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Interviewing

“A house divided against itself, cannot stand.” Candidate Abraham Lincoln

Dr. Stephen H Dawson

I first stood at the Lincoln Memorial the day of Live Aid. It was my first trip to Washington, D.C. I almost kept going to Philadelphia to stand outside the concert event and hear the music. I decided to stay in D.C. and watch the concert from a new technology called jumbotrons staged on the National Mall. I realized I was experiencing history and that it was best I stop and take in the events.

I shared previously about Lincoln. I wondered what would be the outcome of the Live Aid effort that day in D.C. I wondered if Abraham Lincoln realized in 1858 when he explained how a divided house could not stand he would be dead in less than seven years by assassination. I stood at his memorial in 1985 and wondered why he was not buried in D.C. I concluded it did not matter where he is buried. Death is death. The best that can be done going forward is to honor the memories, the actions, and the contributions of the dead.

You, as the leader of your organization, have selected job applicants to be candidates for each role you need to be filled in your organization. You do not need to spend any more time considering the end of the tenure for those you need to move out of your organization. You have stepped through assessing each applicant’s application package, identified what seems to be a match between their application package and your role opportunity, had the screening call conducted by way of your direction, read the call outcomes, and have decided to speak with a candidate yourself. You now must decide how much freedom you will give your candidate to accomplish their work in your organization through the role they serve. You are considering death and life simultaneously as you move to care for the organization. This decision is similar to a shepherd and the flock they supervise.

A sheep has no fangs or claws. They are dependent on the shepherd to protect them by leading, guiding, and directing them. They lead by being out front of them. They guide by being beside them. They direct by being behind them. The shepherd leads them to grass to eat. The shepherd does not mandate which tuft of grass a sheep must eat. Each sheep has some degree of freedom in its relationship with its shepherd.

You are convinced bringing an antibody into your organization is a bad move. You are convinced it is bad because you do not have organization antibodies in your organization now and do not want to have your proverbial house divided by an organization antibody causing such harm. You are hoping to find out during your assessment process if you have a candidate that matches your worldview and the worldview held by your organization but not eradicate diversity from your organization. Share on XThis combination is a tall order for anyone to fulfill.

Let’s look at a formula I have studied for years to help me evaluate the possibility someone would want to purchase something from me as a means to guide your interview conversations. A buyer may want to purchase a product I am selling or my labor in the form of services. The formula has three parts to it. Each part must have enough value in the eye of the buyer to purchase whatever it is I am selling. You also need these three parts to have enough value in both your eyes and in the eyes of the candidate to proceed through your evaluation process.

INTEREST

You are selling a job by way of a compensation package. There may be fame as an outcome of the job, but no one can guarantee fame. The exchange of money in your labor budget for the total services delivered from a worker is the deal. Is this deal interesting to you as the service buyer? Is this deal interesting to the candidate as the service seller?

Now, the candidate has the same thoughts in mind but is reserved in their perspective. They see you are selling your compensation package, and they are the buyer through their services currency. How do I know this is true? Because they would be talking to a better deal for their services currency than talking to you about your compensation package. You have the best offer that has come to them. They most likely are always looking for a better deal. You most likely are always looking for a better deal. A better offer could come at any time. So, the offer from you has a boundary to it called time.

Here are some clear indications of interest on both your part and on the part of the candidate. Are they looking you in your eyes to listen to what you are telling them? Are you looking into their eyes? Are they taking notes during your discussion with them? Are you taking notes about their discussion performance? Are they able to repeat back to you any of the statements or points you make to them? Are you able to repeat back to them anything they shared during the conversation that is new to you? Are they able to provide a meaningful answer to a question you ask them about the information you have shared with them? Are you able to provide a meaningful answer to a question they ask you about the information you have shared with them? Are they involved with social networking during your conversation with them? Are you multitasking during the conversation with them?

Interest Level

TRUST

A buyer may want what is sold, but they do not trust the seller. If a buyer does not trust what is being sold, then they have no interest in what is being sold. Trust is the connector of evidence and faith. Evidence is clear proof. An example of evidence is the paycheck arriving to the worker every pay cycle. Faith is the assurance the evidence will arrive. An example of faith is the time between paydays. An example of trust is the inability to prove the paycheck will be delivered to the worker on payday but convinced the paycheck will come as agreed.

You, as the interviewer, may conclude the candidate has the skills, but you do not trust they will deliver those skills to you for the compensation you deliver to them. You also may conclude they are interested in doing the work you want them to do for you, but they also have an interest to go and fix parts of your organization they believe need fixing beyond the work you want them to do.

They, as the candidate, may realize you are not a person they want to walk with now. You can protect, lead, guide, and direct them, but they do not want to eat the grass you have provided for them. They may have a worldview that does not overlap suitably with yours or the organization.

Any of these reasons and more cause the candidate to stop being a candidate. You are unable to provide them the trust necessary to do their role in a manner they prefer that is also acceptable to you. Their candidacy is dead. Move on without remorse. Do not be concerned with what may occur with them tomorrow as a future applicant to another role you need to be filled.

Trust is the connector of evidence and faith

MONEY

You have what you define as a great job opening. You do not have enough money to pay someone to do the work. Stop what you are doing. You do not need to interview anyone. You need to find a budget to spend.

Asking anyone to work for less than what the work is worth demonstrates poor judgment. Your trust as a leader would be damaged by such a choice, perhaps beyond repair. It is not worth the hassles of asking anyone to take work that is not funded fairly.

Now, what is fair? That answer is between you and the service supplier. If you are convinced you have a fair compensation package, then this is all you need to know for fairness. If your candidate does not agree that what comprises your compensation package is fair to them, then you are still at a stopping point with their candidacy.

What you are seeing at this point in your evaluation process is the concept of equal pay for equal work in terms of economic equity. You do not have a pay gap, as the candidate is not being paid because they are not a member of your organization. Your best and final offer is what it is. I am not talking about job promotions, pay raises, or any other role modification. I am only discussing bringing a new person into your organization. What happens to them after they are brought into your organization is an altogether different thought construct based on the linear connection of your worldview, ethics, morality, and virtue. My hope for you is you walk out the linear connection of worldview, ethics, morality, and virtue with those you lead in a fair and clear manner. I hold this hope as I prefer you to be a credible leader.

Fair Pay

RECOMMENDATIONS

I recommend you take time this week to practice your interview methodology and cadence. Go so far as to prepare the meal menu you will eat before the interview to have all parts of yourself ready to hold the discussion.

