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Shorts: Your Customer Has The Answer	ACor-@aol.com
	Feb 19, 2004 22:16 PST

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Welcome to the February 2004 issue of Management Shorts
Written by Andrea Corney (ACor-@acorn-od.com)
Published by Acorn Consulting (www.acorn-od.com)
Back Issues available at http://www.topica.com/lists/shorts/read

***********************************

IN THIS ISSUE
I. INTRO: The Power of Listening
II. MANAGEMENT SHORT: A True Story
III. MORAL OF THE STORY: Listen Without An Agenda
IV. GETTING STARTED: Listen For Something New

**********
I. INTRO: The Power of Listening

This issue of Management Shorts is a short story about the power and
importance of listening; a CEO who went out into the field as a symbolic gesture of
visibility and came back with some unexpected insights that fundamentally
changed the focus of his organization.

**********
II. MANAGEMENT SHORT: A True Story

The New CEO
“Pierre” is one of the founders of “Neighborhood Development”, a national
organization that seeds and supports nonprofit affiliates across the country.
After 3 years his co-founder stepped down as CEO and the Board elected Pierre
as the new CEO. Pierre obviously knew the organization well and had some
clear ideas about where he wanted to take it strategically.

A Pause Before Acting
I spoke with Pierre right after his appointment was announced and he was
ready to launch a major initiative as well as make some changes in his senior
team. In particular he wanted to increase the level of training offered to the
affiliates. Like many effective leaders, Pierre is action oriented and likes to
make things happen. Once he has thought through something he moves quickly.
But some instinct stopped him – he later told me he didn’t know where it
came from but it must have been some angel that stopped him from moving too fast
and taking actions that he now sees would have been a big mistake.

The Grand Tour
At the time we first spoke Pierre wasn’t doubting the wisdom of his plans,
but he did want to make sure that his actions would have credibility. So he
embarked on a 3 month journey to visit every single affiliate of Neighborhood
Development as well as every Neighborhood Development employee across the
country. He thought his main purpose was simply to be seen going out into the
field so that the affiliates would know and trust him. But he came back from his
travels with a radically changed perspective.

Surprises From the Field
Pierre told me that he learned from the affiliates that they didn’t much
value the services offered to them by Neighborhood Development and that they had
some very pressing needs that Neighborhood Development didn’t address at all,
such as recruiting and fund raising. His plans to increase training would
just be more of what they didn’t want. He learned that the affiliates were
seeing Neighborhood Development as a disapproving parent, rather than a helpful
partner, and that certain actions by Neighborhood Development were setting up a
destructive competition between the affiliates. He also got a new perspective
on how members of his own team were seen by the affiliates. In particular,
he had been on the verge of moving "Maria" off the senior team, because he
found her so disruptive. After his trip to the field he had a new view of Maria
as a tenacious voice for the affiliates – a voice he had almost silenced
because it didn’t agree with his own view.

Ready for Action
Pierre is back in the home office now and is engaging his entire organization
in understanding the needs of his “customer” organizations. He has also
taken quick action to set up forums and processes to give the affiliates a
stronger voice inside Neighborhood Development. He told me with surprise, “I’ve
been inviting affiliate leaders to serve on panels and advisory boards and
join us at offsites and conferences and, as busy as they are, not one of them has
declined the invitation!” Over the next few months Pierre and his team will
be rethinking all of their programs and services, looking at how they can
provide real value to their customers.

**********
III. MORAL OF THE STORY: Listen Without An Agenda

Lots of executives go out into the field to talk with customers and come back
with nothing more than increased good will. This could be because they have
been doing a good job all along of getting honest input from their customers.
But often it is because they go with the intent of selling their point of
view, even in the guise of inviting input. We can talk or we can listen, but
it is hard to do both at the same time (and there is a reason we have two ears
but only one mouth!).

