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Overcoming Command and Control - Follow-up Interview with Tom Walter of Tasty Catering

admin@smallgiants.org (admin) — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:48:21 GMT

{summary}Recently Tom Walter of Tasty Catering sat down and shared some thoughts with the Center for Values Driven Leadership about his evolution away from from a Command and Control Management style over the course of his career. Tom (and Jamie Pritscher of That’s Caring and Tasty Catering) were kind enough to share some of their thoughts with us about this same evolution from the perspective of building a Small Giant. Check out the video clip and then enjoy the interview below. –(H/T to the Center for Values Driven Leadership for the original video.)

Small Giants Community: What was the biggest challenge to changing your leadership style away from “Command and Control?

Tom Walter: Changing from 30 + years of a personal “management’ style to learn team based, culture led leadership was the biggest personal challenge. To continue to lead, I had to go through what Joseph Schumpter called “creative destruction”. The result was a personal in-depth study of what younger people were being taught in universities with regard to leadership. I trusted our younger people that had advocated change. I believed in their morals, ethics and abilities. But I needed to study generation integration, organizational behavior and emotional intelligence to be able to properly understand how I could continue to be an effective leader.

Small Giants Community: Who are some of the leaders you emulate when it comes to leadership style? What traits do you admire the most in each?

Tom Walter: Reading the biographies of great military leaders during my teen years was a major influence. General Joe Stillwell led his men on a brutal march during WWII. His aides suggested that he ride in a jeep to preserve his health. He said “I am not going to ask my men to walk one more step than I“, or something to that effect. He saved thousands of men because he led by example. That is an example of the messages that were retained from the biographies.

While not necessarily leaders, Machiavelli, Peter Drucker, Immanuel Kant, Descartes, Thomas Aquinas and Rousseau provided insight into the importance of leaders who were responsible for their followers and in some cases, responsible for the ethical and moral behavior of their followers. Their approach to the responsibility of leadership as opposed to the privileges of leadership was quite impactful to my leadership “style”.

Small Giants Community: What advice would you give for a leader who is struggling to overcome similar issues to what you overcame?

Tom Walter: As the market place has shifted during the past 40 years, so has the role of a leader. Managers are not respected to the same high degree as leaders. Young workers want responsibility, not orders. If a leader continues to extend and defend what worked for them the past X amount of years and does not understand their evolving workforce, they will soon become as significant as an 8 track player. Leaders should focus on employee engagement and the employees will focus on the rest.

Small Giants Community: Do you have any additional resources that would be of benefit for leaders taking on this challenge. (Good to Great, addt’l books, sites?)
I recommend all of the books written by authors connected with Small Giants. They seem to have a commonality of how important ethics and character are in business. I enjoy the books by Jim Collins and Patrick Lencioni. Most business books are just variations on a theme of the great philosophers, so my suggestion would be to read the condensed versions of renowned philosophical works.

-- The Small Giants Community

BONUS: We asked one of Tom’s employees about his change as leader. Here’s a voice from inside the organization that witnessed the change first-hand.

Small Giants Community: What was the biggest impact for you as an employee in Tom’s leadership style change?
Jamie Pritscher of That’s Caring, NuphorIQ and Tasty Catering: It was not easy for Tim Walter and I to point out to Tom that he needed to change, but we knew it had to be done for the betterment of the team and ourselves. No one wants to go to work to be micromanaged. Therefore, when Tom and the Walter brothers changed away from the “Command and Control” leadership style, there were several positive impacts on the team and myself. For starters, this change empowered the team to make decisions and get things done. It took a little while for everyone to adopt this new leadership style, but once it was established and clearly understood by everyone that “each person get’s their say, but not necessarily their way,” people began to speak up to express their ideas and current frustrations. The atmosphere moved from one of apprehension and tip-toeing around Tom to a culture where ideas were expressed, productivity spiked and the environment was a much happier place to be.

In addition to the empowerment it brought to all of us, this change showed me that even in his “Command and Control” style, Tom was an excellent leader that I strived to be like. For Tim and I, it took a lot of courage to tell Tom he had to change, but it took more courage on Tom’s part to listen and accept the challenge to change. Accepting and actively seeking a change was the first step in the team seeing the culture take shape. This showed Tom’s level 5 leadership traits to lead by example. This is something that has stuck with me forever – knowing that a 60-year-old man who was very set in his ways choose to change for the betterment of the company and its people. That’s a powerful example that would make anybody want to be a better person!