I also recommend you do not multitask during the interview discussion. There is nothing good that comes from multitasking during a crucial discussion. All that is demonstrated by multitasking during a crucial discussion is chaos is present in your organization. If you need to communicate to the candidate you have chaos in your organization, then you can do so effectively by way of a single sentence, either verbally or in writing. Then, stop multitasking and focus on having a productive conversation.

Finally, gain a commitment from the candidate during the conversation. See how interested they are in joining your organization by putting actions to their words. Ask them to write something and email it to you. Write, in the form of a researched-based effort. This action is a great way to learn quickly how interested a candidate is in joining your organization based on all they have learned to this point about you, the role, and the organization.

So, I ask you: where do you want to go? I hope your answer is to develop the plans necessary to accomplish the strategy you know you need to achieve to arrive at your desired destination. If this is the case, then let’s get to work. If not, then I wish you the best of everything.

I hope we will see each other here next week. Email me if you need to talk before then.

COMMENTARY CATALOG

http://www.shdawson.com/commentary/

Dr. Stephen H. Dawson, DSL

Executive Strategy Consultant

Stephen H Dawson, DSL

Stephen Dawson is an executive consultant of technology and business strategy, serving significant international organizations by providing leadership consulting, strategic planning, and executive communications. He has more than thirty years of service and consulting experience in delivering successful international business development and program management outcomes in the US and SE Asia. His weekly column, “Where Do You Want To Go?,” appears on Thursdays.

Dr. Dawson has served in the technology, banking, and hospitality industries. He is a noted strategic planning visionary. His pursuit of music has been matched with his efforts to lead by service to followers. He holds the clear understanding a leader without followers is a person taking a long walk alone.

Stephen has lived his life in the eastern United States, visiting most of the United States and several countries. He is a graduate of the Regent University School of Business & Leadership. Contact him at service@shdawson.com.

Thank you for visiting our Blog!

Jim Weber – Managing Partner,  ITB Partners

Jim Weber – Managing Partner, ITB Partners

I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox.  Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me so; please leave a comment.

 

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Light

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., PhD

Stephen H Dawson, DSL

Standing in the spotlight can be a scary experience. The focus is on the person or persons in the spotlight, while many others view using some form of judgment. Many people in the world today are prepared to attack anyone in any spotlight. It is becoming more and more popular to be nameless and faceless while seeking fame. This combination results from group thinking, not individual thinking, leading to group identity serving as individual identity. This combination is not only silly, but it is also impossible.

Leadership is achieved by people who lead. Group leadership is a flawed concept resulting in a toxic leadership style. It is flawed because the leader-follower relationship involves specific people following a specific person serving as their leader. Team leadership is a viable means to build an organization, either small or large. The definition of team leadership is not the same as the definition of group leadership. Furthermore, both the team and group leadership constructs eradicate the power of signing paychecks. The power is lost because people work for a mysterious team or group definition, not a boss in whatever form a boss exists in the organization structure even though wages are paid every pay cycle. Neither the team nor the group leadership condition forms the employer-employee relationship. Leadership is only successful when a productive leader-follower relationship is present.

We have been working on resolving the impediments suffering the accomplishment of your strategic planning. We concluded you have a people problem, not a worker skills or workspace problem. We have covered many topics preparing for the action item necessary to resolve your most significant impediment: your need to get different people assigned to the work. We talked about the definitions of love. We considered a concept for how to harness the energy supplied to you by love so you can combine the topics we have discussed to help you form a plan to evaluate the candidates you have as you consider offering them a role in your organization where they will help complete your strategic planning work. We acted last week to capture your action items for how you will deliver love to your followers in a table called the Love Action Items list. Today, we will review your work from last week and further prepare it to be understood by those who will report to you in the operation of your organization’s future structure.

YOUR BOSS

Your Love Action Items list requires the support of your boss to be enacted successfully. You require their support and approval for the following reasons. First, you report to them. They must know what you are doing to run your organization. Second, if you hold a similar worldview as the rest of the world that values reason, then you would do well to honor your boss by coming to them for their input, support, and approval of your efforts to run your organization. Third, their role can help provide you access to more resources to develop further your Love Action Items list than the resources you had access to when you built the list you hold in your hand now. Finally, they may shut down your entire effort to run your organization by way of your Love Action Items list.

It is probable your boss will ask how each HOW item matches the organization’s objectives to accomplish the organization’s goals in pursuit of its mission statement. Have a direct match connecting each HOW item to your organization’s objectives presentable in a flow diagram. The diagram can be as simple as boxes with connecting lines and arrowheads showing flow directions. A picture states a thousand words, so use your flow diagrams to your benefit.

It is doubtful your boss will be willing to step through the detail of the materials we have covered up to this point. You will need to summarize in writing the materials we have covered for them to understand better what you are bringing to them. They will most likely need to take some time to step through your materials summary and your Love Action Items list. The best-case scenario is they meet with you a few times to cover your materials summary and your Love Action Items list.

Talking with your boss

TEST IT OUT

Take your Love Action Items list and run it by some people who are not in your organization. Take it to people who will not share the Love Action Items list with anyone in your organization at this point. This anonymity empowers both you and them to be as transparent as possible in your discussions with them. I am not saying they must agree 100% with everything you have contained in your Love Action Items list. I am saying listen to their reasoning and modify your Love Action Items list by further development as appropriate.

If your Love Action Items list does not contain wording sufficient to satisfy all cognitive levels present in your organization, then you must wordsmith your Love Action Items list to the point all members of your organization can understand clearly the message of each HOW item, understand how each HOW item matches a specific love definition, and why they will benefit by doing the items on your Love Action Items list. The items are your words stating your leadership plan. This Love Action Items list is work you must accomplish without outside writing assistance. It is understood you will use outside editorial assistance to refine your Love Action Items list after you have written it as a draft.

Talking with your friends

You testing your Love Action Items list also involves discussing your list with your organization’s general counsel and then with your organization’s human resources after you complete discussions with your general counsel. This strategy assurances all codified requirements match the construct of your Love Action Items list by those who are qualified to make this interpretation. Then, your time with human resources assures their support both to you and to any follower of your leadership who feels they are not being treated fairly by the HOW items in your Love Action Items list.

My strategic partner David Daniels shared with me his input on dealing with the people problems at this point in the process. “Every organization has an IN group and an OUT group. NO company avoids this dynamic. Diverse input, can be sidetracked by those that are perceived to be in control. Share on XOften, when this attitude prevails, many employees feel isolated and not included. The result: you get the prevailing wisdom from those who already maintain the dominant position in your organization. This critical part in the strategic process gets derailed and the CEO loses the ability to surface great ideas that could move the company forward.” David went on to say, “Engaging the GC & HR lead is important, but they may be part of the IN group and will resist giving up their power and influence. The CEO needs an extremely competent Chief Diversity Officer who reports directly to the CEO. This person can identify the IN group to guide them to a much better place demonstrating how to include all relevant voices. Please remember, Diversity is far more than race, gender, sexual preference, etc.”

