Chang Chats with Stu Chang

In Q4 2021, Facebook's total user base declined for the first time in the company's 17 year history and as a result their stock price dropped by over 20% in a day wiping out $251 Billion in value for the company and $32 Billion in net worth for Mark Zuckerberg.

During an analyst call, Mark did four things that every leader should do when they are off track.

1. He said he was proud of the work the team did in Q4

2. He talked about what Facebook believes impacted the business

3. He shared a plan to get back on track

4. He communicated confidence about that plan and why he was optimistic

When things go wrong, many leaders are tempted to blame the team and citing their shortcomings.  At least on this public analyst call, he didn't do that.  While he didn't take outright responsibility for the loss, his message implied that the failure and accountability lie on the shoulders of the leaders of Facebook and ultimately him.  I'm sure inside Facebook he is emphasizing the urgency and priorities needed from the team to get back on track, but as a leader, never abdicate your responsibility.  Instead, be clear in your priorities and expectations of the team and then be ready to help them to successfully execute on those priorities.

At first blush, it may seem like Mark Zuckerberg was blaming "the competition", specifically naming the unprecedented (and it appears unanticipated) growth of TikTok, as well as transitions toward short-form video causing impression growth in the near-term.  One could argue why this was not anticipated.  The fact is, it wasn't.  And I am sure in your world there are things that arise that you won't anticipate either.  But Zuckerberg is communicating an important element here which sets him up for his next message, that being his plan to recover.  But before coming out and just saying what he will do about the user growth decline, he has to name the root cause.  He has to share what the company believes is the problem to solve.  So sure, the problem was unanticipated, but showing that you understand the root cause lends credibility to your plan.  

Now that he briefly laid out what caused the growth decline at Facebook, Zuckerberg spent most of his time talking about what he plans to do about it to get back on track.  I won't go into details, but he talked about the company's investment and priority on Reels, Community Messaging, Business Messaging, Ads, Privacy, AI, and bringing it all together, the Metaverse.  What's noteworthy about the plan is that it addresses both the short term growth decline as well as how it all ties into the broader strategy which had previously been laid out on the Metaverse.  Showing stakeholders how you address the problem as well as how your actions are tied into your overall strategy goes a long way to instilling confidence in your plan.

Finally, throughout his speech, Zuckerberg mentions his optimism about certain investments such as Reels, and confidence in the short-term trade offs they are making and he closed with saying he was confident these are the right investments to focus on in 2022.  These are two very powerful words when communicating to stakeholders.  When things go wrong, your stakeholders are looking at you to see how you respond.  You can choose to respond to disruption with panic and anxiety, which others will sense, or you can press forward with optimism and confidence in your plan.  Optimism and confidence allows you to look for a way out of a bad situation without being consumed by it.  Communicating optimism conveys that there is something better in the future, and it motivates you and others around you to pursue it. 

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Volatility - Characterized by a state (or tendency) of dynamic instability brought about by drastic and rapid shifts.

Be Reliable - Follow through on what is said and agreed to will accelerate positive momentum.

Uncertainty - Unclear about the present situation and future outcomes of your actions

Be Trustworthy - Invest in people, keep teams engaged, involve partners, seek to understand, speak to be understood, act with respect always.

Complexity - Consisting of many different and connected parts: multiple key decision factors

Be Direct - ​Transparency in information communicated and received will gain mutual trust and collaborative efforts

Ambiguity - Open to more than one interpretation; can be understood in different ways; inexactness

Be Understandable - ​Clarity in purpose, direction, responsibilities, and expected outcomes will empower others. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/stu-chang/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/stu-chang/support

It's that time of year when you think about making a New Year's Resolution.

Most people make resolutions like stop smoking or eat healthier or exercise more.

These are all activities and for many people, they are actual negative experiences.

To make resolutions that you can stick to, make them about positive outcomes like, I want to be able to live long enough to see my grandkids grow up, or I want to be fit enough to take long hikes in the mountains that you love so much.

By making a resolution about a positive outcome vs a specific activity that you dread and have to force yourself to do, two things can happen.  1.  You're not locked into a specific activity and throughout the year you can potentially find other ways to achieve your goal, and 2.  If you do have to do an activity that you hate or dread, then by having a positive outcome as the goal, you focus on that positive experience and not the negative task.

So for example, let's say you are out at dinner with some friends and everyone wants to order dessert, don't focus on the negative and think, I'll deny myself this piece of cake and thereby making that a negative experience.  Instead, I want to lose weight so I can have the stamina to enjoy more outdoor activities with my friends and family so I'll forgo the cake but I can still enjoy the time at dinner with my friends.

Same for exercising.  I personally hate the monotony of exercising.  I had to learn to tell myself that I didn't have to drag myself off the couch a few times a week and do some very monotonous exercise, but rather, remind myself that I'd like to be healthy enough to continue to enjoy traveling well into my retirement.  And secondly, exercising 5 days  a week wasn't the only solution to my goal.  A combination of eating a little healthier and exercising maybe just 2-3 times a week would allow me to accomplish my goal.

So, if you've struggled with sticking to your New Year's resolution, instead of resolving to doing some behavior that you hate, but instead resolve to some positive outcome.  Then think of numerous ways you can achieve that resolution.  And even when you have to do that behavior that you hate, don't think about it as a negative experience, but focus on the positive outcome you are working toward.

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Simply translated, Pura Vida means “pure life” or "simple life", but in Costa Rica, it is more than just a saying... It is a way of life. 

Costa Ricans (or Ticos) use this term to say hello, to say goodbye, to say everything's great, to say everything's cool.  Similar to how Jamaicans say Irie or No problem.

Pura Vida is the way Ticos live. Not surprisingly, Costa Rica has been named one of the happiest countries in the world, mostly because its inhabitants don’t stress about things the way many people in the rest of the world do. 

Ticos have a very relaxed, simple way of looking at life. No worries, no fuss, no stress.  To them, Pura Vida means being thankful for what they have and not dwelling on the negative.

Most recently, I was scheduled to be on a call with a friend who is a Tico living in Costa Rica.  Our call was scheduled for 11am.  The day before the call, my wife asked me to go to the airport to pick up her brother, so I emailed my friend and asked her if she could reschedule.  She suggested 1pm that same day and I agreed thinking I would have enough time to get back from the airport.  

On the morning of the call, I checked the flight status and the flight was delayed and was now coming in at 12:30 so given that we rescheduled the call, to 1pm, I would not have enough time to get back.  So I promptly emailed my friend and asked her if she could move the call back to the original time of 11am.  

About 30 minutes later, I checked the flight status and it was updated and the plane apparently was now coming in at 11:30 so rescheduling to 11am would no longer work and requested she just leave the rescheduled time of 1pm.

I told her in my email that was sorry for all the back and forth and all the emails, and in her response she said she understood, and ended her email with "Pura Vida!".

When we finally spoke I thanked her for reminding me to not stress about small things like that and just maintain an attitude of Pura Vida!  

If any of you have driven in any of the urban areas of Costa Rica, you know that traffic is a nightmare.  So one day, several colleagues and I were commuting from the hotel to the office.  On this particular morning, it was the usual bumper to bumper traffic.  As we approached the office after being in the van for about 25 minutes, right when we were about to make the turn on the street just 200 yards from the office a man on a motorcycle starts to have a conversation with another man on foot.  They both stand in the intersection long enough to block all traffic and they just go about their morning talking as all the drivers seem to just wait.  My colleague who was in the front seat of the van starts to get very animated waving her hands as to suggest they move out of the way and she starts to yell that accordingly.  She pleads with them to simply step 5' off the road so we could all pass.  Eventually after a few minutes the two men conclude their conversation and the traffic starts moving.  At this time my colleague is livid and looks at the driver and says, "I don't know how you drive in this traffic all day?"  The driver turned and looked at her and shrugged his shoulders and simply said "Pura Vida"

While many people use the saying ‘pura vida’, until you’ve been to Costa Rica, you will not truly know what pura vida feels like. 

It’s an emotion and an attitude, that embodies joy and happiness, and it’s a way of life.  Once you’ve visited, you will understand the true meaning of pura vida.

But until then, during the Holidays when so many things can get you stressed out, remember the things that really matter in life, and try to embrace the emotion and attitude of a more pure and simple life as embodied in the saying, Pura Vida!

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The CEO of better.com laid off 900 employees over a zoom call.  It's a lesson in Emotional Intelligence, but it's not what you might think.

CEO of Better.com, Vishal Garg, summoned employees onto a Zoom call the afternoon of Dec. 1, and announced they were being let go. The layoffs—impacting approximately 9% of the company's staff, about 900 people—would be effective immediately. Then the affected employees’ corporate accounts promptly went dark.

He said "If you're on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off.  Your employment here is terminated immediately", adding that he does “not want to do this.”

"This is the second time in my career I'm doing this and I do not want to do this. The last time I did it, I cried," Garg said on the call.

The CEO has been involved in controversy before, as evidenced by an email he sent to his staff that was obtained by Forbes.

