"In your heart of hearts... will it work?"

The following is the original and the rewrite can be found by clicking here.

Some time ago I was in a meeting that was rife with opinions regarding the issues of a project, technical discussion, and ultimately would it get off the ground. As the meeting was breaking up a leader looked at the project owner and simply asked, "In your heart of hearts, will it work?". I thought it was a brilliant question!

For those of you not familiar with the term "In your heart of hearts", it is an idiom that refers to knowing something for certain very deep inside yourself, although you might not want to admit it - Not even yourself sometimes.

The question had nothing to do with technical specifications, resource management or operating mechanisms, but something far more fundamental and core to building something sustainable - TRUST, HONESTY, RELIABILITY, the ability to get at the answer and make a better decision. 

Most of us are trustworthy, honest and reliable; it is the way we try to run our lives. Every so often though, we find ourselves with a situation that we believe in so much, have worked on so hard, and have committed so much to, that if signs arise contrary to what we believe, we suppress it - In effect, we start fooling ourselves. More often than not, it is not malicious, but simply "being human"; this is why I love this question so much... it gets to the heart of the matter. (Yes, the puns are intended)

In a practical sense, the answers to "In your heart of hearts... will it work?" are simply YES, NO or I don't know"... often there is preamble before you get one of these answers, but you will, just be patient. For the less patient in the crowd, you can set the question up like this... "In your heart of hearts... will it work - Yes, No or I don't know?" There is much less preamble in my experience. 

To be effective, this question should not asked by text, twitter, email, phone or anything other other than face to face. Remember that business is a social enterprise, so when you ask a "heart of hearts" question, you need to be face to face;  not only to uncover the answers you need to make a business decision, but also to confirm the fundamentals of trust, honesty and reliability. 

 It is such a great leadership question to ask, or to be asked... as like I've said, "it gets to the heart of the matter", helps make better decisions, and confirm you are working with the right people. You just have to love it!

There just seems to be an endless amount of puns with this... sorry!

gpe

Do you have "Millennials" as part of your network? You should...

Recently I caught up with some colleagues who are part of the very much talked about "Millennial" demographic; I consider them friends and part of my network so our range of topics were broad... everything from up coming proposals, to the trials and tribulations in the work place. As a late stage baby boomer, insight into their world is familiar enough, as I've been there and done that; but at the same time, they offer insight with regard to leadership, development and success in our ever-evolving world.

They say 80 Million plus "Millennials" are entering the work force in North America alone and represent the largest group to enter the work-force since the baby boomers; as a result of shear numbers, they are a force to be dealt with as you manage your business. A few points regarding the Millennials to ground us all and do remember this is from the perspective of a Non-Millennial - 

• The "Millennial" demographic is defined as anyone born after the early 1980's through to the late 1990's.
• Also known as the Y Generation.
• They tend to be well educated.
• Very technologically savvy.
• Like to operate in a team environment.
• Very sensitive to a work / life balance.
• Have aggressive expectations regarding careers, career development and career advancement (from and entry level position to Director in five years).
• Have a very high sense of self worth and ability... to the point of being perceived as arrogant and particularity self entitled.
• If not happy with a current situation they are very comfortable with making changes by "moving on to something else".
• The younger the "Millennial", the more profound these points are.

As a leader or a manager of "Millennials" I suspect you are nodding your head and saying to yourself, "Yes, that it about right. Look at what I have to deal with"... where I suspect if you are a "Millennial", you are saying something along these lines, " Yup that sounds about right... deal with it" - (Be Honest). 

More and more leaders and people managers are struggling to manage a growing percentage of this demographic on their teams, as well as a growing number of employees struggle with the working environment they find themselves in - There is a growing frustration with leadership, people management, building stable teams, as well as creating a environment for sustainable success. And this situation is destined to become more and more real as new economies continue to emerge, organizations struggle to achieve the bottom line and the need to have extremely effective teams just to survive... let alone thrive.

As my Millennial friends offer me their thoughts, it became very clear that they found themselves struggling with a few core themes and by extension struggling with their business pursuits. I am not suggesting these are all the struggles going on with "Millennials", but I have heard before:

• Career and skill development, as well as the next steps in advancement.
• Leadership motivation and inspiration.

Some quick thoughts on what I heard around the table (with wine in hand I should add)...

As career development and skill development goes, let me offer a perspective that I know my "Millennial" friends and colleagues do not like to hear; it is a "truism" that can not be disregarded, no matter how much you want to believe it to the contrary - Skill development needed for career development and advancement takes time... 10,000 hours for mastery they say. Although becoming a little trite, it is a fair benchmark with knowing when you will be good at what you do. So if career discussions is being discussed in months, and not years, there is truly a disconnect with expectations. And this makes for a very nice segue into the next point...

Although "Millennials" are looking for candid conversations regarding skill development, opportunity, performance and career advancement, what they are truly looking for from their leaders is "inspiration and motivation". They will look for this as individuals, and for the team in the broader sense (remember, by nature, they are team oriented, so they will speak for the team as a way of speaking for themselves). If you are a people leader, particularly if "Millennials" are involved, you need to ensure inspiration and motivation is part of your Leadership DNA - This is a full stop requirement when you lead "Millennials"; not simply a nice to have.

One last comment when it comes to leadership... it is a not a "directional sport" where leadership is just from the top... remember there is an expectation for everyone to manage up, down and side ways. The leader sets the tone for this, but in the end it is a "participation sport".

I appreciate the insights of my "Millennial" friends and they make up a key component of my professional network... they offer me a much needed perspective when looking at the situations and problems of the day. I highly recommend you get them into your network.

In the same breath, I hope they are saying, "I am glad I have an 'old guy' as part of my network" (or something to this affect)... which sometimes may be hard, as it is not part of their DNA.

Something to be worked on for sure.

gpe

Be Epic...

I was at a cycling event last weekend* and a friend arrived "sporting" a new T-shirt that said, "BE EPIC".

There was something in this simple phrase that caught the imagination and whispered countless possibilities- The deeds and adventures of heroic and legendary figures; stories standing the test of time... all Homer-like in grandeur. We were all caught up with the emotion of these two words, and shared the greater meaning among ourselves. 

Striving to "BE EPIC" is a stretch goal if ever there was one... it will take you places that you never thought you could go, and on adventures you didn't realize were in you; the only place for big, big dreams - "BE EPIC" makes for a great mantra! 

And then someone** said, "Or maybe, the shirt says BEE PIC." 

Looking at the stylized lettering, and with a little imagination, it wasn't hard to see how you could come up with "BEE PIC"... and of course that is short for "BEE PICTURE". With that, I just started to smile. 

By saying "Or maybe, the shirt says, BEE PIC", I was reminded that different perspectives will let you see different things... and "different" will lead to new thoughts, ideas, impressions and interpretations. For me, I was literally reminded of The Bumble Bee, a blog entitled " Every man has a story... even the Bumble Bee" and those characteristics we should emulate.

So now when I put on my "BE EPIC" T-shirt, I am reminded of this - 

• Dream and set your goals with EPIC proportion.
• Look at the world differently and embrace those who do.
• Be industrious and never underestimate the importance of hard work.
• Believe in what you are able to do... and do it.
• In the end, only true character is left standing.

And yes I bought a T-shirt.... wouldn't you?

gpe

* The cycling event was a Princess Margaret Ride to Conquer Cancer, where 4,799 of my closest friends and I rode 223 kilometers and raised $19 Million. I big thanks to Huey, Dewey and Puddly for riding with me... it was a pleasure and an honour.

**It was Huey. Introduced in a blog entitled "Reflections".