NOTES from the Third Annual BUZZ Summit held
on March 20, 2007:
ROUNDATBLE: Profit in Purpose
As companies look to bang the “do-good”
drum, is it enough to simply align with good causes,
or must they now practice what they proclaim?
As employees seek out companies that also walk
the “do-good” walk, what are companies
doing to compete for discriminating talent? How
do organizations serve Wall Street, their employees
and at the same time create meaning-rich connections
for their customers?
For companies to bang the “do good”
drum they must demonstrate baseline personal skills
and live those skills through the brand. It is
important for the company to live that integrity.
“We are seeing that the bifurcation between
the company and the individual is dissolving.”
Giving back to community must be integrated in
both personal and professional lives.
It is possible to fake good-doing, but corporations
can only fake it for so long. Rich communication
channels, like blogs, make it easy to expose those
companies that aren’t walking the do-good
walk.
Social Responsibility - “Balancing commercial
success while honoring personal values.”
Business Plans should integrate elements of social
responsibility to ensure adequate resources are
in place.
“It takes a lot of energy for companies
to balance their objectives with employees’
causes.” To win hearts and minds of younger
employees, who believe it’s all about them,
companies must state “You tell us what role
you want to play in our strategic alignment.”
With multiple masters to please (customers, board
members, vendors), how do you have time to build
equity while still appeasing demands from the
masters? At Microsoft, it took time. They first
participated in the community by giving anonymously.
Part of performance assessment is tied to community
leadership and serving as good citizens. One metric
used for measuring success is storytelling by
the community. “Management understands that
giving is important - that helps.”
Choose top 3 priorities and ask yourself how
you are going to serve those top priorities. “Develop
a different set of standards for different priority
groups.”
With the speed of technology, leaders are in
danger of losing personal relationships. To live
the integration of profit and purpose, need to
“take time to connect with people.”
Organizations that are meeting demands and aligning
profit and purpose interests:
In the past, the insurance industry behaved in
a reactionary way to negative issues of corporate
social responsibility in the press. Now industry
is focused on educating the uninsured and dealing
with the issues of health care, affordability
and access. “Finger pointing that used to
exist in the insurance industry doesn’t
exist anymore.”
Companies such as Google, Canadian Bank and Lulu
Lemon have utilized the interests of their employees
and consumers for their philanthropic duties.
It is important to frame the purpose to the market
and social needs of both the employees and consumers,
while upholding the personality of the firm.
Need to create a culture where employees are
proud. Create an open environment. Hewlett Packard
employees use company intranet to find co-workers
with similar volunteering interests in the community.
How to build a personal relationship in a hierarchal
structure? Leaders must communicate what’s
happening at lower levels. Creating open forums
takes energy and investment, but increases employee
satisfaction and retention. “Take time to
invest in communication.” The associate
population is valuable as they interact with customers
and are consumers themselves.
“Don’t separate profit and purpose;
integrate the two into typical business meetings.”
In a virtual workplace, how do you motivate employees
to get involved? If it’s that important
to company, they will need to create incentives
for employees. Use once a month conference calls
for employees to report their community volunteering
experience. Virtual employees can tutor students
overseas via email. Conduct consulting work Monday-Thursday
and use Friday to volunteer.
“Have the courage to cut out and prioritize.”
“Align what’s important to you and
your organization.”
ROUNDTABLE: Moving Target Morality
Is anyone telling the truth anymore?
Will morality be a moving target in the next decade
and change to fit individual need or convenience?
Are leaders selling their souls in our political,
public and private arenas? How do we decide whom
to trust? Does it matter anymore?
Is anyone telling the truth anymore? Is Wikipedia
our new Walter Cronkite?
Current events such as the Scooter Libby trial
are prime examples of holding scapegoats accountable.
Although the New York Times was an integral part
of the Scooter Libby story, the most worrisome
task was for the truth to be told to the readers
by the press. However, it seems as though the
press is less confident in holding people accountable
for their actions. Unlike, internet sites and
blog pages, the media must be certain in all they
report. Critics can write “anything”
without checking their sources.
Where do we find the truth? Truth may be in the
eye of the beholder, but while people like Scooter
Libby may take the fall for others, those like
Dick Cheney, who have the fall taken for them,
have been tainted by speculation.
Most people have a level of accountability that
they would like to be held to. Character is being
imputed on organizations. Employees are using
transparency and accountability as a deciding
factor for who they want to work with and for.
When asked if ethics is a moving target or black
and white: Ethics is about values. What changes
is how to interpret values in a particular situation.
Different perspectives come into play.
In the 1980’s women were actively recruited
in politics as people felt women had more integrity.