It read, "You are TOO DAMN SLOW. You are a bunch of DUMB DOLPHINS... SO STOP IT. STOP IT. STOP IT RIGHT NOW. YOU ARE EMBARRASSING ME," he wrote.

CFO Kevin Ryan said in a statement to CNN Business.  "Having to conduct layoffs is gut wrenching, especially this time of year" 

Let's go over the framework of Emotional Intelligence to see specifically where he went wrong.

1. Self-awareness – You recognize your own emotions and how they affect your thoughts and behavior. You know your strengths and weaknesses, and have self-confidence.  With all the I statements, I just can't believe he is focused on how his emotions or feelings impact others.    

2. Self-management – You’re able to control impulsive feelings and behaviors, manage your emotions in healthy ways, take initiative, follow through on commitments, and adapt to changing circumstances.   From a self-management perspective, in his email, with all caps screaming at his staff, he was out of control. 

3. Social awareness – You have empathy. You can understand the emotions, needs, and concerns of other people, pick up on emotional cues, feel comfortable socially, and recognize the power dynamics in a group or organization.  The time of year that he timed the layoffs, the fact that other than informing people they were laid off all he talked about was how it impacted him.  No where does he recognize the hardship on them, no where does he thank them for helping to build his company.

4. Relationship management – You know how to develop and maintain good relationships, communicate clearly, inspire and influence others, work well in a team, and manage conflict.  The remaining employees will remember how their colleagues were treated and any future employees will also know. 

It is clear the real audience for this talk was the street.  He was pandering to the investment community.  Okay, I'm not saying you don't need to do that, but compassionately laying off 900 people and then having an Investor Relations or industry analyst call to give the investment community the confidence that you have a sound strategy are two different meetings.  If I were an investor, I'd definitely take queues about how he treats his team.

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The Magnolia Group at Morgan Stanley

Don Whitehead - Managing Director (713) 965-5060

Get a professional advisor Think about investing for retirement as a marathon not a sprint Start investing as early as possible Setup retirement goals based on a time horizon Focus on saving a percentage of your income Pay off your credit card debt Understand your risk tolerance Diversify your portfolio Be a tax-efficient investor Work with a fee-only fiduciary advisor

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The key to having a civilized conversation about politics or religion or any controversial subject is to not go into the conversation with the goal of convincing the other side you are right

Fact is, those people you dread talking to almost always think they are completely right and everyone else who doesn't think like they do are completely wrong.  And you're no different.  So their goal is to convince you.  To win the argument.

The technique most of them use is called aggressive assertion where they aggressively assert their "position".  This is called a positional argument.  Positional arguments rarely succeed because if the other side doesn't believe in their position, all the aggressive assertion of all the facts and beliefs they have won't convince you.  You have to remember that they came to these beliefs from a lifetime of experiences and thoughts based on a strong confirmation bias.

So come back around to how you can have a conversation with this type of person.

Step #1. As I said before, change your goal from "winning the argument" to just having a conversation.  Remember, what you were dreading was spending time with tis person because you know they just want to argue.  You probably wouldn't be at Thanksgiving dinner with them if they are not someone you'd care to get to know better.  So your goal is to have an enjoyable conversation and get to know someone better.

Step #2.  Instead of ramming your views down their throat, start by trying to find common ground.  Most likely, you can find common ground in what you both value.

Step #3.  Once you find out what values you have in common, (I call that the "what" you both care about, then your next question is to ask them why they believe what they believe.  Your goal at this point is to really listen with an intent to understand why they believe what they do vs you jumping in and telling them why they are wrong.

Step #4.  Once you have established that you both have common values, and that you are disagreeing on beliefs, after you have given them the time in step 3 to share their beliefs, and you have listened with the intent to understand and empathize, then your response is a technique called "assertive inquiry".

An example of that response is, "I've heard what you had to say about why you believe the way you do.  I can now see why you feel the way you do. I have a different belief that I think is worth hearing.".

Ask them if they would like to hear it.  They will most likely say yes.  Then you now have a chance to communicate your beliefs.  You may want to remind them that you're not trying to convince them they are wrong, you are simply stating your beliefs.  Now you need to know they will most likely cut you off and jump in and start aggressive assertion again, it's the only way they know how to have these types of conversations.

Politely remind them of the things you have already talked about (a) your common values (b) You listened to their beliefs patiently and understand and empathize with them, and now it's your turn for them to listen and empathize with your beliefs.  At this point it is really hard for someone to deny you the opportunity to talk.

But, if they do, then let them come back to asserting their beliefs, and when they are finished try to repeat step 4 again.  If they still don't give you the opportunity to be heard, then it's probably time to go talk to someone else.  You'll at least have the comfort in knowing that you know a little more about this person's values and beliefs and they know little about yours.  That always puts you in a stronger position in the next conversation.

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1. Humility gives a leader the capacity to lead out of a position of strength. ​

When you choose to be humble, you are choosing not to think less of yourself, but to think of yourself less and others more.​

2. Humility makes a leader more persuasive.​

A leader’s most powerful tools is his ability to cast a vision to his followers, and to persuade them to unite to make that vision a reality.  Humility engenders trust, loyalty, buy-in, and enthusiasm far better and more purely than fear, manipulation, or even people-pleasing will ever do.​

3. Humility gives a leader the courage to set aside personal gain for the good of others.​

A humble person sees others as inherently valuable while prideful leaders focused on themselves.​

4. Humility gives a leader the candor to be honest with their followers and change course if necessary.​

A humble person separates himself or herself from their accomplishments. When their accomplishments receive criticism, they don’t take it personally, but constructively. Prideful leaders, on the other hand, lash out due to fear, anger, or self-entitlement.​

5. Humility gives a leader the character to respond charitably when attacked.​

Because a humble leader doesn’t derive his or her identity from their accomplishments, they are able to deal with criticism.  The humble leader simply owns the truth of the criticism—if there is any—and discards the rest.

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The importance of having a Growth Mindset What it means to have courage Why having passion is so important The importance of being humble It's not about not having enough time, it's that I didn't have clear priorities The importance of having structure and discipline and rigor in my work How to make decisions Practicing trust --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/stu-chang/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/stu-chang/support

Colin Powell was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American secretary of state. He served as the 16th United States national security advisor from 1987 to 1989 and as the 12th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989 to 1993.

In this chat I read Colin Powell Lessons in Leadership.

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When designing your org, there are some guidelines you should consider.

The organization needs to be designed to be:

Simple - Easy to communicate the components and the relationships with other organizations Flexible - Able to quickly adapt to changing conditions Accountable - A consistent predictable output with clear accountability Economical - The benefit must outweigh the cost Acceptable - Must offer a differentiated benefit and be accepted by employees and key stakeholders as a good fit

With these as guidelines, here are the steps to designing an organization for success.

Define your team’s purpose, mission, winning aspiration and how you measure success.  Define the functions or strategy that are needed to achieve the above goal.  Ideally you can measure these functions.  Define the services and value-add to be provided.  What do the functions do?  Describe the processes needed to offer these services and calculate total workload for required tasks.  Outline handoffs and connecting mechanisms to other organizations.  Define the organization (leveling, headcount, skill mix, etc.) needed to deliver these services.  Plan and execute the creation of the organization, sequencing communications and aligning talent to roles.  This is where you will know what HC or skillset gaps you have.  

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In this chat I talk about how to attract and retain top talent and how to get rid of low performers.

Low performers - Have objective performance standards; make them aware of their development areas; work with them on a development plan; if despite your and their best efforts they are simply not the right fit for the role, then help them to find a role more suited to their capabilities and desires. Retaining top talent - Ensure you have an organization that is designed for success.  Have a clear mission and purpose; align functions to support the team mission so their is a clear connection to the team on how their work supports to overall organization and how they are adding value; have a career path in your organization and if that is not possible help individuals find next level roles outside of your organization; execute on a comprehensive, robust, and actively managed talent management process that calibrates the team and their capabilities and what skills they need and when they are ready for the next level role.  A robust and actively managed personal development plan is a must.  Be a sponsor for your top talent, advocating for them and making their successes known.  Make sure they feel valued and that key stakeholders know the value they are adding. Attracting top talent - Strive to be a Level 5 leader where your personal desire is to help your team members and your organization to grow and be successful rather than your own success.  Build your reputation on that.

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The STRONGEST threats and rewards are actually SOCIAL

There is a model based on neuroscience to understand how the brain’s processing of threats and rewards can influence engagement, teamwork and inclusion.

This model explains what is happening in anyone’s (and everyone’s) brains. It’s a simple acronym to help us think through ways to identify and mitigate social threats.

How it helps is by gaining a basic understanding of the neuroscience of inclusion you can then make and support intentional choices that cultivate a sense of belonging for yourself and everyone around you.

