Photos with Michael Porter. Final moments at Harvard...

I was very interested in the themes for the final day of the Women's Leadership Forum - "Managing the Work-Life Interface" and "Managing Yourself." I had no doubt that I had a lot to learn.

from my seat in the lecture room on Day 5

Professor Leslie Perlow in action

Our first case was about "George Martin, managing partner at The Boston Consulting Group, who is worried as some of his best performers have recently pulled him aside to discuss the challenges they face managing the demands of their work lives with their desire for more predictable time with their families. BCG had instituted multiple initiatives to help its consulting staff better achieve work-life balance, yet some of Martin's top consultants still struggled."  Our Professor, Leslie Perlow (and mother of 3 young children) was actually hired to assist with this problem and shared with us the effects of an initiative she introduced where one team trialled having predictable, staggered nights off from work each week.  In the trial, three components contributed to its success:

1. The issue was not so much how many hours a week BCG's consultants were working, but that they couldn't make or keep plans because the additional hours were so often unpredictable.  The collective goal of a predictable night off each week was agreed on.
2. There was structured dialogue around the requirements and practices to achieve the goal, including a weekly meeting where attendance was mandatory, a review of everyone's calendars to check they were taking the night off and a formal pulse check to see how people were feeling, how much value they felt they were delivering to their clients following the change and how satisfied they were with what they were learning.
3. There was support for each person to achieve the goal.  This support came in the form that team member's nights were staggered so when one person was off, another person covered for them.  And there was leadership support for the trial so that the team was not being asked to compromise its goal because of demands from higher up in the organisation.

The impact was profound resulting in both:

• increased employee satisfaction and retention AND 
• increased customer value.

Leslie intimated that this small change worked because individual solutions help people exist within the system when the problem is the system.  The system CAN change, but change must be collective and can start small.


i.e. The outcomes of this intiative at BCG demonstrate "the power of small wins, driven by personal needs being collectively embraced."


At the core of creating change like this is starting with a goal that is:

• small
• personally motivated and
• collectively executed.

Leslie opened the session by getting each of us to answer the question, "At my organisation what thing could I change that would make my life better?"


At BCG there was an expectation that teams must work around the clock to respond to the demands of the client.  Leslie challenged us to think about assumptions that are driving our behaviour to create work patterns that cause us to act against our personal desires/values.  She shared that: "Responsiveness breeds the need for responsiveness."


This was a great session and I got a lot of simple ideas on how I can facilitate change to improve the work-life interface in my organisations.


MANAGING YOURSELF


In the second session, we were asked:


What am I trying to achieve?
How do I want to live?
What's important to me?


Are my actions consistent with getting me where I want to be?


These are topics I've given a lot of thought to over the past few years and I found it quite easy to write a vision of my life in 2021 and share it in the class in a group of three.  It was interesting to note the variations in the group on how much preparation and clarity each person had put into this task.


Leslie shared with us The Four Satisfactions of Enduring Success: (click on those words if you're interested in reading more). We brainstormed as a group what success means to us and perhaps not surprisingly, most of our responses could be classified into the areas identified in the research being:

1. Achievement
2. Significance
3. Legacy
4. Happiness

The afternoon concluded with a reflection on what the intentions of the program were at the beginning of the week and whether Harvard Business School had delivered on them.  This was followed by a powerful discussion where many of the women participants shared their learnings and experiences from the week.  I was in tears numerous times; even the "toughest" ladies let down their guards to share their vulnerabilities. I was touched by the bonding and support that had taken place over five days crossing all ages, experiences and cultures and the common ground we were able to find with each other despite our differences.


I reflected on my own intentions and ambitions at the start of the week:

• to honourably represent  my company, my country and QUT
• to build relationships with other women that mutually enhance our future lives
• to learn from the experiences (good and bad) of others
• to gain distance and perspective on all aspects of my life to make changes for the better
• to gain material for my upcoming speaking presentations 
• to crystallise my priorities and create a new work schedule based on these priorities that I actually map in Google Calendar
• to broaden my knowledge and opinions on world issues
• to make a contribution to the experience of others through my participation during the program
• to develop a set of actions in response to the challenge statement I shared with my Board of Advisors
• to exercise for at least 3 hours between Mon-Fri
• to get some great photos of the experience
• to buy some Harvard memorabilia
• to return to my role as a better leader capable of giving more to and eliciting more from my team to achieve our goals.

