The 3 Secrets to Progress up the Corporate Ladder: Wisdom (Part #2)

High Performing Leadership: Secrets for Progressing up the Corporate Ladder

Part#2 Wisdom

By Jonathan Creaghan

                                             3. Being (Executives and CEO’s)

                                             2. Wisdom (Management and Directors)

                                                                                   

                                            1. Knowledge  (supervisor & team leads)

2. The Role of Wisdom

At some point you require a new set of answers, and begin to accumulate thoughts about “how the world works”, making more philosophical conclusions that help you gain clarity around how to successfully maneuver through life. You seek wisdom.

“Seek wisdom”

A definition of wisdom can be: “the accumulation of experience, translated into insight and applied in such a way as to make life easier for you and others around you.”

Of course there are wise supervisors, but it is at a management level that wisdom starts to pay off. As you partner knowledge with experience and insight, you come to the startling revelation that the more you know, the less you actually know -- this is OK. It can in fact be freeing.  You will never know it all, so allow others to know it for you. Train them on what you are looking for, and ensure they can provide the information in a way that is clear and constructive. This will not only help you, but also help them to gain confidence and recognition useful contributors to the department. A wise manager uses the right information effectively, and operates with the goal of efficiency of energy and mental capacity. No need to over think. Speak less be heard more. 

You will never know it all, so allow others to know it for you.

Modern day managers need to operate from a position of wisdom. If you are a manager relying only on knowledge, then you are not tapping into the full potential of your team. The wise manager is prepared to share, coach, and lead their team to thrive in the context of achieving outcomes and goals. He or she will share their wisdom with others and vice versa tap into their wisdom to make life easier for all. In so doing create extraordinary results.

From Wisdom to Being and into the ranks of the C-suite

It is without doubt in my mind that “who” the most senior leader is as a person (i.e. their Being), has a profound effect on the success of the company.

The leap out of wisdom and into being is the understanding of who you are and how you operate in the world.  Many times the owner of a company will garner the greatest respect from their staff because of how he treat others and who he is (values, beliefs, strengths and personality), and not because he is the president of the company. A title is not a permission slip to lead. Operating from this position is the easiest way to live and achieve your goals. There are no pretensions, no need to make stuff up or be insecure.

(To be continued..........next week, "Being")

Copyright © 2015, Jonathan Creaghan all rights reserved

The 3 Secrets to Progress up the Corporate Ladder: Knowledge (Part #1)

High Performing Leadership: Secrets for Progressing up the Corporate Ladder

Part#1 Knowledge

By Jonathan Creaghan

 3. Being (Executives and CEO’s)

2. Wisdom (Management and Directors)

                                                                                   

1. Knowledge  (supervisor & team leads)

1. Role of Knowledge

At this initial level we are interested in the world of day-to-day living and concrete issues where knowledge and practical skills help us to live successfully. What you know, the courses you have taken, the books you have read, the apprenticeships taken, certifications received, and degrees you have attained are all important. This level includes the information and guidance your family passed on to you (their wisdom is your knowledge). It is also the collective information we naturally have within us, gathered through osmosis.

We have been in the age of reason for over 500 years. Our society is driven by knowledge and rational thought. It is not surprising that from a leadership perspective knowledge is deemed to be critical. Knowledge of a job, of people, markets, finance, sales, product and so on are needed. And very often progress through the company is based on ones ability to translate knowledge into performance.

Knowledge in partnership with performance is critical to supervisors and team leaders, who not only need to have it to be respected by others, but need it to achieve the goals of the organization.  Knowledge of the job, knowledge of people, knowledge of processes and goals of the team or department is important at this level.

“Knowledge of the job, knowledge of people, knowledge of processes is important at this level”

Knowledge can get in the way though when it becomes the overriding driver for success. In sales departments this occurs when people who use their lack of knowledge as an excuse to stay in the office to learn more about products or sales techniques, rather than actually getting out to sell.  Likewise there are people in leadership positions who believe that hoarding information will ensure job security, when in reality this actually limits their growth and advancement possibilities.  

