How to Disagree with Someone More Powerful than You [306776]

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How to Disagree with Someone More Powerful than You [306776]

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Conflict

How to Disagree with Someone More Powerful than You

Amy Gallo

March 17, 2016

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Your boss proposes a new initiative you think won’t work. Your senior colleague outlines a project timeline you think is unrealistic. What do you say when you disagree with someone who has more power than you do? How do you decide whether it’s worth speaking up? [anonimizat]?

What the Experts Say
It’s a natural human reaction to shy away from disagreeing with a superior. “[anonimizat] a natural bias to avoid situations that might harm us,” [anonimizat], a corporate training company. “The heart of the anxiety is that there will be negative implications,” [anonimizat]. We immediately think, “He’s not going to like me,” “She’s going to think I’m a pain,” or maybe even “I’ll get fired.” Although “it’s just plain easier to agree,” Weeks says that’s not always the right thing to do. Here’s how to disagree with someone more powerful than you.

Be realistic about the risks
Most people tend to overplay the risks involved in speaking up. “Our natural bias is to start by imagining all the things that will go horribly wrong,” Grenny says. Yes, your counterpart might be surprised and a little upset at first. But chances are you’re not going to get fired or make a lifelong enemy. He suggests you first consider “the risks of not speaking up” — perhaps the project will be derailed or you’ll lose the team’s trust — then realistically weigh those against the potential consequences of taking action.

[anonimizat]’s best to hold off on voicing your opinion. Maybe “you haven’t [anonimizat] a [anonimizat] a clearer sense of what the group thinks,” says Weeks. “[anonimizat]. People can contribute experience or information to your thinking — all the things that would make the disagreement stronger or more valid.” It’s also a good idea to delay the conversation if you’re in a meeting or other public space. Discussing the issue in private will make the powerful person feel less threatened.

Identify a [anonimizat] — it may be “the credibility of their team or getting a project done on time,” says Grenny. You’re more likely to be heard if you can connect your disagreement to a “higher purpose.” [anonimizat]’t assume the link will be clear. You’[anonimizat]’re seen not as a disagreeable underling but as a colleague who’s trying to advance a shared goal. The discussion will then become “more like a chess game than a boxing match,” says Weeks.

Ask permission to disagree
This step may sound overly deferential, but, according to Grenny, it’s a smart way to give the powerful person “psychological safety” and control. You can say something like, “I know we seem to be moving toward a first-quarter commitment here. I have reasons to think that won’t work. I’d like to lay out my reasoning. Would that be OK?” This gives the person a choice, “allowing them to verbally opt in,” says Grenny. And, assuming they say yes, it will make you feel more confident about voicing your disagreement.

Stay calm
You might feel your heart racing or your face turning red, but do whatever you can to remain neutral in both your words and actions. When your body language communicates reluctance or anxiety, it undercuts the message, Weeks says. It sends “a mixed message, and your counterpart gets to choose what to read,” she explains. Deep breaths can help, as can speaking more slowly and deliberately. “When we feel panicky we tend to talk louder and faster. You don’t want to be mousey or talk in a whisper, but simply slowing the pace and talking in an even tone helps calm the other person down and does the same for you,” says Grenny. It also makes you seem confident, even if you aren’t.

Validate the original point
After you’ve gotten permission, articulate the other person’s point of view. What is the idea, opinion, or proposal that you’re disagreeing with? Stating that clearly, possibly even better than your counterpart did, lays a strong foundation for the discussion. “You want your counterpart to say, ‘She understands.’ You don’t want to get in a fight about whether you get her point,” Weeks explains.

Don’t make judgments
When you move on to expressing your concerns, watch your language carefully. Grenny says to avoid any “judgment words” such as “short-sighted,” “foolish,” or “hasty” that might set off your counterpart; one of his tips is to cut out all adjectives, since “they have the potential to be misinterpreted or taken personally.” Share only facts. For example, instead of saying, “I think that first-quarter deadline is naïve,” you can say, “We’ve tried four projects like this in the past, and we were able to do two in a similar time period, but those were special circumstances.” Weeks also recommends staying neutral and focused: “Lay off the players and be vivid about the problem. Try to make it an honest disagreement, a worthwhile advancement of thought.”

