Generally, an equity stock is issued at a par value of $1 and the market adjusts this number based on the amount of value created by the issuing company.  Things that add value include profits, intellectual property, inventions, goodwill, products and inflation.

Not long ago, I posted a blog on understanding our individual handling fee (the cost of having you on a team). Upon more thought, there is more to this theme.  If all leaders start a new position with a par value of $1, then our immediate goal is to increase that number.  Over time, it is very possible that our par value can drop.  As we transfer our skills and knowledge to our team, implement documented processes, deploy performance metrics and recruit great talent, our personal value decreases.  We are no longer needed as much. Once our handling fee is known, this too is subcontracted from your par value. 

We increase our value by taking on additional responsibility and assignments, learning new skills, familiarizing ourselves with products and markets, gaining additional degrees and certifications, exporting talent into the organization and building strong peer relationships.  We all need to know our value proposition and its relationship to our handling fee and par value. 

What is you value proposition?  Is it increasing or decreasing?  Are you taking action? Do you care?

Read More...

“It’s about the work”

LiaV does not sell or endorse products or books, but now and then something hits me in the head like a 2X4. I’m generally a Tom Peters fan based on the simplicity of his message. A colleague shared Peter’s 1999 book “The Project 50 (Reinventing Work): Fifty Ways to Transform Every Task" into a Project That Matters!”
The message in the book is so easy. It is about the work. It is the leader’s job to make the work worth doing. We have all heard the story of the two masons. One is mason was endlessly adding bricks to a wall and the other mason was building a cathedral. Communicating the big picture is a leadership challenge. Making the work worth doing is another. Having written so many LiaV blog posts on effective leadership, this book was a great reminder that it is not always about the leader.

How do you communicate the big picture to your team? Do you eliminate work not worth doing?

Read More...

Cadence

Why do teams that least need audits and management reviews want them the most and the ones that need them the most want them the least? The C-17 program is a high performing organization that has won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award twice. They viewed audits as opportunities to improve and management reviews as a chance to receive free consulting.

I was in India last week to review progress on two start-up projects at critical inflection points. Each asked for relief from the next management review in terms of timing, length and intensity. What causes this dichotomy? The difference seems to result from the cadence maturity of the organization. Some teams refer to this cadence as their operating rhythm or battle rhythm. Simply put, it is the normal report and review schedule conducted on a program. It seems the teams that look forward to the reviews do so because they are always ready (i.e., tour-ready, review-ready, etc.). They do not prepare to discuss about their performance metrics, progress, achievements and challenges.

Have you experience this same dichotomy? How have you helped teams mature to the review-ready state?

Read More...