The main organizing principle of the brain is to see things as either a threat or reward.​

If the brain perceives a threat, it will send signals to you to get away from it.​

If the brain perceives a reward, it will send signals to you to move toward it.​

The SCARF model describes the five primary triggers of threat and reward in the social brain. ​

What motivates and de-motivates us with regard to our SCARF domains is very personal and unique to each one of us. ​

Knowing what can cause a threat response enables us to create interactions to minimize threats.  ​

Conversely, knowing about drivers that can activate a reward response, enables us to influence others by tapping into internal rewards​

Being aware of your own drivers of threats and rewards will also help you to 

Status is about wanting to feel valued, esteemed, the reward message is “I am valuable and valued”​ Certainty is about wanting clarity and context, the reward message is “I know where I stand”​ Autonomy is about wanting to be able to do my own thing, the reward message is “I have a choice”​ Relatedness is about wanting to connect with the group, the reward message is “I belong”​ Fairness is about wanting things to go along relatively impartially, the reward message is “I am treated fairy and with respect”​

A negative/threat response heightens momentary alertness, but decreases wider perception, cognition, creativity and collaboration. ​

We lessen our ability to clearly see issues, solve problems and work with others. 

In everyday language, this means we get tunnel vision, can’t think as well, our creativity and ability to solve problems decreases and we aren’t as good at working with others. A threat reaction can have big implication on performance. In short: We get dumber.​

A positive/reward response can increase our field of view, cognition, creative insights and collaboration.​

These are attributes and actions that are important to effective teamwork.​

If people feel reward within at least some or all of their SCARF domains, they are more likely to work well with others, develop creative insights, hold a broader perspective and access more of their working memory. They are more likely to be a strong performing teammate.​

So to wrap up, think of a variety of scenarios where you can:​

Identify the most likely SCARF threat​ for example Autonomy Identify the domain to offset with reward​ for example Certainty Identify a specific action to take ​

There is often more than one SCARF threat (focus on the biggest one)​

There is often more than one option for offsetting the threat with reward – again select the one that will give you the biggest shift towards reward​

The most important thing is to be really specific about the ACTION to take (otherwise it just stays as an idea)

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Being a leader is tough.  There is always someone who thinks it's their job to point out everything you are doing wrong, and not in a constructive way, but in a destructive manner.  Think of our current and former President.  They certainly have their critics and probably so do you.  On those days when you feel as though you can do no right, here is something to think about.

On April 23, 1910, Theodore Roosevelt gave what would become one of the most widely quoted speeches of his career.  After he left office in 1909, he spent time hunting in Central Africa before embarking on a tour of Norther Africa and Europe in 1910.  He stopped in Paris on April 23rd and delivered a speech called "Citizenship in a Republic", which, among some, would come to be known as "The Man in The Arena".

In that speech, Roosevelt railed against cynics who looked down at men who were trying to make the world a better place.  Then he delivered an inspirational and impassioned message that drew huge applause.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - Theodore Roosevelt

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1. Start a career conversation with a long term view.  The “strategic” view if you will that will guide the tactical moves.

2. Define a career milestone goals (achievable in 1-2 years) – tactical moves

3. Review and calibrate on the industry Management Levels standards

4. Assess industry Leadership Standards or other competency and skills assessments

5. Select the top 2-3 areas from the Management level and Leadership Standards or skill set that need development that supports achieving the career milestone goals from step 1

6. Define the objective for each of the top 2-3 areas

7. Define the skill sets that are required to achieve the objective

8. Define a 70/20/10 action plan that develops the skills

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Include them in all the conversation leading up to the decision to commit to an action.

Start by having conversations early and consistently

Prior to the endeavor ask questions like:

In the planning stages

Do they understand the implications of their business goals and key performance indicators? What is their plan to Identify information needs and gather information ? How do they become more aware of their work environment and understand relationships? How do they plan to Analyze the causes of problems ? When brainstorming on options and solutions how do they intend to create an environment where they can see new possibilities, Obtain new insights, Think creatively.

When it comes time to finalize their plans and make choices

Which action do they think would have the best result?
and most importantly, why do they think these are the right plans and actions?  Show cause and effect. When do you want to do this? How could this be done differently?

If/when the endeavor goes off track or are not yielding the expected results questions that encourage them accept responsibility for their actions
include things like

Where do you think that this went off track? Do you understand the the reasons for missing the deadline? What part of this do you already know how to do?  And conversely, what part of this do you not know how to do? Who might you be able to talk to in order to learn more? What resource could you get to support this goal? What is a first step that you can take? What have you learned already? What could you take away from that experience that could help you now? What could be a learning opportunity? What are you willing to try now? What might you be missing if don’t try? and finally, what are you planning to do to get back on track and when will that happen? --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/stu-chang/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/stu-chang/support

This is a summary of 13 behaviors that build trust from the book Speed of Trust by Stephen R. Covey.

Behavior #1        Talk Straight

Be honest and tell the truth. Let people know where you stand. Use simple language. Don’t manipulate people or distort facts. Don’t spin the truth. Don’t leave false impressions.

Behavior #2        Demonstrate Respect

Genuinely care for others. Show you care. Respect the dignity of every person and every role. Show kindness and little things.

Behavior #3        Create Transparency

Tell the truth in a way people can verify. Declare your intent. Get real and be genuine. 

Behavior #4        Right Wrongs

Make things right when you are wrong. Apologize quickly. Make restitution where possible.

Behavior #5        Show Loyalty

Give credit to others. Speak about people as if they were present. Represent others who are there to speak for themselves.

Behavior #6        Deliver Results

Establish a track record of results. Get the right things done. Make things happen. Accomplish what you’re hired to do. Be on time and within budget.

Behavior #7        Get Better

Continuously improve. Increase your capabilities. Be a constant learner. Develop feedback systems, both formal and informal. Act on the feedback you receive. Thank people for feedback. Don’t consider yourself above feedback.

Behavior #8        Confront Reality

Take issues head on. Address the rough stuff directly. Acknowledge the unsaid. Confront issues before they turn into major problems. Confront the reality, not the person. Lead out courageously in conversation. Don’t skirt the real issues. 

Behavior #9        Clarify Expectations

Disclose and reveal expectations. Discuss them. Validate them. 

Behavior #10     Practice Accountability

Hold yourself accountable first; hold others accountable second. Take responsibility for results, good or bad. 

Behavior #11     Listen First

Listen before you speak. Understand. Listen with your ears, your eyes and your heart. 

Behavior #12     Keep Commitments

Say what you were going to do, and then do it. 

Behavior #13     Extend Trust

Demonstrate a propensity to trust. Extend trust abundantly to those who have earned your trust. 

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In this chat I talk about the importance of Storytelling in Business.

By telling better stories, you keep your audience engaged and help them to better understand.  You create emotional connections, transfer values and beliefs, and are more effective at influencing.

All great stories have:

A beginning that sets the context, the characters (who), and the conflict (problem) A middle where the protagonist learns and grows to handle the conflict The end where the resolution to the story is told.

When delivering your story in a presentation, resist the urge to tell an exploratory story especially if your presentation is about data and numbers.  Instead tell an explanatory story about what you found in the data.

You've probably hear about the Why, What and How of presentations and these align with great storytelling.

The Why (why should your audience care) is the context, the characters, and the conflict The What is your big idea.  It's your high level strategy on how you will resolve the conflict The How is the details (again, gauged for your audience) about how you implement you big idea --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/stu-chang/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/stu-chang/support

How to deal with ambiguity

Let's start with what exactly is ambiguity.  The dictionary defines ambiguity as the quality of being open to more than one interpretation; inexactness.  

Ambiguity is characterized by a significant doubt about cause and effect relationships.​ It is impossible to diagnose from a singular perspective.​ It’s second- and third-order effects are capable of making an organization completely ineffective.​

Two symptoms are frequently associated with ambiguity:

The inability to accurately conceptualize threats and opportunities before they become lethal, Increasing frustration that compartmentalized accomplishments don’t add up to comprehensive and enduring success. 

Why can something be ambiguous to someone.  The environment is unfamiliar or outside of your expertise.​  It can also be because there is lack of clarity about the meaning of an event.

What you can do:​

If you are the one that is often causing ambiguity:

Be Understandable​.   Ensure there is clarity in purpose, direction, responsibilities, and expected outcomes will empower others.  Do not dismiss questions from your team like “What are we doing?” and “What is our goal?”.  ​

If you are on the receiving end of ambiguity:

Listen well.  There is a difference between listening and waiting to speak.   Think divergently.   Openness to new ideas is a leadership characteristic highly correlated with effectiveness.  This means seeing past your own ideas.  ​ Setup incremental dividends. When the way ahead is not clear, it is reassuring to have tangible proof that we are moving I the right direction.​ Make a cultural shift towards experimentation.

By learning how to deal with ambiguity you will be able to effectively cope with change; can shift gears comfortably; can decide and act without having the total picture; you'll get less upset when things are up in the air; can comfortably handle risk and uncertainty.

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This chat is not about effective meetings - that's a different podcast.  Nor is this a chat about  managing emails.

It's about how you can ruthlessly defend your time so you have the time do do what is important to you.

