Be A Professional—Kaepernick’s New Aspiration?

By now even the casual football fan is aware of the travails of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. His recent performance (the word abysmal comes to mine) on the football field is a head-scratcher for many of us. His success in earlier years belies the types of disappointing performances we’ve seen from him in 2014. It’s a fall from grace. (Note: the 49ers, in general, are having an extremely disappointing year as well. That said, it is widely acknowledged by football insiders that something is clearly ‘off’ in Kaepernick’s game.)

To add insult to injury, Kaepernick’s on-field performance has shined when compared to how he’s handled the media. In a nutshell it appears that Kaepernick views the media as the enemy (much like his boss—coach Jim Harbaugh—seemingly does).

During a recent press conference, Kaepernick responded to 32 questions with only 87 words. From his demeanor and body language you’d think Kaepernick would rather endure a root-canal than spend another second with the press. Defensive, petulant, aloof, are just a few of the adjectives that come to mind that characterize how Kaepernick comes across with the press. It’s painful to watch. Treat the press as your enemy and they’ll soon become such.

To me, Kaepernick’s act has gotten old (Harbaugh’s too). These two are the primary faces of the organization to the public. They need to positively represent their organization. At the moment, the impression they create leaves a lot to be desired. Sure the media can be a pain to deal with, but ‘media management’ (otherwise known as PR) is an important part of the job—especially for a NFL quarterback.

Hall of Famer Jerry Rice was asked by a Bay Area radio host what advice he’d give Kaepernick. Turns out, Jerry once had a problem with being defensive with the media early in his career as well. At the time he finally realized, “You know, I need to be a better professional.” (click here for more on Jerry’s comments) Simply put, Jerry realized that he wasn’t handling the media as a professional would.

‘Be a professional’…that was Jerry’s advice to Kaepernick. I don’t know if Jerry spoke to Kaepernick after the radio interview or if Kaepernick heard the interview. But what I do know is….

….the very next day after Jerry’s comments Kaepernick was downright charming with the media. He was vulnerable and even empathetic towards many of the ‘media types’ he presumably loathed. All of a sudden the guy ‘shows up’ in a more effective, more helpful way. He puts a more engaging, more upbeat face on the 49ers organization. No doubt, that’s something that the 49ers had long wished would emerge from one of the NFL’s most public personalities.

For everyone involved, undesired behavior in the workplace is maddening. Gazillions of dollars are spent every year in prevention, investigation, and remediation. Yet it’s amazing how effective the admonition—’be a professional’—can remedy undesired behavior in the workplace.

Whether this contributed to Kaepernick’s ‘about-face’ is unknown (at least by me). But I’ve personally seen dozens and dozens of such cases ‘fixed’ with just such an admonition.

Can I Get A Copy of That Recipe?

I’ll bet you’ve heard that question asked around the Thanksgiving table. I did last Thursday. What prompted the recipe request? My daughter’s pumpkin cheesecake.

Her desert was delicious. Naturally people wanted ‘in’ on how to make it….and perhaps secretly hoping to get the types of kudos my daughter did when they make theirs.

This type of thing happens all the time in organizational life—that is, managers shopping for recipes. After all, why re-invent the wheel? On the surface, the approach seems to make sense. Trouble is, in organizational life recipes (think: things like best practices) don’t always transfer well. Sometimes they fall flat on their face—even after being wildly successful in a different environment.

Do this, add that, wait two weeks…and voila, you get the elusive desired result you’ve been desperately seeking. Recipes are tempting. Busy managers succumb to recipes all the time.

The trouble with adopting recipes in organizational settings is that when they’re adopted blindly they require little, if any, critical thinking. Seeking recipes and adopting them blindly is akin to outsourcing your thinking. Too many managers don’t take the time and energy to engage in the type of critical thinking that will enable their organization (let alone their newfound recipe) to flourish. In the case of the recipe they don’t consider how it fits into the unique circumstances (think: culture) of their organization.