Even though Pierre thought he knew what was happening far from headquarters,
he was wise enough to, as he put it, “really listen, without my own agenda or
hoped-for conclusion”. And he asked real questions: “How do you see us?” “
What needs are we meeting and what needs are we missing?” “What would you
do if you were the new CEO?”

For me, there are two morals to Pierre’s story:
1. No matter how well I think I know my customers, there is always something
new to learn; and
2. If I’m not hearing something new, I’m probably not listening hard enough.

**********
IV. GETTING STARTED: Listen For Something New

Think about your recent interactions with customers and partners. What was
your agenda in those conversations? Were you trying to learn or trying to
sell? What do you remember about what they had to say? (Anything?) Did you
hear anything new or surprising?

By the way, listening is equally powerful at home. Give your spouse or kids
a shock by asking them what they think and really listening to the answer!

Warm regards,
Andrea

**********
About Management Shorts
**********
Management Shorts is a free newsletter for senior managers on strategic
planning, leadership, management and teamwork – the key leverage points for getting
traction on your critical issues.
Copyright 2004, Acorn Consulting

Feel free to forward this newsletter to friends and colleagues. You may
reprint this newsletter in whole or quote with attribution to Andrea Corney and
Acorn Consulting and a link to www.acorn-od.com.

Back issues are available at http://www.topica.com/lists/shorts/read

To subscribe: send a blank e-mail to shorts-s-@topica.com
Look for the confirmation e-mail from Topica and hit the “reply” button on
that e-mail.

Andrea Corney
Principal
Acorn Consulting
"From Strategy to Execution: Helping Management Teams Get Traction on the
Critical Issues"
www.acorn-od.com
Office (650) 329-8923
Cell (650) 533-6435

"Management Shorts", a complimentary newsletter for senior managers, is now
available from Acorn Consulting. Each issue brings you a short and practical
tool or idea that you can put into practice immediately.

To read back issues, go to http://www.topica.com/lists/shorts/read
Subscribe by sending a blank e-mail to shorts-s-@topica.com

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Content-Type: text/html; charset="UTF-8"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Content-Language: en

<HTML><HTML>Welcome to the February 2004 issue of Management Shorts 
Written by Andrea Corney (ACor-@acorn-od.com) 
Published by Acorn Consulting (www.acorn-od.com) 
Back Issues available at http://www.topica.com/lists/shorts/read 
 
*********************************** 
 
IN THIS ISSUE 
I. INTRO: The Power of Listening 
II. MANAGEMENT SHORT: A True Story 
III. MORAL OF THE STORY: Listen Without An Agenda 
IV. GETTING STARTED: Listen For Something New 
 
 
********** 
I. INTRO: The Power of Listening 
 
This issue of Management Shorts is a short story about the power and importance of listening; a CEO who went out into the field as a symbolic gesture of visibility and came back with some unexpected insights that fundamentally changed the focus of his organization. 
 
 
********** 
II. MANAGEMENT SHORT: A True Story 
 
The New CEO 
“Pierre” is one of the founders of “Neighborhood Development”, a national organization that seeds and supports nonprofit affiliates across the country. After 3 years his co-founder stepped down as CEO and the Board elected Pierre as the new CEO. Pierre obviously knew the organization well and had some clear ideas about where he wanted to take it strategically. 
 
A Pause Before Acting 
I spoke with Pierre right after his appointment was announced and he was ready to launch a major initiative as well as make some changes in his senior team. In particular he wanted to increase the level of training offered to the affiliates. Like many effective leaders, Pierre is action oriented and likes to make things happen. Once he has thought through something he moves quickly. But some instinct stopped him – he later told me he didn’t know where it came from but it must have been some angel that stopped him from moving too fast and taking actions that he now sees would have been a big mistake. 
 
The Grand Tour 
At the time we first spoke Pierre wasn’t doubting the wisdom of his plans, but he did want to make sure that his actions would have credibility. So he embarked on a 3 month journey to visit every single affiliate of Neighborhood Development as well as every Neighborhood Development employee across the country. He thought his main purpose was simply to be seen going out into the field so that the affiliates would know and trust him. But he came back from his travels with a radically changed perspective. 
 
