EQ, Connections & Shine
Doug Lennick was an up and coming leader at IDS Financial Services in the early 1960′s when he brought a process to the attention of company executives. His mentor, Roy Geer, coined it “WDYWFY” or What Do You Want For Yourself. With Doug’s growing influence on the firm, it rapidly became a hit with the sales leaders and their independent contractor followers. The central theme of this wonderful work was the outreach to advisors and others to discover how they felt about their most important goals whether they be Personal (improve my health, improve my relationships with my family, or to improve my community involvement), Business (I want to earn a certain amount of income next year net after expenses, or I want to acquire a certain number of new clients, or I want to attain a certain Client Satisfaction Survey score), and Self Development (I want to acquire my CFP designation next year, or I want to take a retirement planning course, or I want to finish my MBA).
Lennick eventually became the sales leader at American Express Financial Advisors as IDS was brought into the American Express fold in 1985. He continued to espouse this process for bridging the gap between leaders and followers until he retired. Under a new leadership regime, that process fell to a perception that more important “hard skills” were needed to grow the organization. That is no longer the case and the firm has now unfolded a new emphasis on this time tested process that has demonstrated results in building “connections” between leaders and followers. I recently saw Ameriprise (the company that American Express spun off in 2005) Vice President Tom Nicolosi present this process at a series of Leadership Development Sessions (his invention) and it was delivered masterfully and received exceptionally well based on the feedback that was received. One key element in this process is the “Values Exercise” where the follower is given the opportunity to go through a deductive reasoning experience to learn what their top 6 values are. Once discovered it allows the leader to honor them by encouraging the follower to adhere to them consistently even if it means leaving work. This openness to supporting the follower has a wonderful impact on the relationship between the two and it fosters a long term opportunity for both.
In chapter 3 of Edward Mulholland book entitled Shine, he spells out in detail the impact that Connect: The Most Powerful Step has on entities that practice processes similar to what Doug Lennick and Roy Geer brought to IDS decades ago. He professes that his Cycle of Excellence (Select, Connect, Play, Grapple & Grow and Shine) will help organizations excel in during these financially challenging times. I quote from page 75: “In the Cycle of Excellence, connection refers to the bond an individual feels with another person, group, task, place, idea, mission, piece of art, pet, or anything else that stirs feelings of attachment, loyalty, excitement, inspiration, comfort, or a willingness to make sacrifices for the sake of the connection.” On page 76 he continues, “Connection is one of the most powerful tools we can use to bring out the best in others and in our selves. In contrast, disconnection in the workplace may be the single most preventable detrimental force that leads to underachievement, depression, disloyalty, and job loss.”
EQ is at work here once again. How? When self-aware, self-regulated, motivated, empathic and socially aware leaders “connect” with their followers they turn really good teams into really great teams. And what America needs today from every leader is greatness. I encourage you to read author Hallowell’s book and I encourage you to employ the WDFWFY process for those you lead.
July 2011