Getting our Feet Wet

"Wet Feet" refers to roots planted in soil with poor drainage. Well, grape vines don't like wet feet! Master Sommelier, Andrea Immer, says that grape vines should struggle for their water and that grapes often owe their higher quality, subtlety, and elegance to the struggle. This winemaking axiom, that stress is good for grapes, reminds me of the "What-Doesn't-Kill-You-Makes-You-Stronger" principle that seems prevalent in corporate environments today, including mine.

But, whereas toughing it out under constant stress might be good for Pinot Noir, it's not good for employees in the workplace! Stress, unmitigated, leads to frustration, disengagement and anger (not to mention, illness), each of which can lead to some form of decreased productivity if not worse. Now, this can't be good because, unless I'm missing something, stress is plain ubiquitous in the workplace these days. Between the do-more-with-less credo, the "globalization complexities" that are stretching the workday, creating new communication inefficiencies, and introducing cultural sensitivity concerns, the speed at which technology is changing, and the endless stream of e-mail, it's a wonder anyone can keep from going nuts, much less have a successful & rewarding career!

A key leadership challenge, then, is to create & foster an exhilarating, nurturing work environment, in spite of the stress!

But, short of installing an Enomatic system outside every conference room, what are the features of an exhilarating & nurturing work environment and how can leaders create & foster that environment? (p.s. For more on the Enomatic, check out the Vino Venue wine tasting bar in San Fran. What a cool mix of wine, technology & art! Another Enomatic installation is pictured below...)

For sure, there can't be just ONE right set of features but I think there are some fundamentally important features necessary to create and sustain such an exhilarating & nurturing work environment. Just as both Chateau Latour & Chateau Margaux each create a great first-growth Bordeaux using different tools & techniques, they do share the fundamentally important gravely edge of the Gironde River. It's that stony soil, after all, that provides the drainage necessary to avoid the "wet feet" conditions mentioned earlier!

In fact, based on feedback from over 200 of our employees we've isolated what I think to be three of those fundamental features that we'll be trying to create, thru a strategic initiative, within our organization. Those features and their corresponding "objectives" are:

1. Unity - To unify employees and teams through strong relationships and a shared, igniting purpose
2. Empowerment - To empower individuals and teams with critical skills & relevant, right-time information, and
3. Reinforcement - To get more of what we want and to instill pride by celebrating, recognizing & rewarding successes in efficient and meaningful ways
   

We've also established some critical success criteria based on our collective experiences & lessons learned from having been involved in other similar organizational development initiatives in the past. The critical success criteria are:

• Our initiative must be "owned" by the leadership team. Otherwise, it will lack the credibility and support necessary to have a meaningful impact on the organization.
  
• Our initiative must solve real business problems and/or must support defined business objectives. First, this is the only way to expect leadership team ownership. Second, unless tied directly to business objectives, these efforts are at risk of being relegated to an "activities committee" where holiday luncheons and team building events become the dominant themes.
  
• Results must be measured and continually optimized. An effective environment, after all, is the "ends", not the "means", so we need to establish real goals and measure our progress to those goals. Also, as the old saying goes, "you get what you measure"!
  

So, we're off and running and will be getting our "feet wet" with all sorts of new leadership experiences along the way. Collectively I'll refer to this initiative as "Org Enrichment" and will post some updates as we go. Check back often!

In the meantime, here's a question begging your feedback:

Based on your real-world experience, in addition to Unity, Empowerment & Reinforcement, what are some other features that you think are fundamental in an exhilarating & nurturing work environment?

"Empowerment is the creation of an organizational climate that releases the knowledge, experience, and motivation that reside in people" - Ken Blanchard