1. Know what is important to you.

2. Do an audit to see how you are spending your time.

3. Put big important things on your calendar, be specific, and don't underestimate how long it will take.

4. Decide what your overarching "No's" are up front.

5. Learn to say No politely.

6. Be consistent in prioritize your core values and what is important to you above everything else.

7. Do things on your calendar when you have the right energy and demeanor to do them.

8. Have a sacred time of day.

9. Vet EVERY meeting invite to ensure you are adding or receiving value (aligned to what is important to you).

10. Communicate concisely, efficiently, and effectively.

We have evolved into a world where it has become acceptable for people to steal your time.  But it is YOUR time, so it's up to you to defend it.

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Start with your Desired Outcome.

Be specific about what you want.  Make it time bound if necessary. Set the context about why they should care - Problem:  Situation; who is involved; pain point Your solution/proposal - What you plan to do about it Close with a Desired Outcome check.  Directly ask for whatever your desired outcome is.  "Can you commit "X" many people for "Y" period of time?, "Will you fund the effort with $10,000. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/stu-chang/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/stu-chang/support

In this chat we cover how to present to Executives.

We start by understanding what executives think and care about.

We then talk about 6 tips that can help you to put together and then deliver your your presentation.

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Recently Vice President Kamala Harris went to Central America to find "root cause" for "the problem at the US Southern border".

Initially, I thought, wow, root cause, good job.  But after thinking about it some more, I realized she jumped ahead a little.  Root cause of what?  What is "the problem at the Southern border"?  From whose point of view?  Who is impacted?  How does that impact manifest itself? What is the context?  What does success look like when "the problem" is resolved.  The issue is that Vice President Harris didn't really define the problem.  As such, what was she searching root cause for?

Following the 8D (8 Disciplines) problem solving methodology would have helped.

Create a team to resolve the problem.  In my experience, the team should be led by the person accountable for the process that is causing the problem. Define the actual issue.  Not the perceived issue.  I'd also recommend that you make sure that all your stakeholders agree this is the problem that is being solved.  Define that as who is involved, what is the impact (pain point), what is the context, what does resolution look like and how is that measured. Take containment actions.  Protect the "who" defined in the problem identified in D2. Identify root causes of the issue.  Use techniques like 5 Whys, fishbone diagrams, etc. Define and implement corrective actions.  Fix the issue and eliminate the problem. Validate that the corrective actions are indeed working. Prevent recurrence of the problem. Congratulate and recognize the team.

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I recently saw an ad where the state of West Virginia is having a lottery and offering custom guns, custom trucks, scholarships, lifetime fishing and hunting licenses, and even cash prizes up to $1.5M if residents get vaccinated.  This is essentially an incentive program to entice people who are resisting getting vaccinated to do so.

I recommend an more holistic approach to getting people to exhibit a desired behavior in order to achieve a desired outcome.

All change begins with understanding "Why?"  Give people information about the nature of the change, why it is important, and the risk of not changing. All change requires a personal decision.  You can't make people do something, they have to want to do it.  But you can tell them what's in it for them.  What are the benefits to them. Once people have decided to get on board, they must know how to perform the new behavior.  In WV, do people know how or where to get the shot? All the above doesn't actually accomplish the desired behavior.  In our WV example, nothing changes until more people get vaccinated.  So people must demonstrate the ability that is desired. Finally, all change should be reinforced.  If someone gets their first shot, how do you make sure they get their second.

If you go through this comprehensive approach to managing change and people are still resisting, then take these 10 steps to managing resistance.  It's important to start with the first 4 in order.  Then you can use the rest as applicable.

Listen and understand their objections Focus on the "What" and let go of the "How" Remove barriers Provide simple, clear choices, and consequences Create Hope Show the benefits in a real and tangible way Make a personal appeal Convert the strongest dissenters Demonstrate consequences And finally in the case of West Virginia, provide an incentive

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Do you often find yourself talking too much.  Do you get nervous when presenting and ramble on.  Do you feel the need to give context to all the complexities and hard work you have done before telling your solution?

Have you ever heard the saying “Listen twice as much as you talk.” This is based on a quote by a Greek philosopher "We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak."

One of the strengths of listening twice as much as we talk is that it encourages us to carefully reflect on what we are sharing and think about our thinking, and gives us room to see how the audience is responding.

I often tell people to think about communicating as a pyramid.  At the top of the pyramid is literally the point.  What is the point?  Each layer of the pyramid has more detail till you get to the bottom of the pyramid which has all the details.

Many people make the mistake when presenting with an upside down pyramid to build an ironclad argument.  In this style of communication, all the detail is at the top and the point is at the bottom.

The problem with that form of communication is that it is very difficult to accomplish and you also lose people along the way because the audience is literally asking themselves, "What's the point?".

Let’s look at some other reasons why some of us talk too much, sometimes even when we are not presenting, but are in meetings.  In many of these cases, we are not talking for the benefit of others, we are talking for ourselves.

The following is from a post on the The Power of TED* website.  It encourages us to ask ourselves a few questions when we are about to talk.

Am I talking for approval and to be overly helpful? (Rescuer) Am I talking to control and take charge of the situation? (Persecutor) Am I talking to complain and whine about all I don’t like? (Victim) What is my intention behind what I am about to say? Is there a question I could ask that would help me better understand what the other person is saying and perceiving?

How might you simply listen and let go of your urge to talk at this moment?

Try practicing WAIT, which stands for

Why am I talking?

The WAIT habit encouraging us to ask the following questions:

Is this the time to share? Is what I want to share on topic? Don’t divert the conversation away from what they are speaking about just because, “that reminds me of a time when…” Is it my turn to share? Are you mastering the pause? Is what I want to share going to add to or subtract from what they are sharing? The temptation here is to divert the conversation from them to you. Is what I want to share fact or opinion?  If it is not, then WAIT. If you do interject, be concise. Add value and then shut up.

If you do need to talk, here are a few steps to help you to keep it concise, even if you are nervous.

Step 1. Make sure you practiced WAIT Step 2. Frame your response at a high level Step 3. WAIT. This gives the audience time to process what you said. Step 4. Ask the listener if they want more detail or what other information they want.  Remember, the trick is to let them decide the level of detail they want.  They may say, "No, you have my approval", or they may say, "Tell me more about how you know you have the right plan" Step 5. Then go back to step 2- frame your response at a high level. Step 6. Go back to step 3 and WAIT again. Step 7. Go back to Step 4.

By learning and practicing communicating this way, it shows you as someone who can have efficient, strategic conversations.  You build credibility.

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Are you spending too much time in meetings and the meetings you do attend are ineffective?  

In this chat I talk about how to reduce the number of meetings you attend and how to make the ones you do attend more effective.

In order to reduce the number of meeting you are attending, if you are the meeting holder, ask yourself a few questions:

Do I need outside input to make progress?  If not, then just schedule time to do your own work? Do I need real-time input from others?  If not, send an email. If you decide you do need real-time outside input then follow the following meeting guidelines to have more effective meetings.

1.  Identify a desired outcome.  What do you want to have accomplished by the end of that specific meeting.

Direction Alignment/Influence Decision Help Needed

2.  Get the right people in the room to facilitate your desired outcome

Decision makers Stakeholders Team members

3.  Properly facilitate the meeting

Start with articulating the desired outcome of the meeting and the agenda Actively manage the agenda Resist the urge to work problems that come up

4.  Take notes and send out meeting minutes

Have a template for taking notes A good start is: Context; Direction; Alignment' Decisions; Help Needed; Actions; Next Steps

5.  Have a follow-up plan if you did not reach your desired outcome

Schedule follow-up meetings for specific outcomes that were not reached Set aggressive but appropriate deadlines Hold each other accountable for actions and commitments

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In this chat I talk about two very rare qualities of a leader, values and courage.

Whether you agree with her politics or not, over the past several months, Liz Cheney has demonstrated two very rate and elusive qualities all great leaders must have and those being, values and courage.

Ms. Cheney was elected to the U.S. House of representative in 2016 on a conservative platform of restoring America’s strength and power in the world, and pursuing conservative solutions to create jobs, cut taxes and regulation, and expand America’s energy, mining and agriculture industries.

Ms. Cheney also values truth and the rule of law.  In the recent months, she began voicing her opposition to the former President and in her mind she believed that the former President was not being truthful nor following the Rule of Law as defined by the U.S. Constitution.  Continuing to voice those beliefs, she was subsequently removed from her leadership position as the GOP House Conference Chair.  

In this chat, I share the importance of having values, but also, the courage to be congruent with those values when something personal is at risk.

Think about most leaders you interact with.  Do you know what they stand for?  Are their values clear?  If they are, do they have to courage to stick to those values when things get tough and there becomes a personal risk to them for standing by those values?

In this chat, I talk about the importance of having clear values and beliefs, and then having the courage and fortitude to live those values in a congruent way.

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Think of your comfort zone as things that you can do effectively without much thought or fear. 

The benefit of having a larger comfort zone could simply be stated as a more effective or fulfilling life.  