David and I agree on the central point of your role in your organization. You run your organization. You are seeking the input of the general counsel and human resources. You, after gaining their input, then must make the decision to run your organization.

LIGHT IT UP

You are now ready to take your Love Action Items list and write the job announcements for each role replacement you need to be filled to help accomplish your strategic planning work. Your efforts to this point will connect all of the materials we have covered with the focus of using love to energize the light to shine on these job announcements. Plan to post the job announcements in as many ways possible that are suitable for your organization’s privacy requirements.

Announcing your job openings

It is then time to accomplish communications with your organization’s members of the changes you have decided to make. The communications must include you teaching your people the four definitions of love. It is best you do not accomplish these communications before posting the job announcements. You are the leader of the organization. You are acting appropriately to resolve some people problems in your organization that impair the accomplishment of your organization’s strategic planning. There is nothing about your people replacement decision needing the approval of your followers at this point.

The best-case scenario is anyone who does not want to follow your leadership by way of your Love Action Items list will complain about you as a person, not your leadership. This complaint is a misdirection effort to hide the fact they do not want to act in accordance with the items you have listed in your Love Action Items list. The good news here is you are now able to see clearly who no longer wants to follow your leadership, you see perhaps a bit more of why your strategic planning work is not progressing as you prefer, and you have the opportunity to discuss with the complainers why your Love Action Items list is written as it is for you to lead your organization.

If this discussion, not discussions, is not successful for the complainer to understand fully the future of the organization you lead, then the complaining follower will need to leave your organization. Your single discussion, combined with the well-written contents of your Love Action Items list and associated communication materials, serves as more than enough for any adult worker to understand how your organization will now operate. The time you spent with your boss, your general counsel, and human resources sharing the material we have covered and your work to develop your Love Action Items list will pay off for you immensely. You may be a bit rattled by either the person or persons who complain, but there is no place for either you or them to stand on the same ground anymore. You made the decision for how you both need and want to run your organization. It is now time for you to fulfill your leadership decision.

This review effort may take some time to accomplish. Do not be discouraged at the time and effort necessary to accomplish the review effort. We have other actions we need to accomplish before you start interviewing applicants, so we will be working in parallel with your review effort to achieve these actions as you wait for your reviewers to step through your materials summary, your Love Action Items list, and meet with you.

So, I ask you: where do you want to go? I hope your answer is to develop the plans necessary to accomplish the strategy you know you need to achieve to arrive at your desired destination. If this is the case, then let’s get to work. If not, then I wish you the best of everything.

I hope we will see each other here next week. Email me if you need to talk before then.

COMMENTARY CATALOG

http://www.shdawson.com/commentary/

Dr. Stephen H. Dawson, DSL

Executive Strategy Consultant

Dr. Stephen H Dawson

Stephen Dawson is an executive consultant of technology and business strategy, serving significant international organizations by providing leadership consulting, strategic planning, and executive communications. He has more than thirty years of service and consulting experience in delivering successful international business development and program management outcomes in the US and SE Asia. His weekly column, “Where Do You Want To Go?,” appears on Thursdays.

Dr. Dawson has served in the technology, banking, and hospitality industries. He is a noted strategic planning visionary. His pursuit of music has been matched with his efforts to lead by service to followers. He holds the clear understanding a leader without followers is a person taking a long walk alone.

Stephen has lived his life in the eastern United States, visiting most of the United States and several countries. He is a graduate of the Regent University School of Business & Leadership. Contact him at service@shdawson.com.

Thank you for visiting our blog.

 

Jim Weber, Managing Partner – ITB Partners

Jim Weber – Managing Partner,  ITB Partners

I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox.  Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me so; please leave a comment.

 

 

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Servitude

“Only a life lived in the service to others is worth living.” Albert Einstein

Stephen Dawson, DSL

I met Melissa in the summer of 1983 at a teenager retreat. We spent a lot of time together with the other teenagers and alone with each other during the retreat. We became quite fond of one another. We lived several hundred miles from one another. We ended our time together, wanting more of a relationship. Melissa wrote me a letter a month later she had decided there is no future for our relationship. She planned to spend some of her college years in both the United States and France. She did not see a way we could grow our relationship with distance.

I cried for an hour after I read the letter. I knew she was 100% correct. She had much more intelligence than me, much more class than me, and her family was much more wealthy than mine. There were no viable means to grow our relationship. I ran into her several months later, unexpectedly. Our conversation was awkward. We wanted to continue our relationship, but the spark was gone. I have not talked with her or seen her since that day.

Melissa served both me and us with her leadership demonstrated in her letter. She considered the facts, made a choice, and communicated herself well. Her efforts form the basis for a successful leadership strategy.

Consider the attributes of this story. Then, consider how your people, the followers of your leadership, are wondering how to grow a relationship with you. Who makes the first move? Who makes the next move? How will these moves be made? Oh, and there is accomplishing the work they are being paid to do.

I shared in-depth recently about love. I also shared leading by serving is a formal leadership style. I shared over the past several weeks how leaders I identified have demonstrated love to their followers, along with those outside of their organization. If things went well for you this past week, then you are wondering now how to deliver love to your followers. If things did not go well for you last week, then you are wondering now if loving your followers is worth the hassle. Let’s talk about the second item first, and then we will cover the first item.

HASSLE AVOIDANCE OPTIONS

I see there are three options when it comes to relating to people. The first option is to love them. The second option is to hate them. The final option is to care less about them. This final option may be considered to be a form of hate, but I identify it as a form of ambivalence. It is not a form of apathy.

If I know my leader hates me, then there is no point in my trying to follow them. I may be forced to follow them, but I will not perform at my best potential to deliver my work. It seems to me this combination is an inescapable attribute of humanity.

If I know my leader is unsure of either their love or hatred for me, then I am thinking the day will come when they chose to either love or hate me. I will wonder which option they will choose with more and more thought devoted to this wondering until the day comes when they make their choice. I will not focus entirely on my work, as I will have part of my attention direct elsewhere. It seems to me this combination is an inescapable attribute of humanity.

If I know neither hatred nor ambivalence empowers my followers to work fully to accomplish their work, then it makes sense to be the only viable option is to love them. I know of no credible evidence where I should conserve love. Conserve, in the form of holding back at some point. I may be too tired to give love, but this condition is a call to rest instead of a call not to give love. If I want the best return for my investment of time, money, and perhaps even a bit of social status, then it makes sense to me to maximize my investment of love into my followers so they will have the best potential to deliver to me the work I ask them, and perhaps am even paying them, to accomplish.

