can empathize based on personal experience.

As GL's post points out, the media in particular works overtime sharing all the bad news with us and very little, if any, of the "wins." Maybe the "wins" aren't happening as fast as any of us would like, but they are happening.

It is easy for us all to look behind us and wring our hands and kick the dog. In some cases that might be easier than facing an unknown future because bad as it might be at least with the past we are dealing with known vs. the unknown. On the other hand, the energy we invest in backward looks is energy that is not getting us to our future.

When I talk to our members about things like this, I keep trying to remind them that as tough as things might be right now, they need to remember that the skills that made them successful in their former lives were not driven by what the economy was or wasn't doing so much as what they as individuals brought to the enterprise.

Your expertise travels with you and while it certainly is not easy, the challenge and opportunity now is simply one of their deciding how and where you are going to take it and making sure that in the process you don't forget to bring along the positive attitude that helped you and others get there in the first place.

Don't Feel Like The Lone Ranger

So I'm sitting there minding my own business a couple of days ago and up pops the following email from someone who found their way to me I know not how.

"Hi Dave, I am a weary 10-year veteran of commercial banking, seeking a new career opportunity in Jacksonville. Do you have any suggestions?"

At first I thought it might be from an ExecuNet member, but when I checked out the name and email address nothing rang a bell. What did ring a bell however was the fact that the issue of specific geography was something that comes up a lot, and when I talk or correspond with members it is certainly understandable as to why it would.

First of all, most of us by the time we're 10 or 20+ years into a career are usually reasonably "settled" in a lot of facets of our lives and unless we were born with an overdoes of a wanderlust gene picking up and moving doesn't top the list of things we most want to do.

In fact and while I don't remember where I first saw it, I somehow recall that on the list of things that cause the highest degree of emotional trauma for us, moving was like fourth and only preceded by death of a spouse, divorce, and loss of a job.

Given that list, it is even more understandable why none of us would be really psyched to combine #3 and #4, so to put it mildly, I could relate profoundly to the issue.

So for whatever it's worth and to those who might in some way be in the same boat, here is what I tried to convey to this person when I responded:

The process of making a change is, more often than not, about connections [particularly at senior levels] - some call it networking, the term really isn't important. What is important is if and when you see or hear about opportunities for which you know you are really qualified and save for the location or compensation or whatever would otherwise be of keen interest to you, I would urge you to raise your hand. Here's why:

1. No one has asked you to move anywhere yet, take a lower salary, etc. and you can always say no. Job specs are written in the abstract. Once you put two people in a room, all kinds of things can and do change.

2. If it is a search firm, they are often working on other assignments, and these could well be at the level you want or with the type of company in which you would be interested, only you'll never know because you didn't respond in the first place.

3. Even if the foregoing doesn't happen immediately, if they do a lot of work in the industry segment in which your background is very strong (and many do)then they may well contact you down the road on something else.

At ExecuNet, our members have had any or all of these things happen all the time, but if you don't take the first step, everything else that might have happened as a result of that first "link" will go by the boards.

Said differently, there is a line attributed to Wayne Gretzky that says it all: "You miss 100% of the shots you never take."

Am I saying blanket the world? Absolutely not. What I am saying is put on your executive decision maker hat. Examine the spec and say to yourself if I saw this resume in response to this spec is this someone I would want to know more about? If the answer is yes, go for it. If the answer is no, then move on.

Feedback from the Real World

Even when you have been around as long as ExecuNet has (21 years and counting) and over that time have gotten more than your fair share of kudos for whatever, it still makes you feel good when they keep coming. If nothing else, it reminds the organization that consistency is critical.

I am happy to say that we were reminded of this yet once again when we got notice that we were once again a WEDDLE's User's Choice winner. What WEDDLE's does is to post a ballot of 114 sites (not counting write ins) and allows "users" roughly a year to vote for their favorites.

Scientific? Probably not, but when you end up on a list that includes scores of sites that spend beaucoup bucks on advertising it gives you a David vs. Goliath kind of feeling. Even more comforting is knowing that it probably isn't a fluke if your company has been there each and every year since the inception of the awards.