Managers should be asking themselves questions like:

  • What assumptions are we holding about why the recipe worked for others and what are our own assumptions about why we think it will work for us?
  • What is different about our situation than others situation that have had success with this recipe?
  •  After successfully adopting (and adapting) the recipe, how else can we benefit from the fruits of this recipe?

Managers: don’t outsource your thinking. It’s one of your most important responsibilities. There’s nothing wrong with seeking out recipes that others have had success with. Just be prepared to do the critical thinking of what it’ll take to make that recipe successful for you.

In the meantime, I gotta give a shout-out for my daughter’s pumpkin cheesecake. Great recipe, even better daughter.

Want Confidence? Start With Your Identity as a Professional

In a recent article on LinkedIn, author Jan Johnston Osburn advocates that when it comes to success  ‘Does Confidence Trumps Talent‘ article, Pulse 11/17/2014.  As I’ve written previously, for most of us what constitutes ‘success’ is largely subjective. That said, I believe that Osburn makes an important point.

And one of the most powerful sources of confidence comes from one’s identity—as I wrote about in The Power of Professionalism.

It’s exciting to see the transformative power that comes about when people internalize the notion that they’re professionals—or start down the road in becoming one.  ‘Professional’ suddenly becomes an integral part of their identity. How have I seen this manifested on a practical level?

***languishing employees become stellar

***rudderless students find their purpose and thrive

***stubborn and incorrigible staffers become motivated (and act) to show their ‘best self’

Did these people suddenly become more talented? No. But they suddenly found themselves, becoming more focused, more productive, more energetic—thanks largely to their new-found confidence.

Identity matters.

Professional Values Under Attack–A Sobering Look At Healthcare

Why Doctors Are Sick of Their Profession is an article that ran recently in the Wall Street Journal.  It’s a sobering look at the human side of the current dysfunction we call healthcare.

The article’s author Sandeep Jauhar MD makes the point that he and many of his physician colleagues are ‘struggling with the loss of their professional values’.  He suggests that in many ways he has become the doctor he never thought he would be: impatient, occasionally indifferent, at times dismissive or paternalistic.  Whether he’s being too hard on himself, I don’t pretend to know.

The causes for the trend are varied and, in many cases, deeply rooted within an industry in need of reform. In many ways the system has beaten down the doctors—imparting cynicism in place of their once noble aspirations.

The doctors are largely part of a system they can’t beat and many don’t want to be a part of.  This article is instructive in two important ways:

***First: it demonstrates how important professionals really are—healthcare just happens to be today’s example.  Absent professional values, things ‘go south’ fast for all stakeholders.  As Jauhar points out, naturally the patient’s experience is negatively impacted when the doctor’s professional values slip.

***Second: to me the answer to having a system ‘beat you down’  is (in part) to remember why you entered the profession in the first place.  In other words, never forget what your purpose is.  Tattoo it on your forehead if you must.  For one’s own mental health, a compelling purpose (on most days) will typically trump a bad system.

It’s interesting to note, from a systemic point of view, that the author suggests emphasizing professional values in the next generation.  That means ‘instilling professional values early on’ in medical school. Couldn’t agree more.  That’s precisely what we’ve helped do at the West Coast Ultrasound Institute. The results are exciting.

Professional values: without them, eventually we’ll all be sick. With them, we’ve got an invaluable  formula for health.

 

Thanks Funnyman

Yesterday afternoon my thoughts turned to Bridges Restaurant in Danville, California. No, I wasn’t hungry. I was sad.

Bridges is a popular, high-end restaurant in our (San Francisco Bay) area. Some of Mrs. Doubtfire’s most memorable scenes were filmed there. Mrs. Doubtfire helped put Bridges on the map. And it was Robin Williams that put the iconic hit film Mrs. Doubtfire on the map. Now he’s gone. How sad.