LOVE DELIVERY OPTIONS

A relationship involves two or more people. If I have thousands of people in my organization, then it is impossible to spend individual time with each other. I must work with my direct reports to accomplish loving all followers of my leadership. I must instruct, model, and require my direct reports to love their direct reports, all the way to the lowest level of the organization. This step is what I call a mandate.

Next, I must know my direct reports are doing what I mandate of them. I must go to those at different levels in my organization and ask them individually to tell me their understanding of the mandate to understand what I required in my mandate is being accomplished. Talking in person is better. Talking by video is better than only audio. However, audio talking is better than not talking. It is more effective to go to the middle of the organization first, then the bottom when having these talks. This approach gives me accurate first-hand findings quite quickly. This step is what I call a measurement.

Talking together

Next, I take any corrective action necessary to match what I mandated with what I measured to eliminate any variance. This action occurs speedily over a day or so. This step is what I call a demand.

If any of my direct reports disagree with my leadership, then it is best either I change my leadership, or they cease reporting to me. I am willing to discuss how I accomplish my work. I am not willing to discuss what I mandate. A mandate is derived by what I know must happen to preserve the organization, to grow it, and perhaps even turn it over to another leader at some future date. I know a mandate by the intersection of my worldview, my ethics, and my morals.

So, how about the followers? There must be enough of an intersection between leader and follower in their worldview, ethics, and morality for them to be able to accomplish the work in their hand. The best practices of both diversity and inclusion tell me I have a better chance of success with as much input as I can receive. Yes, there is a condition known as analysis paralysis. This condition is when a person cannot act on their work because they are taking in too many considerations. We covered this condition when we discussed being scared. The inputs never stop. So, it is best to have as diverse a follower set as I can have in my organization to ensure I have the most inputs possible. Furthermore, I had better love each of them if I expect each of them to be included in my organization by their choosing to do the work I have put into their hand.

Talking again with someone

BONDSERVANT

It is my considered position my loving anyone is a choice I must make daily. I must choose to make myself indebted to love. I do not force anyone to love me. It is impossible to achieve this action, so there is no reason to try and do it.

The idea here is to have a continuous conversation that matters. Matters, in the form of contributing productively to the desired outcome. It is spending the time talking about what organization members are supposed to be talking about: their work. Then, the purposeful conversations occur at all levels of the organization.

A continuous conversation

CAPTURING

Now, it is time to write out your action plan to know with certainty how you are going to lead your followers by means of love. Review the material we covered in our discussion on the topic of love. Then, write out a table with the following structure:

Column One, HOW. Write a sentence of how you will deliver love to your followers.

Column Two, STORGE. This column is populated with entries of YES or NO based on HOW you deliver love.

Column Three, PHILIA. This column is populated with entries of YES or NO based on HOW you deliver love.

Column Four, EROS. This column is populated with entries of YES or NO based on HOW you deliver love.

Column Five, AGAPE. This column is populated with entries of YES or NO based on HOW you deliver love.

Love Action Items List

This table now contains your Love Action Items list.

You should be able to write out twenty sentences of HOW you will deliver love without expending much effort. I encourage you to keep each sentence as short as possible while maintaining your clarity. Write out the HOW entries first, then come back and identify which love definition each HOW item matches. The result is each row in your table telling a specific action, matched with one or more specific love definitions, for anyone impacted by your leadership to understand your leadership style better. If you need some help with the HOW part, then read some of the work accomplished by Gary Chapman. Chapman realized there are five common love communication mechanisms.

My strategic partner David Daniels shared with me his thoughts on forming the Love Action Items list. “I have always welcomed different points of view, as long as they came from a positioning of the organization’s values and mission. However, once a decision was made, I fully expected my team to embrace and support the direction. I have watched so many situations where leadership gave the appearance of support to the leader and then went out and trashed the direction or lent unenthusiastic support of it.” I agree with David’s viewpoint. It is best to write your Love Action Items list from the position your people changes may involve changing some of your people who report to you directly, whether or not they serve as leaders.

Your analysis of your table containing your Love Action Items list will help you plan to deliver love to your followers. The best news is your followers will know how you are planning to act, know instantly how your actions match your plan and are empowered to contribute to your table by adding rows as you approve. The key here is your HOW items need to be received by your followers, and your followers HOW items need to be received by you.

Now, some good news. The four types of love expressed through five different options work out to be 465 different combination options. Clearly, there is no shortage of options available to anyone desiring to love anyone. Do some reading on permutations and combinatorics to learn more about combinations. Remember, the leader-follower relationship must work in harmony and not be forced to be effective. We will discuss the work you accomplished with your Love Action Items list next week.

So, I ask you: where do you want to go? I hope your answer is to develop the plans necessary to accomplish the strategy you know you need to achieve to arrive at your desired destination. If this is the case, then let’s get to work. If not, then I wish you the best of everything.

I hope we will see each other here next week. Email me if you need to talk before then.

Dr. Stephen H. Dawson, DSL

Executive Strategy Consultant

Dr. Stephen H Dawson

Stephen Dawson is an executive consultant of technology and business strategy, serving significant international organizations by providing leadership consulting, strategic planning, and executive communications. He has more than thirty years of service and consulting experience in delivering successful international business development and program management outcomes in the US and SE Asia. His weekly column, “Where Do You Want To Go?,” appears on Thursdays.

Dr. Dawson has served in the technology, banking, and hospitality industries. He is a noted strategic planning visionary. His pursuit of music has been matched with his efforts to lead by service to followers. He holds the clear understanding a leader without followers is a person taking a long walk alone.

Stephen has lived his life in the eastern United States, visiting most of the United States and several countries. He is a graduate of the Regent University School of Business & Leadership.

Contact Stephen Dawson at service@shdawson.com.

Thank you for visiting our Blog!

Jim Weber, Managing Partner – ITB Partners

Jim Weber – Managing Partner,  ITB Partners

I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox.  Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me so; please leave a comment.

 

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Energy

I want you to want me.” Cheap Trick

I was 16 years old, living in Knoxville, TN, when the 1982 Worlds Fair occurred. The theme of the fair was energy. Energy, in all senses of the term. Thermodynamics was only a part of the fair’s concept. The idea was to gather as many nations as possible to demonstrate their concepts of how they plan to use all types of energy in the future. The fair was a success by almost all measurements. The fair showed me several options for how I could become more than who I was at the time. It helped to transform me to become a better person.