For a lot of people, the zone directly outside of their comfort zone is their anxiety zone.  

Visualize in your mind two circles, one inside the other.  Let's label the inside circle your comfort zone and the outside circle your anxiety zone.

The key to moving outside of your comfort zone is realizing that there is actually a third circle.  We'll call that circle your learning zone.  

So how do we create this learning zone and then turn it into a comfort zone?

It takes courage to step out of your comfort zone, but it's good to think about courage not as a lack of fear, but as the ability to move forward despite your fear.  Most people can't make fear go away, nor should they.  Fear is an emption we need to survive.  So how do we have courage and move forward despite our fear.

Stepping out of your comfort zone requires you to take risk, but that risk can be minimized if you follow a method of making success more likely while avoiding rash, unproductive, or irrational behavior.  

One such process involves setting goals; determining the importance of achieving the goal; weighing risks against benefits; selecting the proper time for action; developing a plan; and developing contingency plans.

Setting Goals

What does success look like in this high-risk situation? Is it obtainable?  Your goals should be reasonably within reach, not pie-in-the-sky ambitions.  Having your goal is key, because it is the reward at the end of the journey.  As you go through this journey of getting out of your comfort zone, focusing on your goal is what will get you through it if you start to waiver.

Is your goal Import

Just how important is it that you achieve your goal or goals? If you don’t do something about the current state of affairs, will you suffer?  Will you be able to look at yourself in the mirror?  Courage is not about squandering effort on low-priority issues.  Focusing on fewer but more important things.  Pick your battles so to speak, but make sure you don't forego something you will regret later.

Weighing Risks and Benefits

This component focuses on trade-offs. What do you stands to win? What do you stands to lose? What are the chances that your reputation will be tarnished beyond repair if you go forward? Will you lose respect of your friends or peers?  Will you miss out on opportunities?

Selecting the Right Time

Although emotion is always in the mix, and may even be an asset when making a courageous move, consider the timing of making the move now or waiting.  For your situation consider the art of losing the battle in order to win the war.

Developing a plan

If you have determined the timing is right, the next step is to come up with a plan on how you can move forward. 

Developing Contingency Plans

Faced with having to take a risk, most people make only one attempt.  The better developed your contingency plans are, the likelier it is you’ll achieve your goals. 

Moving out of your comfort zone and into your learning zone often requires being what you haven’t been, thinking as you haven’t thought, and acting as you haven’t acted. 

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According to the NeuroLeadership Institute, there are four conditions that can help facilitate more insights

Having a quiet mind; being internally focused; thinking slightly positive; not thinking about the problem directly

Some of the things you can do to create these conditions:

Having a quiet mind - Do less of:  Asking multiple questions at a time; Zero in on details.  Do more of:  Asking one question at a time; Lift up the level of vision and planning.

Being internally focused - Do less of:  Telling others your ideas; Pressuring for results.  Do more of:  Asking for the ideas of others first; Allow space for reflection.

Thinking slightly positive - Do less of:  Asking Why questions; Criticizing or dismissing.  Do more of:  Asking how questions;  Being non-judgmental and more encouraging.

Not thinking about the problem directly - Do less of:  Focusing hard on the problem;  Asking about what has been done so far.  Do more of:  Focusing lightly on possible solutions; Considering options for moving forward.

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Sometimes your personal or work like can get tough and feel overwhelming.

There are days you just don't feel like you are being effective or maybe your self-esteem takes a hit.  

There are times you just feel very stressed.

In this chat, I want to talk a model called the "Flow" model.  This model may help you find out what you can do to become more resilient.

Think of a diagram and on the vertical axis that represents the various "challenges" you face every day.  At the bottom of that axis, the challenges are "low" and on the top of that axis, the challenges are very "high".  It is worth noting that the difficulty of those challenges are unique to you and your abilities.

Now on the horizontal axis, let's call that "abilities", and on the left side of that axis, we label that low and on the right side we label that high.  Ability is comprised on many factors, but the two that are worth discussing are time and skills.

When you look at the whole diagram together you can create 4 quadrants.

In the bottom left quadrant, the challenge is low and your ability is also low.  When most people experience this category, they experience apathy.  If you want to move out of this quadrant to feel more energized, increase the challenge.

In the bottom right where the challenge is low but your skill is high, you may experience boredom.  If you want to move out of this category you should also increase the challenge.

Now the top left is where many people sit.  This is where the challenge is high, but their ability to deal with the challenge is low.  You need to find out for yourself why your ability is low, but I'll offer two main areas to start.  1.  You simply may not have enough time.  Whether it is your personal life or your professional life, I would suggest determining what your priorities are and focus your time on your priorities.  2.  The second area is skill.  There can be a host of reasons why your skills are not up to par with the challenge.  If the challenge is right and you are under-skilled, then determine which skill you need to improve and put together a robust development plan.  If your skills are appropriate for your role but the challenge assigned is too high, speak with your manager on giving you an assignment that is a more appropriate fit for the role. 

The top right quadrant is where you want to be.  This is where the challenge is high (meaningful work that you are passionate about), and your ability to meet the challenge is also high.  

If you can reach this flow quadrant, you will be more effective, have higher self-esteem, and psychologically, just be more resilient to any setbacks that come your way.

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Activities are how you achieve your outcomes.  Outcomes are what you need to achieve to be successful.

We live in a meritocracy which the dictionary defines as a system, organization, or society in which people are chosen and moved into positions of success, power, and influence on the basis of their demonstrated abilities and merit (outcomes).

Merit is conduct deserving reward, honor, or esteem.

All our reward systems at work are based on delivering outcomes through merit.  Merit increases, bonus, promotions.

Take a well balanced approach to developing your skills to be able improve your abilities.

Job Knowledge; Complexity / scope; Autonomy

Most people focus on developing Job Knowledge in the Operating Skills area.  Certifications, etc.  So is everyone else, so competition to distinguish in this area is steep.  Hence, taking a more well balanced approach to skills development to improve your overall abilities.

Use thinking frameworks to deliver outcomes that matter.

Purpose - Serves a human being or group of human beings; offers unique value; is aligned with overall company strategy and goals; is measurable.

Objective - The "what" of Big idea.  It is what will enable you to create unique value and sustainably deliver that value to the customers in a distinct way.

Capabilities - The set and configuration of capabilities (supporting activities) required to meet your purpose as defined by your objective.

Management Systems - The systems; structures; skills that will help you to understand the efficacy of the choices and the progress towards the capabilities are measured.

By focusing on outcomes and not activities you will be able to:

Facilitate focus and alignment on the big picture Empower people Unlock innovation Enable accountability Develop you and you team's way of thinking --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/stu-chang/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/stu-chang/support

The dictionary defines “listen” as “giving one’s attention to a sound.” While this definition captures an essential part of the definition.  The goal of listening is understanding, thus, listening is a process.  As a process, listening then involves giving! Giving a lot more than mere attention with your ears.

Listening involves giving our heart, eyes, effort, empathy and so much more. The process of listening is so complex that no single definition can fully capture what really happens when one listens. As a result, from a single Traditional Chinese character, I will show that “genuine listening” involves more than auditory perception.

In traditional Chinese, the verb listen pronounced Ting literally means "to listen".  Ting is a character made up of several other distinct characters, each having a meaning that represents what we actually "give" when involved in the listening process.

Genuine listening involves giving the maximum of yourself to the process.  That is represented by the symbol "shi" (十 ) which means ten or maximum. When others know we respect them enough to give 100% of ourselves to listening and understanding them, they will be much more apt to open up and share.

Genuine listening means maintaining eye-contact (目) as represented by the character "mu" or "eyes".

When engaged in a conversation, words represent a fraction of the meaning that is conveyed. A lot more information is transmitted nonverbally. Researchers have found that the total impact of a message is about 7 percent verbal, 38 percent vocal and 55 percent nonverbal. Respectful eye-contact helps to bridge the boundary between the verbal and nonverbal. It brings a pure quality of receptivity as it opens the window to content and context of the message. So, when listening to someone, get rid of all visual distractions.

The next character "yi" means "one" or "single".  When taken in context with the character the next character "Xin" which means heart. "yi" means single undivided attention.  Coming back to the character "xin"... All humans have a need to be validated.  Listening to them with empathy allows them to feel as though they are being heard and understood.  This then feels good because it is connected to our deepest sense of self-worth. Oftentimes we listen with our attention focused on how we are going to respond or refute what the other person is saying. Genuine listening is different, it involves listening with curiosity, compassion, and with the true purpose of understanding.  Listening to someone with empathy demonstrates caring and acknowledging.  Listening with empathy gives the other person a chance to open up and to fully express themselves which is also represented by the character Xin meaning heart, as in them being able to express themselves from the heart.

As we move to the left, the next character means "ear" or hearing.  But remember ear is only part of Ting.  Listening involves more than the auditory act of hearing. We use our ears to listen by paying attention not just to the words spoken but also to the tone, pace and emphasis, to help understand The person’s relationship to the words.  Just using our hearing effectively as we listen already tells us a lot.

