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.

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.

Unflattering Trait ≠ Unprofessional

People are sometimes described as unprofessional by their colleagues or associates when they have a trait or characteristic that stands out—-typically in an unflattering way.  Consider:

***the woman with the shrill laugh who seemingly thinks everything is funny (her colleagues initially found this trait to be cute, but over time became repelled by it)   

***the man who is naturally inquisitive and incessantly asks questions. (his peers quickly found this to be aggravating)  

***the supervisor (someone who happened to have a hearing disability) that speaks especially loudly—even when having one-on-one conversations in close quarters. ( even understanding his condition, the staff never quite got used to this and too often felt like they were being yelled at—inappropriately so)

If asked, how would you describe these individuals?  Or what if you were an executive recruiter and one of these people becomes a serious candidate for a position you’re attempting to fill.  As a professional, how do describe (objectively so) the individual to your hiring manager client?  After all, what you say holds sway with the hiring manager.  Say something inappropriate (or misleading) and you could torpedo the candidate. 

Sometimes we’re inclined to describe these types of individuals as unprofessional.  And that inclination is often fueled from our own emotional reaction to them (the importance of mind-set six, once again, raises its head).  From my point of view, when someone has a trait or characteristic that stands out in an unflattering way, it doesn’t make them unprofessional.  ‘Un’ means without or the opposite of.  In effect, in describing someone as unprofessional it suggests that the person has virtually no professionalism.  It would be a rare circumstance in which that would be true.   

Plus, when you suggest someone is unprofessional it suggests that you can’t trust them—whether it be their competence, their judgment, or their character (for more on this see Chapter Four in The Power of Professionalism).  Having a defining personal trait (however annoying) typically doesn’t have much to do with their professionalism and, by default, their trustworthiness.  Simply said, transposing someone’s personality with their character does that person a disservice—and does not reflect well on us as a professional.         

When describing someone who has a trait or characteristic that is unflattering, consider describing  them as a bit unpolished, needing greater refinement, or something analogous which is appropriate to the situation.

Take first impressions.  It’s true that when someone ‘shows up’ disheveled (think: unkept appearance) it invariably creates the wrong impression.  Many will be put off by it. Certainly people don’t initially associate ‘professional’ with that person.  Yet, it’s important to resist the urge to refer to them as unprofessional—for many of the reasons previously stated.    

The point here is not to generalize.  As professionals, it’s important for all of us to be objective. Recall  the woman with the shrill laugh.  Annoying? Sure. Unprofessional? No.

Identity As A Predictor of Behavior

We humans incessantly want to know ‘why’.  Children especially.

Why did so-and-so do such-and-such is an especially popular ‘why’ question centered around human behavior.  Given all the seemingly unexplainable things we humans do, it’s certainly a natural.

In The Power of Professionalism I suggested that an especially helpful way to better understand a person’s behavior is to understand how they view themselves. Said another way, understand the identity the individual has assigned to themselves.

It wasn’t until the mega-talented All-Star outfielder Jose Canseco revealed to baseball manager Tony LaRussa that he saw himself as an entertainer (think: identity) that LaRussa finally understood his flamboyant, and often maddening, outfielder (source: full story page 56, The Power of Professionalism). It wasn’t until that acknowledgement on Canseco’s part that LaRussa truly understand why Jose did what he did.

Fast-forward to last Saturday March 8th. A San Francisco Giants beat writer was being interviewed by Marty Lurie.  Marty hosts the Giants pre and post game radio program show on the weekends in the Bay Area.  The subject shifted to steroids and, naturally, Barry Bonds.

Did he or didn’t he?  And if he did use steroids, why? To be clear, Bonds has never  acknowledged he used steroids, although most believe he likely did.  The ‘did he use’ question was also focus of a protracted federal court case.

The beat writer goes on to share an experience he had with Barry (and his entourage) very late in his playing career.  Barry was ‘holding court’ with this tight-knit group out of ear shot of others. It was Barry ‘unplugged’.  He was authentic and unabashedly forthright as he spoke about his career, his reputation, and his station in baseball history.

During the session Barry never acknowledged that he had used steroids but spoke ‘as if’ he had. After all, he reflected, wouldn’t a player get contact lenses if it enhanced their  performance?, wouldn’t a player doctor the ball if it enhanced their performance?  wouldn’t a player use steroids if it enhanced their performance?

Bonds went on to say that he considered himself an entertainer (think: identity)…just as Canseco did!