I'm pleased to say I feel confident all of these intentions have been or will be realised (except the 3 hours exercise while I was on campus.  I only achieved 1 hour exercise and in retrospect that was a bit too ambitious given the demands of the program, but I'm making up for it now that I have a couple of days to myself)

 

The Women's Leadership Forum concluded with a small graduation ceremony where we were each presented with a certificate and a class photo whilst the rousing song Pomp and Circumstance played in the background.  We said our goodbyes, exchanged hugs, kisses and business cards, but Marie-Claire and I had one more important thing to do before we left the campus...

Michael Porter

Our appointment to have a photo taken with Michael Porter was at 2.20pm.  We waited patiently in his office with books for him to sign.  

you can see we're both pretty excited!!

Michael Porter is a VERY busy man and his assistant Jill is an amazing woman.  The same afternoon he was hosting a reception for some graduates in his offices, so we weren't the only excited people in the room waiting to meet this academic legend.

When he eventually arrived, the official photographer snapped our pictures and promised to email them to me (which he obviously did promptly - bless him!).  Although I didn't get the opportunity to quiz Professor Porter on the nuances of competitive strategy in the industries of my businesses, my impressions of him are that he is a very gracious, friendly man (on top of everything else we know him for).  It's very special to have these photos and great to have shared the experience with Marie-Claire - QUT would be proud of us!

with Professor Michael Porter in his offices at Harvard Business School, Cambridge MA

On a high after this privileged experience, Marie-Claire and I then wandered the campus to take a few more pictures before we left.

See... I really was there!

inside the Library at Harvard Business School

the reading room in the library

library exterior

Executive Dean's residence

As the Harvard experience draws to a close I would like to thank everyone who made it possible for me to be here this week - QUT, FEW and St George, Jude and Skroo and my team at the Gainsdale Group who supported me pursuing this opportunity and the business in my absence, my parents who literally moved into my apartment to take care of my sons while I'm away and of course to the team at Harvard Business School for accepting me into the program.

It has been an experience I will never forget and one that will no doubt have a lasting impact on my life.

Thanks to all of my friends and loved ones who have been so happy for me to have this opportunity. I really appreciate your support.  And to the amazing women I met on the program - congratulations and thank you.  I look forward to keeping in touch and no doubt hearing about the impact you will have in pursuing the opportunities that are important to you.

I now have a day in Boston and a couple of days in New York to reflect on this experience and commence executing my action plan.

There are a few special people I can't wait to see when I return to Brisbane, but until then I'm going to make the most of this incredible opportunity to see new places and think deeply about my life.

Squirrels, Smiles and Whoever has the money writes the rules...

Day 4 - Thursday 5 May 2011

Building and Maintaining Strong Social Networks

By now, our cohort of 63 women is beginning to feel the physical effects of a mentally, physically and socially demanding and fulfilling week.  But the program continues...

Our lecturer, Amy Cuddy begins today's sessions with a case on Heidi Roizen a socialite and networking dynamo from Silicone Valley.  The power of strong social networks in today's business environment is indisputable in my opinion.  Ms Cuddy provided a few tips for building networks:

1. Be opportunistic (but not selfish)
2. Think long-term
3. Be pragmatic
4. Reciprocate

Expanding on this, Ms Cuddy suggested to:

• invest in extra-curricular activities
• use projects and assignments strategically
• create your own community of interest
• declare yourself an expert
• favour active rather than passive networking opportunities (i.e. instead of attending a networking event, host a dinner party of strategic contacts in your home)
• recognise you will have to "waste time"
• consider what you do or love that makes you unique and leverage that individuality

To analyse the strength of your existing network Ms Cuddy suggested to consider the following:

      1.   Diversity/breadth

Look to develop a range of contacts in your network, e.g. contacts who are senior, junior and peer, contacts outside your firm, office and industry, contacts within and outside your professional specialty, contacts in your identity groups (e.g. hobbies).  When thinking about diversity/breadth in your network, consider which groups are over/underrepresented and look to remedy imbalances.  

      2.   Depth/closeness

Consider the mix in your network of depth and closeness.  We have different types of relationships with the people in our networks.  We have strong (close) ties with our core network (who may act as our personal board of directors/advisors) and we have weak ties with a more extended network.  Be mindful of the strength of weak ties. Weak contacts (or acquaintances) are very valuable.  Because there's a little distance between them and you there's less risk for them to recommend you, which partly explains why acquaintances help people find new jobs more than friends and family.  