Knoxville committed to host the fair based on the agreement to develop Knoxville to host guest headcounts greater than anything Knoxville had ever experienced. All city infrastructure had to be upgraded, the roadways had to be redesigned and upgraded, the fair site established, and all other associated planning accomplished and executed in less than a decade. The milestone transformed the city and surrounding area from rural to metropolitan. The people of the region changed mindsets from local to global. There were not enough restaurants or hotels available during the fair to serve the millions of attendees.

A centerpiece of the fair was to be a tower called the Sunsphere. The initial concept for the tower was for it to be taller than the Eiffel Tower. The initial planning revealed there was neither enough time nor money to accomplish the tower at such a height. The ultimate outcome also required lowering the tower height during construction due to cumulative fair site work delays.

We talked about the topic of love last week. If love has any assurance to it, then it is people want to be loved. I remember during the summer of 1982 how much I wanted to be loved, as a part of transiting from boy to man. I wanted to be a meaningful part of the world, to help the world be a better place for everyone. You have heard from me you need to love your followers to succeed in any leadership role. I affirm this statement to you now. You will not, repeat…will not…succeed in your strategic planning efforts without the energy supplied by love.

We are going to cover now a concept for how you would do well to use energy to address the people problems you have with your strategic planning work not being accomplished as you prefer. We will leverage past discussions, learn more about the 1982 fair I attended, and combine things where you can form a plan to evaluate the candidates you have as you consider offering them a role in your organization where they will help complete your strategic planning work.

FOCUSED ENERGY

You have a tangible goal: derive a well-planned strategy. Knoxville had a tangible goal: be ready to go on May 1, 1982. I had a tangible goal: have a fantastic time as a teenager in 1982 while learning how I can be a part of the world that has come to my front door. Fear of failure is often a great motivator for change. We talked about fear during our past discussions. You, Knoxville, and I (the three of us) experienced time running out of our schedules to accomplish our respective goals. It became clear to me in 1981 that I needed help understanding the largeness of what I would experience at the fair. I purchased an unlimited access pass to the fair, and I attended the fair many times. Thankfully, there was a map available to help my young mind navigate the complex fair landscape. I was able to calm my excitement and be more effective during my visits to the pavilions, demonstration events, concerts, and other fair site activities. The key here for the three of us is the need to leverage the energy supplied by those trying to deliver love to us without us becoming overwhelmed in the size of the experience, the wonderfulness of the love, or immersing in a piece of the picture that will slow our forward progress.

1982 Worlds Fair Park Map

ENOUGH MONEY

You have a budget to accomplish your strategic planning work. You are spending too much on your work because you are not getting the results you either need or want to accomplish the scope of your work. Knoxville had money and workers to develop the city and the fair site, but the complexity of the work often caused the planning of work packages to be less than optimal, pushing expenditures higher than budgeted. No worker can work effectively without specific tasking from specific planning. I was running out of time as a kid for free housing and food. I needed to find a means to get more work graduating high school in 1984 than my existing part-time job at a fast-food restaurant. I wanted to spend much more time at the fair than I had available to me, as I needed to work at my job. The key here for the three of us is having enough money goes with having a clear plan in hand. They both help contribute to having enough time to do what we need to do, to get where we need to go.

EFFECTIVE PLACEMENT

You need to place some new faces in some of the roles in your organization to help complete your strategic planning work. OK, maybe it is only one face, but I think it is more than a single face. Either changing roles for existing organization members or removing them from your organization is a huge impact for work that is behind schedule and over budget, as blame often flows easily during work delays. You are, effectively, going into organization design mode with the people changes you must accomplish.

Knoxville had to take their city that was not designed well by layout and derive a new roadway system, upgrade all utilities significantly, and help the lodging and hospitality industries be ready to serve what turned out to be millions of guests. This effort involved reworking the intersection of Interstates 75 and 40, which met in downtown Knoxville. The prior interchange was a horrible roadway design that would never function effectively with the addition of millions expected to attend the fair.

I was becoming more upset the more I attended the fair. I was humbled by the wonderful pavilion hostesses. They were lovely, professional, and quite intelligent. They each were between 24 to 28 years old, each selected by their countries after a rigorous selection progress established by each country. They melted my teenage heart. I was sad that they would leave and I would not see them again. I realized it was best I ask them as many questions as I could to understand not only their concepts of how they plan to use energy in the future are structured, but also about their country’s culture. Yes, to answer the question in your mind, I asked a few of them out on a date. They all turned me down. I trust it was due only to the age difference.

David Daniels shared with me his view on inclusion during the team selection step. “The concept of inclusion works best when you have identified your biases and understand how they might manifest themselves with your decisions as a leader. Your diverse team needs to be comprised of employees who share your values and buy into the mission of your organization. Your leaders need to ensure that every employee understands where they and their department fit into the big picture. Then, and only then, will you achieve the levels of engagement by the team that, in turn, optimizes this critical resource set who is unleashed to exceed expectations.” Effective team formation is not a bolt-on action. It is an inner-mixing action fed to a combustion chamber of the work the team is to accomplish. The day may come when battery-powered airplanes and cargo ships cross oceans. Until then, it is the combustion engine that moves both people and merchandise between continents. We must deliver our output each day, for yesterday is gone, and tomorrow is where we deliver our work outcomes. The concept of the combustion engine is relevant to the workplace of both today and the foreseeable future.

The key here for the three of us is knowing where we fit into the big picture. We each have a scope, a budget, and a schedule. We are each time-bound to accomplish our work. We cannot spend decades doing work that does not require decades. Now, don’t get me wrong. I agree time must be spent as appropriate. It is the appropriateness part that each leader must consider. I remember Dr. Beverly Crusher helped me learn this lesson. She helped me learn to measure with caution each time I must make this appropriateness decision. See if her worlds help you understand the appropriate aspect of how we spend our efforts.

WIDESPREAD COMMUNICATION

Your investors have charged you with the responsibility to accomplished the planning of the strategy they require you to achieve. Knoxville made a deal by their free choice with the Bureau International des Expositions to host the fair. I had life calling me to grow into adulthood, along with food and housing running out in a few years. The messages were each well-formed and delivered with clarity. Now, it is time for you to take the energy of those circumstances calling you and use it to your benefit.

You must form a message to an intended audience stating you have a work opportunity you want to be filled with a new face from a person either inside or outside of your organization for each role you need to be filled. This action is not merely a job posting from the personnel department, hoping a suitable candidate is supplied to you. The role opportunity is to accomplish specific work in an environment operated by…love. It will operate by love because you are leading the organization. You are convinced you must demonstrate love to your followers, you must serve them through this yet-to-be-defined leadership style called servant leadership, and you are certain the planning of your organization’s strategy must be accomplished with excellence. This combination is what Knoxville did, it is what I do now, and what I know you must do to realize success as a leader trying to accomplish your organization’s strategic planning. Perhaps you can reassign all of your people assigned to the work to new roles in the work. I doubt this option will work, but it is possible.