What’s the principal thing entertainers are expected to do?  Perform!

Did Barry Bonds use steroids?  I don’t know.  But if he (the entertainer) did, now you know why.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Character: An Important Lesson From Peyton Manning

Yesterday’s Super Bowl was, arguably, anti-climatic—given all the pre-game hype.  Yet there’s a wonderful post-script to the game—the post-game reaction of Peyton Manning.

No doubt Manning was crushed (emotionally) after he and his team failed to match the skill and intensity of the Seahawks on football’s biggest stage.  Yet, he took the high road.

Manning has a well- deserved reputation of being a class act—win or lose. Yesterday was no exception.

Said another way, Manning is a real ‘pro’—defined primarily by how he conducts himself, not because of his skill on the football field. He’s a professional worth emulating.

Here’s an article that gives an insightful first-hand account of Peyton’s post-game activities.

How many mind-sets do you see in action?

A Better Me

Many of you are aware that the West Coast Ultrasound Institute has immersed their students in ‘professional values’ and the mind-sets associated with those values. See my post from Jan 28, 2013.

As part of the student’s learning they were asked to write a 1,800 word essay about professionalism and its impact—current and future. I’m told over 200 papers were produced. I have read over 50 of them, they were fascinating. Several students mentioned how the mind-sets had not only impacted their work-life, but their personal life as well.

Many students at West Coast are transitioning from their current vocation to another (e.g. medical imaging) —they work at their ‘day job’ and attend school at night and on the weekends. Jennifer Fruin is one such student. She’s currently a hair stylist. In her words, Jennifer was hired to, ‘wash, cut, style, repeat’. I was impressed with her paper and thought you would be too.

Jennifer has gone through some remarkable changes, the type that one would reasonably be called transformational. Here are a few snippets from Jennifer’s paper:

Catalyst For Self-Improvement: “…I sure didn’t feel the fulfillment. I felt as though I was just clocking in and cutting hair [as my] complacent role dragged on. I let it seep into my personal life and I did not notice a problem until I read The Power of Professionalism. Cover to cover, the book spoke to me. I made myself a cheat sheet, to show me what I learned in each chapter and how I would apply it to my own life.”

About Mind-Set #7: “This mind-set did away with my secret stash of anxiety, distrust and negativity. It gave me the comfort I so desperately sought out, and helped me lend my trust to other employees and helped me place trust in my family.”

Transformation: “Today my world is different. I’m listening to my clients like they require me to. I am spending quality time with my kids. I’ve released the anger I was holding on to …”

The Book: “The Power of Professionalism to me was more than a book teaching me how to act ‘professional’. This book showed me how to be a better me. It showed me how to succeed in any given area…..Bill Wiersma really broke the mold when he wrote this book.”

It was really gratifying to learn of Jennifer’s growth and how she became a ‘better me’. Gratefully, Jennifer has student colleagues who experienced similar outcomes.

To read Jennifer’s full paper, click here.

Enjoy.

Aspirin or Vitamin?

As Seth Godin reminds us, “we’re far more aware of our problems than our opportunities”.  In my work with leaders of organizations, that almost always holds true.

Intrigue turns to enthusiasm as leaders learn about the potential in applying professional values within their organization.  Invariably they initially see the approach as an aspirin to be dispensed in attempting to correct undesired behavior (think: alleviating pain) within their organization.

That’s completely understandable as so many of the headaches these leaders face stem from so-called adults within their organization behaving badly. These same leaders often find themselves exacerbated by the need to invest (what often turns out to be) endless numbers of hours mitigating problems that never should have occurred in the first place.  In the vernacular: it’s a ‘time suck’—one that siphons valuable energy away from weightier matters.

I get it….and I’m sure you do too!

Yet, correcting undesired behavior is the most basic, most fundamental application of professional values within organizations.  It’s a good application. And as helpful and powerful professional values can be in correcting undesired behavior, there’s ‘more to get’.

In other words, professional values can proactively serve as a vitamin to help grow and sustain a healthy (internal) culture as well as a vibrant (external) brand.  This is the best application. Properly implemented, the vitamin approach supports and sustains opportunities.  It materially aids everything from sales to supply-chain management; improves functions as disparate as marketing to recruitment.

Trouble is—because of the pain they’re experiencing— too many leaders use professional values as an aspirin and stop.  Regretfully, these leaders fail to realize the powerful benefit that comes from the vitamin side of the equation.  Guess that’s why our mothers were so insistent on all of us taking our vitamins!