CSR | PeopleSense Consulting

Finding real solutions: are you doing the right thing?

On May 17, 2012 / Graceful Leadership, Leading / 6 Comments

Grace knows her boundaries and used her body language to let me know she was too frightened to handle our walk route. Finding real solutions will require a collaborative approach, but it's the right thing to do.

Here in New Hampshire, the weather forecast is calling for four straight days of sunshine. I couldn’t be happier after all the consistent off-and-on (more on) cloudiness we’ve had, culminating in a thunder and lightning storm last night that frightened the wits out of Grace.

Sunshine just makes me happy. It seems to bring out a cheeriness and certainly an ease in enjoying outdoor activities. This weekend, I’m yearning to find a new place to walk with Grace. Regular readers will know that our walks are a much awaited-for and treasured part of our day. But for the last several weeks, Grace has not been asking for her walks. Whether sunny or overcast, she naps quietly as the afternoon rolls on, silence coming from her instead of her normal exuberance to get outside.

She has become unhinged by the noises associated from randomly timed target shooting that have become a frequent occurrence from a home on our walk route. The first few times it happened, her body tensed as we carried on. A few times, the shots were so loud she trembled, and I picked her up to carry her past the worst of it. It didn’t happen every day, but enough that as we walked by, she started to shake just in anticipation. And finally one day, as we left our house and neared the edge of our yard, she tugged at her leash and sat down. “I’m not going on that walk, Mom. It’s too scary down there.”

On that day, and the days that followed, we have played in the yard instead. I set up some agility jumps and we spend a little time with that. She meanders along the river’s edge, and nibbles on the taller grass that borders our mowed lawn. It’s nice, but we both know we miss our walks.

The man who enjoys the target shooting is doing nothing wrong. It’s a hobby that appears to make him happy, it’s legal in the area we live in, and he has every right to do this on his own property. I’ve met him on numerous occasions, always with Grace, and he’s kind, enjoys dogs, and is a very pleasant neighbor.

If I walked at the same time every day, I would talk with him about some options that would allow us both to do what we enjoy. I know he would work with me. And I think there are other solutions we could brainstorm, even to the extent of enlisting his help to retrain Grace’s fear of the sounds. But first I need to give Grace some space and not make her go where she doesn’t want to go.

What can leaders take from this experience? Finding real solutions requires that all parties work together. It’s the right thing to do.

It’s all too common where one person or team decides something is broken and goes off in an isolated effort to find solutions, without engaging those that are involved. For example, a manager has an issue with an employee’s performance but doesn’t ask the employee for their perspective. They just tell her that she needs to change. Or leadership of an organization puts out a directive that customer service is a priority without truly listening to the employees about what obstacles they face to meet the expectations.

On Monday, I was a presenter and attendee at the New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility (NHBSR) conference. Andrew Winston was the keynote speaker and was the highlight of the conference for me. He shared data and stories that confirmed my existing belief: companies that accomplish great things are the ones that understand — and live — the principles of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). These companies understand we need to care for our planet, but it’s oh-so-much-bigger than that. It’s realizing the need to do the right thing in all aspects of your business operations. Winston said these companies achieve success by asking the tough question: “What’s your heresy?” and then they do something about it.

One of the many examples detailed by Winston is a shipping company that slowed down the transport time of selected products by decreasing the speed of the shipping vessel. This lessened the fuel consumption, decreased carbon emissions, and saved millions of dollars. Rather than perpetuating a more acceptable, even revered, practice of providing the fastest delivery possible by a shipping company, they took a risk with slowing the process, but it was the right thing to do. There are lots of examples of environmentally focused initiatives, but I believe examples that illustrate the successes (or failures) of our human interactions have equal (perhaps even more) impact on our outcomes.

Leadership, all too often, takes the easy route. They switch out people or products without examination and involvement of all stakeholders towards a more successful outcome. Finding real, sustainable solutions is not always easy. It takes courage, time, and effort.

If you’re in NH, I encourage you to learn more about NHBSR. Wherever you are, I hope you’ll explore how CSR can improve your organization’s bottom line. There are amazing and prevalent examples of how companies are changing the face of how we interact, for the better.

CSR starts in our own neighborhoods: I need to work with this gentlemen instead of against him (or without him) if I want to find a real and lasting solution for my walks with Grace. The same is true in our organizations. We need to be mindful of how we are impacting those with our interactions, and that doesn’t just mean our employees and customers. It extends to those in our supply chain, service providers, stockholders, community members, and indeed, even those outside the local community of where we work and live. That shipping company had me in mind when they put in place processes that would impact air quality, and quite possibly reduce the price of the product they were transporting.

I hope you’ll be a part of doing the right thing in all aspects of your life. It’s like feeling the warmth of beautiful sunshine all around you.

I still believe

On December 22, 2011 / Graceful Leadership, Leading / 3 Comments

Grace is wearing her Santa costume and that's as close as she wants to get to a big bearded guy in a red suit, especially when he is surrounded by a crowd of noisy kids. There are other ways we can make her happy for Christmas, which include lots of marrow bones!

As Christmas approaches, visions of Santa Claus in his furry red suit are dancing in my head. My husband teases me that I should take Grace for a photo with Santa (she would freak and he knows it, that’s his sense of humor).

So while neither one of us would actually torture Grace with a visit to sit on Santa’s lap, I think she believes in magic (how else would her beloved marrow bones appear?). And I also believe in some things that seem unreal or impossible.