Knoxville took on more than they could accomplish with the 1982 fair. They needed help many times from many external organizations to both plan and do the preparation work. It was not clear things would be ready for opening day. I remember the Sunsphere was not finished until two days before opening day. Your strategic planning work not being accomplished as you prefer means you are about to be in the same mess as Knoxville was in the late 1970s. I remember the leaders of Knoxville becoming quite humble to ask for the help they needed. You may need to be more humble than you are now to identify those who you need to be a part of your organization to complete your strategic planning work. I see gaining more humility as a good thing. It is a good aspect of love, as love shares the loving experience and does not dominate those they love.

OUTCOMES

The Sunsphere still stands today. It is a good memory for those who were in Knoxville before the fair and afterward to see what happened, recall how it happened, and know things changed for the better.

I grew up, though having to walk many bumpy roads to get there. I see my summer of 1982 as a valuable contributor to not perishing along the way to get to our conversation now. I have thought of that summer often over the years.

You are looking to grow as a leader by gaining more effectiveness in your organization by adding some new folks to help with some of your organization’s work. I encourage you to take note of the experiences Knoxville and I went through. Finding the people you are hoping will join your organization needs not only help from those outside of your organization, but you also need healthy joy to get them to join your organization. It is not a matter of joining to do the work of an already accomplished plan. It is the condition where an organization cannot work because they do not have a plan that candidates must consider. Who wants to join an organization that has no work plan? Today, people revel in fame from things like social networking, politics, and many communal forms. A dysfunctional organization does not have fame, but perhaps they have shame. Use the energy of positive change potential you have in your hand now to your benefit. It will take more humility on your part to get the energy focused, placed, and communicated.

Now is not the time to assign blame for how things became as they are for your people. Now is the time for taking inventory of where you stand, counting the costs to get to where you want to go, and deciding if you want to pay the price to get there. If so, then it is now time to talk with those you consider offering to join your organization. Talk to them, but do not offer them a position. You are researching as of this point. If you are not ready to take the step to go and speak with those candidates, then we need to come up with another plan for you.

Sunsphere

Remember, strategic planning work is perpetual. It never ends. The tangible of a plan to accomplish a strategy is not a piece of paper generated by executive leadership at an annual meeting. It is the collection of plans from the entire organization unified into a single plan. Concisely, one cannot lead if one cannot plan strategy. Execution of a strategy is much easier than deriving a strategy. Ease, in the form of knowing the right things to do. We talked about right and evil during past discussions. I know we need to talk about these terms more than what we have so far. Today, understand that healthy love, love supplied to people that helps builds them to become more humble, helps lead us to what is right, and helps keep us away from evil. I keep coming back to this thing called humble for a reason. It is because pride is a horrible means to lead anyone to do anything. Being proud is not a form of pride, but we can cover these terms another day. If I need to define the term humble, then please tell me.

Summarizing, you want people to be a part of your organization. Those people must want to be a part of your organization. You want them to want you. They want you to want to give them a job. This combination is more than a catchy lyric in a successful rock tune. It is a viable means to find the people you need to help you with your strategic planning work. Yes, I just said want must intersect with need in your staffing choices. You will find this collective wanting is what you need because you are convinced you must demonstrate love to your followers, you must serve them through this yet-to-be-defined leadership style called servant leadership, and you are certain the planning of your organization’s strategy must be accomplished with excellence.

So, I ask you: where do you want to go? I hope your answer is to develop the plans necessary to accomplish the strategy you know you need to achieve to arrive at your desired destination. If this is the case, then let’s get to work. If not, then I wish you the best of everything.

I hope we will see each other here next week. Email me if you need to talk before then.

Dr. Stephen H. Dawson, DSL

Executive Strategy Consultant

Dr. Stephen H Dawson

Stephen Dawson is an executive consultant of technology and business strategy, serving significant international organizations by providing leadership consulting, strategic planning, and executive communications. He has more than thirty years of service and consulting experience in delivering successful international business development and program management outcomes in the US and SE Asia. His weekly column, “Where Do You Want To Go?,” appears on Thursdays.

Dr. Dawson has served in the technology, banking, and hospitality industries. He is a noted strategic planning visionary. His pursuit of music has been matched with his efforts to lead by service to followers. He holds the clear understanding a leader without followers is a person taking a long walk alone.

Stephen has lived his life in the eastern United States, visiting most of the United States and several countries. He is a graduate of the Regent University School of Business & Leadership. Contact him at service@shdawson.com.

Thank you for visiting our Blog!

Jim Weber, Managing Partner – ITB Partners

Jim Weber – Managing Partner,  ITB Partners

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Scared – A New Post on Strategic Planning from Stephen H. Dawson, DSL

“Fear is nothing more than an acronym: False-Evidence-Appearing-Real.” Unknown

A friend of mine passed a week ago. He worked himself to death, literally. He worked 80 to 90 hour weeks intermittently for the past 15 years. He was quite good at what he did, but he overdid it to the point of costing him his life. His passing helped me remember to not work so hard but to work smarter each day so I can work less overall.

I shared last week about the concept of spending time to gain the required perspective to go about the necessary work you have at hand. I thought more over the past few days about the fear I saw in 2020 held by many folks both near and far and how it often played out into anger by acting as a defense mechanism. I put down fear decades ago by learning from the wisdom held by one of my first mentors. “Fear is nothing more than an acronym: False-Evidence-Appearing-Real.” Fear occurs during a state of confusion about facts. Fear is not scared, nor is it anxiety. Anxiety can cause confusion, but scared alone is not anxiety. Scared is known by the paralysis it causes in someone who is scared. Anxiety is a slow wear on the whole person. Meaning, scared is a present tense term.

Anxiety

I saw an episode in a situation comedy television show years ago that grips me to this day. Frankly, it scared me stiff. It scared me because I saw how accomplishing all of the work conceivable to be wise does not assure success. My friend who died recently was one of my mentors. He helped guide me through my graduate and postgraduate years. He was a wise man. A coach is not a mentor. Suffice it to say, one has to succeed in receiving mentoring first to succeed in receiving coaching. I prefer mentoring over coaching, for many reasons. We can cover the differences between coaching and mentoring in a future column.