Gender differences in trust and politics haven’t
been evident since. For the most part women get
into politics for the right reasons. The United
Kingdom and other countries see America as behind
with having women in senior political roles.
What are the facts? In a news story this is a
“struggling shift” as everyone has
their own opinion. Times have changed in that
political analysts are being asked their opinions
on news shows. The attention span on politics
has decreased and people are seeking the opinions
of others to fill their own.
While news organizations are trying to meet their
numbers and trying to survive, they mustn’t
compromise the quality of their content. The anchors
that have closely covered stories like the Anna
Nicole Smith story have slowly lost their accountability.
There are few examples of nonprofit news organizations;
however, this most likely will not be seen on
any major scale as America just isn’t built
for this. The news and entertainment lines have
been blurred on a grand scale.
When asked what role the media plays to expose
“so-called” moral beings: “the
media has done a great service in exposing hypocrisy”.
Five years ago, such hypocrisy would not have
been uncovered. The younger generation seems to
have a cynical approach to the media. orporations
are recognizing this cynicism and ensuring that
importance lies in what you do rather than what
you say.
All in all, the media cannot be blamed for everything.
We too must be accountable and “be conscious
consumers of the media.”
ROUNDTABLE: Cultural Fluency
As the workforce changes its complexion,
what new biases are we struggling with? How can
we better manage employees of diverse cultures
so as to tap into their unique talents and voices?
If we don’t become culturally fluent, will
our organizations be at a competitive disadvantage?
How do we shift from cultural fuzziness to cultural
fluency?
Four Dimensions:
1. Business Imperative
2. Educational Development
3. Retention
4. Best Practices
Definitions of Cultural Fluency - diversity,
awareness, cultural influence, sensitivity, language,
involvement, values.
Business Imperative - ROI has a cultural definition.
Cultural understanding needed to navigate relationships,
politics, power struggles, and organizational
structure.
“Focus on digital media as this is where
the young people are. Youth has digital as well
as cultural fluency.”
Cultural Fluency as a bell curve: small population
that really gets it, for majority, words aren’t
connected to practice- this is where good leadership
comes into play.
“Create an organization filled with different
parts where their passion is to build a relationship
in a powerful and meaningful way.” Leaders
must be aware of others’ stories and enable
storytelling. “Knowing each other’s
stories is a bond.”
News Corp. built a mini model for the company
of cultural fluency with their European content.
Tapping into the talent pool to diversify the
cultural fluency was essential for the project
to succeed.
First step in building business in different
country is to “bring business model as it
exists today to other country.” Watch for
assumptions made in the United States that may
not apply in other countries. Workforce issues
that may be different in other countries include:
consumer behavior, training/development and benefits.
Struggle for LAUSD: Teaching children in ways
that crossover 86 different languages. Profit
for LAUSD is the potential for children to be
successful and to give employers what they are
looking for in a workforce.
Need to bring groups together to determine where
they lie on a cultural fluency continuum, from
cultural destructiveness to cultural proficiency.
“Challenge is to take what we believe and
putting time into connecting beliefs with actions.”
“Money, time, resources” must be
targeted in order to alleviate problems, such
as high drop-out rates.
“Can’t always understand other cultures,
but need to have respect for differences.”
“Maximize your employees’ strengths.
Recognize that not all will be Executive Directors,
but find a career path that works for them and
motivates them.”
Organizations typically look at Western model
ways of assessing leadership qualities. A business
meeting in Tokyo is characterized by silence in
between comments, while in the United States interruptions
and interjections are common.
Good leaders can gauge how people want to be
treated, gauge the usage of non-verbal cues, and
formulate meaningful relationships from natural
connections.
Commitment and intelligence can develop strategies
for improving public education. Need successful
people to teach children.
It is essential to develop cultural fluency priorities
as well as align time, money and people to priorities.
It is ok to “ask them” about cultural
differences, it’s the best way to open up
a genuine conversation on culture.
ROUNDTABLE: The Female Footprint
How are women in the public and private
sectors around the globe changing the ethos of
the world? Where and how will the female style
and mind-set redefine or impact communities across
the globe? Are there new opportunities to establish
a firmer female footprint in countries of lesser
means?
In contrasting the female footprint to the male
footprint: “the male footprint is larger
and its shoes only come in black or brown. The
female footprint zigzags and its shoes come in
all kinds of colors. Lastly, the female’s
footprint surrounds itself with other female footprints,
while the man’s footprint stands alone.”
The female footprint leaves a lasting impression.
Women are okay with ambiguity. They pick up subliminal
cues. Scientifically, women use both parts of
their brain, thinking more holistically than men.
The male’s brain is differentiated and specialized,
while a woman’s brain leaves a footprint
that is relational and inter-rational. Women’s
philosophy: “She who dies with the most
people at her funeral wins.”