DOUBLE BONUS: Want to meet Tom and Jamie? Plus other great leaders with a passion for building great companies? Join us at the Small Giants International Summit in San Francisco this June. (June 28 – July 1 at the Le Meridien) Get more of Tom’s story, how it’s affected the development of Jamie’s own company (That’s Caring) and lots of different perspectives on what it takes to create a company destined for something greater than profit. (You know…Things like fulfillment, purpose, community impact and the like. ) Register for the Summit here

What Do We Value Most? Customers, Employees or Products

admin@smallgiants.org (admin) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 18:13:43 GMT

{summary}We recently had the following piece come in from one of our members about challenging the perspective of the importance of Customers, Employees and Products in a Small Giant. The data...was interesting. To paraphrase him, "What does it mean?"

Take a moment to chew on his efforts and evaluate in respect to your own company. We'd love to have your thoughts in the comments.

-Glenn Burr -- First Officer of Mojo
The Small Giants Community

I had our full-time employees take a survey. Participation in the survey was requested as a favor to me, but I made it clear it was something I considered VERY important. There was 100% participation* and everyone was made aware that the survey is anonymous.

I asked 1 question: Rank Customers, Employees, Product/Service in order of priority in order to make YOUR company successful. The everyone knew that the answers to the questions were listed in alphabetical order so order should have no bearing.

Our company is made up of life-long friends—we have an amazing camaraderie and people ask each other for help all the time and we go out of our way to help each other. When we get together for lunches (we are now virtual but we were in the same office for >6yrs) it’s all laughing and merriment. Day-to-day, it is virtually impossible for one person to be able to solve any given problem a customer may have, so teamwork is essential to our business. We’re in CONSTANT communication through Gotomeeting, IM, email, and phones. There are no barriers/management hurdles as we’re a small company, everyone has autonomy. The only downside is we’re all underpaid, but even in that we all share equally. If I had to DEFINE a Small Giant business I’d say take our picture.

So then why, when I sent out this survey, did the results come back with Employees being ranked dead last by 100% of respondents—and because I know everyone personally in and outside of business you can eliminate pandering to the president as the reason.

Question as it was exactly phrased:

For YOUR company to be SUCCESSFUL rank what you think the priority should be for: Customer, Employee, and Product. The options are presented in Alphabetical order. Please make sure all three options are selected and you do not repeat any selections.

100% of the employees said Customers were #1 most important
100% of the employees said Product/Service was #2 most important
100% of the employees said Employees are 3rd most important

Two thoughts crossed my mind as it relates to SG.
1. Is that if management puts Employees first do the employees then put customers first and all is as it should be with this survey?
2. OR do the results indicate that the employees don’t consider themselves AS important to the success of this company?

Obviously with the questions the way they were written, it’s not possible (without further discussion which I’m already planning) to get to the bottom of this.

But it makes you think…

I’m currently reading Charles Dhuigg’s book The Power of Habit (I highly recommend it), and I do believe that by REALLY changing this order in the employees’ hearts, to make Employees #1 with #2 and #3 split by role (account managers think customers are 2nd engineers think products are 2nd) that we would see a significant shift in the way decisions are made here—and based on my readings that it would be a positive shift in terms of profit, scale, and other “business” metrics.

It’s been a while since I’ve read Why is Everyone Smiling but I wonder how the Beryl STAFF would rank the above?

Any thoughts from the SG Community?

*Note: For the survey, it was set to only allow one survey per PC and the total number of surveys completed equaled total number of employees I sent the link to (hence 100% participation).

Reflections on Wisdom 2.0 Conference

admin@smallgiants.org (admin) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:48:54 GMT

{summary}To help you better connect to all of the great discussion taking place around the world, we've asked our members to share their experiences from the conferences and events they attend. The following is from Rob Dube, Owner and President of Image One. -- The Small Giants Community

Reflections on Wisdom 2.0 Conference – Silicon Valley, CA – February 2012

By Rob Dube, Owner and President, Image One

I just returned from the most unique and truly inspiring conference in Silicon Valley, CA. Was I there to pitch ideas to VC’s? No! Was I there to learn more about the tech industry? No! Was I there to learn more about how we can bridge technology and mindfulness? NO! Ah, I mean, yes . . . Well, we all know what technology is, but what is mindfulness? More on that in a minute.

What do the founders of Facebook, Twitter, Ebay, Zegna, Kiva, the CTO of Cisco, the Executive VP of Product Development for Google, United States Congressman Tim Ryan, and Venture Capitalist from Silicon Valley have in common with “Thought Leaders” such as Elkhart Tolle, Jon Zabit-Ginn, Jack Kornfield, Daniel Siegel, and Thupten Jinpa (Buddhist Scholar at Stanford University and the Dali Lama’s English translator for the last 30 years)?