My neighbor, Kevin Gin, has been the executive chef at Bridges since Mrs. Doubtfire was released in 1993. Kevin tells me that even today that guests at Bridges want to know at what table Williams was filmed at—even amongst many European travelers on holiday. The worldwide outpouring of emotion surrounding his passing is a testament to the depth as to how deeply he touched us.

Bob Sutton (the Stanford professor and management guru) shared a touching story about Robin Williams yesterday that further illustrates why Williams was so beloved.

That Williams was a first-rate human being (as Sutton reinforces) shouldn’t be much of a surprise. The fact that he is gone is.

Company Limits Bathroom Breaks To Six Minutes a Day

Yes, you heard right. Here’s the reference: Company Limits Bathroom Breaks To Six Minutes a Day

No doubt there was some employee shenanigans (think: excessive Facebooking and texting on mobile devices in the bathroom) that brought this on. And perhaps management did some things that contributed to this outcome as well.

But would the ‘Six Minute Rule’ have been invoked if management genuinely viewed their staff as professionals? Not likely!

Invariably, self-management practices go way up when management treats the staff as professionals. The staff’s ‘best-self’ gets proudly displayed. They’re motivated to do the right thing, and they’ll do it more often. Of course there’s always going to be a few knuckle-heads, but still…..

Who doesn’t want to work in an environment in which ‘professional’ is the organization’s aspiration. And who doesn’t want to work with colleagues who are professionals? Of course, the questions are rhetorical. An organization that centers its organization on professional ideals wouldn’t stoop to this.

Leadership Development – Grading a 14 Billion Dollar Investment

Many of you have heard me rail against so-called training methods that prove ineffective. Long story short, lots of training is a waste of time and money. At least that’s the way I see it.

The January 2014 issue of the McKinsey Quarterly contains an article that echos that sentiment. The article—“Why Leadership Development Programs Fail”— outlines four common mistakes that contribute to the leadership development failure.

One of the four mistakes referenced in the article has to do with ineffectively addressing an individual’s mind-set. In other words, most leadership development programs don’t deal with the root cause of behavior—namely the individual’s mind-set.

While the authors have a slightly different view of ‘mind-set’ than I do….the gist of our views is common enough not to quibble with.

In writing The Power of Professionalism I made a commitment to deal with the root causes of behavior—namely to identify the mind-sets held by trusted professionals. Get the focus on the right mind-sets and a lot of things (behaviorally, for the student) naturally takes care of itself. Get the focus on the right mind-sets and now you’re (managerially speaking) leveraging your training investment.

Apparently one of the world’s premier consultancies now sees it that way too!

Reinforcing One’s Identity As A Professional

Many of you know I teach in the business school of one of San Francisco Bay Area’s local universities.  The course work for one sixteen-week class involves an instructional tag-team approach.  In other words, there are four of us instructors involved. Thus, coordination is important in reinforcing key messages in the course work.  This particular class is comprised of sixteen CEO’s of mid-size companies from all over the United States. 

 Here’s a note I recently sent to my fellow instructors.  I trust you can ‘listen in’ and benefit too.  After all, it’s important for all of us to reinforce our colleagues identity of themselves as a professional.

 Here’s my note.

___________________

“Reinforcing one’s identity of themselves as a professional (one of the key points from my week three work with the students) takes many forms. In some instances, it’s a number of (seemingly) small things, repeated many times.”

 “I’m writing to encourage each of you in reinforcing our current XX students identity of themselves as a professional.  It’s important for us to model (for them, the students) what we’re encouraging them to do (for their people).”

 “Here’s one seemingly simple way to do this: when addressing the students or asking a question, preface your comments or question with  ‘As a professional, …’.”

 “For example, here’s a few samples. As you’ll see, each example is posed in two (slightly) different ways:

“What are you prepared to do to make your change plan come to life?”

“As a professional, what are you prepared to do to make your change plan come to life.”

 

“To what degree do you feel that this work product reflects your best thinking?”