I received comments regarding the column last week that matched the next healthy step in the strategic planning work. The step we are at now is knowing the defined strategy that needs to be planned. There is an intentional circular effort in strategy where an idea is formed and research occurs to support developing the idea. The strategy is then refined, perhaps redefined, then planned, then perhaps refined and redefined again, to its final planning, and then executed by way of strategy process realization. This circular effort is not unique to strategy. There is a research condition known as analysis paralysis. Essentially, too much analysis is occurring to the point the research is stalled by figurative paralysis. There is much work occurring to accomplish the strategy effort, perhaps with good intentions. However, the collective work effort is not advancing by realizing clear and healthy organizational growth. Things are stuck. This research condition is not unique to strategy. The best action to resolve analysis paralysis is to stop the research work. Take inventory of where the work stands, determine the clear facts held, and assess if the work is worth continuing at the time with the people assigned to the work.

We realized earlier we were going to an unknown destination, deciding we did not like that address. We took some time and breathed, gaining the necessary focus to begin the planning work. You wonder if the idea outlining your proposed strategy has merit. What exactly is the strategy we are to plan out for others to follow? You now do not know the defined strategy that needs to be planned. You cannot proceed to the intentional circular effort in strategy. We have come to the realization you are now scared, as you are unsure of your idea forming your strategy. Hence, fear pushes this person to be scared. How do I know you are scared? I know because you do not have the research to support planning your strategy. If you did, then you would not be reading this column.

I view there are three options available to resolve this matter.

QUITTING

The act of quitting can be called regrouping. I call this equivalence a falsehood. Quitting is quitting, and regrouping is regrouping. If one does not want to develop a strategy, then say it. The decision to quit is not about some type of size or power. It is about being unwilling to look at the problem and resolve it productively. Move on, do something else. If shame or embarrassment go with quitting, then that is part of the package. Jimmy Dugan in A League of Their Own said it well. “It’s supposed to be hard…The hard is what makes it great.”

DENYING

The thought of not having a strategy to fulfill a goal is an excellent means to have followers walk away from their leader. These followers do not know what work they should be accomplishing, how they will benefit from whatever work they do, guess what they should do next, believe their leader has a plan, and wonder why their leader cannot communicate the unknown plan being executed. They deny the reality their leader is not leading by believing they are executing a plan they have not been given to follow. This condition is where the credibility loss for the leader occurs and ends their time in leadership.

Denying

FACING

If bravery is doing what is necessary when afraid, then strategy work is an act of bravery. I have not known a successful leader either first-hand or by distance who has not been afraid at some point in their leadership work. Afraid is not fear. Afraid is a healthy response to danger. A crucial success factor for the strategist I defined as successful was their not letting fear be a part of their work. False-Evidence-Appearing-Real. Those leaders worked to gain facts by eliminating opinions not supported by facts. If a tree is known by its fruit, then a tree is a good example of work productivity. Be the proverbial tree you were meant to be by putting down roots and taking the time to do the work needed to grow your harvest.

It is probable a person or organization new to strategic planning needs help with their work. I encourage you not to be either fearful or afraid of this need. I recommend you gain the help of a qualified strategist. Review their credentials, interview the credentials they provide to confirm their work, and select a strategist to help you.

What to buy, what to sell, what to change, are the easy parts of a strategy. They are easy because the accomplished research used to define your strategy reveals what to buy, sell, and change. The hard part of the strategy is knowing you know, for certain, what strategy first to form and then to execute. I say it is hard because of False-Evidence-Appearing-Real getting in the way of going about the strategy work. Looking back, you will be amazed at how simple your strategy is once it is defined. It is a matter of setting aside fear with each action you take.

I intentionally did not state the obvious point that many people are involved in any strategy formation shy of a person who lives alone. I set aside those living in solitude for the final point I bring to you for consideration this week. It is probable your analysis paralysis means you have someone, perhaps several people, working on your strategy effort who do not hold the required qualifications to do the collective work you need to accomplish. Does this scare you? It should. It means you are not willing to stay paralyzed. Scared is known by the paralysis it causes in someone who is scared. Meaning, scared is a present tense term. We will talk next week about making people changes to your strategy work. Forget the realities of male versus female, older versus young, and skin color. Look at people from the perspective of the skills they hold to help accomplish their part of your strategy effort. Try to work through the thoughts of what it will take for you as their leader to separate the unproductive people assigned to your strategy work from the work you need to accomplish. There is no need to be fearful.

So, I ask you: where do you want to go? I hope your answer is to develop the plans necessary to accomplish the strategy you know you need to achieve to arrive at your desired destination. If this is the case, then let’s get to work. If not, then I wish you the best of everything.

I hope we will see each other here next week. Email me if you need to talk before then.

Dr. Stephen H. Dawson, DSL

Executive Strategy Consultant

Dr. Stephen H Dawson

Stephen Dawson is an executive consultant of technology and business strategy, serving significant international organizations by providing leadership consulting, strategic planning, and executive communications. He has more than thirty years of service and consulting experience in delivering successful international business development and program management outcomes in the US and SE Asia. His weekly column, “Where Do You Want To Go?,” appears on Thursdays.

Dr. Dawson has served in the technology, banking, and hospitality industries. He is a noted strategic planning visionary. His pursuit of music has been matched with his efforts to lead by service to followers. He holds the clear understanding a leader without followers is a person taking a long walk alone.

Stephen has lived his life in the eastern United States, visiting most of the United States and several countries. He is a graduate of the Regent University School of Business & Leadership. Contact him at service@shdawson.com.

Thank you for visiting our blog.

 

Jim Weber, Managing Partner – ITB Partners

Jim Weber – Managing Partner,  ITB Partners

I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox.  Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me so; please leave a comment.

 

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Breathing

“We’ve got to try. Do you know what happens if we don’t try?” “What?” “Nothing.” Braveheart

Dr. Stephen H Dawson

I only have time now to watch movies on Saturday nights. Not every week, but when I can. I turn off the world by throwing my phone out the window, getting away from my laptop, and remember when life was simple enough to enjoy two uninterrupted hours of rest. I breathe easier when movie time arrives, as it is a pivotal stopping point in my week. I like movies that have a historical significance. They help me understand more of the historical topic, though I remember theatrics could skew the facts. The act of muddying facts with opinions is an activity found in theology, philosophy, and even unstructured discussion. Sometimes, we realize we are only opinionating. Other times, we are able to stay grounded in facts. The rest of the time, it seems like we do not care enough to do either.

I shared last week the perspective I hold of 2020 from the strategic planning position. Everyone, for the first time in world history, had to throw the majority of their plans out the proverbial window, as I do my phone on Saturday nights. We were all trying to come up with a new plan to face the events of 2020. We wondered last year if trying to have a plan was worth it anymore. I faced that question myself. I learned this past week several readers of last week’s column also faced this question. Some of them shared with me a few of their recent experiences. We all stand in 2021 with the same multi-pronged question: do we need to plan, or can we even plan anymore? I am sure the reasoned response to this matter is a resounding yes.

