July 12, 2024

WELCOME TO CODIFICATION!

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Click on the button below to access the document.

2. Set aside about 2 hours to sit with and reflect upon the Codification questions.

3. Answer the questions thoroughly and thoughtfully. (Refer to your weekly emails.)

4. Send to David 48 hours prior to your Codification Discussion.

July 17, 2024

ADDITIONAL CONTENT #4

COLONEL ATHENS PART 4 + Universal Needs

We are on to the fourth installment of Colonel Athens’ talk. We also share the importance of meeting the universal needs of “purpose” and “mattering.”

UNIVERSAL NEEDS: MATTERING AND PURPOSE

One way you can meet the needs of those you influence is by meeting the universal needs for people to know that they matter and have purpose. On Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, “purpose” and “mattering” are psychological needs that appear in the middle of the pyramid (with basic needs below and self-actualization above). They are esteem needs, closely related, but also nuanced. For our intents and purposes, we are going to talk about the concept of mattering as feeling valued and adding value to others. According to author Zach Mercurio, mattering “is the belief that we are significant to the world around us.”

Regarding purpose, we will use the explanation by management consulting giant McKinsey & Company: “Individual purpose can be thought of as an enduring, overarching sense of what matters in a person’s life; people experience purposefulness when striving toward something significant and meaningful to them.” 

Research shows that the workplace plays a key role in fulfilling a person’s purpose. A Gallup survey reported that 95 percent of four-year national college graduates considered a sense of purpose at least moderately important in their work. McKinsey found that 70 percent of employees said that their sense of purpose is defined by their work. Finding purpose at work is even more significant post-pandemic and is particularly important to Millennial workers (a large part of the current workforce). 

Mind the Gap
Here’s the rub: people are unfulfilled at work. Gallup repeatedly finds that just 13 percent of the world’s workforce likes to go to work. In recent graduates, McKinsey reports only 40 percent found a meaningful career, only 34 percent indicated they were deeply interested in their work, and only 26 percent reported that they liked what they were doing on a daily basis.

“This ‘purpose gap’ is a glaring problem for the younger workforce, as millennials place a higher priority on purpose in their lives than previous generations, and they look to work more than other sources to find it,” A. Clayton Spencer, president of Bates [College], said in a statement. “The purpose gap is also a challenge for employers because of a strong correlation between employees’ purpose and engagement and an organization’s bottom line.”

Finding Purpose at Work
It makes fiscal sense to help our employees know that they matter and find purpose, and it is a part of being an Others Focused and Agapone leader. So, the question becomes: how do we do it? According to Matthew Kelly, author of The Dream Manager, leaders should partner with their employees to help meet their personal dreams. 

The Dream Manager tells the tale of a fictional company trying to deal with problems of disengagement, low morale, and high turnover.  The company “finds that people work for more than just a paycheck. Instead, work is the vehicle by which employees look to fulfill their personal dreams.” The leaders in the company come to this realization: “I do know that if we can make the connection between our employees’ daily work and their dreams for the future, we will unleash an energy that will transform our business. And while it may be argued that it’s not our responsibility to help our employees fulfill their dreams, I would pose the question: Isn’t one of the primary responsibilities of all relationships to help each other fulfill our dreams?’”

More from The Dream Manager: 
“What is an employee’s purpose? Most would say, ‘to help the company achieve its purpose,’ but they would be wrong. That is certainly part of an employee’s role, but an employee’s primary purpose is to become the best-version-of-himself or herself. Contrary to unwritten management theory and popular practice, people do not exist for the company. The company exists for people. When a company forgets that it exists to serve its customers, it quickly goes out of business. Our employees are our first customers, and our most influential customers.”

Zach Mercurio’s book The Invisible Leader shares how business leaders, educators, students, athletes, and parents can “discover, clarify, and deliver their reason for existence―their authentic purpose.” 

Both The Dream Manager and The Invisible Leader are resources we highly recommend.

Now for some boots-on-the-ground Agapone examples from former clients and friends of The Aperio:

A few months ago, my direct reports and I started recognizing birthdays and years of service anniversaries for our [managers]. I know that some of my peers thought it was stupid and hokey (although no one said it 😊). Regardless, you could see that people appreciated the mention, and others liked to “chime in” and wish happy birthday or congratulatory messages, too. I had started thinking of stopping because none of my peers started copying me, so I interpreted it as my idea was stupid. Then, I watched Colonel Athens’ presentation and decided it was worth continuing. It’s fun to recognize people individually! 