Stay humble
Emphasize that you’re offering your opinion, not “gospel truth,” says Grenny. “It may be a well-informed, well-researched opinion, but it’s still an opinion, [so] talk tentatively and slightly understate your confidence.” Instead of saying something like, “If we set an end-of-quarter deadline, we’ll never make it,” say, “This is just my opinion, but I don’t see how we will make that deadline.” Weeks suggests adding a lot of “guiding phrases” like “I’m thinking aloud here.” This will leave room for dialogue. Having asserted your position (as a position, not as a fact), “demonstrate equal curiosity about other views,” says Grenny. Remind the person that this is your point of view, and then invite critique. Weeks suggests trying something like, “Tell me where I’m wrong with this.” Be genuinely open to hearing other opinions.

Acknowledge their authority
Ultimately, the person in power is probably going to make the final decision, so acknowledge that. You might say, “I know you’ll make the call here. This is up to you.” That will not only show that you know your place but also remind them that they have choices, Grenny says. Don’t backtrack on your opinion or give false praise, though. “You want to show respect to the person while maintaining your own self-respect,” says Weeks.

Principles to Remember

Do:

Explain that you have a different opinion and ask if you can voice it.

Restate the original point of view or decision so it’s clear you understand it.

Speak slowly — talking in an even tone calms you and the other person down.

Don’t:

Assume that disagreeing is going to damage your relationship or career — the consequences are often less dramatic than we think.

State your opinions as facts; simply express your point of view and be open to dialogue.

Use judgment words, such as “hasty,” “foolish,” or “wrong,” that might upset or incite your counterpart.

Case Study #1: Show respect for the idea
Victor Chiu, a business development manager at Centaria Properties, in Vancouver, was concerned that his boss, Patrick, was making a hasty decision. Weak Canadian oil prices had created favorable economic conditions for snatching up real estate, and there was a small plot of land with an operations warehouse in Alberta that Patrick thought the company should buy. At the time, Victor says, “Alberta’s economy was just starting to feel the pinch. Oil was at $45 a barrel and was still on its way down — without any signs of stabilization.” He was worried that the company would be overextended if it made the purchase, so he decided to speak up.

Victor looked his boss in the eye, spoke in a “smooth, casual tone,” and asked Patrick to keep an open mind about the proposal. He said, “I think it’s a great idea, but with oil just starting to slide and with no bottoming out in sight, bigger and better opportunities should present themselves in the near future.” He knew it was important to show respect for Patrick and his idea and to emphasize that he wanted the best for the company. He also made sure to propose a solution: “Let’s wait a bit to see if we can get a better deal, and then pull the trigger.”

“When you disagree with someone more powerful than you, you should always have a constructive reason to oppose. In my case, the reason was timing,” Victor says. Patrick didn’t take offense and was curious to hear more about Victor’s reasoning. Ultimately, they decided to hold off on making the investment.

Case Study #2: Make it about the company, not you
Mike McRitchie, owner of the consultancy Critical Path Action, has had reason to disagree with people more powerful than he on several occasions.

In a previous job, as the director of operations for a small consulting business, he disagreed with how his boss, the owner of the company, wanted to handle a health insurance decision. The boss wanted to survey the staff about two different options, letting them make the final choice on which one to adopt. But “as leaders, this was a decision I felt we should be making rather than delegating it to the whole staff,” Mike explains. “I’m all for getting feedback, but when it comes time to make a tough call, it isn’t fair to put that responsibility on the staff’s shoulders.”

Mike decided to share his opinion, emphasizing his commitment to the firm and making sure that his body language was not “at all unsure or tentative.” His boss was shocked at first; Mike had a reputation for being reserved, so open disagreement was “out of character” for him. But his boss could see that “I cared for the company and our leaders and staff,” Mike says. “I had no personal agenda.”

The boss agreed to abandon the staff poll idea, and “he’s respected me to this day,” Mike adds. “If you make it about the company’s best interests, instead of about you, then you have the best opportunity to win.”

