Hot Topic Friday: Nov 1.

Happy Friday! Here are my Nov. 1 Hot Topics and how they relate to advancing culture or leadership.

Hot Topic 1: Why You Work Where You Work.

What It’s About: I was quite shocked to find out how big the “purpose” gap was. When I was Chief People Officer at a financial institution, we conducted a company wide survey and one of the questions asked why people worked at our company. We were surprised and disappointed with the results. People loved working for the organization, but few did so because of our purpose. How could we become great if we didn’t reconnect everyone to an inspiring purpose? And we set about doing just that. The HBR authors point out that many employees feel the same disconnection. “In a recent survey, just 39 percent said they could clearly see the value they create. More than half weren’t even ‘somewhat’ motivated, passionate, or excited about their job… A recent survey of more than 540 employees worldwide (found) only 28 percent of respondents reported feeling fully connected to their company’s purpose… A mere 22 percent agreed that their jobs allow them to fully leverage their strengths, and only 34 percent thought they strongly contribute to their company’s success.”

Why It’s Important: Leaders would benefit from checking on the “purpose gap” in their organizations. People typically do not become fully inspired by big audacious goals that are exclusively defined by numbers. And I rarely run into anyone who jumps out of bed in the morning, totally motivated to increase EBITDA or shareholder value. Old, tired “mission statements” hanging in the reception area, or as obligatory paragraphs in annual reports, are worse than insufficient. Check out your purpose gap and take action to refresh as necessary. You may be surprised how wide it is. As an indigenous elder once wisely said to me: “The longest difference we ever have to travel is from our head to our heart.”

One Millennial Response: Being able to define our purpose is one of the most important currencies that we can possess in life. If we’re really lucky, we can find that purpose closely related if not directly connected to what we do for a living. While it should be a goal, there is no guarantee for this. Still, that is zero excuse to hang out comfortably in the 50 percentile who aren’t even “somewhat motivated, passionate, or excited about their job.” It’s as if that answer is far too acceptable. It might take some outside of the box thinking, but there has to be somehow, some way that we can all bridge the gap between our purpose and what we do everyday in our organizations. While help from our leaders would be awesome, it starts with self-accountability.

Hot Topic 2: It’s CULTURE Time!

Source: Smart.

What It’s About: If you’re even breathing as a leader today, you know that culture is a hot topic, and if you’re like many, you’re trying to figure out what to do about it. This article digs into the importance of intentionally investing in culture. It notes: “Deloitte’s 2016 Global Human Capital Trends report found that 87 percent of business leaders believe that the quality of their work culture is important. Only 28 percent of business leaders surveyed believe that they understand their current culture well. A paltry 19 percent of these executives believe they have the ‘right’ culture.”

Why It’s Important: People need to not only understand their culture well, they need to know what to do about it. Yes it’s a little mushy, messy, and part art and science. However, thought leaders have made progress providing frameworks and insights that can practically guide people at all levels. Laszlo Bock, former VP of People Operations at Google, in a recent LinkedIn post, noted the direct impact work culture has on business. "Failures of culture—from Wells Fargo to Volkswagen—have been the single biggest destroyers of value in the last five years. Add Boeing? Uber? We Work? Even Google! Which story do you want to be part of, a great or failed culture?”

One Millennial Response: Well as all writers know, a blank page can be daunting. I get it. We’re trying to define and discuss culture here, but sometimes we get the hunch that plenty still believe the only place to find culture is in the photographs of a National Geographic magazine. How can you outline something that has a different (and sometimes convoluted) definition in every organization? Like anything else that takes some discovery, take the skeletons of the great ones and then add some new bones to make it right for yours.

My Weekly Wine Recommendation (Thanks to Vivino):

Maximus 2012.

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[Picture and ratings provided by Vivino].

And finally! Here’s Cecil’s Bleat of the Week!

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“Note to self: It’s a good idea to ask, ‘what am I not doing?’” - Ben Horowitz.

Bye for now!

— Lorne Rubis

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Happy Friday! Here are my Nov. 1 Hot Topics and how they relate to advancing culture or leadership.

Hot Topic 1: Why You Work Where You Work.

Hot Topic 2: It’s CULTURE Time!

And finally! Here’s Cecil’s Bleat of the Week!

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