Update: Family strategy

/ Jonathan Sachs

On January 14th, I wrote a post about leading the “Most important organization in the world,” about leading a family.  At that time, I shared that my wife, Sheryl, and I put together our own family strategy that I would share at a later date.

Well, that later date has arrived with an extra twist! Sheryl and I had our first family strategy centered around preparing to become a family of 3. Our son Aaron was born a healthy 7lbs 5oz on April 13th, bringing us incredible joy during a time of incredible uncertainty. Aaron’s arrival and impact on our family has been immediate, and caring for him has been a welcome distraction.

Before we knew much about the novel coronavirus, Sheryl and I had a dinner date night and put together our family strategy, including our “rallying cry,” “defining objectives,” and “standard objectives.” Our strategy describes how our family is different. Our “rallying cry” is a short term focus, while the “defining objectives” are the steps to achieve the “rallying cry”. Finally, “standard objectives” are lasting areas of importance that our family has determined to be pillars of importance.

So here was our completed strategy board leading up to Aaron’s arrival (he was affectionately known as “Gummy Bear” before his arrival):

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For us, our family strategy is defined at the bottom of our board, which lives on display in our living room (it’s been a hit at dinner parties!). Our strategy is, “We are a family that is driven and goal oriented. We grow and change while always prioritizing faith, family, friends, and compassionate active listening. We are genuinely curious about our world and contributing to make it a better place.”

Our rallying cry, “Prepare for Gummy Bear” included the defining objectives of preparing his room and play room, getting stuff for him (like a car seat and stroller), taking the parenting classes, figuring out daycare, selecting a pediatrician, and establishing a birth plan.

Our standard objectives, which remain are managing financial health, physical health, spiritual health, the quality of our marriage, pursuing education, socializing, and fun.

Every week, Sheryl and I meet for about 5 minutes to assign tracking to each of the objectives. Red dots mean not accomplished this week, yellow means in progress, and green means complete. During the COVID-19 pandemic, achieving green status for the the social life standard objective has been especially hard due to social distancing.

Sheryl and I were both excited to create and deploy our family strategy. Having witnessed a couple of frantic family dynamics, it was our goal to get ahead of it and Lencioni’s model fell into our laps coincidentally. However, investing the time in developing a strategy and meeting about it weekly has been highly valuable for us. I find that the activity keeps us focused and grounded at home, just as work plans do for me professionally.

I really cannot recommend the activities of developing and tracking a family strategy highly enough. It helped us immensely, even in this time of social distancing, to prepare as first time parents bringing a newborn home with no physical help. Without it, it likely would have been a much harder road for us. Contrary to what we though, the first 3 weeks of Aaron’s life have been pure joy, with some sleepless nights thrown in.

You have the time right now during social distancing to create a family strategy. Everyone is home and looking for something to do. Go ahead and try it. Use The 3 Big Questions for a Frantic Family to get started. All the whiteboard materials are an easy order from Amazon. Happy strategizing!

As always, if you have any questions, please contact me.

Key Takeaway: Creating a plan and keeping it top of mind is the pathway for success in both business and with our families. Now is a perfect time to develop a family strategy and then to implement the objectives required to meet your goals.

Spiritual thoughts on leading during the COVID-19 pandemic

/ Jonathan Sachs

Words from March 31, 2020:

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Photo Courtesy: U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ryan M. Breeden

Is anyone else keeping a journal? I have been keeping one, lately. We know that this is a historic moment because it is an unprecedented moment. There are no best practices for a modern, global pandemic. The virus we are fighting is only a couple of months old and we know much less about it than we don’t know. We have models, forecasts, and predictions, but no experience, no comparison. It’s a scary time.

But, think about this: There is no better time in history for a pandemic like this to happen. We know more now medically than we have ever known before.

At the same time, in the eyes of history, how we combatted COVID-19 will look completely inadequate in a future where technological innovation accelerates exponentially. Perhaps even in a few short years, therapy and vaccine development can accelerate to be virtually instantaneous, so a global pandemic may never happen again.

It is that possibility that has Yuval Harari, anthropologist and author of the book Sapiens audaciously asks – What happens when we cure death?

But, we haven’t done that yet. So, here we are, at the beginning stages of a global pandemic that nobody can really say how it all ends and we go back to our regular lives. The subject of discussion on face time and skype in my home lately has been, “What are going to be the legacies of COVID-19? Will we ever shake hands again?”

