New CEO Peer Group Reference Point?
I bet there are a lot of CEOs who would like to see this guy’s pay included in their peer group analysis. $3 BILLION annual salary.
Make the Impossible Possible
Human resources are people. Bill Strickland knows that.
True confession: I almost didn’t read this book because it had an orchid on the cover. And although orchids are my favorite flowers, I thought this book was going to be a little too…Oprah for me. I am so glad I picked it up. Stunned. Blown away is more like it.
Make the Impossible Possible is the life story of Bill Strickland and how he created the Manchester Bidwell Guild. You want to be humbled? Read about Bill’s drive and vision that resulted in thousands of inner city kids learning skills and trades that landed them great jobs. Watch the video here. Words can’t describe how good it is. Here are some of his tenets:
People are born into this world as assets, not liabilities. It’s all in the way we treat people (and ourselves) that determines a person’s outcome
The sand in the hourglass flows only one way. Stop going through the motions of living–savor each and every day. Life is here and now, not something waiting for you in the future.
You don’t have to travel far to change the life you’re living.
Honestly, I can’t do this review justice. I’m emotional about this book. Bill Strickland is on my list of people I’d love to meet in my lifetime. I’m just dazzled by what he’s done and the faith he has in people. I think HR has the opportunity to do great things. And Making the Impossible Possible is a roadmap to learn how to do it.
Here’s a thought: Set aside some time and watch Bill Strickland talk about the power of believing in people. Watch all the videos. Think about them. Then go out and buy yourself a copy of the book.
Oh, the orchids? It’s because the kids at Manchester Bidwell grow award-winning orchids. I should learn to not judge a book by its cover. When I read Making the Impossible Possible that came crashing down like a ton of bricks.
Make the Impossible Possible: One Man’s Crusade to Inspire Others to Dream Bigger and Achieve the Extraordinary
Publisher: Doubleday Publishing
Pub. Date: December 2007
ISBN-13: 9780385520546
BONUS: Here’s a video of Bill Strickland presenting at TED 2002 in a talk titled “Rebuilding America One Slide Show at a Time.” Watch it. It’ll be the best 15 minutes you spend today.
HR Communication Lesson: People Don’t Notice a Lot
Here’s why you have to communicate multiple times and in multiple ways: People don’t notice a lot.
Check out this video for proof. Watch the whole thing. I’ll say more after the jump.
Business Slang: Incentivize
Unfortunate coinages are turning up like bad pennies. And we seem to be making up words at an alarming rate.
“In the same way that people in social groups tend to wear similar clothes, people create slang and new words to show that they’re all part of the same group, ” says Grammar Girl. It’s about group identity.
Can You Incentivize Someone?
My introduction to business slang was in MBA school. My classmates started saying “incentivize” to mean “motivate.” They thought it sounded cool. I had a real aversion to the made-up word. Much to my dismay, incentivize seems to have made it into popular use. I find motivate to be infinitely cleaner. In fact, I’m committed to never using incentivize in any written piece again.
Is It Wrong to Verbify?
Is it wrong to create a verb from a noun, adjective, or other word? Is it wrong to verbify? Grammar Girl says she doesn’t object to verbifications (more slang) when they’re smoother to write and they allow for cleaner sentences. In fact, I just penciled in my edits.
Is Verbification an Internet Phenomenon?
I’m not exactly blaming the Internet for another social ill. I’m just noting that there’s a rapid explosion of business slang that is related to Internet products. You know you hit it big when the name of your product becomes the generic verb for doing something. Right Google? Googling, twittering, digging – I’m even used to slashdotting. They all sound fine to me. I’m not so wild about facebooking – maybe verbification is something to think about when naming your next start-up.
Now I’m going to get back to KnowHRing.
About Business Slang
Business Slang is a new weekly feature on KnowHR. We’ll run it every Monday.
In Business Slang, we’ll help you keep up with the latest slang to make the rounds in corporate meetings rooms. You have your favorites, too. Please send your HR and business slang suggestions to slang [AT] knowhr [DOT] com – we’ll feature some in an upcoming articles.
Communicate…Then Wait
Here’s the hallmark of effective HR communication: Have the nerve to stand your ground.
Scenario: You start the communication process about a new pay plan. You have a release schedule to cascade messages and technical details throughout your organization. You send out the first communication — and then you get criticized. Blistered. So what do you do?
Don’t Bend With the Wind
If your communication strategy is “bend with the wind,” then you panic. You question your plan. You worry. You ask your critics what you should do. You rewrite. You stumble. And you cave. Any communication credibility you had is gone.
Communicate…Then Wait
On the other hand, if your communication strategy is “commmunicate…then wait,” you process the criticism. You integrate essential information into your next communication. You realize that everyone with a pen thinks they’re a communicator, but you know you are. You’re confident because you planned. You resist the urge to over-react. And your credibility stays intact.
The Value of Perspective
What separates good HR communication from crappy HR communication is 1) getting it right; 2) speaking clearly, and: 3) having the guts to stick with your plan when you get a little criticism. When you have the courage of your convictions behind you, it’s easier to recognize when “criticism” is from one person, and not necessarily representative of thousands of opinions. Do people who like what you wrote speak up? Rarely. But the armchair critics sure do. Don’t let them get a disproportionate vote. Said simply, “Communicate…then wait.”
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