       3.  Density/leverage

Consider what percentage of your contacts are already connected and be mindful that value is added as a function of the number of sectors you can reach and connect.  

Session 2 was on THE POWER OF NON-VERBALS

Amy talked about our "mirror neuron system" and how Botox users have trouble reading emotions in others because of this, i.e. because their facial muscles are deadened and therefore less expressive, the people they communicate with mirror this "emotionless" expression making it harder to read their expressions and intentions. Click Botox  for information on the research that made these findings.  
I'm sure you can imagine the spirited discussion that followed on this topic amongst a group of international executive women!!

WARMTH AND COMPETENCE
The key message in this session was that according to Amy's research, warmth and competence account for 80-90% of variance in the initial judgements we make of other people.

Keynotes from this session include:

• People judge others on warmth first (i.e. what are your intentions towards me).
• Warmth carries more weight in overall evaluations.
• People judge others on competence second.
• People need to connect before they lead (assuming you are above the bar on competence)
• We can project warmth by:
•  making Duchenne Smiles
• using immediacy cues (gestures that engage the other, such as leaning forward, reaching out, listening and nodding, authentic enthusiasm)
• mirroring

• We can project competence by:
• using expansive posture and movement
• being relaxed, but not too relaxed, i.e. shoulders down, eyebrows down, but not slouching
• using defined gestures with defined spaces/pauses in between
• facing forward and squaring off our bodies

NEGOTIATION

Myra Hart facilitated our afternoon sessions on Negotiation and Entrepreneurship.

Key notes:

The estimated cost of replacing an employee is 150% of their salary.

Faulty assumptions about negotiations:

• My choice is either a yes or a no (negotiate a fit)
• My title speaks for itself (negotiate authority)
• I can pick up the slack (negotiate for help)
• Resistance to me (and my agenda) will take care of itself (negotiate buy-in)
• My performance speaks for itself (make your value visible)

ENTREPRENEURSHIP

When assessing investment or new business opportunities, here's a checklist of things to look at:

• concept/business model
• people behind the venture
• defensibility/competition
• execution
• scalability
• market demand
• financials

Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity beyond the resources we currently control.

Sources of opportunity include:

• technological change
• social change
• political change
• economic change
• psychological change

Whoever has the money writes the rules...

After today's lectures I really needed some exercise to clear my head and stretch my legs.  I made a visit to the Harvard Business School gym and did a few laps of the indoor track before spending some time on the cycling and running machines.  I then jogged my way back to my dorm.

not your average running circuit... the beautiful grounds of Harvard Business School

SQUIRRELS - FRIEND OR FOE?

So... those of you who know me well know how much I love hiking and the Australian natural environments.  I'm often amused when I run into international tourists on various bushwalks etc, how they freak out when they see Australian fauna such as lizards, spiders etc... animals us Aussies are quite accustomed to seeing on a regular basis.  Well I have to eat some humble pie, because whilst running through Boston, I have to admit, I freaked out when I saw my first squirrel.  I just wasn't expecting it and when I saw it I realised I didn't know if it would want to bite me or just do it's own thing.  It turns out they're just interested in food, not humans.  The ones I've met seem quite wary of humans in fact.  But here are a couple of photos I picked up on my runs...

So Thursday was our final night on campus and to commemorate this a reception was held followed by a dinner.  Here are some photos of me with some of the participants from the Womens Leadership Forum:

Heather Watson (also from Brisbane) and myself

Annie (from Canada) and myself

Heather, Cheryl-Anne (from Canada) and myself

Marie-Claire (from Brisbane), Heather and myself

the eight Aussies on the program - what a terrific bunch of women!

some of the Australian ladies at dinner

Jaya (from South Africa) and myself

across the bridge to Harvard Square for after-dinner drinks

So our final evening is spent and the last day of the program awaits.  What an amazing week!  

Day 3 - Global Marketing, Successful Negotiating, Diversity and Inclusion... and a little bit of shopping :-)

I had the opportunity to go shopping this afternoon at Harvard Square.  Unfortunately it was raining, but that didn't deter Marie-Claire or I.  Armed with our Harvard Business School umbrellas, we made the trek through campus, across the bridge and into downtown Harvard Square.

So I bought the obligatory Harvard t-shirt and a bunch of books and small souvenirs for my kids.  Check out the official Harvard bookshop:

It was good to get a shopping fix (after all we'd been tied up on campus for a few days), but now back to the reason why we're really here....

