May, 2019 | Lorne Rubis

Hot Topic Friday: May 31

Friday Newsletter Personal leadership

Happy Friday! Here are my May 31 Hot Topics and how they relate to advancing leadership or culture.

Hot Topic 1: ‘Game of Thrones’ Kit Harington Seeks Therapy.

Source: Page Six.

What it’s About: Kit Harington, best known for playing Jon Snow in HBO’s hit series “Game of Thrones,” spent time recovering from exhaustion and alcohol use at a rehab retreat in Connecticut. There was no spin or hiding the story. The actor was very transparent and proud of his decision to get help.

Why it’s Important: There is still too much negative stigma attached to declaring the need for mental wellness help. This is starting to change based on the courage of public figures like Harington, and radio personality Howard Stern, personally emphasizing the need and benefit of therapy. Mental health is perhaps the most important wellness issue of our time, and frankly, many of us need help. Our self-awareness and ability to confidently ask for it will move each of us forward.

Hot Topic 2: Mental Health: Truth is Lots of Us Need Help.

Source: Forbes.

What it’s About: To get a better sense of workplace mental health and stigma, 1,500 individuals were surveyed online between March and April, 2019. Nearly 60 percent of respondents experienced symptoms of a mental health condition in the past year. Half of those lasted from one month to the entire year. The most common symptoms were related to anxiety (37 percent), depression (32 percent), and eating disorders (26 percent). Perhaps even more surprising is that mental health symptoms were equally prevalent across all levels of seniority within companies, from individual contributors to the c-suite.

Why it’s Important: We have to make it acceptable and necessary to recognize when we are personally experiencing mental health issues. This includes more self-awareness. From drinking too much alcohol, eating disorders to depression, most of us can benefit from serious, competent therapy. Organizations need to lead the way with support services and leadership from and for top execs. That takes courage.

My Weekly Wine Recommendation (Thanks to Vivino):

Duckhorn Merlot Napa Valley 2015

[Picture and ratings provided by Vivino.]

And finally! Here’s Cecil’s Bleat of the Week!

“Do what you are scared to do and watch your confidence grow.” – Grant Cardone.

Bye for now!

– Lorne Rubis

Incase you Missed It:

Monday’s Lead In podcast.

Tuesday’s blog.

Wednesday’s Culture Cast podcast.

Also don’t forget to subscribe to our site, and follow Lorne Rubis on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter for the latest from our podcasts, blogs, and all things offered on LorneRubis.com.

Culture Cast – Personal Branding as a Thought Leader

Personal leadership Podcast

In season 3, episode 17, Lorne and Lynette discuss the process of becoming a thought leader, personal branding, and the strategies trying to get out there.

It’s no secret that personal branding and growing socially is hard work and there’s no easy path. Here’s how Lorne and Lynette are navigating this tricky issue, and what they’ve learned so far through the process.

Please feel free to subscribe to this YouTube channel, follow this podcast on Soundcloud, as well as iTunes, and Lorne and Lynette’s social media platforms for all the latest Culture Cast uploads and announcements.

Lorne Rubis is available @LorneRubis on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Lynette Turner is available on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn as well as through her site, LynetteTurner.com.

We look forward to sharing Season 3 of Culture Cast: Conversations on Culture and Leadership with you every Wednesday.

The Culture Journey Continues: 10x and Massive Action

Abundance Accountability Personal leadership Respect

At key times during the culture and disruption initiative I’m leading, I’m going to share the strategy, tactics, pivots, etc. with our followers so we all might learn together. It will be authentic, messy and hopefully instructive. Please join us with the overall objective of inspiring a movement to create even greater workplaces and organization cultures. Everyone has the right to thrive in a great workplace. Each of us has an obligation to make it so.

The Challenge: How does one set the direction and desired outcome when driving a culture and transformation shift? My experience is that the bigger risk is to set the bar too low. It drives benchmarking and a 10 percent better mindset. That’s cool, but honestly, so what? Frankly, I hate being slightly better on “sameness.” That’s playing not to lose versus playing to win. When you ask yourself how we might be 10x greater, that’s when it becomes interesting, and hopefully both inspirational and aspirational. It’s a little tacky that my team gets to find out about my strategic intention and direction through my blog, yet I think they’re getting the idea, and I can see them becoming fired up to THINK BIG.

What I’m Going to Do:

Share 10x thinking with my team, the culture champions (see last blog), executive leadership community, then the rest of the organization.
Start to outline and declare what 10x aspiration goals look, feel, smell and taste like, including quantitative milestones.
Begin to engage the entire community in determining and outlining the massive action required to achieve 10x performance. It cannot be business as usual, and it requires a open/growth mindset by all. Everyone, starting with me, has to change themselves first before the institution transforms. Often it will feel chaotic and frustrating. However, culture transformation is a systemic process. It may feel random depending on where one is standing. I assure you it’s not.
If we just do what all the other colleges do and slightly better, then pfft, who cares?