Regardless of how our actions may look to Monday morning quarterbacks in the future, it is not Monday, it is Sunday, game day, and we are in leadership today. Even more so, health care leaders are called to serve in leadership for the vital institutions that are the hope and focus of a community, which has been asked to sacrifice, to keep us, hospitals, from being overwhelmed and to save lives.

This is the first time in a generation that Americans have been asked to sacrifice for a cause greater than themselves. Some members of our community are forced to take that call in isolation.

History has called leaders to uncertain and open-ended moments like this before. The original transformational leader, Moses, was called by G-d in Exodus to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. However, Moses was not crazy about this idea. He gave g-d three objections:

1) Moses says: “Who am I that I should go to Pharoah and free the Israelites from Egypt?”
2) “When I come to the Israelites and say to them ‘The G-d of your fathers has sent me to you’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ What shall I say to them?”
3) “What if they do not believe me and do not listen to me?”

In other words, Moses asks G-d:

1) Who am I to do this?
2) What do I know?
3) What if they don’t follow?

In times where we are called to a task that feels bigger than us, it is important that we come to it with humility. Moses didn’t say, “I alone can fix it”, he questioned his ability to meet the task, recognizing how big it was. We don’t have a lot of the answers, like to the biggest question, “How does this end?” and that is okay. We have to accept that we don’t and do the best we can given the circumstance.

In fact, humility, is one of the areas that I am reflecting on the most lately. As many of you know, my wife Sheryl is 9-months pregnant with our first child. As of today we are less than 2-weeks away from her due date. We’ve had these 9 months to prepare and have even developed a family strategy, a file repository on google drive, and have been reading books together for months to prepare.

Now, there is a lot of uncertainty in even a routine event due to a microscopic virus that we can’t see, that has brought the world to its knees. As my grandmother used to say, “Man plans and G-d laughs.”

One of the parts of this crisis that makes it especially hard to lead is that we may feel the same humility that Moses felt, while being called to be confident, clear, decisive, relaxed, and in-charge. It is a balance that I hope we can strike together. Unlike most of our community, we are not isolated. We come together as a team, as we have done this morning and I know that we will rise to this occasion and our organization will be stronger for it because we will have learned.

To conclude, I want to ask you to reflect for a moment on the following questions, perhaps in a journal entry:

If you look to a future in which you were to write an autobiography, would the Coronavirus/COVID-19 Pandemic be included? If it was included, would it be a short notation, a sentence, a paragraph, a chapter, or one of the volumes of a 3 volume set? What would you like it to say?

Leadership in a crisis

/ Jonathan Sachs

We are living in a historical moment in time. For years ahead, researchers, historians, and analysts will look back on this time to study the coronavirus pandemic and how our leaders reacted to this crisis.

Working in the health care field during this time has been a tremendous education for me. Our team is rising to the occasion, asking for help when needed, and coordinating with the entire community of providers. If there is a silver lining through the COVID-19 crisis it is that the world is seeing that the people who deliver care to patients every day truly have been heroes all along. And in this crisis, my colleagues who are patient facing are answering the call to serve. There’s a lot more work to do, but I am consistently proud and inspired by the members of our team.

Today though, I want to devote some focus to two elected officials who are leading through this crisis in impactful ways, one democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo (New York) and one republican Governor Larry Hogan (Maryland). Interestingly, Hogan and Cuomo serve together as Chair and Vice Chair of the National Governor’s Association.

Both of these men are taking bold steps to combat the coronavirus crisis and save lives, but they are doing it differently. While they are taking many of the same actions like social distancing through stay at home orders, their styles of communication are different.

Both communication styles seem to be effective so far, so let’s explore their actions to date and learn about the implications to the way we can lead.

Let’s start with Governor Cuomo:

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Photo Courtesy: Office of the Governor of New York

New York is the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States so Governor Cuomo has gotten a lot of national attention. Governor Cuomo has taken bold action on slowing the spread of the coronavirus. Cuomo instituted a program called, “New York State on Pause,” which included 10 points to institute robust social distancing in the state of New York.

Governor Cuomo’s philosophy is, “socially distant, spiritually connected.” His daily press conferences almost always include two parts:

  1. Data presented through a powerpoint presentation and
  2. The modern equivalent of an FDR fireside chat

The data he presents seems to be intended to share how he makes decisions during the crisis in a transparent way. He shares with the viewers, targeted at the residents of New York State, what he is seeing and the implications of that data on hospital safety and lives saved. This is a powerful leadership tool. People are more likely to follow if the leader’s thinking is presented in a logical way, helping followers see how the leader is “connecting the dots.”