Surprises From the Field 
Pierre told me that he learned from the affiliates that they didn’t much value the services offered to them by Neighborhood Development and that they had some very pressing needs that Neighborhood Development didn’t address at all, such as recruiting and fund raising. His plans to increase training would just be more of what they didn’t want. He learned that the affiliates were seeing Neighborhood Development as a disapproving parent, rather than a helpful partner, and that certain actions by Neighborhood Development were setting up a destructive competition between the affiliates. He also got a new perspective on how members of his own team were seen by the affiliates. In particular, he had been on the verge of moving "Maria" off the senior team, because he found her so disruptive. After his trip to the field he had a new view of Maria as a tenacious voice for the affiliates – a voice he had almost silenced because it didn’t agree with his own view. 
 
Ready for Action 
Pierre is back in the home office now and is engaging his entire organization in understanding the needs of his “customer” organizations. He has also taken quick action to set up forums and processes to give the affiliates a stronger voice inside Neighborhood Development. He told me with surprise, “I’ve been inviting affiliate leaders to serve on panels and advisory boards and join us at offsites and conferences and, as busy as they are, not one of them has declined the invitation!” Over the next few months Pierre and his team will be rethinking all of their programs and services, looking at how they can provide real value to their customers. 
 
 
********** 
III. MORAL OF THE STORY: Listen Without An Agenda 
 
Lots of executives go out into the field to talk with customers and come back with nothing more than increased good will. This could be because they have been doing a good job all along of getting honest input from their customers. But often it is because they go with the intent of selling their point of view, even in the guise of inviting input. We can talk or we can listen, but it is hard to do both at the same time (and there is a reason we have two ears but only one mouth!). 
 
Even though Pierre thought he knew what was happening far from headquarters, he was wise enough to, as he put it, “really listen, without my own agenda or hoped-for conclusion”. And he asked real questions: “How do you see us?” “What needs are we meeting and what needs are we missing?” “What would you do if you were the new CEO?” 
 
For me, there are two morals to Pierre’s story: 
1. No matter how well I think I know my customers, there is always something new to learn; and 
2. If I’m not hearing something new, I’m probably not listening hard enough. 
 
 
********** 
IV. GETTING STARTED: Listen For Something New 
 
Think about your recent interactions with customers and partners. What was your agenda in those conversations? Were you trying to learn or trying to sell? What do you remember about what they had to say? (Anything?) Did you hear anything new or surprising? 
 
By the way, listening is equally powerful at home. Give your spouse or kids a shock by asking them what they think and really listening to the answer! 
 
 
 
Warm regards, 
Andrea 
 
 
********** 
About Management Shorts 
********** 
Management Shorts is a free newsletter for senior managers on strategic planning, leadership, management and teamwork – the key leverage points for getting traction on your critical issues. 
Copyright 2004, Acorn Consulting 
 
Feel free to forward this newsletter to friends and colleagues. You may reprint this newsletter in whole or quote with attribution to Andrea Corney and Acorn Consulting and a link to www.acorn-od.com. 
 
Back issues are available at http://www.topica.com/lists/shorts/read 
 
To subscribe: send a blank e-mail to shorts-s-@topica.com 
Look for the confirmation e-mail from Topica and hit the “reply” button on that e-mail. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Andrea Corney 
Principal 
Acorn Consulting 
"From Strategy to Execution: Helping Management Teams Get Traction on the Critical Issues" 
www.acorn-od.com 
Office (650) 329-8923 
Cell (650) 533-6435 
 
"Management Shorts", a complimentary newsletter for senior managers, is now available from Acorn Consulting. Each issue brings you a short and practical tool or idea that you can put into practice immediately. 
 
To read back issues, go to http://www.topica.com/lists/shorts/read 
Subscribe by sending a blank e-mail to shorts-s-@topica.com 
 
 
 
</HTML>
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