Amy Gallo is a contributing editor at Harvard Business Review and the author of the HBR Guide to Managing Conflict at Work. She writes and speaks about workplace dynamics. Follow her on Twitter at @amyegallo.

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What Leadership Looks Like in Different Cultures

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic

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What makes a great leader? Although the core ingredients of leadership are universal (good judgment, integrity, and people skills), the full recipe for successful leadership requires culture-specific condiments. The main reason for this is that cultures differ in their implicit theories of leadership, the lay beliefs about the qualities that individuals need to display to be considered leaders. Depending on the cultural context, your typical style and behavioral tendencies may be an asset or a weakness. In other words, good leadership is largely personality in the right place.

Research has shown that leaders’ decision making, communication style, and dark-side tendencies are influenced by the geographical region in which they operate. Below we review six major leadership types that illustrate some of these findings.

Decision Making

The synchronized leader. Follow-through is key to being seen as leadership material in regions such as Northeast Asia (e.g., Mainland China, South Korea, and Japan), Indonesia, Thailand, the UAE, and much of Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Chile). In order to ascend the organizational ranks, such leaders must seek consensus on decisions and drive others through a keen process orientation. Business cycles can take longer as a result. But once all stakeholders are onboard, the deal needs to close fast or there is risk of jeopardizing the agreement. Synchronized leaders tend to be prudent and are more focused on potential threats than rewards.

The opportunistic leader. Leaders who self-initiate and demonstrate flexibility on how to achieve a goal tend to be more desirable in Germanic and Nordic Europe (Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway), the UK, Western countries on which the UK had substantial cultural influence (the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand), and Asian countries that based their governing and economic institutions on the British model (India, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong). More or less individualistic, these leaders thrive in ambiguity. However, checking in frequently with team members is advised to ensure others keep up with changing plans. Opportunistic leaders tend to be ambitious risk takers.

Communication Style

The straight-shooting leader. In some regions employees expect their leaders to confront issues straightforwardly. In Northeast Asia and countries like the Netherlands, excessive communication is less appealing in the leadership ranks — people just want you to get to the point. Accordingly, task-oriented leaders are preferred. Impromptu performance review meetings with direct reports occur more commonly in these locations, and leaders address undesirable behaviors from team members as soon as they are observed. Straight-shooting leaders tend to be less interpersonally sensitive.

The diplomatic leader. In certain countries communication finesse and careful messaging are important not only to getting along but also to getting ahead. In places like New Zealand, Sweden, Canada, and much of Latin America, employees prefer to work for bosses who are able to keep business conversations pleasant and friendly. Constructive confrontation needs to be handled with empathy. Leaders in these locations are expected to continuously gauge audience reactions during negotiations and meetings. These types of managers adjust their messaging to keep the discussion affable; direct communication is seen as unnecessarily harsh. Diplomatic leaders tend to be polite and agreeable.

Dark-side tendencies

The “kiss up/kick down” leader. When organizations emphasize rank, emerging leaders tend to develop unique coping skills. It is a leader’s job to implement mandates from above with lower-level employees. If overused, this strength can lead to a “kiss up/kick down” leadership style, characterized by excessive deference or sudden attention to detail when reporting up, and issuing fiery directives or refusing to compromise when commanding subordinates. Though never a good thing, this derailer is tolerated more in certain countries, such as Western Asia (Turkey, India, UAE), Serbia, Greece, Kenya, and South Korea. “Kiss up/kick down” leaders tend to be diligent and dutiful with their bosses but intense and dominating with their reports.

The passive-aggressive leader. Some leaders become cynical, mistrusting, and eventually covertly resistant, particularly under stress. These reactions usually occur when the individual is forced to pursue an objective or carry out a task without being won over or in the absence of sound rationale. Though being overtly cooperative while maintaining a level of skepticism can be beneficial in group settings, these behaviors can also hinder execution. Leaders with this style are more widely accepted in Indonesia and Malaysia, where it doesn’t seem to impede their advancement. Passive-aggressive leaders tend to be critical and resentful. Ironically, their aversion to conflict often generates a great deal of conflict.