I have a team member who is fairly new in his role, new to having me as his supervisor, and new to some of the process changes that I am trying to make.  I asked him to present to the rest of my team the ideal process and timeline for him to get all of his tasks completed.  I backed up everything he was saying, and I helped reinforce it again at our next meeting that we needed to hit the deadlines. In a later conversation with him, he was more connected with me on what needed to be accomplished, he was appreciative because he knew I was standing behind what needed to get done, and felt he had a greater purpose in the team.

 Randie Dial, a guest on the Be Worth* Following Podcast, shared this: 

“We are huge on coaching. It’s in the DNA of our firm. It’s not just—Hey you did really good on that engagement. Coaching asks: Who are you as a person? Where do you want to go? How can I personally help you get there? It's caring to the nth degree. I would say we really lean into people when they walk into this firm with a robust coaching relationship and make sure it's the right coaching relationship. . . And our firm has gone even as far as to name an official path, the alumni path. You can join CLA and you can say: I'm on the alumni path; I will not be here long-term. We don't mind because if we can skill you up and give you a year or two of experience, and then you go off to a company to work, we've got friends in the market. And so, if we can be the firm to help you skill up and get your inspired career going, no matter what it is, that's who we want to be.”

 Sources:

Never Enough, by Jennifer B. Wallace
https://www.zachmercurio.com/2022/11/mattering-at-work/
https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/help-your-employees-find-purpose-or-watch-them-leave
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/04/11/gallup-bates-report-shows-graduates-want-sense-purpose-careers
The Dream Manager, by Matthew Kelly
The Invisible Leader, by Zach Mercurio

SMALL GROUP #4 QUESTIONS

Incorporate the questions below into your Small Group Discussion:

1. Share the experience of your Agapone interview. What themes, commonalities, or even contradictions emerged among and between the people you interviewed?

2. What stood out to you from Colonel Athens final talk? Why did this grab your attention?

3. How do you help your people know that they matter and have purpose? Share examples.

July 3, 2024

ADDITIONAL CONTENT #3

COLONEL ATHENS PART 3 + LOVE LANGUAGES

We are on to the third installment of Colonel Athens’ talk. We also share the idea of using love languages as a possible way to meet individual needs.

INDIVIDUAL NEEDS + LOVE LANGUAGES (LANGUAGES OF APPRECIATION)

Can learning the love languages of those you influence help you meet unique needs? For some, it has. We will let you decide if it works for you.

What are love languages?
Thirty years ago, Gary Chapman introduced the concept of “love languages” to help couples learn how they personally give and receive love. The theory is that an expression of love is most impactful when shown in a way that matters most to a person. According to Chapman, these expressions can be grouped into the following five categories: acts of service, quality time, words of affirmation, physical touch, and gifts. The theory became so popular—The Washington Post says, “entrenched in public consciousness”—that the concept of love languages found its way into the workplace.

Chapman co-authored a book with psychologist Paul White called The Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace that focuses on ways to show appreciation at work; and while the theory of love languages is not backed by scientific data, it is a tool that many have found helpful both personally and professionally.

Both Great Place to Work and Forbes share ways leaders can use the 5 languages in the workplace. The New York Times shares the story of Pete Lien & Sons, a mining company in South Dakota, that applies the love languages in a clever way. Each employee has an icon of their love language on their hard hat.  

“When this first started you could see the eye-rolling,” said Tucker Green, 48, a plant employee who likes words of affirmation. “We’re a mining operation, and the touchy-feely thing isn’t something men are generally comfortable with. But it’s become so much a part of what we do. I’m a believer.”

Evan Wilson, an executive at Meritrust Credit Union in Wichita, Kansas, leveraged the experiences of his younger self, feeling unappreciated and unseen, to be something different. He has all his employees take the love languages assessment and responds accordingly: having an open door policy for the employee whose love language is quality time, for example.

Previous Aperio clients have used the love languages to be Agapone by meeting unique needs. Here are two examples below:

[Two of my team members] REALLY enjoy frequent development-focused conversations. [One person’s] primary ‘love language’ is quality time so these conversations fit well with that. Over the last year, I’ve invested quite a bit of time in these regular meetings with them. We meet every month for a dedicated hour to discuss their development, their ideas for their career advancement, professional challenges they may be having, etc. [One team member] really yearns for these meetings. What I’ve found is that I spend most of these meetings listening and offering advice/guidance for just small portions of the meetings. The investment of time has been well worth it as both have grown personally and professionally a lot this year.