Lost in some leadership communication today is the vital emotional aspect of connecting, which Cuomo uses to give comfort and hope during this difficult time. I have particularly enjoyed learning about Cuomo’s family, particularly about his mother, brother, and his children. He comes off as a son who loves and cares for his mother, an older brother who playfully teases, and father who embarrasses his children. Andrew Cuomo the “character” who is experiencing this crisis together with us is relatable and warm.

Combining both the logos (logic) and pathos (emotion) has make Governor Cuomo’s press conferences a “must watch” during this crisis, which has the added advantage of Cuomo being able to control and manage his message directly, without the filter of the media.

See it for yourself – Here is a link to Cuomo’s press conference from Friday, April 10:

Next, Governor Hogan:

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Photo Courtesy: Patrick Siebert, Executive Office of the Governor of Maryland

Governor Hogan has also taken bold actions on coronavirus and was one of the first Governors in the United States to do so. Hogan took early actions to implement social distancing and ramp-up hospital capacity in the state, including being among the first to extend licensure to retired and out of state providers.

Hogan also communicates regularly, although not daily. His press conferences take place when he has something to say that is new and he usually delivers new messages clearly, bullet by bullet, in what amounts to the smallest number of words possible. Hogan has jumped in staunchly on enforcement, giving leeway to police to enforce social distancing and has made a public example of Marylanders who host private gatherings at their homes by tweeting their mugshots.

Hogan has taken his message, which is focused on delivering the truth and challenging Marylanders to do their part, to several news shows as well. He has answered questions at town halls televised locally and is starting to be known nationally for his willingness to speak up when states are feeling under-resourced by the federal government. Hogan’s overall message is factual and hopeful, but only in a way that makes it dependent on the actions that Marylander’s take individually.

See it for yourself – Her is a link to Governor Hogan’s press conference from Friday, April 10th:

The lesson here is that leadership is not a one-size-fits all model. Styles, particularly in crisis communications, can be different and personal but still deeply impactful if it is genuine. Cuomo’s discussions are longer, he sits down, giving it the feeling almost of being in his living room. Hogan’s press conferences are shorter, more formal, and to the point.

Evident in both styles is the genuine empathy they each have for the people of their states as well as their own personal connections. Hogan was diagnosed at the beginning of his first term with cancer and has recovered, but his compromised immune system puts him in the “high-risk” category for mortality if he contracts the virus. Cuomo talks about taking care of his elderly mother and watching out for his health. Additionally, Governor Cuomo’s brother, Chris Cuomo, was recently diagnosed with COVID-19.

At the end of this crisis, Governors Cuomo and Hogan’s successes will be measured in how the residents of their state followed social distancing and ultimately in the number of lives lost. History will look back on this time assessing how leaders performed by compelling the residents of their states to follow social distancing and give the health care system time to catch up.

There is a ways still to go in this crisis. Thus far, though, Governors Cuomo and Hogan are earning high marks for their communication styles.

 

Transformational leaders communicate and connect

/ Jonathan Sachs

As we discussed in the last post about Starbucks founder Howard Schultz, transformational leaders are effective communicators. Not only do they share important information with the leadership team to create clarity and focus, but they also communicate important ideas with the entire team.

I recently watched the TED Talk linked below about what happens to our brains when we communicate effectively. The implications for understanding the science is both intuitive while simultaneously being amazing to see. Please watch it here:

As Dr. Hasson illustrates, good storytellers have an ability to connect with an audience. Effective storytelling causes the audience to connect with the speaker, hear similar information as others around them, and then share it with other people, creating a multiplier effect. Honing the ability to communicate for this type of impact is an advantageous competency for transformational leaders. 

While some leaders are better communicators than others, almost all transformational leaders have the ability to connect through public speaking. The bad news is that many people fear public speaking or are honestly not very good at it. One of my least favorite activities is going to a conference and going to a session with a boring speaker.

The good news is that it is very attainable to become a better public speaker. Carmine Gallo, the author of Five Stars and Talk Like TED gives some solid advice about how to improve public speaking going all the way back to Aristotle. He explains what it takes to tell a good story, learning from Hollywood. He also describes how much preparation and homework go into developing a good talk.