All were in attendance at the 3rd annual Wisdom 2.0 conference in Silicon Valley, CA for a four-day conference about, yes, bridging technology and mindfulness. The reason they put aside their busy schedules to be in attendance? The goal of changing the world. In our fast paced society that has us all connected, much through the technology that they created, curiosity has sprung in the Valley as to how one might live a life with more balance. Also in attendance – 600 + business people and thought leaders from around the world.

WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED MINDFULNESS?
Mindfulness is about paying attention in a certain way. Paying attention to the current moment without getting caught up in the past or the future. Mindfulness comes with practice, usually in the form of meditation or yoga, allowing this moment to just “be” and not being judgmental about it.

A MAN IN LINE AT THE GROCERY STORE
A wonderful story was shared at the conference about a man from the military who had recently returned home from a tour in Afghanistan. He was in line at the grocery and in a bit of a rush. There was an older woman with a baby in front of him and she was speaking with the cashier about how cute the baby was – even going so far as handing the baby to the cashier to hold! The man was getting extremely upset. Finally, the cashier handed the baby back to the older woman and was ready to ring up his items. She was smiling from ear to ear – but not the man – he was fuming. The cashier apologized for the wait, letting the man know that the person she was speaking with was her mother and the baby was her son. She went on to share that her husband was in the military and was killed in Afghanistan, and now she has to work two jobs to support her child. Her Mom watches her son, and the cashier sees him only sparingly, like when the mother brings him to work for a visit. With a mindfulness practice, the soldier would not have allowed those few minutes to get him upset. The Army is currently using mindfulness training to help solders return from the battlefield into society.

These technology companies have truly changed the world – and they have every intention of continuing to do so. As they do, they are faced with new challenges stemming from human interaction of a new sort – the online, connected version.

HOW MANY MOBILE PHONE CONNECTIONS ARE THERE ANYWAY????
Google’s VP of Product Development, Gopi Kallayil shared with us that in a world with seven billion people, there are six billion mobile connections. With that, he shared a story of the small village his grandparents live in in southern India. The village is so small; phone numbers only had two digits. Now they use mobile phones to stay in touch with family around the world – all while continuing to farm as they have for years past. In that small farming village, families were only 2 digits away from each other. Technology continues to shrink our world and it is amazing to think that we are really all just 10 digits away from almost any person in the world.

Google’s new product, Google + has also changed the world. Gopi told about a random phone call he received from, of all people, Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s personal secretary, inquiring if anyone at Google could assist in connecting the Archbishop to the Dalai Lama as a surprise for his birthday. Google made it happen and the result is a priceless exchange between the two which you can view here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97bZu-tXLq4.

FACEBOOK DEALING WITH NEW HUMAN COMMUNICATION ISSUES
Facebook believes that the driving force behind their success is that people love sharing each other’s stories and being involved with one another. The Internet has allowed Facebook to “meet them where they are at.” With 800 million users, Facebook didn’t realize they would have to learn how to help people interact amongst each other with this technology, such as when users don’t like a picture that a friend or family member posted to their wall and have become “police” for kids being bullied online.

ASANA AND THE NEW COOL OFFICE
The founders of Asana, Dustin Moskovitz (co-founder of Facebook) and Justin Rosenstein, created an online project management software. The facilitator asked them why they didn’t have a foosball or ping pong table in their office like most tech companies in Silicon Valley. Their response? Foosball and ping-pong tables won’t be found in their offices; that was so “yesterday” in the Valley! What you will find? A meditation room, a yoga studio, and a private chef that cooks healthy meals with fresh, organic ingredients every day. This is all done to promote a healthier and happier lifestyle for the members of their staff.

CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER AT CISCO MEDITATES?
Padmasree Warrior shared with the group the importance of meditation in her life. As CTO at Cisco, she is responsible for 22,000 employees and billions in revenue, which means she is responsible for making big decisions quickly each day. Her job? To ask the right questions, not have the right answers. She believes that her 25 minutes of meditation each evening before bed has helped her to become a stronger leader. “Meditation is about space, not time and about being myself. It’s important to put focus around the silence.” When she witnesses members of her team stressed out or disagreeing on an issue, you can only imagine her advice – “you need to go meditate and come talk to me after . . .”

THE MINDFUL CONGRESSMAN – YES, THERE IS ONE . . .
Congressman Tim Ryan represents one of the poorest districts in the United States. After reading Coming to our Senses by Jon Zabat Zinn ten years ago, he became interested in the power of meditation and mindfulness. As the youngest United States Congressman he began getting caught up in his own press – as the young, up and coming congressman – maybe even a presidential candidate one day. He learned that we create stories in our heads – and start to believe them – and he wanted to be mindful of not falling into that trap. Now, as the press has dubbed him the “mindful congressman,” he has used meditation to create the space in his life to be present in the here and now.