So, are we pleased? For sure. Are we aware that reputations are hard to earn? For sure. Are we aware that reputations can be easily lost? For sure. Are we incented to continue to merit this sort of recognition? You bet.

Hot, Flat & Crowded

I am a Tom Friedman groupie which to understate the case, hardly makes me unique.

He has millions of them for lots of good reasons not the least of which is that he speaks in terms that most of us can understand, relate to, and most importantly are thoughtful. So whether you happen to agree with his point of view or not, it's hard to say that he doesn't make for logical arguments. At the very least he makes you think.

I am sure that many of us have read scores of his columns and many more his books. What I am not so sure of other than catching him from time to time on Meet the Press, The News Hour on PBS or maybe short segments on TODAY or GMA is how many have had the chance to hear him at a speaking engagement.

If you are like me and have not had that opportunity, here is the link to a talk that he gave on his newest book Hot, Flat, and Crowded which he gave at an organization called Sixth&I in Washington.

If you are a Friedman fan, you might want to check it out, and even if you are not a fan, you still might want to check it out.

Shape Up Or Be Shipped Out?

If you are anything like me, if someone asked you how you would describe how you have approached the management of your professional work life, you answer would be something like "well, best case I would put me under the banner of the happenstance method of career planning." In other words I pretty much have found myself in the position of the world happening to me rather than vice versa. Not something I am particularly proud of for sure, but that doesn't change the fact that it's true.

I was reminded of this yet once again when I got my copy of Peter Weddle's newest book Work Strong: Your Personal Career Fitness System.

I have to admit that this got my attention for a couple of reasons. First, about the only thing I do outside of work is to try and get myself into the gym 3-4 days a week. It obviously is both something that has become a priority in my life (I have been doing it for more than 30 years) as well as something that I felt was important to my physical well-being. As I have already indicated, however, trying to bring the same sense of priority and commitment to my professional life is a different story for sure.

That said, when I stopped to think about it, the investment that I have in what I do for a living you would think ought to get at least something that approximates similar importance to my trying to be reasonably physically fit. For sure it is something in which I invest far more time and emotional energy than I do in trying to wear out a treadmill.

I guess this same thought must have crossed Pete Weddle's mind as well, but in Pete's case he actually did something about it not only for himself but for others as well.

Knowing Pete as I have for many years, I guess I should not be surprised, and if you knew his background, especially the part that talks about the fact that he is "... an avid athlete, (who) successfully completed both the Airborne and Ranger programs while on active duty with the U.S. Army. He also led an expedition which scaled the Cervino (Italian) face of the Matterhorn, one of Europe's highest mountains, and a team which represented the United States in international long distance marching competition." a reader would not be surprised either.

The man clearly knows something about fitness in the physical sense and anyone who follows the experts in the career management and recruiting space knows that he clearly understands career fitness as well.

If you can relate to physical fitness you will relate to career fitness as well. Pete says the book won't hit the book stores until May, so if you don't want to wait, you can click here and it is available on his site.

In Search of the Holy Grail of Leadership

If you type in the word leadership into Google (at least today) you get 163,000,000 hits. Refine that to "business leadership" and you can narrow it down to 2,570,000.

I sort of wanted to see if somewhere I could find how many books or articles had been written on the subject but (a) I had no clue as to how to do that and (b) figured anyone reading this post would already know the same thing I do which is that this one word is the single most sought after characteristic in business and there is probably a strong case to be made for saying "on earth."

I write about this topic a lot, and I am not really sure why. Maybe it is because I have now lived long enough to realize just how critical it is on so many levels.

I certainly would not be so presumptuous as to try and define all the elements that come together to give us a leader. First of all I couldn't prove it and secondly I know from my own experience that what inspires me may or may not do the same for someone else.

But this much I feel very strongly, no matter what your political persuasion or biases might be, when you see and hear our new president you know that you are in the presence of a leader. Agree or not with what he plans to do or how he plans to do it, he absolutely projects the courage and commitment to lead.