Connecting in the way Dr. Hasson describes is an essential skill for transformational leaders. Learning how to do so is the first step because not everyone is born as a natural storyteller. But it is a skill that can be learned.

KEY TAKEAWAY: Transformational leaders use stories and effective public speaking techniques to connect with their audiences. The science shows what happens when a speaker and audience’s brains connect and it is what builds understanding and movements towards change. 

Transformational leadership and Starbucks

/ Jonathan Sachs / 1 Comment

Over the next few weeks, I am going to be writing a series on transformational leadership. In my next post, I will define the concept as well as an alternate style called transactional leadership. To kick off the series, I wanted to illustrate the hallmarks of transformational leadership through the story of one of my favorite transformational leaders: Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks.

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Howard Schultz is a transformational leader because of the way he developed a vision and then made it into a reality in partnership with Starbucks’ other employees. His vision was for Starbucks to be a “third place” between home and work and that Americans would pay $3-5 for a cup of coffee. Schultz used his charismatic personality and values to develop a transformational work environment at Starbucks that built a coffee empire. He uses motivation, influence and referent power to overcome business obstacles and achieve shared success.

Evidence of Howard Schultz transformational leadership qualities are a key component of the Starbucks operation. In the most obvious example, Starbucks refers to all its employees as, “partners” and offers them stock options and health care benefits (for both full and part-time employees) . He writes, “From the beginning of my management of Starbucks, I wanted it to be the employer of choice, the company everybody wanted to work for.” Schultz realized that leadership was about the people at the front lines doing the work to bring his vision to reality. He focused on the employees and used his strong motivation and influence skills to achieve his vision.

Schultz has also demonstrated the ability to motivate his employees both in terms of direction and emotional intelligence. On the first day Starbucks was in business, Schultz went to address the other Starbucks partners. He had three points written down on a 5-by-7 note card that read, “1. Speak from my heart. 2. Put myself in their shoes and 3. Share the Big Dream with them.”

When the response to Schultz’s first speech was a combination of skepticism and guarded optimism, he recognized what he needed to do. Schultz knew he had to develop referent, expert and position power in addition to his legitimate power role as the CEO of Starbucks. He used the tactics of shared benefits, consultation and collaboration, emotional calibration and consistency to motivate his new employees. He writes, “The only way to win the confidence of Starbucks’ employees was to be honest with them, to share my plans and excitement with them and then follow through and keep my word, delivering exactly what I promised – if not more.”

Schultz focused on outcomes, satisfaction and trust to build employee commitment to Starbucks, which minimized turnover and retained employees who were aligned to the vision and brand for Starbucks. He writes, “A business plan is only a piece of paper, and even implemented properly [is not complete] unless the people are committed to it with the same heartfelt urgency as their leader.” When Starbucks lost its way, in Schultz’s eyes, he closed all Starbucks locations temporarily for mandatory training, including lessons on how to make the perfect espresso shots.

Schultz has impacted not only the Starbucks partners who have grown and thrived with the company, but also the patrons of Starbucks. In his book Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing its Soul, Schultz describes the reactions of patrons when they learn that their neighborhood Starbucks was closing due to the suffering performance of the company, when, at one point, it was nearly at the brink of bankruptcy. They felt the loss on a deep emotional level because of what the store meant to the community. Schultz describes stories where people reacted emotionally to the announcement that the store they frequent was closing. One woman in Minnesota wrote, “I can’t believe that ‘my’ Starbucks is closing. You never know how important a place is until you are about to lose it.”

The impact of the Starbucks that Schultz created has also impacted me personally. In fact, I have written portions of this post from a Starbucks. It is incredible to me to witness what Schultz visioned coming to life in front of me. I was recently in one of the first Starbucks locations on the East Coast in Friendship Heights. The layout, the service, and the atmosphere was exactly how Schultz would have described it to a potential investor, partner or customer. There was a romance to the coffee service, and sitting there doing work at a table and drinking from my own personalized cup of coffee was surely a small but meaningful luxury. Knowing how much work it took Schultz to achieve that vision, including overcoming many skeptics and frequent trips to Italy, made the taste of my peppermint mocha even sweeter.

KEY TAKEAWAY: Transformational leaders pursue an important vision by empowering people to be a part of something larger than themselves. Leaders like Howard Schultz lead through respect and empowerment.

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