One of Congressman’s initiatives? You guessed it, to bring mindfulness to his constituents and the country. He recently visited an elementary school in a low-income area in Northern California that has a mindfulness program sponsored by Goldie Hahn. During the visit, the children meditated together for two minutes. At the end of the meditation they were asked what they were thinking about during that time. The first student said he was thinking about a test he had tomorrow and the second spoke of looking forward to recess. The third student shared with the group that he was worried because his brother didn’t come home the previous evening. Would that have happened without the meditation? Congressman Ryan doesn’t think so. Now his teacher is aware and is able to take action to help the child.

SOME QUICK NUGGETS
After every conference I attend, I come away with what I call “nuggets.” These are little things that had a big impact on my thinking. Here are some of the nuggets I came away with from Wisdom 2.0:

• People love sharing their stories and being involved with each other – this is why websites like Facebook, Twitter, and Kiva are so popular.
• We are not looking each other in the eye like we used to
• 40% of the population has trouble going to sleep – this is mainly due to too much to do and being so connected
• The only way we will save the world is through awareness – we are interconnected
• Kids are having a difficult time getting their parents attention

Silicon Valley founders and executives have one common goal – to create products that change lives and the world. Mindfulness is a part of this goal, and there is a movement going on. It’s all starting with the companies that create the technology we all use each and every day!

Interview With Bo Burlingham—Technology and the Evolution of Interaction

admin@smallgiants.org (admin) — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 21:33:20 GMT

{summary}Next week, Office 365 will be a sponsor for Inc. Events, GrowCo Conference in New Orleans, LA. On Wednesday, March 7, we are excited to participate in a Twitter interview (on the @smallgiantsbuzz; @office365 channels) with Bo Burlingham, author of Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big, during the ‘Networking with Purpose’ session held by the Small Giants Community. We thought it would be a good opportunity to talk with Bo and get his take on how technology is affecting relationships between small businesses owners, their customer and counterparts. Check out the interview below for more about what remains the same in business as technology marches forward.

Office 365: How do you see technology changing the value of how people network?
Bo Burlingham: Technology has undeniably made it possible to do a lot more networking with a lot more people, but I don't think it’s necessarily increased the value of networking at all. Networking’s value—online or offline—depends on two things: the quality of the connections you make and the importance of what you learn. Frankly I see a lot of time being wasted on trivial networking via Facebook, Twitter, etc. I'm skeptical that the connections made there and the things learned there can have anywhere near the impact on your business or your life as what you get from networking in person. What online networking can do is alert you to opportunities that you can then follow up on offline.

Office 365: How do you think the evolution of technology will impact small businesses in their interactions with customers?
Bo Burlingham: The new tools obviously open up possibilities and avenues of communication that didn't exist before. But technology doesn't change the fundamental dynamics of business. Great customer service is now, has always been, and forever will be about developing great, close, long-term relationships with customers. Smart business people will use the new tools of technology to do that better. Not-so-smart business people will use them to bombard customers with information they neither want not care about.

Office 365: How have emerging technologies and interfaces (anything from Twitter to tablets) affected you in reaching your small business readership?
Bo Burlingham: Thanks to Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, and plain old e-mail, I have much more contact with people who read what I write and a better sense of its impact than I did before, say, 1995. I hear from a lot of people in a lot of different countries whom I would never have even known existed before. So don't misconstrue my earlier responses. I'm a big fan of the new technology. I can't say I've taken full advantage of the opportunities it offers, but it has allowed me to touch more people and to help more people, and it has allowed more people to touch and help me.

Office 365: What advice do you have for small business owners on increasing their networks or increasing the value of their networks?
Bo Burlingham: I'd advise them to get advice from someone who knows a lot more about these technologies and their uses than I do. I know only enough to be dangerous. Seth Godin is the person I look to for wisdom on this subject. I'd also recommend Phil Simon's book, The New Small, which makes a very convincing case that new technological tools allow small companies to act bigger and give them significant advantages in competing with larger companies.

Be sure to follow @smallgiantsbuzz and @office365 Twitter feeds on Wednesday, March 7 at 1:40 pm time for his live Twitter interview. During this time you can ask your own questions of Bo, get an instant response and be connected into the powerful discussion taking place at Inc’s GrowCo 2012 Conference. You can also follow the #growco hashtag for all kinds of great content and insight from the conference.

The Best Learning Experience is in Person

admin@smallgiants.org (admin) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:27:43 GMT

{summary}When it comes to learning for business, things typically boil down to about two types of understanding. The first is when you read a book, accrue information about a company’s history and practices and look at your own company to see what you might change. Helpful, but far from the ideal.

The second is when you experience the book in person. There’s a depth that just can’t be experienced without seeing “it” in action. And as a community that encourages practitioner based learning, it doesn’t get more “in practice” then stepping through the doors and seeing how these Small Giants work.