As I reflect back on this year, it’s clear that I’ve learned more than I ever anticipated about a dog’s nervous system, a dog’s nutrition, and the impact of those things on behavior. And some of those things are still hard to phantom. How can a chiropractor touch Grace’s head and feel compression in her cranial bones? Is it possible to identify the cause of seizures that I had always heard were “things that just happen but no one knows why”?

I don’t have answers for a lot of the things I’m still learning about. And in some cases, it is hard to keep an open mind. My beliefs were pretty deeply ingrained. For example, I had always heard that table scraps were bad for dogs. Dogs ate dog food that was specifically made for them and that made sense to me. Yet, oddly, one of the very few childhood memories of my grandmother was a remark she made in response to the edict that our family dogs could not be fed people food. “So what did people do before they made dog food?” she asked my parents. And turns out she was right. People food has much more nutrition than most commercially made dog foods.

I’m learning that some vets are theorizing that the increased rate of dogs with seizures could be stemming from allergies to food and/or the increased amounts of vaccinations that dogs now routinely receive.

I’m learning that in order to expect behavioral changes from Grace, I have to pay attention to the whole system. If her physical health is not at its best, neither can her mental health.

Intellectually, this is no surprise. All of us can think of similar situations where one aspect of someone’s life will impact another — either positively or negatively. But in practice, we tend to ignore, or at least forget, the importance of the inter-connectivity between things that don’t always seem related.

This concept was clearly illuminated for me earlier this week. I was at a holiday party Tuesday night hosted by one of my long-time clients. What an amazing group of dedicated people, totally committed to their mission. They understand how everything has some connection to each other. When the leader of the organization gave his ‘thank you’ remarks, he reflected back on the roots established in 1999 when he started the company. He dug out an earlier version of the employment agreement given to new employees and read a few paragraphs from a section entitled “Operating Values.” I’m proud to say I work with such a visionary company that would put these initiatives at the forefront of their working culture. Here are a few examples:

Family/Community Responsible
Family is our first community. We strive for life-work balance and keeping promises to those “communities” closest to us. This key value relates consciously to and monitors personal, business and geographic community — family, friends, employees, customers, suppliers, competitors, government, local partners, students, community organizations, and others.

Take and Give Open Critique as a Caring Attitude
We all learn by experience. If you make a mistake, it’s OK. Shake it off and try to learn from it. If someone else does, let them know and try to be constructive and supportive. This attitude will go a long way to making us a better and, ultimately, more successful company.

Let Those Good Ideas Rip
If you think you have the ultimate cure or idea, blast an email about or bring it up a staff meeting. We are about continuous improvement and each of us has the capability to create positive change if it is encouraged — and it is.

This is just a sampling of the ideals they actively embrace. The team is strong, cohesive, fun, and productive. They are a role model for other organizations in their industry. And I believe it’s because they understand the connectivity of everything in our lives.

When we put our family first, when we act respectfully towards others even during times of conflict, and when we embrace new ideas that may be foreign to our experience, we all grow and benefit.

Grace reminds me of that lesson. And so do organizations that walk the talk. It is obvious when you enter into the space of a high-performing team.

Merry Christmas and may your holidays be filled with grace! (Thanks to LeeAnn for coming up with that great phrase.)

This holiday season, we’ll be keeping Grace away from Santa. But we’ll be doing what we can to strike a balance of health for her. And I hope the same for you personally, as well as professionally within your organizations. It requires looking at all the angles to find answers that you may not have thought of before–or perhaps not been ready to hear.

To readers who have joined “Graceful Leadership” this year, Grace and I thank you. It’s been a privilege to learn with you and I am excited to see all the good things that 2012 will bring.

I still believe that we can all make a difference together, even when we don’t know how or why. Isn’t that what Santa is all about?

“We listen”

On June 14, 2011 / Communicating, Graceful Leadership / 6 Comments

If I had to guess, I’d say Grace doesn’t think very much about how she impacts the world. She’s much, much more engrossed in thoughts of chasing the mother and two young groundhogs who have taken up residence in our backyard. She also worries about if and when I will open the door so she can lounge on the deck chair in her sunbeam. Those are the types of things that consume her day.

Some dogs are involved in important search and rescue work, making an obvious and critical impact in the world. Others, like Grace, fulfill a vital place in our lives as loyal companions. How can we measure which one of these roles is more important? I would argue they are different, but equally important. The same goes for all the incredible stories that I heard yesterday, when attending a conference hosted by New Hampshire Businesses for Social Responsibility (NHBSR). The conference brought together organizations throughout the state to share and learn about the impact they are making. One of the guiding principles of NHBSR is that “businesses can be financially successful while bringing out the best in the human spirit, enriching the community and being respectful of the natural environment.” Yesterday’s conference proved this to be true.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) resonates with me because my work is so closely aligned with bringing out the best in the human spirit. Much of yesterday’s conference discussion focused on good practices with employees. Panelist Connie Roy-Czyzowski, Vice President of Human Resources at Northeast Delta Dental, described the reason for their success as a preferred employer: “We listen to people.” She continued to say that even when they think they have listened a lot, they find they can listen more. They work hard to provide ongoing and multiple channels for employees to express their ideas and opinions, and they make sure they respond to the feedback. If they can’t implement something an employee wants, they tell them why. The only cost is time, but the payoffs are big.

Something as simple as having a meaningful conversation is one way to implement CSR in your organization. How often are you listening? In what ways do you encourage feedback from your employees?

Grace isn’t ready to save the world and neither am I. But we can make a difference, one conversation at a time.