The theme for the morning sessions on Day 3 was Global Marketing and we had two case studies to prepare - one on Real Madrid Club de Futbol and one on The Metropolitan Opera.  We were asked to consider whether two of their key strategies were effective.  In the case of Real Madrid, how did buying in Galactico's (star players) ultimately effect their brand identity and business model? In the case of The Metropolitan Opera, what effect did simulcasting live performances in HD through cinemas around the country and the world have on demand for opera and the Met's profits?

My key notes from these sessions:

• What can I learn from Real Madrid as I help one of our brands - Spicers go global? Real Madrid has a local brand strategy and a global brand strategy.
• Always be sensitive to what the customer wants the brand to mean.
• We don't have full control over our brands - accept that the customer co-creates our brands. e.g. even who potential customers see using our brand shapes people's perceptions of it.
• If managed right, different customer segments can exist side by side and benefit from each other. (e.g. Real Madrid's "socios" or life-long followers and the more fad based fans)
• Consider opportunities to roll out new products/brands with an adapted Hollywood movie-like strategy. i.e. cartoons, films, tv, toys, etc
• How does our business best capitilise on the power of superstars and allow us over time to acquire more of them?  e.g. super chefs, super leaders, etc. Are we leveraging that enough?
• The role of superstar talent may further increase in a digital world - thus requiring more attention from managers.
• Strive for an organic brand architecture that creates synergies for all partners.
• You know you have a problem with your business when the average age of your customer goes from 60 to 65 in 5 years. :-)
• The effect of change on marketing:
• Technology changes and creates new bundles of benefits for customers, e.g. shopping for books at a bookstore vs Amazon
• Channels change - When firms adopt new digital technology, market structures often significantly alter, e.g. look at the impact of wotif on the market structure of the travel industry
• Markets change - creating winners and losers and often the winner takes it all (random link to the song for all of you ABBA fans out there)
• These changes in turn affect the challenges of managing customers, brands and talent

In the afternoon's session on Achieving Career Success Through Negotiation, I noted:

• Career success involves negotiating successfully at home as well as at work.
• The negotiations at home set the constraints for the negotiations at work.
• Many women are much better at negotiating on behalf of others than they are for themselves
• Negotiating for career success:
• reduce your own ambiguity (i.e. be clear with yourself about what you want)
• reduce others' ambiguity (i.e. let other people know you are competent and what you want)
• identify and be aware of potential reactions to gender triggers
• search for opportunities to create value for your own outcomes, others' outcomes and your organization
• work in reciprocal feedback loops

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

Patricia Bellinger new head of the Harvard Executive Education Program then spoke about her role at BP leading their diversity and inclusion program.

Key notes:

There are different drivers for diversity and inclusion within organisations.

External drivers include:

• market demographics
• competition for talent and business
• business risk

Internal drivers include:

• motivation and engagement
• capturing talent
• compliance/ethical responsibility

Central to both of these drivers are the aims of improving business performance and increasing shareholder value.

"Our goal is to get a disproportionate share of the human talent."

Critical to achieving sustainable change are interventions to processes to ensure meritocracy and changing behaviours to create a more inclusive environment.

Strategic themes for diversity and inclusion:

• global talent identification and management
• driving accountability with senior level leaders
• meritocracy
• global inclusion
• external challenges

Patricia made the distinction between setting targets vs quotas for inclusion... Interesting discussion point.

There are obvious benefits to establishing diversity hubs in the diverse regions of your organisation, rather than the mainstream.  e.g. not the US.

Ideas:

1. Develop a list of high potential people within my organisations and identify how diverse that list is.  Are we fostering diversity?
2. How can I recognise people in our organisations who are coaching/mentoring new leaders so that people feel this is valued?
3. Is there an opportunity to set up role models/groups for diverse segments within our organisations to foster greater participation and attract more talent to our businesses?

Time now to work on my action plan for when I return to my role in Brisbane.  I present this plan to my board of advisors in the morning and they get to critique it!

Today I met Michael Porter!

So it's Day 2 at Harvard and what a day.

Here I am on campus... ready for another day of mental stimulation and reflection...

During our first session with my board of advisors, two of my co-participants in the program shared their business challenge and as a board we advised them on possible paths of actions.  The central theme for all of our challenges is change management and our coach brought along some books and other resources on change to help us.  (I have John P. Kotter's book titled "The Heart of Change" as bedtime reading tonight.)