I think we owe it to him and our country to follow.

Recruiting & Technology In Today's Market

Bill Vick is a name that is known to almost anyone who is involved in the world of recruiting. He has been a pioneer in any number of ways with the creation of XtremeRecuiting.tv being the most recent.

One of his recent interviews was with our Vice President and Executive Editor Lauryn Franzoni. Knowing the degree to which ExecuNet is in the somewhat unique position as a resource to both executive leaders as well as recruiting firms, he wanted to talk with Lauryn about the impact of technology on both.

While I have a bias to be sure, I found it to be a very interesting dialogue. I hope you do too.

Will Rogers, Still the Best

I wish that GL Hoffman the keyboard and voice behind a blog called What Would Dad Say aka WWDS would stop (or at least slow down) posting such thoughtful and/or wonderfully humorous stuff. But what I wish seems to make no difference, he just keeps doing it.

Aside from the "wisdom" he shares, I really think he has missed his calling and should simply start to market himself as the greatest time management expert on the planet. I mean I realize that he is in Minneapolis and therefore is locked indoors from September to June, but still knowing everything else that he is involved in it is beyond my comprehension where he finds the time. But, I digress.

If you want to start the year with some smiles, check out his recent post Will Rogers, Still the Best. I won't spoil your fun other than to say that of all the comments Rogers offered up on getting older, my favorite was:

"Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today it's called golf."

I am sure you will find one of your own.

Enjoy.

Making a "To Don't" List

As we all know, it is that time of year again when whether we like it or not, thoughts start running through our heads like "this really is going to be the year that I lose those 25 pounds, stop smoking, start seriously exercising, will swear off karaoke or will stop trying to over-think my football picks."

It's an easy list to remember because for most of us it's same list as last year.

So when I got my issue of The Executive Insider today I started to laugh when I read the subject line: Making a "to don't" list. I was chuckling for two reasons; first because knowing the wonderful sense of humor that our Editor-in-Chief Robyn Greenspan has I figured this was only something that would come from her quirky creative mind and second, I couldn't imagine where she was going with it which, of course, like any accomplished writer, was exactly what she wanted my reaction to be. As usual, she scored on both counts.

As I read through her "list" however my smile became more like the kind of look one gets when you read or hear something that resonates within and you say to yourself "wow, I wish I had thought of that because everything that's there applies to me and if I were smart enough and as thoughtful as Robyn, I could have and should have thought about these things myself." It's a heck of a list.

So it is in the spirit of sharing something I found both useful and thought provoking that I pass along Robyn's "to don't" list in case, like me, you had not yet moved beyond the weight loss and exercise stuff.

While everyone is compiling their resolutions and focusing on all the things to do in 2009, I am putting together my "to don’t" list — behaviors and actions I will hopefully stay away from in the new year. So, in 2009 I will NOT:

Set unrealistic or unfair expectations of myself.

Say, "yes" to everything without first assessing the emotional, professional, personal, karmic ROI.

Neglect to quickly give credit to the team.

Solely focus on short-term benefits unless it is a pathway to accomplishing long-term goals.

Get complacent.

Count on anything before it is a reality.

Forget to network because it often benefits someone other than myself.

Stop critically thinking, but refrain from always shooting holes in others’ ideas.

Always eat the goodies in the ExecuNet kitchen without bringing some to share too.

Lose sight of the fact that I can replace my job but not my family.

Stress!

Global Trends Pressure Innovative Thinking

HSM is an organization which produces more than 60 events a year for senior executive leaders. Their events can and often are described as "must-attend" for CEOs and a gander at the agendas for their World Innovation Forum in May or the World Business Forum in October will quickly demonstrate what I mean.

One of their recent speakers was Andrew Zolli who is the founder of Z + Partners, a futures research and strategy consultancy, and curator of Pop!Tech, an annual conference devoted to thinking, science and technology.

If you are interested to discover how gifted this guy is, check out Global Trends Pressure Innovative Thinking.