In the past, the Small Giants Community hosted a whirlwind tour of some of the companies featured in Small Giants: Companies That Choose To Be Great Instead of Big. Now, thanks to some members who have taken the initiative to help build an experience based program, we have the opportunity to combine not only going into a Small Giant to see how they work, but also spending time with other leaders who are capturing that experience for themselves.

In April, the Great Game of Business and SRC Holdings will be hosting a Small Giants roundtable session that you should make plans to be a part of. Highlights of the event include:

- Introduction to Open Book Management
- Tour and Participate in Huddle at SRC Facility
- Supervisor / Manager Panel Discussion
- Hourly Employee Panel Discussion
- Q&A / Discussion with Jack Stack

There will also be a Small Giants roundtable/workday where you can learn from leaders experiencing the same challenges in business, but from very different perspectives. It’s an open book, open company event that goes goes beyond your expectations for sharing and learning.

You can learn more about the costs and how to participate by emailing me (glenn@smallgiants.org). SEATS ARE EXTREMELY LIMITED!

To learn more about our past experiences at the Great Game of Business, click the video below or check out some of these great pieces from the SRC/GGOB resources page.

&Samhoud Visits SRC on Small Giants Safari
NYT "Open the Books" Blog
How To Practice Open Book Management

Be on the lookout for more information as this unique learning event develops!

Book Feature: Emotional Equations Q&A with Chip Conley

admin@smallgiants.org (admin) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:22:09 GMT

{summary}We’re fortunate enough here at the Small Giants Community that we get to be a part of the special mindset and attitude that Chip Conley brings to the business world. His new book Emotional Equations (Free Press, 2011) examines how who you are and what you’re looking for add up to create your impact on life and business. The included Q+A explores some of the thoughts and experiences that led to the writing of this new tome.
-The Small Giants Community

SGC: What led you to creating your first “Emotional Equation?”
Chip Conley: I was stuck in a psychological fog in 2008. I had been through one once-in-a-lifetime downturn earlier in the decade and I could see another one coming. Where previously I’d felt like a gladiator in my role as a business leader, now I felt like a prisoner. Added to that was a handful of friends committing suicide, a family member wrongfully going to San Quentin, my own health crisis that led to my heart stopping, and my long-term relationship ending all at the same time. I started rereading one of the most famous books ever written on meaning, psychologist Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, the story of his experience in a Nazi concentration camp and why he saw meaning as the ultimate fuel for life. On a bad day, reading about Frankl’s awful experience and his redemption gave me hope. I turned this book into a little mantra that I could remember and say to myself throughout the day: DESPAIR = SUFFERING – MEANING. Suffering felt like a constant, while meaning was the variable and the more attention I paid to what meaning I was going to get out of this terrible time, miraculously, the despair would diminish.

SGC: When did you start sharing this Emotional Equation and what was the response?
CC:I kept this “Meaning” equation to myself for months and found that it helped me to see what kind of emotions I was getting acquainted with in this desperate time -- whether it was courage, compassion, resiliency, or vulnerability. One day in late 2008, I was supposed to address a collection of leaders in our company at an off-site retreat. I saw a lot of suffering in the room as many of these folks were just as nervous as I was about the implications of the economic collapse on our various hotels and restaurants. I threw away my speech and introduced my equation as a way to show them that there’s meaning or learning to be found in even the worst circumstances. You could hear a pin drop as the private sorrows of each of these 80 leaders now felt collective. The response was enthusiastic and a few of these managers came to me and asked, “Do you have an equation for Jealousy or Disappointment or Workaholism?” I realized that I might be on to something.

SGC: Most CEOs try to portray a confident and pedestal-like persona. How difficult was it for you to express your emotions and your challenges to those who work for you?
CC:I believe CEOs (and, for that matter, allleaders even if you’re just leading your family or a department of three people) are the “Chief EmotionsOfficers” for the groups they lead. We’re the “emotional thermostats” for those we lead. Numerous studies haveshown that the leader’s level of engagement and satisfaction with their work has a profound influence on theculture or morale of the group. The number one trait people want from their leaders, especially in difficult times,is honesty and trustworthiness. And, if we can’t be open about our emotions – in a productive way – and we can’t show vulnerability, then we’re not truly role modeling exceptional leadership to our people. Ironically, some of the best leaders we know are most powerful when they’re most authentic and vulnerable.