The last character "wang" represents king.  Formally it can also mean best.  We use our mind as we’re listening to understand.  We consider the words and ideas shared.  Many interpret "wang" in this context to mean best thinking or thinking like a king.

So if we take a look at the whole character, we could summarize the single Traditional Chinese word for listening which is Ting to translate loosely to, "Giving the maximum of yourself using your eyes, ears and heart, paying undivided attention and using our best thinking like a benevolent king."

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Great leaders build success by learning to think differently from the average person.  Successful people have sought to master a single skill: The ability to THINK CRITICALLY. 

Critical thinking is the process of careful and deep thinking about a subject or idea. It includes being able to analyze and weigh facts, to carefully reason, and to make insightful connections. 

Here are five tips: 

1. Learn To Accept Negative Feedback When someone criticizes your work, it doesn't feel good. You'll be tempted to defend yourself, or to close your mind.  Don't. Steps to accepting negative feedback Recognize its value Ask for it regularly Reward it. Thank people for it Never punish negative feedback Listen actively Don’t respond right away Don’t refute the criticism or justify yourself Don’t take offense. Don’t interpret it as a personal attack.

2. Block Time To Think The whirlwind and urgency of the day is a very strong pull on your time.  But don't confuse motion with progress.  Don't confuse urgent with important.  Critical thinking is hard work. So, when it comes time to analyze facts, block out time in your calendar to engage in deep thought, because it is important. Use some of the following questions to help you analyze: What is the problem preventing you from being successful? If you could solve the problem, what does success look like, how do you measure it? What are the facts and assumptions? What are some alternative solutions to achieve the goal? What are the pros and cons of each alternative? What is the best solution given the goal and your practical constraints? 

3. Create The Conditions For Insight Quiet moments: Quiet moments help reduce external perceptual competition (e.g., sights, sounds) for our conscious attention or awareness, allowing the brain to detect weaker signals more readily. Looking inward: Looking inward, or thinking about your thinking (also known as metacognition), shifts the focus of awareness away from older, more established solutions, and away from external input. It also can shift your focus to your thought process itself, as opposed to just the content of your thinking. Positive emotion: Research suggests people are more likely to solve more problems with insight when in a positive mood than in a negative mood. Distance from the problem: When you walk away from the problem and allow your attention to drift, this frees up the conscious mind from focusing on very strong and well-rehearsed signals. 

4. Zoom In and Zoom Out One pitfall that prevents critical thinking is focusing only on the detail and the short-term. Zooming Out is essential to big picture decision making. It helps you to put things in context and stress principles that are important, but perhaps you may miss some subtleties and nuances. Zooming In brings the details into sharp focus. Opportunities may look large and compelling, but may lack context.  One trap of Zooming In is that the constraints of the details become "the problem to solve" rather than trying to achieve the original outcome. The best leaders work the zoom button in both directions.  When faced with a crisis, they can address the immediate situation while seeking structural solutions. They can zoom in to see problems while zooming out to look for similar situations, root causes, and principles or policies that will help prevent the crisis from recurring. 

5. Take a Break From The Problem You'll benefit by taking a break and letting all the facts settle in your mind. This allows you space to learn and adapt from your experience and room to process what you have been thinking about and release negative emotions. Learning to think critically can take you and your work to the next level.

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In this chat I talk about how to become more effective at delegating.

First I talk about barriers to delegating.

Not enough time to teach or train on how to perform the task Feeling of loss of control Feeling that you may lose credit Enjoying the task being delegated Feeling you can do this better Feeling you may be delegating yourself out of a job Lack of confidence in the team Team may say they don’t have the time Team member may have a fear of failure What else?

Next I talk about the benefits to delegating

To the organization To you To your team To the individuals

I talk about part of your job as a leader being to

Create capacity and capability Making sure work gets done at the right level

I make a case for building capability and capacity on your team

I explore what it looks like when work is getting done at the right level and when it is not

I close with several tips to delegating

Spend the time up front to clarify and align on

The problem that needs to be solved The objective and the scope of what needs to be achieved The vision of success (the outcome) How success will be measured

Delegate the right level task/objective for each team member’s skill set

Work with team member’s strength

Allow time for learning and growth

Delegate important things, but consider carefully when needing to delegate urgent things

Create lists of questions or a template

Share how you think about the task or the project

Set up a good cadence of accountability

Set more frequent outcomes that together lead to the goal Check-in in a timely manner such that if the task/project is off track, there is time to have the team member get it back on track.

Be patient and supportive

Mistakes will happen.  Adopt a growth mindset and help your team to learn from the mistakes.  Encourage them to keep learning and growing.

Resist the urge to “tell” or jump in and take over.

Use the “Problem Ask” or “Solution Ask” technique when coaching

Do not abdicate accountability

Ultimately, you are accountable.  Own that accountability.  You are responsible for the team’s success.

Recognize and celebrate success

Don’t give up.  Developing your team and learning to delegate takes time.

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In this chat, I talk about 7 things all great leaders do.  For some of these things, I have already discussed in detail in previous podcasts so I'll point out throughout this chat.

1. Great leaders improve how you are showing up

Understanding how your nature affects the team Detecting if you am contributing to a problem Considering how you can improve Shaping a culture of learning and growing teach by example and use feedback as a tool for continuous improvement

- Podcast on EQ

2. Great leaders give meaning to the team

Establishing the mission and vision of the team Setting rules, principles and values for the work the team is doing Planning short -term goals, both as a group and individually Establishing the roles and responsibilities of team members

- Podcast on Purpose and goals

3. Great leaders build a high performance teams

Encouraging a deep and mutual understanding among team members Creating an environment of trust and interdependence With trust, we don't fear conflict.  We have healthy conflict where everyone speaks up and is heard With healthy conflict, we have commitment - even if the decision did not go our way With commitment we can have accountability With accountability, we pay attention to and deliver results All of this promotes teamwork

- Podcast on Credibility, Difficult conversations

4. Great leaders know how to motivate individual team members

Detecting and understanding the needs and motivations of each person Comprehending and using motivational factors Using resources and tools to increase the motivation of the team and its members Using communication as a motivational tool Recognizing and rewarding results

5. Great leaders develop their people continuously

Some of the most common areas of development are the fundamentals Improving communication skills of team members. Interpersonal communication Solving problems and making decisions Solving conflicts quickly and efficiently Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of daily work Time management

6. Great leaders see their job as improving the effectiveness of the team

Delegate effectively. Allowing time for mistakes. Use Coaching as an effective tool to empower and develop their people Giving and receiving positive and negative feedback in a frequent and timely manner.

7. All of this is centered around great meaningful communication.  

Communication that is concise, coherent, and relevant.

And they repeat this cycle endlessly.

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In this episode, I chat with my good friend Gustavo Guillemin about Communicating Across Cultures.  Gustavo is a published author, a Professor, and had delivered TEDTalks.  

The world today is Globalized.  We can often find ourselves in situations where we need to communicate effectively with people from different cultures.  This is not just a necessity at work. It is highly likely that your neighbors or the people you socialize with come from different cultures.

Gustavo and I share stories about times when we both made notable mistakes while communicating with people of different cultures.  

Gustavo also shares the Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory.  This is a framework for cross-cultural communication, developed by Geert Hofstede. It shows the effects of a society's culture on the values of its members, and how these values relate to behaviors, using a structure derived from factor analysis. 

If you work or communicate with people from different cultures, you'll find this chat very informative.

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This chat is somewhat an extension to my previous chat on the differences between a "Manager or a Leader".  

In this chat, I delve deeper into the characteristics that define great leaders.

The five levels of leadership as defined by Jim Collins in his book, Good to Great Why leaders are important The importance of teaching and having a teachable point of view Having great ideas provide the framework for actions at all levels How values define the behaviors you want in an organization and how they provide the grounding for the right actions Having high-energy and creating energy in others Having the courage to see reality and acting on it Being able to create and communicate a compelling vision of the future in a manner that engages people emotionally and rationally The power of Humility based leadership --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/stu-chang/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/stu-chang/support

In my career I often see folks getting promoted to “Manager” and that is typically because they were a great operator.  They were the best technician, or the best barista or the best sales person, but in the end their team was unhappy, or overall they didn’t achieve what they were supposed to so this person ultimately failed as a leader.

The biggest reason for this is that being a Manager and being a Leader are two totally different skill sets and the individual contributor who was promoted to Manager, was never trained as a leader.

In this chat, I’ll explore the different behaviors of a Manager vs a Leader.

Before we run through a side-by-side comparison, let’s talk for a second about who can be a leader.  As I talked about before, many people see Managers are Leaders.  I’ll submit that you can have leaders at any level in the organization.  This will make more sense as we run through the side-by-side comparison.  Also, as we run through this list, think about other leaders to see how these attributes align.  Leaders such as the President of the United States, or the informal leader of your own social group.  Thinking about how leaders behave in a different context will help you better grasp the ideas.