In class, our first case study was on Morgan Stanley - a US investment bank, where a manager was facing the difficult challenge of whether to promote an exceptionally high achiever who was constantly breaching the corporate values.

Our second case was on Sun Microsystems - a global software company facing challenges in meeting its service obligations due to lack of communication, cohesion and alignment between its global teams.  An interesting case for me since all of my teams work in different physical locations and the plan is to grow our hotel group to 50 properties in 4 continents between now and 2020.

The final case of the day was on the African country of Uganda and in particular the effects of its President of two decades - Yoweri Museveni and the unintended consequences of good intentions in relation to both his leadership and the international aid that this frontier country has received over that time.  The afternoon discussion splintered off on the topic of Microfinance in Uganda and the challenges and benefits Microfinance Institutions (MFI's) have brought to the Ugandan people.

During lunch a photo was taken of our cohort on the steps of one of the many grand buildings on campus.  See below.

I'm in the back-row fourth from the left, next to fellow Brisbane-ite Heather Watson.  Fellow QUT alumnus Marie-Claire Grady is in the front row, second from the right.

After the photo I got talking to the photographer.  During the conversation he pointed out certain landmarks on campus and mentioned that Michael Porter's office was nearby.  As an avid fan of Porter's work on competitive strategy, I jumped at the chance to visit his office and with Marie-Claire close by, the two of us marched up to his office door and I rang the bell.

The door to Michael Porter's Office - labelled the Institute of  Strategy and Competitiveness

To our delight Michael happened to walk out to reception while we were there.  We shook his hand and introduced ourselves and I am trying to set up a quick meeting later in the week through his PA to have our photo taken with him.  What an honour! This guy is a legend.  Many of you will know his Porter's 5 Forces Model and his generic strategy theory on differentiation and cost leadership etc. I believe he's coming to the Gold Coast later this year to speak at a conference for those of you who can't make it to Harvard but would also like to meet him.

My key notes from today's lectures were:

• What do I want leadership in my organisation to stand for?  My choices as a leader will demonstrate that stronger than any mission statement etc.
• When assessing team members' performance, it's important to measure both what they've done and how they've done it. (for cultural alignment)
• Consider the iceberg concept of leadership where just 10% is above the surface and explicitly visible to others through leadership behaviours.  The rest is below the surface and unseen - that's character.
• When rewarding team members, pay them for performance, promote them for behaviour. e.g. in my opinion, a high achiever who contravenes corporate values should not be promoted, but their results should still be acknowledged (and their behaviour actioned).
• One thing that creates a visceral response in followers is surprise.  They hate to be surprised. This emphasises the importance of giving regular, constructive feedback and not waiting until a critical event to deliver an ultimatum.
• Have the fierce conversations with your team members. Don't wait/hope/pray for problems to fix themselves.
• Consider the impact of the LADDER OF INFERENCE and how it can skew our decision making.  The ladder of inference describes how we have beliefs, assumptions and values.  From those beliefs, we select data. We interpret that data and we draw conclusions.
• Many of us are conflict averse, but organisational conflict is healthy and should be encouraged around tasks (what should be done) and process (how we do them).  This produces more effective outcomes.  Where conflict should be minimised is around interpersonal issues.
• THE SPOTLIGHT EFFECT - describes the tendency to assume that our behaviours are more salient to others than they really are.
• When managing distributed teams (globally or domestically) consider how you as the leader can remain visible while not visible. e.g. through instant messaging, weekly communication meetings, video calls, site visits, etc.
• The leader's attitude towards technology will shape the team's attitude towards technology.
• The role of a global leader is to create moments.
• The evolution of team dynamics never stops.  It is self reinforcing.
• It is important to ask, how far can one leader's vision take an organisation?  Know when to step aside.
• Our own life experiences become a crucible for our development as leaders.
• For most leaders, our biggest teacher is ourselves.

I also managed to take a few photos of my room and around campus today to share with you.  So here they are:

My private dorm - simple but adequate.  I also have my own private bathroom (with a shower so complex that I almost need a degree from Harvard to operate it) Spicers crew you'll be quite impressed that they even offer a turn-down service at Harvard!! I was very surprised. 

Each room has it's own computer, phone, wireless internet etc

We have some meals and meetings in this building

We have lectures in this building

With Marie-Claire Grady - fellow QUT Alumnus

So it's been another significant day.  Counting my blessings once again as I prepare for tomorrow.