SGC: Which equations did you develop after Despair = Suffering – Meaning?
CC:I figured after Despair, that maybe I should focus on Happiness. My timing was perfect as I was able to join a Young Presidents Organization tour to Bhutan, a tiny kingdom and new democracy wedged in a Himalayan crevice between China and India. Bhutan had spent the past forty years as the leader of the Gross National Happiness movement (GNH as an alternative to Gross Domestic Product) so I got to spend time with social scientists on the subject of how we can create the conditions for happiness to flourish. Over the following few months talking to the growing number of academics interested in happiness, I created the equation: HAPPINESS = WANTING WHAT YOU HAVE ÷ HAVING WHAT YOU WANT or, in other words, happiness comes from practicing gratitude rather than pursuing gratification.

SGC: What process did you use in developing these equations and did the academic world look at you with disdain as if you were just creating a parlor game?
CC:Of course, I wouldn’t have made it to the TED stage ifthere weren’t some intellectual ballast to these equations. But, as I realized the value of this emotional lexicon, Isought out some of the world’s great academics whether it was Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi regarding how to get ina “Flow” zone with your work, or Barry Schwartz regarding Regret and Disappointment, or Jean Twengeregarding Narcissism, or even the Dalai Lama with respect to Faith. For the 18 equations profiled in the book, Ispoke to the leaders in each field, read more than 150 books and reviewed more than 300 academic articles. I feltlike I was getting my PhD in Emotions at the time when I most needed the knowledge, as 2008-2010 was areally challenging period in my life as well as it was for so many others. The reality is that well-respected academics from Martin Seligman to Barbara Fredrickson to John Gottman had already created equations for Happiness, Positivity, and the likelihood that a marriage will last. It’s just that these equations hadn’t reached the mainstream.

SGC: Have you been surprised by the popular response? And which types of people have most gravitated to these formulas for feelings?
CC:What’s been most fascinating is how men have gravitated to Emotional Equations.As a male CEO said to me recently, “It’s about time I have a means of understanding my emotions in a logicalfashion. I now can have a more thoughtful and deep conversation with my wife with the understanding of whatemotional building blocks are influencing what she or I are feeling in the moment.” There’s a Google seniorexec with a PhD in Artificial Intelligence who helped me with each of the equations and he was amazed how engineers resonated with the material.

SGC: Why do you think the book Emotional Equations fits the times we’re living in?
CC:The 1930s provide a relevant historical precedent. During that unrelenting decade of bad news, Americans turned to authors and thought leaders like Norman Vincent Peale, Dale Carnegie, and Napoleon Hill. And this was when theologian Rienhold Niebuhr created the Serenity Prayer, which helped people understand the wisdom of focusing on what they can and can’t control. The more the external world is chaotic, the more we need internal logic to protect us and help us make sense of life. Of course, because the equations are short and sweet, they are also well suited to texting and tweeting as well and, no doubt, that’s how we communicate today.

SGC: You frequently talk about moving from emotional intelligence to emotional fluency. How is this relevant to organizational leadership?
CC: I’m fortunate enough to have received some tutelage from the academic whopopularized the concept of emotional intelligence, Daniel Goleman. Goleman helped us see that emotionalmastery was more important for effective leadership than was IQ or the level of experience a leader had in theirwork. Other academics like Nicholas Christakis and Matthew Lieberman have shown the contagious nature ofemotions in organizations as well as the destructive nature of how decisions are made when emotional reactivity is at play. When comparing intelligence with fluency, imagine if you were going to Paris with a friend and you had spent a number of months studying the French language, its origins, the way they conjugate sentences, and the various dialects in the country. You would be intelligent about the language, and your friend may have none of that book knowledge but grew up in Montreal -- fluent in French. Which of the two of you is going to be most comfortable and successful navigating the streets of Paris? Your friend, of course. Emotional fluency is when a leader moves beyond the knowledge and awareness of the importance of emotions in the context of business to living and being an emotional presence that others find naturally magnetic. At the core of that fluency is understanding the recipe or ingredients for our emotions.

SGC: You talk about Emotional Equations giving people an ability to improve their “psycho-hygiene.” What’s an example of an equation and a tool that people can easily use?
CC:Given the fearful times, I’ve found theanxiety equation to be one of the most popular. There are really two key elements that create anxiety: what wedon’t know and what we can’t control, so ANXIETY = UNCERTAINTY x POWERLESSNESS. The tool I’vecreated is called the Anxiety Balance Sheet. Take out a piece of paper and draw four columns. The first columnis what you DO know regarding the subject you’re anxious about. The second column is what you DON’T know. In the third column, write what you CAN influence, and, in the fourth column, write a list of what youCAN’T influence. This exercise highlights that most of us have more items in the “do know” and “caninfluence” columns than we expected and, once we’d outlined what we didn’t know or didn’t think we could influence, it highlighted ways we could gain that information or feel like we could influence the outcome. The two biggest lessons for leaders, especially in disquieting times, are be as transparent about information as quickly as possible because mystery creates anxiety, and, help people see what ways they can make a difference especially during times when people feel most powerless.