To be sure, it is possible for any individual to adjust their leadership style to fit the relevant context. However, it requires a great deal of effort to go against one’s natural tendencies and predispositions, and habits are hard to break. It is also important to take into account the culture of the organization, which requires a much more granular level of analysis to identify the qualities that promote and inhibit success. When senior leaders succeed, they often redefine culture in a way that is a direct reflection of their own personality. Thus culture is mostly the sum of the values and beliefs of influential past leaders.

Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic is the CEO of Hogan Assessment Systems, a Professor of Business Psychology at University College London, and a faculty member at Columbia University.

Michael Sanger is an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist and Senior Strategist in the Global Alliance division of Hogan Assessment Systems.

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A human resource professional’s best tool is his or her ability to experience empathy. Empathy creates an opportunity to step into the shoes of others to see a company from their perspective. It also paves the road for viewing the employee and candidate experience in a proactive way, to inform best practices.

Related: 7 Interview Questions That Determine Emotional Intelligence

In fact, there may actually be danger to an organization whose human resources department doesn’t use the empathetic approach. Disregarding the candidate experience negatively impacts one of the most important aspects for any company: hiring.

Hiring, of course, starts with the application – which, for a hopeful candidate, is the employer’s open door. The application can be engaging and simple, attracting strong talent, or it can suffer from various issues, repelling any and all types of professionals. A September 2014 study from Jibe found that a poor application experience deterred 25 percent of the 1,000 job seekers surveyed. Right off the bat, one in four people had lost interest and gone off to search elsewhere.

While this study might be dismissed as inconsequential, the scenario it describes is, unfortunately, common – yet not given the weight it deserves: A 2015 study by Careerbuilder, for instance, found that 82 percent of the 2,002 hiring managers surveyed said there was little-to-no negative impact on a company when a candidate had a bad experience during the hiring process.

And that is just the kind of opinion that severely underestimates the message communicated during a negative candidate experience.

For example, if a company's application process is riddled with technological issues and poorly designed, what's being demonstrated is a lack of interest in making the hiring process convenient and simple for the job seeker. If the application takes a lot of time and requires tedious, repetitive input, the message to the applicant is that the company runs inefficient processes.

Here are a few ways companies can use the candidate experience to make a great application process:

1. Ensure that career resources work.

The September 2014 study from Jibe found that 37 percent of the 300 recruitment professionals surveyed were concerned that their company’s application process was deterring quality hires. That hunch was legitimate: Almost 23 percent of job seekers surveyed agreed with the statement that if they had issues filling out an online application, they’d never apply to that company again.

Specifically, job seekers were most likely deterred from completing online applications if they encountered technological issues (60 percent), failed in their efforts to upload their resumes (55 percent) or couldn’t track their application’s status (44 percent).

Empathy with "the candidate experience" can help organizations prevent such issues. Run through your company career site to get an idea of the experience the candidate goes through and ensure all links are live and operational. Question if the application is engaging enough to maintain interest and clearly communicate what's needed for a correct submission. Consider administering surveys for feedback on how to improve.

2. Make applications mobile friendly.

Mobile devices have dramatically changed how job seekers execute their hunt. A November 2015 study from Pew Research found that 94 percent of the 2,001 job seekers surveyed said they had previously looked for and researched jobs online using their mobile device.

Nearly half of smartphone job-seekers surveyed, however, had had problems accessing job-related content because it wasn’t displaying properly on their phone; or else they said they had difficulty reading the text in a job posting due to poor mobile design.

And more than 33 percent said they had struggled to enter a large amount of text or had had difficulty submitting files or other supporting documents needed to complete their applications.

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Invest in making the application process mobile friendly to enable candidates to complete a full application for a position on their device. Here, there are several things to consider when designing the mobile side of the candidate experience.

One tip is to keep things simple yet effective. If the application is complex, people will lose interest. That's why, to effectively vet talent, the company should know exactly what information is needed. Test how the application functions on personal devices, and run additional technology tests to identify what works. Find out where the bugs are.

