“Let’s Get Growing”

Like many companies Kraft was focused on cost cutting, limiting growth and expansion, focusing on keeping jobs versus hiring more employees. Women CEO and Chairman Irene Rosenfeld presented the growth diamond. “The growth diamond was simply a visual representation of the megatrends that were going on. It was about trading up to premium products. It was about a focus on health and wellness.

It was about a focus on convenience and snacks. That was the lens that we then used to reframe our categories and to make them more relevant and contemporary to our consumers.” Too often companies give into fear in a turbulent economy. Studies indicate that women leaders are in tune to their consumer’s needs. People were still eating cheese and other Kraft products, why not grow?

Known for her risk taking Rosenfeld took the leap, used her management abilities of leading from the head and heart. “We were in the process of evolving. So it was a terrific time to step back and say, “Who should Kraft be?” We spent time talking to employees around the world. We conducted focus groups. We held online chats. We talked to them about the characteristics of the companies that they admire, the characteristics of a company they would like to work for, some of the strengths that they see in Kraft, and areas of opportunity.They distilled that work down to the seven values:

• We inspire trust.
• We act like owners.
• We keep it simple.
• We are open and inclusive.
• We tell it like it is.
• We lead from the head and the heart.
• We discuss. We decide. We deliver.

Kraft did grow, in performance and financially and expanded internationally with the acquisition of Cadbury and by offering the products their consumers desired. Listed as number 13 on the Forbes list of 100 Powerful Women Rosenfeld is one to watch.

How can living your core values help you and your organization to grow? How will you enroll employees in the growth? What fearless moves will you make as you “get growing?”

Your excitement about your vision will excite others, so begin by sharing it. Remember to connect the dotted lines so that your vision
has a purpose that others can relate to. Why does the vision matter at all? How will it impact the work of each individual? Where does
it fit in the commitment to your customers, your stakeholders, and your community?

Don’t be afraid to express your passion and even your vulnerability if you’re unsure how to make your vision a reality. President John
F. Kennedy didn’t know how to put a man on the moon, but he was committed to making it happen and got others to think about and
create the possibility. Why not paint your picture as big as it can be? Others might be able to define the possibilities. Put the putty of your vision into everyone’s hands, and let them play with it for a while to see what they can create. Being a part of building the vision energizes the
excitement to achieve it.

Just as children seem to know who will be good at doing what and quickly assign the right roles to individuals, identify the work
to be done by all of your team players and decide who will do what and why. Do this as a collaborative effort as well, identifying what is needed and asking who is ready to step up to that responsibility. The people who move forward might surprise you. People take pride in tasks they have specific ally chosen to perform, so involve your team players in creating the vision, as well as identifying the actions and timeline needed to get there. Ask what resources they need to be successful, and provide what is required along the way.

Collaboration moves along like a vibrant hum when the vision stays alive. If you want others to whistle while they work, keep the music playing. Keep people informed of the progress being made, or have your focus groups do so. Share the wins, challenges, and detours made as the project progresses, and reconstruct the journey around hazards and barriers that attempt to hinder your movement.

Even the hardest tasks are easier to handle in collaboration. Now that your collaboration muscle is strengthened, focus on what’s next.
What else will make a difference? Where will you go from here? Use your shared values as a way of creating new ideas for your organization.

Collaboration begins with you. Know that you can’t do it alone and that organizations that foster teamwork outperform those that operate in silos. Rediscover your playful side, engage others in the art of creativity, figure out how to keep the buzz alive, and make collaboration a core value in your organization.

photo credit: paul bica via photopin cc

“Give people a place to make a difference and it’s amazing what they can get done.”—Dave Cote, CEO, Honeywell International Foster Leadership

Share the Front Seat

When you were a child, did you ever want to sit in the front seat with your parent? Did you ever “call” it, only to have an older sibling take it anyway?

It can be scary on dark, rainy nights when you drive alone. When the journey is long, it’s better to have a few passengers on board, and it becomes a more interesting trip when you share leadership. Conversation flows, shortcuts can be discovered, and sharing the heavy role of leader gives you time to rest or plan for what lies ahead.

