Tag: entrepreneurship

What you do

FabrizioLeave a comment

Culture is what you do.

It is how you treat people around you, the times you say yes to a request of help, the way you say no to preserve focus, the work you deliver every day, the amount of hours you dedicate to things that nurture your cause, the decisions you make and how you make them, the people you carry with you and those that are never part of it. It is, first and foremost, the journey and not the destination.

Not only.

Culture is what you do when no one is watching.

It’s impossible to fake culture, and so you might be on the wrong track if you regret helping others the very moment you say yes, if you get distracted from new and shiny things that lead you astray, if you surround yourself with people that are like you, think like you and act like you.

And.

Culture is what you do when things are dire.

Most are good sharing when they have plenty, cheering people up when life is wonderful, leading when the cash comes in, giving freedom when there’s not much at stake, asking people to contribute when the decision has already been taken.

Think about this as you go through history and think of examples that well represent and tell your culture. It will make it stronger.

Presenting

Fabrizio1 Comment

If you are preparing to deliver a presentation that matters (to you), consider the following.

Start with the audience and the change you’d like to see (even when you are just presenting results, you are still demanding a change). List them down somewhere and have them visible throughout the process.

Have the deck ready early, at least a week before the presentation.

Little text on a slide is always better than more. Always.

A list is a list even without a bullet.

Allow enough time to collect and implement the needed feedback. If you get feedback too close to the time you are supposed to deliver the presentation (<24hrs), be brave and disregard it.

Write a script for the key points and the transition between slides.

Rehearse the presentation multiple times, keeping the script at hand, but without reading it.

Few hours before the actual delivery, free your mind and take a break from the presentation. Do something else. The deck is ready by now, and so you are.

Good luck.

Culture with examples

Fabrizio8 Comments

More often than not, company culture is idealized.

A group of managers sit down and write about their ideal company. And of course, everybody wants an honest working environment where feedback is given regularly, it does not matter if they have never delivered honest feedback once in their careers, and the very idea of doing that scares them.

Next time you are having a conversation about culture, think back at what you and your colleagues have done so far. Certainly write down your ideals, but then challenge the group to identify and narrativize some concrete example that embody the ideals.

If finding those is not a problem, you are on the right track. Own the examples and spread them internally and externally, as they will resonate with people far better than words that have been inflated.

If finding examples is proving difficult, that’s the first symptom that your attempt with culture will fail. You can either proceed with a culture change (changing the way things are done), or try to find ideals that better reflect what is really happening (and for which you have good examples).

Begin with listening

FabrizioLeave a comment

An important reminder by Bernadette Jiwa.

If you want to be listened, begin with listening.

If you want to be heard, begin with hearing.

If you want to lead, begin with opening to the people you want to lead.

If you want to sell something, begin with understanding the people you want to sell to.

It is that easy.

The illusion

FabrizioLeave a comment

The first time I was in a leadership role, I struggled very much to understand the unwanted consequences of what a leader says and does.

The illusion is often that you can still behave like a peer, or a friend.

Yet people will look for direction, not for jokes. They will look for reassurance, not for stress. They will look for development, not for undirected and generic feedback.

Grasp this soon when you become a leader, and understand that your words and actions are now under a different type of scrutiny. The whole team will benefit from it.