SGC: What’s the transition been like from founder/CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality for two dozen years to author, speaker, and teacher? CC: In my last book, PEAK, I explored the three relationships we each have with ourwork: we either have a job, a career, or a calling. I had the odd experience of having a calling turn into a job overtime, while at the very same time, having a new calling emerge. To have this happen during a period when mycompany most needed my leadership was painful. But, I am grateful to have been able to take my company to astronger place by bringing in a well-respected investor and a new leadership team once we’d gotten through the
most challenging part of this recession. When I was 12, I told my dad that I wanted to be a writer when I grew up and he told me that writers are usually poor or psychotic, and quite often, both. I shelved that dream, so it’s nice to re-engage with this avocation in midlife. More than anything, I feel fueled by Curiosity, which is how I arrived at my equation: CURIOSITY = WONDER + AWE.

What Do You Get Out of What You Read?

admin@smallgiants.org (admin) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:20:51 GMT

{summary}From books to blogs, when it comes to reading for business, entrepreneurs are the undisputed champs. Cnsuming massive amounts of content in an effort to improve their businesses. But what exactly are you reading for? Specific tips? Case studies? Failures? Successes? Philosophies?

Maybe we're going to take the romance out of reading a bit (though we'll always love Reading Rainbow), but we want to know your strategy for getting the most out of what you read. Let us know how you make sure the time you spend reading isn't wasted.

Are the “Holi-daze” Causing a Hangover for Your Business?

admin@smallgiants.org (admin) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 17:18:23 GMT

{summary}Why is it that the winter holidays have such a dramatic effect on the workplace? And we’re not talking about a “festive music, watch-out-for-mistletoe mood.” We’re talking about how once Thanksgiving hits, it seems that the turkey hangover lasts well beyond the afternoon’s football games and into the general output of the employee populace.

Is it the combination of multiple holidays over a short time period? (And do European companies suffer through the same issues with their more frequent time-off?) Is it the tendency to travel for these holidays that puts coworkers on the road well before they left their desks? And how much more does this hurt a small business versus a large corporation? What are your thoughts?

Interview: Can the Gap Between Entrepreneurs and Academics Be Bridged?

admin@smallgiants.org (admin) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:34:57 GMT

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As a Community dedicated to a culture of learning and building great companies, we take a keen interest into what’s going on inside the academic realm for entrepreneurs. So it’s with great pleasure that we welcome Dr. Suresh Kumar’s contribution to this discussion.

A serial immigrant entrepreneur, Dr. Kumar served as the key-founder of three successful entrepreneurial startup ventures over the past 12 years. Due to his diverse experience and by completing his doctoral dissertation in the field of entrepreneurship, Dr. Kumar has developed deep insights and expertise in the field of high-growth entrepreneurship and developing entrepreneurial eco-systems. Along with his teams, Dr. Kumar is the recipient of multiple industry and community recognition for leadership and entrepreneurial excellence including the Ronald Reagan Gold Medal (2005) by the Congressional Business Advisory Council, the INC 500/5000 Award (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011), the US Pan-Asian American Chamber Fast 50 Firm Award (2008, 2009, 2010), the Indo-American Center of NY Award (2007), The Indian American Cultural Society Award (2009), the US Chamber of Commerce Blue Ribbon Award (2009, 2011) and Asian MBA Award (2009).

Dr. Kumar has been graceful enough to share his paper, Resolving the Disconnects Between Academics and Practice in Entrepreneurship, which was featured on the ICSB blog with the Small Giants Community.

In order to provide some additional background and insight on his paper, we conducted a correspondence interview with Dr. Kumar that we’d like to share with you.

SGC: How did you become interested in the connection between the academic and entrepreneurial communities?
Dr. Suresh Kumar: My interest in entrepreneurship as a practitioner was forged during the years following 9/11. I realized that just like me, most entrepreneurs are not equipped to handle disruptions on the scale of 9/11 and very few survive a near death experience. I just got a few lucky breaks. The realization that the survival of a business during difficult days is dependent on many people and many factors- including the ability to take many hard knocks and get back on your feet, the capacity to be lean and flexible with planning so as to adapt quickly to unforeseen events, nurturing trust as a critical organizational competency, and plain old good luck- has made me more humble about how I view the process of entrepreneurship. I have made it my life mission to help as many new entrepreneurs as I can. It has helped me seek more knowledge and learn from experts in academics and practice.

I can claim to have made reasonable progress. I have completed my doctoral degree in entrepreneurship and my new venture, Green Earth LLC is ranked among the 2011 INC 500 firm. But what I am most proud of is that all the employees and shareholders who I stood be and who stood by me during those very difficult post 9/11 days are among my best friends today and will remain so for the rest of my life. Together we represent a tiny little strand that make up the amazingly diverse and resilient fabric of the United States of America. No terrorist can ever destroy that.