“As a professional, to what degree do you feel this work product reflects your best thinking?”

 

 “What is it that is incumbent on you to make your experience with this course a terrific one for yourself and your fellow XX colleagues?”

 “As a professional, what is it that is incumbent on you to make your experience with this course a terrific one for yourself and your fellow XX colleagues?”

 “The ‘professional preface’, when properly executed, produces a better result.  Sometimes it takes awhile to kick in, but eventually ‘professional’ will become more top-of-mind for the student.  That’s what we want.”

“Of course the ‘preface ahead’ of the salutation suggestion (or method) is not the only way to have ‘professional’ become more top of mind.  But it’s a good one for we educators to start with.”

“This seems like a small thing.  You may have doubts whether it will have impact.  From experience, I can tell you it does.”

 “Small things, repeated many times, can produce surprisingly remarkable results.”

A Sweet Story—Conscious Capitalism Lifting Africans Out of Poverty

The prime minister of the island-nation of Sao Tome and Principe has been reported to have said, “Don’t send us any more aid, send us five more Claudio Corallos’.  The prime minister’s country, lying off the west coast of Africa, was used to receiving financial aid from generous countries in a position to do so.  His country, like many African communities, is quite poor.

Who, you ask, is Claudio Corallo? Claudio produces some of the world’s finest chocolate on the island of Principe. He is a conscious capitalist. Claudio emulates what I wrote about in The Power of Professionalism.  Said another way, he’s a professional. Never mind that he wears open-toed sandals and a Panama hat 99% of the time while traipsing up-and-down the steep jungle terrain of his plantation.

Claudio has aspired to bring to the world the purest form of cocoa production.  Having recently tasted his chocolate at a retail outlet in Berkeley, California, I’d say he has come pretty close.

His story is inspiring.  He pays his workers significantly more than the going (and dismal) wage-rate on Principe. To say he is an employer of choice is an understatement.

The prime minister came to see how capitalism (when done the right way) would lift people out of poverty better than aid ever could.  Aid was fine, but really only proved to be a stop-gap measure. The notion that capitalism should be considered a serious  solution to poverty has gained a lot of steam—especially with the inspiring successes associated with micro-lending. Interestingly, U2’s front man Bono (see National Review article, Capitalisms Triumph, Michael Tanner, 2014 ) came to the same conclusion as the prime minister.

Wanna lift people out of poverty?  It’s hard to beat conscious capitalism. Thanks Claudio for such a sweet example.

Connecticut Huskies Know ‘It’s All About The Team’

As Richard Kovacevich, former Chairman of Wells Fargo, has stated, “You learn very quickly playing sports that it’s all about the team.  It’s the best five players that win the basketball game, not the five best players.”

On Monday the best team, the University of Connecticut, won the national championship.  Their opponent, the University of Kentucky, had ‘the five best players’.  Actually, they may have had more than five—they’re loaded with half-a-gazillion McDonald’s All-Americans.  Their starting five were all uber-talented freshman.

Yes, Connecticut’s point guard Shabazz Napier may well have been the nation’s best player.  Yet Connecticut’s talent quotient was dramatically lower than Kentucky’s. In many ways Kentucky is an NBA farm club. ‘One-and-done’ describes what their current freshman are expected to do—namely turn pro. Whether they will or not remains to be seen.

On Monday the best team won, not the most talented team.  Connecticut didn’t miss a free throw going 10 for 10 (Kentucky was 13 of 24).  Connecticut, who was at a sizeable height disadvantage, out rebounded Kentucky by one. On paper Connecticut should have never been able to out rebound Kentucky—it just doesn’t equate given Kentucky’s superior height advantage and previous dominating performance on the boards all year.

If talent were the ultimate differentiator, Kentucky should have won. They didn’t.  That’s because talent, as important as it is, is overrated.  At the end of the day, it’s the team that matters most.

Congratulations to the Connecticut Huskies.