UNASSURED SUCCESS

Yes, there are plenty of smart folks who fail at their strategic planning, who then try to abandon planning. The Wall Street Journal reported Vale settled for $7 billion this past week for their part in a collapsed dam. The same periodical also reported McKinsey settled for $573 million this past week for their part in the opioid epidemic. Singapore reported this past week they will need twice as much fresh water in 30 years than they have now. These stories represent significant failures by professionals in their practice areas. I hope they work things out for the best. Their failures do not limit my life. I hope they will not limit yours, either.

OPINIONS VERSUS FACTS

I read a recent opinion on when to change a strategy during a crisis. The opinion operates by first achieving four measurements, then responding to each measurement accordingly. I practice strategy. I sell what I practice. I spend several hours each week reading. I read weekly many facts, statistics, reports, and opinions. Sometimes, these items are even assembled into a form of foresight. I read an article this past week in the Harvard Business Review about why it is challenging to have workers operate using quality data now that computing has been around for decades. I also face this challenge in my work to serve my customers. The reason for the workers not using quality data difficulty is the lack of belief held by both the workers and their leaders to change their culture to only have and use quality data. It is a failure of leadership.

I read an article this past week in the MIT Sloan Management Review about growing a human-centered business. The term data does not show itself prominently in that article. Can we ever establish a productive organization without first having quality data? Can we ever have a productive organization without it also using quality data? It is doubtful. Again, more evidence of the need for facts in hand versus operating only by an opinion.

I do not remember reading the professional report on what to do when we all have to stay home for weeks. Neither do I remember hearing an opinion from those older than me about what to do when a global health crisis occurs. I provide guidance to folks. It is my advice based on the best research and recommendations I can deliver to them. I would commit a critical error if I stated facts and opinions could be separate in the practice of any field of work. What I can tell you with certainty is planning is easy when the necessary facts are in hand. What is difficult is assuring any fact is not in actuality an opinion.

A lifetime can be spent to accomplish what seems to be only a bit of fact-finding. Think back to the time when it was unclear if the world was flat or round. Think back to life before antibiotics. The rush to get something productive accomplished is neither bad nor good. It is a reasonable tendency to want to demonstrate productivity. “We’ve got to try. Do you know what happens if we don’t try?” “What?” “Nothing.” I agree life does not always let us wait for research to occur before action must occur. Thankfully, planning to get facts often helps us stay out of a mess by working continuously to know we hold facts. Note, I did not say work endlessly and never rest.

WHAT NOW?

I hope I have sold you by now on the need to plan the strategy you want to accomplish. I realize you may be feeling overwhelmed now. I offer the best advice I can to those in this condition. The advice is to follow a two-step process.

Step one, breathe. Step two, repeat step one. No smug intended here. Realizing the unquestionable need to undertake strategic planning can lead to the thought of quitting the work before beginning the work. My first trip to Chicago happened in early grade school. I first saw a train rail yard there. The operation’s size taught me a bit about the thinking, planning, and work required to build a railway that would help build a nation. Today, most trains are operated by electric engines. A steam locomotive needs oxygen to operate. It needs to breathe. The industrial revolution is filled with images of steam locomotives. Sometimes the train tracks are elevated. I cannot imagine how much fill dirt and gravel hold up an elevated railway system.

I am reminded of rail stressing when I look at older railway systems. It was not until hydraulics were invented before the rails could be treated to handle a railway system’s stress. I can only imagine the number of train wrecks on railway systems that were not treated with rail stressing. Take some time, breathe, think about living without a plan to accomplish your strategy, and see if you want to advance beyond a steam locomotive to execute your strategy.

STRESSING BREATHING

Doing the work to accomplish strategic planning involves research. The plan you write helps to inform others what they must do as a group, a team, a department, a company, a family, or even a country to achieve the strategy. A human-centered plan may include technologies. The research work could be boring at times, but it is not boring for those who need a viable plan to carry out their proposed strategy.

The endurance metaphors abound at this point in your decision to not quit on your strategic planning work. Pressing onward. Get up a head of steam. Get on track. Then, the big one: fight the good fight. Again, as I shared last week, I am not sure what fight is being fought in our contemporary society, but it is appropriate to include it in this list of go-get-’em slogans. I hope to focus you now on breathing leading to trying.

Gloria Gaynor asserted, “I will survive.” It seems as though she did, based on how many times I have heard her say those words over the years. A good way to get out of desperation is to form a plan, work the plan, and rejoice you are no longer desperate. I shared last week if you, at your lot in life, can understand strategic planning as a series of plans involving simple communications, then you have the necessary understanding to undertake your strategic planning efforts. I stand by these words. I urge you to spend time this week alone, breathing, and focus your thoughts on trying to begin to accomplish your research work to support you in carrying out your strategy by working on your plan. Yes, we should be breathing all of the time. Yes, I am saying to de-stress instead of distress. Yes, we are talking about your strategy as a metaphoric train to carry out your strategy. I am hopeful I can help you train yourself to breathe relaxingly, to consider the work you need to accomplish deeply, for you to undertake your work diligently, and for you accomplish your work with excellence.

So, I ask you: where do you want to go? I hope your answer is to develop the plans necessary to accomplish the strategy you know you need to achieve to arrive at your desired destination. If this is the case, then let’s get to work. If not, then I wish you the best of everything.

I hope we will see each other here next week. Email me if you need to talk before then.

 

Dr. Stephen H. Dawson, DSL

Executive Strategy Consultant

Dr. Stephen H Dawson

Stephen Dawson is an executive consultant of technology and business strategy, serving significant international organizations by providing leadership consulting, strategic planning, and executive communications. He has more than thirty years of service and consulting experience in delivering successful international business development and program management outcomes in the US and SE Asia. His weekly column, “Where Do You Want To Go?,” appears on Thursdays.

Dr. Dawson has served in the technology, banking, and hospitality industries. He is a noted strategic planning visionary. His pursuit of music has been matched with his efforts to lead by service to followers. He holds the clear understanding a leader without followers is a person taking a long walk alone.

Stephen has lived his life in the eastern United States, visiting most of the United States and several countries. He is a graduate of the Regent University School of Business & Leadership. Contact him at service@shdawson.com.

Stephen Dawson, DSL

Vice President Strategic Planning or Business Development
by Dr. Stephen H. Dawson, DSL
February 4, 2021

Thank you for visiting our blog.

 

Jim Weber, Managing Partner – ITB Partners

Jim Weber – Managing Partner,  ITB Partners

I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox.  Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me so; please leave a comment.