Here is the crux of the matter if you want to grow and rise up through the ranks: “It is not what you know that will get you there, it’s what you need to know but do not yet know which is critical.” This may be a gap in knowledge about yourself, others, or the company. You can obtain knowledge by observing, having curiosity, asking questions and being honest about yourself and your limitations.  The level of knowledge, is about discovery and observation.  Listen and be open to new experiences, and seek the truth.

“It is not what you know that will get you there, it’s what you need to know but do not yet know which is critical”

To move into Management, advance from Knowledge to Wisdom

The movement from knowledge to wisdom is discovery that the more you know the less you actually know. The constant drive to control and know all things as a leader is not possible. As one progresses up the ladder, knowledge has to give way to something else. The complexity of the job is greater, the responsibility is heavier and ones ability to get work done shifts from activity base to meetings, dependence on specific kinds of information, and thinking. Reliance on knowledge alone can be a crutch.

People are seeking you out for your knowledge, but for you to be extraordinary and move up to the next level, they need to be looking for something more in you. 

(To be continued.........next week, Part #2 "Wisdom")

To the Future and Beyond

By: Norm MacLeod

This article could also have been called, Quick, before someone turns out the light at the end of the tunnel, Some facts to consider:

Typical mobile users check their phone on average every nine minutes.

Millennials rely on user generated experiences to make most of their purchasing decisions.

When they purchase, the quality of the experience is judged by how well you meet THEIR expectations in terms of ease of transaction and quality of service.

It takes twelve positive interactions to make up for one negative experience.

All of the above come from a Future Trends article I was reading during the holidays. It did nothing to make me feel better about where our little industry is headed. Faced with irreversible declines in the use of paper, filing, bindery, even tech products like media and cartridges, how are both dealers and vendors going to continue with a business-as-usual  approach?

Sure, there are a few bright spots, like Cleaning/Breakroom supplies, services and ergo trends in furniture that will bring some sales growth but I don’t think we’ve seen anything more than the tip of the iceberg yet. When the millennials start influencing more of the office purchasing decisions, the great divide between how we think and do business and what they think and want will dramatically effect sales. And that day is coming faster than you probably think.

My 24 year old daughter was hired after graduation into a Human Relations position within a medium size engineering firm (around 300 employees); within a year she was making key office supplies purchasing decisions and having to deal with an Office Supply representative she can’t stand or communicate with.

Office supplies purchasing is such a minor concern to a company like this that it has been delegated to a rather junior person with little knowledge of what to buy. Her only resource is online.... and she thinks the industry websites suck!

Millennials don’t use print catalogues, they don’t look at flyers, they think sales people are creepy, they stream all their entertainment direct when they want it and they resent the fact that the world still seems to be run by old boomers too stubborn to ride into the sunset. So how are you going to keep them happy if you currently enjoy their business, how would you gain them as customers if they aren’t?

At this point, I’m supposed to give you a few great suggestions about meeting these challenges, wrap up the article and make you feel  a little more positive that there is still a chance of surviving the future. Unfortunately, I don’t have the magic answers and I suspect virtually no one else in our industry does either. So what do I recommend?

Apprenticeship programs and mentoring

We need people in our industry who understand and can relate to this new breed of customer. More importantly, we need people that millennial customers can trust and communicate with. To get these people, we need to aggressively market our channel to them and offer quality jobs to graduates. No one coming out of the soft science or marketing courses is thinking “Hey, maybe I’ll call my local stationer, there’s a real opportunity area I’d love to get into.” They usually wind up under-employed doing something they can’t stand.  

Local community colleges and even universities would welcome business sponsorships and guaranteed job placements in course areas like Business Administration and Marketing. If a large vendor like Acco or 3M or Fellowes gave grants to business students it would help our industry’s awareness as a possible future employer and God forbid, if one of these students became a product manager or sales rep at Staples or G&T or Basics, they might even remember who helped pay their tuition. A Dealer sponsored grant would be even more powerful in terms of enticing graduates to check out our industry since they have a local presence in every city across the country.

The fresh blood is our industry’s best chance at finding new relevance and connection with the customer base. We need to get on their radar when they need us. When they reach the work force, it’s too late.