Purpose:  Managers provide stability and predictability; Leaders drive change

Focus:  Managers manage the work, Leaders lead people by inspiring and motivating

Vision:  Managers look at short-term / today; Leaders look at long-term / Horizon

Direction:  Managers follow existing direction / maintain status quo; Leaders provide new direction and change the norm

Values:  Managers value results; Leaders value achievement

People:  Managers view people as subordinates; Leaders view people as followers 

Control:  Managers exert formal influence; Leaders exhibit personal charm

Appeals to:  Managers appeal to the head; Leaders appeal to the heart

Culture:  Managers endorse the culture; Leaders shape the culture

Approach:  Managers plan details around constraints; Leaders sets and leads direction

Decision Making:  Managers make decisions; Leaders facilitate decision making

Rules:  Managers makes the rules; Leaders break the rules

Action:  Managers tend to be more reactive; Leaders tend to be more proactive

Risk:  Managers minimize risk; Leaders take risk

Concerned:  Managers are concerned about doing the thing right; Leaders are concerned about doing the right thing

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In this chat, we explore Creativity and Innovation with Fatima Donaldson.  

We talk about what inspired her passion for photography in her early years, and explore the struggles she had as a creative throughout her career and what she did to overcome them.  We talk about the importance of courage, a great support system of friends and family, being properly educated in your craft, and finally applying a process to creativity and innovation.

Fatima applies her expertise in marketing, layout & design and business management along with creative freedom to interpret how products, services, lifestyles and ideas can be created photographically. In all those years, Fatima has worked in very diverse settings all over the world to create unique captures customized for the project whether that was a Fortune 100 advertising campaign or an upcoming exhibit and everything in between. The projects vary as do the industries. Her creativity is applied to her extensive body of work serving as the common thread that weaves her style into every image.

In addition to her commercial work, Fatima also creates unique captures during her travels. In her words, "I love to capture a moment...the moment of being". She shares these images at her gallery in The Silos part of the Sawyer Yards in Houston.  It is open every 2nd Saturday for Open Studios from 12-5pm and by appointment.  You can also see and purchase her fine art work at www.fatimaphotography.com/

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Are you in a situation where you find that you need to have that "difficult conversation" with someone? 

Whether you're at work and one of your team members is just not producing the result you're looking for, or in your personal life, someone is displaying some undesirable behavior that you want them to stop immediately.

To start, you should recognize that the reason you are having to have this difficult conversation is most likely because someone is resisting you in some form or fashion.

And there's a reason for this.  I believe that when we can't make progress with someone who is resisting us, it comes down to one thing.  

Every person on earth has a need to be seen and heard and know what they said mattered.  They want to be validated.  

You are more likely to get someone to commit to you if you give them a chance to hear what they have to say.  Then you consider it when you are making a decision and even if you decide against the path they wanted to go, I believe they will be more likely to commit if they were seen and heard and concerns considered than if they were not.  

It also increases the likelihood of them committing if you explain why you decided on the path you did and how their input was taken into consideration. 

But, despite your best efforts, if you still find yourself in a position to have a difficult conversation.  How can you accomplish this?

We'll use a model called AFIRM.  It's an acronym that spells out the steps you should take.  Here is what each of the letters of the acronym stand for.

A = Ask

F = Fact

I = Impact

R= Request

M = Mutuality

Remember what I said in the beginning.  You will get resistance if people don't feel validated, so when you are going through the AFIRM model, don't ram your view down their throat.  You need to solicit their view and thoughts on each and every one of these points.

Let's start with the Ask.  The purpose of this step is to be able to broach the conversation with them in a manner where they will not be defensive and be open minded. This is probably the most difficult of all the steps.  If you know they feel tension in the relationship consider the best time to even broach the ask.  

Next talk about the facts.  Don't first launch in with your version of the facts.  Ask them what they think the facts are.  And we need to distinguish between fact and opinion or judgment.  The goal that you are trying to accomplish here are the facts about their behavior.  Remember, the reason you are having this conversation is because they are exhibiting behavior you feel needs correcting. 

Once we have the facts established.  Now comes the "impact" of their behavior.  The goal of this step is to help them understand the negative consequences of the behavior you established in the fact step. Share what you think is the impact of their behavior, but also be prepared to hear their side.

Once they understand the negative impact of their behavior, you should make a request of them.  Be clear about the outcome you want.  This step is what most people jump to when they launch into difficult conversations.  Hopefully you can see how futile it is to start here.  It should not be a specific how?  Like, Never talk to Bob that way again.  A better way is to express the outcome you want and have them figure out how to accomplish it. 

Finally the M in AFIRM stands for mutuality.  At this point, you have not yet gotten their commitment. The goal of this step is to get that commitment.  What you want out of this are specific actions and the time those actions will be done.  Specifically get them to commit.

I hope this model gives you are framework on how to have difficult conversations.

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I often get asked, "How do I increase my credibility?"  Maybe you are starting out in your career or you got a new job or got assigned to work with a new team, or you've been on a team for some time, but just don't seem to be getting the merit you feel you earned.

One of the best books I read on building credibility is called The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey.

In the book, Covey talks about what he calls "The 4 Cores of Credibility".

Core 1 is Integrity, Core 2 is Intent, and together these make up one's character.  Core 3 is Capabilities and Core 4 is Results, and together these last two make up one’s competency.

Integrity - This is what most people think about when they think of trust.  To many, integrity basically means honesty.  While integrity does include honesty, it includes much more.  In the book, Covey defines Integrity as being congruent inside and out.  A congruent person acts in harmony with their deepest values and beliefs.

Intent - This has to do with our motives, our agenda, and resulting behavior.  Trust grows when our motives are straightforward and based on mutual benefit - in other words, when we genuinely care not for ourselves, but also for the people we interact with, lead or serve.  When we suspect a hidden agenda from someone or we don't believe they are acting in our best interest, we are suspicious about everything they say or do.

Capabilities- These are the abilities we have that inspire confidence - our talents, attitudes, skills, knowledge, and even style. They are the means we use to produce the final core - results.

Results - Refer to your demonstrated track record, your performance, your getting the right thing done at the right time.  If we don't accomplish what we are expected to do, it diminishes our credibility.  If on the other hand, when we achieve the results we promised, we establish a positive reputation or performing, being a producer, and... our reputation precedes us.

Covey talks about whether we're aware of it or not, people notice the 4 cores.  They affect your credibility.  Understanding them will give you conscious competence.  It's like putting your trust glasses on.  It will enable you to see beneath the surface, to see specifically why you - or others - are trusted or not.  It will enable you to pinpoint what you can do in your own life to increase trust, and how you can work with others to help them increase trust at work and at home.

This was just a brief summary of the book “The Speed of Trust” by Stephen M.R. Covey.  If you are interested in learning more, I encourage you to buy the book.

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Do you find problem solving or decision making difficult?  Do you delay making decisions because you're not quite sure if it's the right decision?  In this chat, I share a problem solving and decision making methodology called IGROW.

I - Issue - What is the current issue, what is the problem?

G - Goal - What would you like to achieve if you could solve this problem or make this decision?

R - Reality - What is the reality of the situation.  What are the facts?  What is the context?  

O - Options - What are the possible solutions, options, or alternatives?

W - Will - What will you commit to do?  And when?

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Do you ever feel like there just isn't enough time in the day to get everything done.  If you've ever said to yourself, "I just don't have enough time"... my guess is that the real problem is that "you don't have clear priorities.  There is always enough time to do the next right thing.

What exactly are "priorities".  The dictionary definition is, "a thing that is regarded as more important than another."  That is the key to start establishing clear priorities.  You need to understand what is important.

I know you get pulled in a ton of different directions every day and you're trying to decide between things that are important and things that are urgent.  I am going to suggest that these are two very distinct conditions and they are mutually exclusive.  In this chat, I explore how to distinguish between things that are important or not important and things that are urgent and not urgent.

Dwight D Eisenhower is attributed to coming up with a prioritization tool that we've come to know as "The Eisenhower Matrix".

To explain this matrix, let's explore the two main concepts.  Things that are "important" and things that are "urgent".

Important things are things that are important to you.  At work, these things may be your goals and objectives, or even building better relationships and a better network of peers.  At home, this may be spending more time with your family, or eating more healthy, or exercising more.  Oh, and as we explain the matrix, I need to point out the obvious that the opposite of important things are, you guessed it... not important, but these are defined by you, and generally not someone else (maybe other than your boss at work, but you should both see eye to eye on what is important to you).  What will you be held accountable to accomplish.

Urgent things are things that simply demand your attention immediately. Things that probably demand your attention today.  And obviously, the opposite are things that are not urgent.  Urgent things, by definition, tend to put us in reactive mode because we didn't see it coming or things just got away from us until it was too late.  Consider for a minute... when do you do your best thinking... is it when you are in reactive more, or in proactive mode.  That's my case for you to strive to be more in proactive mode than reactive mode.

Let's recap the 4 conditions of the matrix and think about them as the Eisenhower matrix.

