THE ART OF ENGAGEMENT: or how to get employees on the same page

A lot of business owners spend a great deal of time and effort  formulating strategies to make their business grow.  Then they pass on their ideas to staff who are often befuddled and the strategies never seem to achieve their goals.  In fact Jim Haudan tells us that 75% of strategic plans fail to be executed.

When one goes through a new strategy process, one goes down a lot of deadends, rejects a lot of options, hears other opinions and finally comes to some sort of strategy.  The strategy is based on all the efforts made by that one person.  A one way presentation such as a Power Point will not necessarily lead everyone else to the same conclusion.

The employees at the bottom who actually execute the strategy decided by others often feel overworked, confused, not aware of the big picture and distrustful of higher staff motivations.  Often they have had a new series of strategies imposed on them without taking away previous instructions.  The trick is to tap into something that the people really connect with.

In large companies many employees don't see a personal connection to the strategies.  Most workers want to be part of something big, want to feel a sense of belonging, want to make things better and want to feel their contribution can make a difference.  Too often they get disillusioned.

Jim Haudan, the author believes one of the best ways to communicate is with stories, particularly visual stories.  This can be a tool when the employees participate so that they can see better how they fit into what needs to be done.  They need to see the bigger picture including market trends and what the competition is up to. They need to trust their managers and their leaders.

Wall Street analysts are learning to appreciate not just a strategy that has been announced to them, but  if the skill levels of the employees are able to execute.  That means the leaders have to think out how to develop the skills needed for a new strategy and to really motivate staff to acquire the skills.

Change is frightening to many employees.  Their leaders need to convey the attitude that change is not an indictment of past performance.  What was done in the past worked, but it won't be enough for the future.  When this is understood everyone can work together to make a better future.  Leaders and managers will inevitably be surprised that the front line workers want to and can contribute ideas to make their strategies work better.

One quote from author, Jim Haudan "Without understanding company strategy an employee can't take responsibility.  People who do understand can't avoid it."

There are many steps to be taken to integrate the strategies with the execution.  We can all learn from Jim's experience and insight.  They started at the strategic planning end of things and found out there was nothing automatic about execution.  As they examined why their own strategies did not connect they learned.  In a very real way they are proving that the learning process is critical to acceptance of any strategy.

Find out more at:  http://www.rootsofengagement.com

BENGHAZI A DISGRACE FOR WHO?

It is impossible to approach this topic from a truly neutral viewpoint.  It is obvious that something bad happened in Benghazi and steps should be taken to minimize future occurrences.

My prejudice is that Republicans have a very long history of distortion.  They have demonstrated they don't believe in compromise as they are "principled."  They don't accept that they lost the election and in fact the biggest leverage they have comes from gerrymandering and abuse of Senate rules.  The majority of those who actually voted (and Republicans have done their best to limit the number who could vote) voted against Republican policies.

Having said that, the Democrats have to accept that they had the responsibility when something went wrong.   It is also true that at the time the Democrats were positioning themselves as protectors in a terrorist infected world in an election that seemed up for grabs.  It was in their interest to downplay the threat and any mistakes they have made while the Republicans were organizing efforts to stir up emotions.

The points I have heard raised by Republicans are superseded by a few basic facts.  The CIA was heavily involved and for security reasons (and perhaps to protect their own interests) wanted to minimize public awareness, particularly enemy awareness of details.  The critical decisions that were made were decided by military.  A key problem was that security expenses had been pushed down by the Republicans.

Susan Rice who in my opinion has done an excellent job was attacked for reading talking points that had been agreed to by the CIA.  Republicans so anxious to find some dirt didn't hesitate to expose names of vulnerable people, thus scaring away potential collaborators.  Reminds me of the Valerie Plame outing which some might consider treasonous.

There will always be problems.  The Republicans suffered a lot of embassy attacks with more deaths than Benghazi and were always self-righteous regarding "Islamic terrorists" nevertheless thought that security budgets for embassies should be cut.

More recently I think they have a better case about the IRS investigating conservative groups for tax exempt status.  I think all groups should be investigated for tax exempt status, but on a fair and random basis.

Do I think all Democrats are saints?  No, I have been disillusioned that they are influenced by big money almost as much as Republicans.  Republicans do not have policies that benefit the bulk of Americans and know it and find it more effective to find scandals.  Perhaps the media is really liberal, but it does seem that it is not pure in all this--they love controversy for their ratings and they are tied into the economic establishment and are far less independent then they once were.

The Republicans tried very hard with Bill Clinton and finally reached impeachment proceedings that really had nothing to do with high crimes or treason.  The Republicans really did enter a war in Iraq using false premises (hard to believe that they were not aware of their own distortions).  They let in colleagues who made a lot of money from that war.  They lowered taxes and all sorts of regulations and are very proud of that.  They dislike being restricted in any way regardless of public benefit.  The result has been an increase in inequality that is counter productive to the majority of Americans.

Hilary Clinton seems to be the target, but in reality she has done a very good job and is so popular that many assume she will run and easily win the next presidential race.  The Republicans are making claims she tried to cover up, but really that is a stretch.  Republicans have no guilty feelings about the Iraq War or the financial problems of United States, but are always looking to fault others.  If Americans would like to earn the respect of the rest of the world they have to stop falling for self serving accusations of politicians and concentrate on the policies and the real problems facing the world.