3. Communicate expectations.

Candidates hate long wait times and being left in the dark about the process. The 2015 study from CareerBuilder found that 84 percent of applicants surveyed had expected a personal email response, and 52 percent had anticipated a phone call after submitting an application. Some 25 percent expected to hear back even if they were not being brought in for an interview.

It’s important, then, to keep communication lines open because that courtesy illustrates a respect for the candidate and his or her time, and expresses gratitude. These responses can be automated and should convey pertinent information about when the candidate might expect to hear back, plus details about the next stage in the hiring process.

Related: This Is How Quality of Hire Should Inform Your Recruiting Process

Even if applicants are disqualified, provide feedback about why. Providing a response shows respect and provides candidates with information about their qualifications. The advantage of this is two-fold: It deters talent who lack needed experience or skill sets from applying to subsequent jobs, and it engages with good talent who may be strong fits for the future.

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There are more money-making opportunities on social media than you might realize. Social media, in fact, can be quite lucrative.

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Many experts say that social media is for connecting with people, and not for selling, but at some point, you're going to want to leverage the connections you create. If you've built up enough trust with your followers, they'll be more inclined to check out your recommendations and the links you share.

Here are six ways you can make money on social media.

1. Promote affiliate products.

No matter what industry you're in, you can find great products to promote on ClickBank. And if that doesn't quite jive with you, you can also become an Amazon Associate, promote products of your choosing and earn commissions on them – Amazon has no shortage of products.

Next, instead of spamming links on Twitter and hoping for the best, keep in mind that the most honest and effective way of promoting affiliate products is through reviews. If you personally use a product and like it, and know that your followers serve to benefit from it, then write a long-form review on your blog, and share why you like the product. Don't be afraid to talk about what you like and don't like about it. You can even use video if that's more your style.

Also make sure to disclose your affiliate relationships. This is a legal requirement in most cases, but it's also "best practice." Your readers or viewers will appreciate your honesty.

2. Create and promote your own information products.

If you already have a blog, and you've demonstrated your expertise on a specific subject over a period of time, there may be an opportunity to create an ebook, audio program or video course and sell it to your audience. Social media is the perfect place to promote such a product.

Platforms like Gumroad, Sellfy and Amazon's KDP program make it easy for you to publish and sell your PDF, MP3 or video file at a price of your choosing – keeping in mind that all platforms do take a cut, even if it's small.

As with anything, quality is key to creating something people not only want to read, but will pay to read. If you take extra care in creating great information, designing and promoting it well, you will definitely see more sales.

3. Promote products and services.

There are many opportunities for you to share sponsored posts that promote the products and services of other businesses. This is a very direct way of earning money from social media.

But, if you don't have a sizable following, this may not be much of an opportunity. You also have to beware of over-promoting products for want of money, because if your followers see that you're constantly tweeting about one product or another, not only will they not click on the links, they will also un-follow you.

It's important to mix things up. It's wise to take the time to craft a proper social media posting schedule, to make sure you're adding value to your followers while promoting products. Calls to action should definitely be a part of your social media strategy, but every post can't be a call to action.

Related: How to Make Time for Social Media Marketing

4. Use visual media to promote your crafts.

If you tend to create handmade crafts, art pieces, or even articles of clothing and knitting, there may be an opportunity to showcase your products on social media. Instagram and Pinterest may seem like obvious places to hit, but Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are also great channels for sharing visual media.

If you have an Etsy account, you can direct your followers to check out your products there, and between the different channels, you have the potential to make a good living.

5. Promote your coaching or consulting services.

Social media is a great place to generate leads for your consulting business. Whether you're a guitar teacher or a life coach, if you have demonstrated expertise in a specific area, you can create more interest for your services by connecting with your target customer on social media.

Coaching sessions can be conducted over Skype, so this is definitely an opportunity to make money without leaving home. Consulting can be lucrative, so remember not to undercut yourself – charge a fair price for your time and effort.

This strategy can also work in unison with selling information products, as those who want your advice are more likely to be interested in the ebooks and courses you've created.