With the economy in the shape it's in (if it even has a "shape" at this point, feels more like a blur at the moment)the insights of a thought leader such as Zolli make for very interesting reading.

If you are among those executives who currently find yourself "at liberty" as they used to say and are thinking of heading out on your own, you would do well to read Mr. Zolli's piece in its entirety. It won't take long, but there are some powerful "learnings" presented for those who are thinking they have an idea "whose time has come."

As a small business owner, and one who wanted to head out on my own some 20+ years ago when the notion of ExecuNet was playing out in my mind, Zolli's principles for building organizations that work came as a very impactful reminder in terms of the stars by which you want to guide your enterprise.

His belief is that such organizations must have missions that are "personal, tangible, present-focused and desirable." And he goes on to say:

The personal trumps the impersonal.
The tangible trumps the intangible.
The present trumps the past and future.
Desirability trumps responsibility.

Pretty good track to run on if you ask me.

What Dad Said

Anyone who reads this blog can guess by the title of this post that yet once again I am "borrowing" someting from GL Hoffman better known as the "Dad" who blogs under the title of What Would Dad Say.

Well, believe it or not, I am not really "borrowing" this time around, but rather trying to add my voice to those of any number of other folks (e.g. Marshall Goldsmith, Penelope Trunk, Nick Corcodilos, et al ) who like myself were asked to review "Dad's" PDF book that officially comes out today.

The title of the book is Dig Your Job: Keep It or Find a New One and if you are a fan of Hoffman as I am, you will know that what he has put into this effort is time-tested wisdom sandwiched within layers of sophisticated wit.

Given the jobs numbers that came out over the weekend, and the forecast for '09, if there was ever a time we needed to be both thinking and doing when it comes to our careers this feels like it.

You can buy the eBook (PDF) for $9.99 or via Amazon for $7.99. Talk about a useful stocking stuffer.

Lets Say Thanks

If you were looking for a way to do a bit of "giving" during this holiday season, here's something you might want to think about:

Xerox (full disclosure: I am an ex-Xeroid) is sponsoring a site that will print and send a holiday card to servicemen and women. You can just pick out the card that most appeals to you (they are desgined by school kids and are wonderful) and pick one of the draft messages or create your own, and they will print the card and send it.

You have no control over who will get it but then that's not really the point. The idea is to let the kids who are out there know that those of us who go to bed each night in comfort that they can only dream about (a) know they are there and (b) appreciate their service.

This site isn't about the politics, it's about the people.

Just click on www.letssaythanks.com and you are on your way.

P.S. And if you like the idea, there is nothing to stop you from sharing it with your network.

The Best Email of the Day Award

...Goes to Peter Clayton, producer/host of Total Picture Radio. It needs no further commentary from me as it eloquently speaks for itself. Good on 'ya Peter.

"Capital goes where it's welcome and stays where it's well treated." Walter B. WristonDecember 9, 2008

Dear Dave,

When "The Citi Never Sleeps" ad campaign was first launched in 1978, Walter Wriston was running the place, and the motto had real meaning. Wriston was highly regarded, as was the institution he lead. Citibank / Citicorp was a cherished brand by its employees and a respected competitor in the financial services industry. Citibank had a unique, authentic, brand identity

Cut to today.

Although the current leadership of the company has recycled "The Citi Never Sleeps" slogan, it has completely lost its meaning and aspirational message. The image that comes to mind today of The Citi That Never Sleeps is a demoralized, poorly run behemoth losing billions of dollars chasing subprime riches, cutting thousands of jobs while trying to stay afloat.

In my opinion, the following excerpt from Bloomberg News is a typical move by a company with uninspired leaders disconnected from their employees:Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc., the bank that's eliminating 52,000 jobs after getting a $45 billion government bailout, canceled its sponsorship of a New York holiday toy-train exhibit visited by more than 125,000 people a year. Dunham Studios, the Pottersville, New York-based operator of the 750-square-foot model railroad, was notified of Citigroup's decision last month, co-owner Clarke Dunham said in an interview. That means the free show that first went on display in 1987 at the Citigroup Center lobby may reach the end of the line on Jan. 2 unless another sponsor steps up or the bank reconsiders, he said. It also means Citigroup will save about $240,000.