It’s no surprise that the most driven, impassioned leaders hold the reins of leadership tightly in their fists. Trust concerns and worries about delays often keep them from sharing their responsibilities. But imagine what you would be capable of achieving if others stepped up to the highest level of leadership?

The bottom line is: Your role as a leader is to create more leaders. Fostering leadership now helps you pull together your team when you need them the most, such as when:

• You’re trying to merge divisions or organizations together and are met with resistance.
• You’re in a state of change, and some team members are in flexible
• You’re under pressure and need the collaboration and fine precision of your people to achieve your goals.
• Your responsibilities have  grown, and you are wearing thin so that you just can’t manage it all unless you delegate.

Yes, as a leader, your role is to be someone others follow naturally, but your secondary role is to inspire others to lead effectively as well. In fact, your job is not to just give them a seat up front but actually hand them the keys from time to time.

Even Aldis Hodge knows the key to success is Leverage. Nominated for best supporting Actor in the 64^th Emmy Awards Aldis started his career early, landing his role on his 21^st birthday. Known as “the hacker” on the TV show Leverage he apparently knows how to position himself to get what he wants. Do you?

Renegade leaders are leaders with uncompromising visions. This means nothing gets in the way of their success, nothing that they can’t figure out how to navigate around. In the Renegade Leader book you will learn how to position yourself to be the leader that others choose to follow. You can read about the top skills today’s leaders need to motivate the unique needs of today’s workforce. This week’s client’s coaching challenges have ranged from how to navigate generational differences, in reverse to how to manager peer manager relationships.

A young leader managing seasoned, older employees. How do you leverage the knowledge base and at the same time introduce your innovative thinking to put your own fingerprint on the organization. Somehow you have to leverage the earned respect of older employees and get them on the same page coloring on the canvas you are presenting.  I work with executives and CEO’s but I also coach young professionals on how to stand out from the crowd and be seen and heard.  In order to make your imprint you have to been seen and heard. Speak up at meetings, share your ideas in the context of how they will fit the organization’s goals and ask for as much responsibility you can take on. Stand out by claiming your center stage. You can find out 64 tips on how to do this at www.ignitemyspotlight.com.

What about managers who don’t leverage their relationships with other managers? Are you supposed to be standing shoulder to shoulder with a co-manager only to find yourselves back to back, each looking the other way? If so take the first step and get on the same page, decide on mutual goals and the shared decision criteria you will use for every decision in your department. Work as a team, agree to disagree and when doing so share your point of view. “I can see your point; let me share mine and how I came to this conclusion.”

For more leadership skills to leverage your success check out The Renegade Leader book

Ever feel like your office could be nominated for an Outstanding Drama Series? The Renegade Leader 9 Success Strategies Driven Leader Use to Ignite People Performance and Profits was selected to be in the gift bags at the 64th 2012 Emmy Awards, going home with winners like Homeland.

Jackson Pace – Homeland Series

Last week a leader told me he was “tired of all of the drama!” You know what I am talking about, the interpersonal conflicts, excuses for missing accountability; the special needs of each employee…the weight of all of it can feel unbearable at times. My response? “Enjoy the cast of characters and take in the show.” Every organization has its own drama, actors who want to claim the center stage and have their voices be heard, cast support crew who hang out behind the curtain providing supports when needed and an ever changing mix of scenery as each day is never the same.

You have a choice, you can get frustrated or you can sit yourself in the director’s chair and motivate the highest performance. Your entire cast takes their cue from you. You set the tone, you command the stage, you manage the scenery, now give permission to your cast to be creative and ad lib the lines. The drama that most leaders complain about is often due the suppressed creative expression of their team and/or the lacking script of the vision.

Today’s worker wants a leading role, they want to know the full story, they want to understand their role in the big scene and to have a say in how the drama unfolds. Cast them in their best parts and allow them to live fully in character and watch an award winning performance unfold.