Think Big, Start Small, Act Now.

– Lorne

One Millennial View: “10x” transformations seem like a tall order, and I could see how the aspiration could seem daunting or perhaps impossible to some. To make it work, you need to be in the company of those willing to adapt and acquire the open/growth mindset necessary for 10x to actually become a reality. I look forward to hearing more about how it starts to progress.

– Garrett

Blog 986

Edited and published by Garrett Rubis

Lead In With Lorne – Your Rituals at Work are Important

Personal leadership Podcast

Welcome to another Lead in With Lorne. This week we’re discussing the importance of rituals at work, and how they make an impact on your organization.

What rituals do you practice at work?

Enjoy it on the YouTube video embedded below, or audio listeners can hear it on SoundCloud now too. We hope it enriches your Monday!

Kindly subscribe to the YouTube channel and SoundCloud to make sure you start your week with a leadership story.

Lorne Rubis is available @LorneRubis on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Hot Topic Friday: May 24

Friday Newsletter Personal leadership

Happy Friday! Here are my May 24 Hot Topics and how they relate to advancing leadership or culture.

Hot Topic 1: We Are More Adaptable than Top Leaders Think.

Source: Harvard Business Review.

What it’s About: According to a recent HBR article, the Project on Managing the Future of Work at Harvard Business School, teamed up with the Boston Consulting Group’s Henderson Institute in 2018, to survey 6,500 business leaders and 11,000 workers about the various forces reshaping the nature of work. The responses revealed a surprising gap: While the executives were pessimistic about their employees’ ability to acquire the capabilities needed to thrive in an era of rapid change, the employees were not. The employees were actually focused on the benefits that change would bring and far more eager to learn new skills than their leaders gave them credit for.

Why it’s Important: This idea that people are automatically resistant to change, and mostly need to be coerced to move forward, has been perpetuated and given rise to the idea we need to manage the changing of others. What if we assumed people were eager to adapt, grow, and improve instead of resistant, fearful, and ambivalent? Most people are eager to learn and thrive, and I need to lead in that context rather than managing their change.

Hot Topic 2: CEOs Are Held Accountable for More Than Financial Results.

Source: NPR.

What it’s About: NPR reports that the main reason chief executives were ousted from their jobs in 2018 was due to misconduct and ethical lapses. Historically, it’s mostly been financial results that has driven the termination criteria, with boards too willing to close their eyes or cover up other “personal matters.” The #MeToo era has impacted governance. However, my view is that attention to purpose, values and culture conversations has changed expectations regarding the corner office as well.

Why it’s Important: Corporations and their CEOs have an obligation to contribute to the well-being of all stakeholders, not just shareholders. In Canada, fiduciary board responsibility extends beyond shareholder return. It would serve all boards in every jurisdiction to govern this way. Stories about the “bad boy” behavior of CEOs, while touting their brilliance in delivering double digit shareholder returns, used to be the quiet after dinner chuckle amongst board members as they sipped on 18 year old scotch. Most CEOs get paid a ridiculous amount of money relative to the average employee. Get financial performance and BE the values you expect from the organization, or get fired!

My Weekly Wine Recommendation (Thanks to Vivino):

Gran Vino Tinto Mendoza Argentina 2015

[Picture and ratings provided by Vivino.]

And finally! Here’s Cecil’s Bleat of the Week!

“Truth – or more precisely, an accurate understanding of reality – is the essential foundation for any good outcome.” – Ray Dalio.

Bye for now!

– Lorne Rubis

Incase you Missed It:

Monday’s Lead In podcast.

Tuesday’s blog.

Wednesday’s Culture Cast podcast.

Also don’t forget to subscribe to our site, and follow Lorne Rubis on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter for the latest from our podcasts, blogs, and all things offered on LorneRubis.com.

Culture Cast – How the Best Leaders Replace Blame With Self-Accountability

Personal leadership Podcast

In season 3, episode 16, Lorne and Lynette discuss the value of accountability and responding with ownership as a leader. But what does it mean to “own it?” And what happens next?

Lorne and Lynette also debate whether or not a term like “own it” is tired, empty or patronizing.

The challenge is what leaders can do to avoid building a culture of blame that ultimately slows everything down.

Lorne Rubis is available @LorneRubis on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Lynette Turner is available on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn as well as through her site, LynetteTurner.com.

We look forward to sharing Season 3 of Culture Cast: Conversations on Culture and Leadership with you every Wednesday.