Men and women have different orientations and
concerns. Men place importance on the economy
with three legs: communication systems, transportation,
and capital. Women place importance on society
with the three legs of education, health, and
ecological integrity. While we need all six concerns,
our past economies have only paid attention to
the men’s concerns.
The female footprint can be seen as a trace of
people who have been there before us. We shouldn’t
necessarily follow the same path, but we should
rather use them to inspire us to do courageous
things.
“Following a women’s footsteps, are
her children.”
Changing the workplace paradigm is essential
for women to succeed in the workplace. In a virtual
business world, we are able to multitask and able
to be more flexible. By changing labor laws and
the assumed definition of “productivity”,
mothers can better succeed in all aspects.
“It isn’t the hours you put in. It’s
what you put in the hours”.
The virtual business model may be difficult to
implement, but can adapt by dealing with situations
individually to accommodate all employees.
Women leaders tend to be different. It is important
to keep in mind smaller companies when exemplifying
success in women’s leadership.
There is an entire spectrum of women mentors.
Some have been jealous and guarded their area
from other women, while others have put themselves
out on the limb to help a fellow woman. However,
we should avoid being attached to one mentor,
and rather look all around for mentors.
There is a “mosaic of adaptive-ness”.
“When asked how do you get from A to B?
John will do his research. Mary on the other hand
will ask ‘Why B? Why not F?” We need
to change institutions that are outdated and don’t
fit anymore, instead of giving in to the protocol.
“Instead of asking to sit at the table,
we as women need to change the table”.
“The female footprint portrays the women’s
presence”.
“If you are not on the edge, you are taking
up too much space”.
******************************
NOTES from the inaugural BUZZ summit
January 20, 2005
The Four Seasons Hotel
Newport Beach, California:
ROUNDTABLE: YOU SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION?
Do we have to blow up corporate America in order
to rebuild it? Should we completely re-design
compensation? How should corporate leadership
change to tap into the unmined talent and creativity
of our human capital?
Moderator: Ronna Lichtenberg
Panel Members: Judy B. Rosener, PhD, Linda
Stone, Mahvash Yazdi, Karen Wilhelm Buckley, Diane
Davies
SUMMARY:
• “A revolution is marked by a sudden
change – it’s dramatic versus an evolutionary
process.”
• “Since the industrial revolution,
productivity has increased fifty times. This is
still increasing exponentially. Is this evolution
or revolution?”
• “The question really is productivity
versus humanity. We now have the problem of continuous
partial attention. This type of not wanting to
miss anything brings us to taking ourselves to
imbalance. When was the last time you felt someone
pay full attention to you? This is bankrupting
to keeping talent in companies. This revolution
in technology has increased productivity; but
in and of itself we have to ask if that is a good
thing.”
• We need to start looking at business
from a horizontal perspective—looking to
the why and how we do things. Good has become
the enemy of the great. How do we use the revolutionary
changes in technology and productivity to make
the company more responsive? This is an evolutionary
process.
• We also need to ask the question of how
we become more responsive given the rate of information
we receive. We need to give attention to wisdom.
We need to pay more attention to making wise choices—those
that represent the deeper, bigger picture—and
here is where women can play a part. How are we
as wise women? What is the result of revolutions
in business, such as information technology and
the influx of women?
• Women want different things structurally
in corporations. Women want more flexibility.
How do we use this to attract in talent, particularly
when the majority of college and Master’s
degree candidates are now women?
• Revolutions do not come out of nowhere.
We are still seeing a revolution of women’s
roles in the workforce. Revolution can happen
both from within or from the top. We need to encourage
that it happens both ways.
• There are significant differences in
our daughters who are just a half-generation apart.
Women who are 18 have an entirely different world
view than those who are 35. Younger women are
seeing that they can bring their whole selves
to the workplace.
• We need to talk about changes in compensation.
We need to ask people what they want and bundle
compensation accordingly. Further, when you support
families in a company, you support women. Not
everyone wants money and we need to start offering
packages that reflect choice. Many women will
choose time over money. We need to talk about
meaning over money. Compensation can change behavior.
We also need to not be afraid to ask for what
we are worth.
• Where are the new opportunities for women,
post-revolutionary entrance to the workforce?
Things are still moving slowly as women strive
to enter into management. These are the same questions
we were talking about twenty years ago. Women
coming up need to feel the responsibility to continue
to pave the way—making the structural changes
and coalitions necessary to accomplish that. We
need to think about ways to extend both maternity
and paternity leave.
• Women CEOs vs. women as entrepreneurs—opting
in or opting out—to do it our own way. Both
are important. We need better models, beyond Desperate
Housewives. We need to show women who are opting
in.
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