[READING TIME: 8 MINUTES]

In this 8020Info Water Cooler, we consider mistakes in handling burnout, recruiting for five-hour workdays, revealing interview questions, non-descriptive branding, and the Kellogg framework for brand building. Enjoy!

1. Five Mistakes in Handling Burnout

With burnout all-too-common, consultant Suzi McAlpine says there are five mistakes leaders must avoid while working with someone who may be suffering from this occupational phenomenon:

• Acting precipitously: It can be tricky to diagnose burnout. McAlpine, author of Beyond Burnout, suggests watching for three red flags: chronic exhaustion; cynicism or depersonalisation; and reduction in personal accomplishment or professional efficacy.

 “Talk with your team about the red flags in a supportive and non-judgemental way,” she recommends on her blog. “Work mental wellness conversations into your one-on-ones too.”

• Blaming the individual or assessing them as weak: Many believe those who suffer from burnout just can’t handle stress or are poor performers. But research shows it can be your most dedicated and passionate employees —your best performers— who are most at risk.
• Figuring a break or a holiday will solve the problem: That can help, but effective solutions will also depend on which of the six causes of burnout are at play. Specifics must be addressed: overwork, lack of control, isolation, values conflict, absence of fairness, and insufficient reward.
• Reducing their load: If their problem stems from feeling a lack of control over how they do their job, arbitrarily taking work away might exacerbate the issue, while causing overwork for other team members or yourself. Work together to find a solution.
• Viewing it as an individual, not an organizational problem: She warns, “If one person is suffering from burnout, there may be others who are on the burnout on-ramp and are currently soldiering on.”

 

2. Appealing to Parents with a Five-Hour Workday

Parents and caregivers constitute a large share of “hidden workers” – people who want to work, but are kept out of the workforce or full-time roles because of employment or skills gaps or logistical challenges.

We first noticed this talent recruitment opportunity when consulting on a workforce development project in 2017. Cari Nazeer, managing editor of Charter Pro, explained it in his newsletter:

“One of those [logistical] challenges is that the typical nine-to-five workday and the school day are fundamentally incompatible, leaving working parents of school-aged children to choose between vying for one of a limited number of expensive after-care slots, cobbling together an often-costly patchwork of alternative care, or leaving the workforce altogether.”

One option —for them and organizations eager to grab such talent— is a workday designed for the hours between school drop-off and pick-up.

Amy Grilli, co-founder of the Five Hour Club, which promotes this approach, says, “There are parents who have years of experience prior to children, and at the moment they might just be sitting there, this huge talent pool being wasted.”

• To attract them, the group recommends being specific in advertising that a job is flexible, so people realize it fits their situation.
• Build job descriptions around the outputs expected over time. For example, specify that the employee would be responsible for a certain number of research reports per quarter rather than spending half their time on research. That makes it easier to ensure there’s no creep in scope and time.

You could also suggest a five-hour workday to the next employee having a baby.

3. The Roles of Mother, Trumpet, and CEO

Marketing consultant Roy H. Williams says every company has an inside, an outside, and an engine. That is why, to be successful, they need a mother, trumpet, and CEO.

“The CEO chooses a destination and builds a machine to take us there. The mother looks inward to the people in the company. The trumpet makes beautiful noises for the public to hear,” he writes on his blog.

The mother in your organization is the person everyone goes to when they are frightened, angry, or confused. The mother keeps your family traditions alive and makes sure that everyone feels included.

Meanwhile, the trumpet is the person who makes the public think highly of you.

He says the CEO is “the vision-caster who is building … a machine of systems and procedures and vendors and processes and levers and pulleys and profit margins represented by all those flow charts and diagrams and spreadsheets.”

You need all three.

4. Non-profits: Beware of Non-Descriptive Branding

The Lakeview Pantry, a food pantry in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago, is now called Nourishing Hope. Teen Living Programs, an organization that helps young people find long-term housing, was renamed Ignite. But what do those new names mean?

For non-profits, the lure for such a catchy name can be strong, notes Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

“A descriptive brand can feel narrow and flat. Many of the best brands in the world lack any descriptive element. Nike is only distantly related to footwear. Apple doesn’t immediately suggest computers and technology,” he writes on his blog.

But he warns a brand that lacks a descriptive element has no meaning in and of itself. The organization has to create that meaning, which takes an enormous investment of resources that most non-profits lack. Sometimes a descriptive brand is best.