SGC: What do you think is the biggest failure of the two communities in their past relationships?
Dr. Suresh Kumar: I think the main issues are (a) entrepreneurship is a new academic discipline as compared to the sciences or arts and (b) there is a tendency to guard ones turf against “outsiders”. As I have explained in my white paper major academic and practitioner organizations such as AoM, USASBE, INC, and TIE conduct large annual conferences for their members. My experience attending many of the events has been that, barring a few exceptions, there is very little by way of strategic dialogue and sustainable partnerships between academic and practitioner organizations that tie in practice, research, education, advocacy and policy in meaningful ways. I have found that organizations charged with fostering the practice and education of entrepreneurship, at least for the most part, operate in silos that separate entrepreneurs from educators and researchers.

SGC: What content is being left out in the academic realm because of this disconnection?
Dr. Suresh Kumar: The disconnect between academics, practice and policy in entrepreneurs negatively impacts all the parties involved. It impacts the development of the entrepreneurial eco-system in the United States. On the academic side, students do not get the most optimal education. They are learning theory that is weak and leads them to assumptions that are mistaken. There are many gaping holes in the system. For example many schools teach entrepreneurship as if it is a linear process where you follow certain steps and get the results. Nothing could be further from the truth. Ask any INC 5000 entrepreneur and they will tell you that in real life entrepreneurship is chaotic and disjointed. With respect to academic conferences, I have sat through over 25 research paper presentations, including many award winning ones, barring a couple of notable exceptions, there has not been many ‘takeaway’s’ that I could apply to my business.

SGC: What do you think the biggest opportunity for collaboration lies?
Dr. Suresh Kumar: I think opportunities for collaboration abound at almost every level- teaching and learning models, research methods, linkage between theory and practice, use of experiential learning tools, working on real world problems, getting entrepreneurs into the classroom and researchers into the field. To be honest the possibilities are unlimited.

SGC: Who will be instrumental in breaking this barrier between the two communities?
Dr. Suresh Kumar: I believe that a broad nationwide policy framework is needed that promotes collaboration and information sharing. A need exists for the cross-pollination of ideas and best practices between the various government agencies, foundations, universities, chambers of commerce, media outlets, and other independent organizations that represent and promote entrepreneurship. I am greatly encouraged by the creation of such as forum at the Future of Entrepreneurship Education Summit (feesummit.com) sponsored by Kauffman Foundation and organized my Extreme Entrepreneurship which is scheduled to be held in Washington, D.C. in November 2011. Organizations like the Small Gaints play a critical role in bridging the gaps

SGC: For the creation and support of additional Small Giants companies, what should the academic community understand about their values?
Dr. Suresh Kumar: I think it is critical for the academic community to understand that practitioners bring real value to the table. They may not have a PhD, but their real live experience and learning is priceless. They add tangible value by identifying real problems and making research relevant to the problems faced by society. Small firms are the real backbone of our economy and the values that entrepreneurs bring to the table- hard work, patience, risk taking, the willingness to make sacrifices are timeless American values. Therefore I would like to see academic and practitioner organizations and their individual members to explore all possible avenues for collaboration. To advance the field of entrepreneurship the internal disconnects discussed have to be addressed.

A Commitment to Community Gets Commitment From a Community

admin@smallgiants.org (admin) — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 18:32:30 GMT

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If you’re on the same news wavelength the rest of the Small Giants Community is, you’ve probably noticed a little bit of news coming out of Elgin, Ill. about our friend Nick Sarillo and some of the struggles over keeping Small Giant Nick’s Pizza and Pub open. If you missed it, you can check out the first part of the story here.

One of Nick’s fundamental values (and characteristic of a Small Giant) is a deep commitment to having an impact on the surrounding community. And after years of being a dedicated member of both the Crystal Lake, Ill. and Elgin, Ill., communities, when things were at the most dire for the future of Nick’s Pizza and Pub, Nick reached out to the community his business had served for one last chance to turn things around.

And not only did the local community respond, but the community of business owners that supported Nick in his values and mission responded as well. From blogs to emails to social networking messages, people who have been impacted by Nick and his values contributed an immense amount of support for his business.
And that special combination of personal connection, openness and commitment to people stood out so much…that national media couldn’t resist picking up the story. From a singular, brutally honest email came this feature:

So does this mean it’s all over? Nick’s is saved and we can all go back to what we we’re doing? Not quite. As the video states, there’s a ways to go. But with the community he supported behind him, there’s a better chance Nick’s will be around to strengthen the bond between business and community that goes beyond selling a slice of pizza.