Think of a grid with quadrants.

The top row are things that are important The bottom row are things that are not important The left column are things that are Urgent The Right column are things that are not urgent.

So in the top left quadrant we have things that are both Important and urgent In the top right quadrant, we have things that are Important and not urgent In the bottom left quadrant, we have things that are not important and urgent And finally, in the bottom right quadrant we have things that are not important and not urgent

By the way, I just gave you the priority order in which you should work on each of those conditions.

I'll close with some tips on how you can break the cycle of constant fire fighting and being in reactive mode to being able to identify and set your priorities based on things that are important to you.  This will put you in a more proactive mode where you think more clearly, your efforts have a higher impact, you start making progress towards your long-term goals, and you have more positive energy in your life.

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There is a lot going on in the world right now.  A lot of people are hurting. In today's chat, I wanted to talk about recognizing that grieving is a process and if you can recognize where you are in this process, you just may be able to move through it faster and with less pain.   

By getting to the point where you have more good days than bad ones, you can get to the point where you are doing things to give yourself a more positive future. 

While there are many models on grieving, today I'll talk about one called "The Five Stages of Grief", or simply "The Five Stages".  This model has it's foundation in work done by a Swiss-American psychiatrist named Elizabeth Kubler-Ross.  Hence, some also call this the Kubler-Ross curve. 

Before we jump into the five stages, it is important to note that this is not a linear model.  Meaning, people don't necessarily experience it in steps 1 through 5.  In fact, it is quite common for people to move back and forth across the 5 stages, and for some, some may never experience all five stages on a particular loss.  Grief is different for everyone.  That is the first step though in helping you to move through all stages.  Understand that there is a process and recognizing where you are in that process and what the end of that process looks like. The five stages are: - Denial - Anger - Bargaining - Depression - Acceptance My goal for this chat it to hopefully help anyone grieving for any reason to help you to get through your grief by sharing the 5 stages.   In doing so, if you can recognize what stage you are in, that is the beginning of you moving toward acceptance and hopes for a more positive future.

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Since it's the New Year, I thought I'd start the new year off by talking about "Purpose".  But why is "purpose" so important.

A friend of mine, Shannon, had a meme on her Instagram a few days ago.  It read - If you do things with purpose, you show up differently.  And that's the key here.  How does having purpose get you to show up differently and ultimately for the better.

Dictionary definition -  the reason for which something is done or created  or the reason for with something exists - hint hint, that includes organizations at work, and even your job or even a specific activity.

If we know what purpose is, What's then is the opposite of purpose?  If you reverse the definition, then that would be doing things for no reason or at a minimum doing things that you cannot connect back to a purpose.

To illustrate this, think about someone or even you yourself saying when asked, "How's it going?" and the reply is "Oh, I'm just so busy!"  That to me is something to watch out for.  

Alfred Montapert, author of "The Supreme Philosophy of Man: The Laws of Life", may have described it best in his quote

"Don't confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but doesn't make any progress."

Whether you are working toward a personal goal or working for someone else at work, just like I mentioned my podcast about your New Year's Resolution, everything starts with some purpose, some outcome you are trying to achieve.

If you are the leader and you tell someone, "Hey go into the jungle and get some wood".  You won't really know what you'll get when that person comes back and I am sure that person is also confused and probably a little demotivated because they were told to go do something without being told why.  But, instead, of you give someone a purpose, something like, "We need to build a fire and have it continually burning and never go out", now this person has a purpose. 

A couple of great things happen at this point.  First, you've unlocked Innovation because there are probably a million ways to accomplish this purpose and this person get to figure that out.

Secondly, it unlocks motivation.  Now they can feel like they are really contributing and most importantly, they can connect their work to the good over the overall team.

Third, it unlocks accountability.  If there is no fire or the fire goes out, that person agreed to be accountable for the purpose, so they can be held accountable.  Chances are they will hold themselves accountable long before you do.  But now as the leader, it is easier for you to hold them accountable for the overall purpose.

Had you told them to do into the jungle to get some wood and they bring back a freshly felled tree that won't burn and then you yell at them telling them that won't work, all you get is resentment for not providing specific instructions, being viewed as a bad leader, and someone who is now demotivated.

When someone does things with purpose, they do show up differently in many positive ways.

Overall, your life will become more fulfilling.

You will be able understand why you are here and how you can add value.

You will be able to focus more, knowing the ultimate direction you are heading.

You will be able to prioritize what is important.

You will manage your time better.

You will be more resilient, viewing setbacks are learning opportunities not failures.

When working with others with the same purpose, you will build better relationships and even find new ones giving you a better sense of comradery and team.

So when someone has a purpose, they do show up differently in many positive ways.

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Well it's that time of year.  The ritual of setting our New Year's resolution.  We all view the New Year as a "fresh start" to try to give us that boost to get back to something important to us, something we value.   That can be anything from losing weight, to eating healthier, to exercising regularly, to making better financial choices, or quitting smoking, or even spending more time with our loved ones. 

Here are six things you can do to help you to make and stick to your New Year's resolution. 

Step 1. Make your goals / resolutions outcomes not activities.  This outcome is your vision statement if you will.  It's a set of words that describe some future state.  It's the "why". 

Step 2. Make that goals / resolution measurable.  Set a specific but attainable goal that you can use to measure progress to you attaining your resolution. 

Step 3. Think of the things (activities) you can do that contribute to you achieving your overall resolution goal and also set goals for these activities as well. 

Step 4. Measure your progress toward these activity goals every day or whatever frequency you set that makes sense for your activity and overall resolution goals. 

Step 5. If you find that you are not on track in step 4, then you must do something different.  If you need to get back on track, try to figure out what caused you to go off track in the first place.  The idea is to find the reason you went off track and find a solution to not having that happen again.  Learn from your mistakes and put corrective action in place so you don't make the same mistake again. 

Step 6. Celebrate small wins. Every year we go through this ritual of resolution setting.  

One parting thought is not to think about this as a yearly "event", but think about this more as a lifestyle change.  If you "fail", then don't quit and wait till next year.  Pick up where you left off, maybe reset to a new goal, and keep going.  This could be all the difference between a lifetime success or failure.  

Changing something about yourself is all about visualizing a positive outcome that you can continually focus on - the why - this helps with keeping your desire to keep doing the contributing activities.  It's about setting daily or appropriate attainable goals that you can measure, and then a process to make sure you know if you are on track of not and if not, a commitment to resolve the thing that caused you to go off track.  Celebrate your successes and progress along the way.  

 It's not just the end goal that matters, but also how you take that journey along the way.

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Whether it's the Nation's leaders wanting everyone to wear a mask, or it's you as a parent wanting your kids to clean their rooms, or you as a manager at work wanting your team members to follow a new process, how do you get someone to change their behavior to ultimately achieve a different outcome or fulfill a purpose. 

In this Chang Chat we explore How to Change Someone's Behavior. 

1. Do they know what you want them to change, why it is important, and most importantly, what's in it for them? 

2. Do they want to change their behavior?  You can't sustainably "make" someone do something they don't want to do. 

3. Do they know how to change their behavior?  If it is a new process at work, have they been taught how to effectively do the new process? 

4. Are they actually performing the new behavior consistently and effectively?  Are you measuring that and how do you measure that? 

5. What are you doing to reinforce the new behavior? These are all the things we will explore in this chat. In this chat I reference some of the things.

I talked about in this episode on How to Influence Someone https://anchor.fm/stu-chang/episodes/Want-to-influence-someone----understand-what-they-value-and-what-they-believe-emvt07

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We all want happiness.  The Founding Fathers of the United States even declared that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

During the Holiday season we see the words Happiness and Joy everywhere.  But what is the difference.

In this chat, I explore the difference between joy and happiness, and talk about ten things things you can do to get more joy and happiness in your life.

Appreciate the people who enrich your life. Focus on the simple pleasures in life. Don't judge yourself harshly when things go wrong. Show empathy and compassion to others, even strangers. Make time for yourself. Surround yourself with positive people. Laugh. Focus on experiences, not stuff. Plan your happy moments. Stop worrying about outcomes you don't control.

Listen in to hear an in-depth perspective of these ten suggestions.

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The Holidays are the time of the year where we get together with friends and families over Thanksgiving dinner or other events.  You may be dreading that because there is a friend or family member who you just don't see eye-to-eye about a particular topic.  That could be anything from whether there is a need to wear a mask or not, or whether the new Playstation is better than the Xbox.

In this episode. I talk about why someone values and believes what they do, and in knowing that, how you can in turn have a better conversation with them by digging into "why" they value and believe what they believe by learning more about their Ladder of Inference.  I also talk about how you can get them to open up by listening empathetically and non-judgmentally, and then when it's your turn to be heard, how you can assert your position in a manner that the other person may be more apt to listen to you as opposed to you both butting heads by asserting what you both believe is the "truth".

This concept applies to any area of disagreement or even if you are not in a disagreement, how you can simply influence someone more effectively, but doing so in a productive manner.

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