BOOK SPECIAL........ Why connecting people matters

BOOK SPECIAL Why connecting people matters





Michael Lee Stallard , President and co-founder, E Pluribus Partners

Connection cultures foster shared ideas which fuels innovation at work, says Michael Lee Stallard

Not all cultures are created equal.

Companies that foster a `connection culture' are more likely to perform better than others because their people are willing to go the extra mile to make a difference. In his new book, Connection Culture, Michael Lee Stallard, president and co-founder, E Pluribus Partners, uses examples ranging from rock band U2, to leaders like Ratan Tata and Alan Mulally of Ford Motors as examples of how to do it right. He answered questions from Corporate Dossier on how leaders can build a connection culture. Edited excerpts:

What made you write this book?

I wrote Connection Culture to help organisations achieve greater productivity, innovation and results. Most employee engagement “programs“ fail to improve engagement and the bottom line. Engagement cannot be improved with a program. It requires implementing a system-wide process that promotes a healthy culture and identifies unhealthy sub-cultures, then intervenes to help managers learn to create and sustain connection cultures.

It is essential to develop managers into leaders. A manager is someone who organises tasks and resources to achieve desirable ends. People follow managers because they have authority to hire, fire, pay and promote. A leader goes beyond managing, to connect with the people he or she leads. People want to follow leaders (rather than have to) and that makes all the difference to performance.

What is a `connection culture'?

A connection culture is the collective attitudes, language and behaviours of a group that create a bond that moves self-centred people toward group-centred membership. When you are in a connection culture, you feel included and part of the team versus feeling unsupported, left out, or lonely.In a connection culture, people develop supportive, cooperative, and collaborative relationships.

This is in contrast to a `culture of control' and a `culture of indifference'. In a culture of control, those with power, control, status, and influence rule over others.In a culture of indifference, everyone is so busy they don't take time for relationships. Connection cultures excel at relationships while cultures of control and indifference do not.

As a leader, how do you determine whether this kind of a culture exists in your organisation or not?

Two ways. First, get out of your office and interact with people on the front lines so you can see for yourself if they are thriving or struggling. Are they energetic and engaged, or are they simply going through the motions? When you are meeting with them, do they feel free to speak up and share constructive criticism?
In addition, it is also wise to conduct an annual employee engagement survey to assess whether or not managers are living the values and creating connection cultures.Relying on your observations and conversations alone is insufficient as people may merely put on a happy face or `say the right thing' in your presence, especially if his or her supervisor is there.

If not, what steps can the leader take to establish and foster this kind of an environment?

Connection cultures have leaders who communicate an inspiring vision and live it, value people, and give them a voice. We teach the 3V leadership model, Vision + Value + Voice = Connection. Vision, value and voice are created through attitudes, language and behaviours that leaders cultivate.

The year Alan Mulally arrived at Ford as CEO, sales, market share and profits were falling, and the automaker's culture could be described as silo rivalries with leaders embroiled in turf wars. Ford's culture drove it to the verge of bankruptcy. By the time Mulally announced his retirement in May 2014, he had led Ford to 19 consecutive profitable quarters and rising market share in North America. Ford had become one of the finest carmakers in the world.

Alan Mulally changed the Ford culture by communicating an inspiring vision, using founder Henry Ford's `opening the highways for all mankind' to express how Ford is making the world a better place and serving others. Mulally described Ford as giving people `freedom of mobility' so they can `access opportunities for growth'. This united Ford's people around the vision and focused them on a cause greater than self.Mulally valued people. In meetings, he was a facilitatorcoach rather than a dictator. He prohibited humour made at the expense of others. Rather than thinking of other individuals and organisations as competitors, Mulally employed a `win-win' mindset and approach in relationships that helped him forge mutually beneficial agreements with the United Auto Workers' union and Ford's suppliers.

In the area of `voice', Mulally expected leaders to openly share the obstacles they faced. He celebrated and enthusiastically praised leaders who helped one another instead of focusing solely on problems in their domain. Mulally developed a process called the weekly `Business Plan Review' meeting that increased voice by encouraging feedback and honest dialogue.

What are the possible fallouts of not having a connected culture?

Subcultures of control or indifference ultimately lead to subpar performance. People in these environments withhold information because it's not relationally safe to share it. This results in knowledge traps that sabotage performance.

Only connection cultures meet the human need for connection so that people perform at the top of their game. In connection cultures people give their best efforts, increase alignment with their managers' and an organisation's objectives and communicate more so that decision makers have more information to help them make optimal decisions.

Finally, in connection cultures the marketplace of shared ideas and information fuels new product, process and business innovation.

Research has shown that these benefits provide a powerful source of competitive advantage to companies that have connection subcultures throughout their organisation.Companies that predominantly have cultures of control and cultures of indifference are being left behind simply because they are being outperformed.

Priyanka Sangani

CDET17JUL15