I went grocery shopping, and I made time in the evening to make dinner with some friends. This was in support of a dear friend who is a caregiver.  I enjoyed my time with them thoroughly. At one point in the evening, I sent my husband a message telling him that I would be later than I originally thought. I knew without a doubt that I was right where I was supposed to be.  These friends’ love languages are quality time and thus this was the most Agapone things I could do specifically for them.

Has using the love languages helped you meet unique needs? If so, we would love to hear about it. Email Sara.

SMALL GROUP #3 QUESTIONS

Incorporate the questions below into your Small Group Discussion:

1. How is your Agapone plan going? What needs have you met this week and how did it go?

2. What most got your attention from the third installment of Colonel Athens’ talk? Why do you think this got your attention?

3. What thoughts do you have about using the concept of “love languages” in the workplace?

June 19, 2024

ADDITIONAL CONTENT #2

COLONEL ATHENS PART 2 + Real life agapone EXAMPLES

We have a robust lineup for this week’s AC! First, we are on to the second part of Colonel Athens talk. Second, we share an interview with Coborn’s leaders. Third, we provide you with some examples from previous clients on how to show proactive sacrifice. Follow the trail below!

Agapone Interview

You can find the transcript of the Agapone Interview HERE.

EXAMPLES OF PROACTIVE SACRIFICE

As a reminder, proactive sacrifice can be described as “actions that would be helpful to those I am leading, even if carrying them out is difficult for me personally. These actions are intentionally sought out, accomplished, and will cost me something.”

“I tried to notice/do items at home that [my wife] would have on her radar to complete and do it for her.  One night she had mentioned it seems like the sink is always full of dishes and she didn’t want to deal with it that night, so I made sure to do them before leaving the next morning when she got up.”

 “At home we have a dog that has a habit of wanting to outside in the middle of the night. Subconsciously my wife and I have shared this responsibility, however my wife may more often is not able to fall back to sleep for a while.  I typically will be able fall back to sleep quickly.  I have started to proactively get up and take the responsibility of letting our dog out.”

“Whether I was taking time away at night, on the weekend or during the day spending time on my LinkedIn profile two refer a friend(s), making a list to buy Valentine’s Day and Easter cards, writing personalized notes, researching gifts, or writing thoughtful letters, all of it took time from things I want to do or need to do and yet NOTHING felt more important.”

“[One of my employees] is very smart and socially active in the community. He loves to be with people and attend meetings. It had been some time since I was able to have a meaningful and personal discussion with him. I believed it was way too long since we truly talked together and he needed my attention, words of affirmation, one on one quality time together and sincere, genuine communication. I needed a plan to make this visit special and keep it all about him. What could I do to strengthen our trust and insure the care and service for both of us? I chose to have the meeting at my home. Our home is our personal place of away from it all and demands privacy for my husband and I. This manager knows how my husband and I feel about our home and also knows we have never had anyone from [work] to our home. I believe that having the meeting at our home would make the visit special to him and create a memorable experience for him. The invite created a two-way trust between me and him and the statement of care and love for him.”

SMALL GROUP #2 QUESTIONS

Incorporate the questions below into your Small Group Discussion:

1. Are there any aspects of being Agapone or executing your Agapone plan that your small group is finding particularly challenging or rewarding?

2. What most got your attention from the second part of Colonel Athens’ talk? Why do you think this got your attention?

3. Which example of proactive sacrifice resonates with you the most? Why do you think this is?

June 5, 2024

Additional Content #1

What’s Love Got To Do With It?

We have two pieces of content for you this week. Both sharing what love has to do with business and leadership.

First, meet Colonel Athens by listening below or reading the transcript.

Then watch the first part of Colonel Athens talk.

“Agapone for the Win(s)”

SMALL GROUP #1 QUESTIONS

Incorporate the questions below into your Small Group Discussion:

1. Have you already identified the list of those you influence and needs you can meet for each. [Captain "collect" these and send to Journey Admin.] 

2. As you look at your list of people and needs, which part are you most excited about? What are you most concerned about?

3. What stood out to you from the first installment of Colonel Athens' talk?

4. What stood out to you from the article, "Agapone for the Win(s)"?