5. Zingers

• Find Courage:   Most of the time you don’t need more information before making a decision, argues Atomic Habits author James Clear. You need more courage. (Source:  JamesClear.com).
• When to Be Dumb:  Good managers are often the smartest guys in the room, given their experience in their domain and operations. Innovation, however, isn’t about what you know but what you don’t know, notes consultant Greg Satell. That’s a time to learn to be the dumbest guy in the room, exploring possibilities. (Source:  Human-Centered Change and Innovation).
• Blind to Bias:  Recent research finds managers can see inequities and biases in other workplaces but not their own, even when employees can spot them close to home. The reason seems to be that managers align their own self-worth with how they feel about their organization and tend to ignore the otherwise obvious lapses. (Source:  Kellogg Insight).
• Speaking About “Oops”:  If you trip over words in a presentation or suddenly have a brain freeze, don’t draw extra attention to the situation. Speaking coach Gary Genard says to simply say the thing again using the right words and move on. Declaring “Wow, I can’t talk tonight!” or “I feel like a klutz!” draws attention back to your “oops” moment and also prolongs it. Regard your presentation as a chance to communicate, not to excel. (Source:  GenardMethod.com).
• A Path to Perfection:  The trick to self-improvement is to make plenty of mistakes… but to never make the same one twice, says author Mark Manson. (Source:  MarkManson.net).

6. The List: Revealing Interview Questions

For structured interviews with prospective managers to be effective, you need unstructured questions. This advice comes from talent assessment consultants Barry Conchie and Sarah Dalton in their book The Five Talents That Really Matter.

Unstructured questions have no right answer and the ensuing discussion can help reveal the innate characteristics of the candidate.

Here are seven of their revealing questions:

• After making a decision, do you sometimes find yourself coming up with better ideas? Leaders who naturally come up with ideas have no “off” switch.
• Have you ever felt overstretched at work – too much to do and too little time to do it? How did you feel? The answer will reveal how frequently this happens (highly responsible people driven to achieve often work long hours) and whether they mention feeling miserable, stressed, overburdened, motivated, or energized by it.
• How do you feel about this statement: “If it isn’t broken, why fix it?” Sometimes things must be dismantled before they can be rebuilt to a higher standard.
• What circumstances would cause you to step in and intervene with your team? The best leaders learn to let their team fail a few times.
• How large are your social and professional networks? By what percentage have each grown over the last year? High-performing leaders generally don’t differentiate between social and professional networks and are growing their connectivity every year.
• How would you describe your process of planning? Top leaders don’t start with a singular goal; they start with a series of possible objectives and their planning process enables flexibility in execution.
• Which of the following to you is the riskier appointment: A young, inexperienced, arrogant but highly talented person who could be divisive on the team, or a more mature individual with strong experience who is congenial, moderately talented and will fit well with the team? The question poses a dilemma and the answer will help you understand their approach to growth for the organization.

7. Around Our Water Cooler

Brands Built on Function, Image and Experience

Last week we had the pleasure of presenting a “lunch-and-learn” workshop for several small-business leaders. Our theme was: Branding Basics, Strategy and Positioning.

One key topic of interest was a three-point framework for strategic brand positioning (originated by Northwestern|Kellogg). The three dimensions of function, image and experience also help you invest time, effort and money in the best ways to build your brand:

• Function:  This approach emphasizes functional benefits and features the brand offers to its customers — superior performance for the price. An example might be Google search. You might want to invest in research, quality control and/or service training to spearhead your brand building.
• Image:  Here the focus is on the brand’s identity and how it is perceived in terms of personality, values and emotional connections. A luxury car or fine wine brand might make this a priority. Investments tend to focus more on marketing, PR and advertising, visual identity and design.
• Experience: This type of brand building is focused on customer experiences, including all touchpoints and interactions from initial purchase to customer service and post purchase. Here you need to consider investing in training, exceptional customer service, feedback systems, easy digital touchpoints and appealing physical environments.

While you will want to counter your competition in all three dimensions of your brand, take care to invest resources in ways aligned with your strategy priorities.

What We’re Reading:

• Harvey’s Pick: In Ask management consultant Jeff Wetzler highlights how much valuable information is held back in conversations through caution and haste, and explains how to effectively uncover more through what he calls “connective curiosity.”
• Rob’s Pick: The Ride of a Lifetime showcases CEO Bob Iger’s visionary leadership and strategic acumen in a memoir offering insights into how the Walt Disney Company was transformed through innovation, creativity, and bold decision-making. (After serving at Disney from 2005-2020 and a brief retirement, he returned as their CEO two years ago.)

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8020Info helps senior leadership teams and boards develop, clarify and build consensus behind strategic priorities. Our services support strategic planning and change processes, marketing communications and research / stakeholder consultations. We would be pleased to discuss your needs and welcome enquiries.

8. Closing Thought

“Leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say.”
— Andy Stanley, leadership speaker and pastor