"The difficult decision to discontinue this sponsorship was part of Citi's ongoing expense-reduction efforts," Citigroup said in an e-mailed statement. Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit, 51, announced on Nov. 21 that he wants to cut costs by about $2 billion per quarter starting next year." (You can read the complete text of Bradley Keoun's reporting here.)

Blah blah blah, Vikram. I've been engaged in a number of interviews focused on the importance of brands. Two recent examples -- John Gerzema, author of The Brand Bubble; and David Henderson, whose book, The Media Savvy Leader was just released.

According to David, "82% of shareholder value is intangible." According to John, one-third of all shareholder value is attributed to "brand.

"So here's an idea I'd like your help with: If we could find 24,000 Citibank employees willing to donate $10 each into a fund to "keep the trains running," it might give the employees of this beleaguered institution something to be proud of, and smile about. I bet through Twitter, LinkedIn, Xing, and Facebook we could mobilize enough Citibankers to take up the cause. Next year, the Holiday Trains at Citigroup Center exhibit could be "In memory of Walter B. Wriston." The fund could be set-up as an old-fashioned "Christmas Savings Account." What do you think

The Holiday Toy Train exhibit is operating this year at Citicorp Center. If you're in the City and have young children, its well worth a visit. Disclosure: From 1984 until 2000 I made a number of marketing, corporate image and employee motivation films for Citi, and produced an internal sales radio show "The Citibanking News Network" for twelve years.

Happy Holidays,

Peter ClaytonProducer/HostTotal Picture Radio

So What Else Is New?

At some point last year I saw a report on a study that was conducted by Towers Perrin and which was reported by a Canadian newspaper. I thought it was pretty interesting despite the paper's understandable focus on the the study's stats as they related to Canada.

As I sometimes do, I saved the article and put it in what my wife likes to call "a nice safe place" which translated means I forgot about it and when I remembered it, I couldn't find it or remember where I put it.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend I stumbled across it again, and while the world economy today is vastly different than when this study was done (over a year ago) the basic "learnings" as they relate to employee retention still I think remain on very solid ground. Indeed, with the layoffs, etc., that we are seeing in the current environment, the retention of "A" players is even more important.

No matter what the environment, there is great truth to the notion that people (read employers) will always be willing to pay a premium for quality.

Here are some headlines in terms of what the study had to say:

Despite people's strong desire to become 'engaged' in their work, meaning they're willing to go the extra mile to help their company succeed, only 23% in Canada (vs 21% globally) are currently engaged at work. Of serious concern for management and investors, 32% of Canadian employees are partly to fully 'disengaged'. This highlights a significant gap - which Towers Perrin has dubbed the "engagement gap" - between the discretionary effort that people actually want to invest and companies' effectiveness at tapping into this effort to enhance business performance.

The study found that companies with the highest levels of employee engagement achieve better financial results and are more successful in retaining their most valued employees than companies with lower levels of engagement.

The study clearly demonstrates that the engagement gap poses an array of business risks. For instance, more than 80% of engaged employees believe they can and do contribute to the quality of products and services and to customer satisfaction. But only half as many of the disengaged share that view. Interestingly, the study reveals that Canadians embrace a more optimistic approach to their working life, with a slightly higher learning orientation compared to the global norms. For instance, 69% (versus 58% globally) stated they tend to invest time and effort beyond what is required, and 90% (versus 84% globally) said they enjoy challenging work that allows them to learn new skills.

"You can't hire or buy an engaged workforce - only leadership can build it," concludes Aselstine. "While employees want to invest more of themselves to help their employers, our study clearly concludes the onus to tap into this productivity reservoir lies with management's ability to cultivate an engaged and fully productive workforce. However, there is no 'one size fits all' solution.

So what else is new?

Additional detail about the Towers Perrin Global Workforce Study is available at www.towersperrin.com/gws.