6. Join the YouTube Partner Program

Building a popular YouTube channel can be a lot of work. But if you already have a following, or you're determined to build your audience, joining the YouTube Partner Program to make money on advertising might be a path worth exploring.

There are prominent YouTube content creators who have made substantial amounts of money with this program, but they are the exception rather than the rule. It would take a lot of time, strategy and sheer luck to make money on YouTube. However, this is a good thing to keep in mind with advertising in general. Unless you're already getting a lot of views and clicks, you're not going to make a lot of money on them.

Final thoughts

These are just some of the many ways you can make money with social media; there are plenty of other money-making websites for you to explore.

It's important to remember that making money on social media isn't necessarily easy. If you have an entrepreneurial spirit and are willing to work hard, test and experiment, your chances at success will be far greater than the chances of those who just want to "give it a try" to see what happens.

Related: 6 Social Media Marketing Tactics That Give the Best Bang for Your Buck

So, build a strategy; don't just wing it. Make a plan for how you're going to reach your financial goals, and be willing to adjust as necessary.

MARKETING

The Top 8 Dos and Don'ts for Startup Marketing

Follow these tips on the right moves to make–and not to make.

By AJ Agrawal

CEO, Alumnify

WRITE A COMMENT

CREDIT: Getty Images

Marketing your startup is your first priority whenever you launch a company. You have no platform and you have no existing customers. Gaining traction is an obstacle the majority of startups fail at, and it's why 90% of startups continue to fail.

The biggest reason for failure in marketing is that so many companies make major mistakes in their strategy and in how to use content marketing. This guide is going to show you some of the dos and don'ts of startup marketing.

1. DO Increase Your Marketing Leverage

To make money you have to spend money. Unfortunately, as a startup, it's easy to waste a lot of that money. When scaling up your marketing efforts, you should be looking for both ROI and an increase in revenue. Alternatively, you can consider this in the same area as marketing leverage.

You should be both innovating and gaining an ROI at the same time. This is how marketing efforts for companies constantly evolve. It's all about promoting accelerated growth.

2. DON'T Disagree with the Customer

There's a saying in startup marketing that you have to lead from behind the customer. This is no myth that has to be debunked. The customer is STILL always right. If you have a disagreement with your customer base, you are going to have to resolve that, and it always has to be resolved in the customer's favor.

If you disagree with your customers, the chances are this is something that you have done wrong.

3. DO Fail Fast

Startups also fail because they remain with strategies that don't work for so long. They continue to plug away despite the fact the strategy has little chance of succeeding. Smart startups fail as much as any other, but they fail fast.

What this means is that when they see a strategy that clearly isn't working they terminate it. They don't try to make it work. They move onto something else simply because the risk of wasting your marketing budget for the year on an ill-fated campaign isn't worth it.

4. DON'T Discount the Value of Free

There's a lot of value to be gained through free marketing programs. The most powerful forms of marketing are free, including word of mouth, organic search, and guest blogging. Yet a lot of startups automatically discount them because they assume that if something is free it probably isn't going to offer them much value.

But going back to the point about marketing leverage, the cheapest marketing options all offer the highest marketing leverage value. You only have to earn a small amount of money and you are already in profit.

5. DO Seek New Revenue Streams

It's much easier to earn 1% of five revenue areas than it is to dominate a single revenue area. You have to go out of your way to seek out new revenue streams. Startups should aim to diversify as soon as they can. The more people you have in your target audience the easier it is to gain traction.

These revenue streams don't have to cross over into different industries. It can be as simple as offering a variation of a currently available product or service.

6. DON'T Settle

One of the things you should absolutely not do is settle for less. Go out of your way to always improve. Startups commonly mess up when they gain a tiny piece of success. They are so pleased with themselves that they lose intensity and they try to settle on the results already achieved.

Any success should be taken as a reason to accelerate the intensity in your marketing. Use the art of persuasion to convince both investors and co-founders that you have to increase your marketing resources not take the time to celebrate.

7. DO Use Automation

The use of automation is common in the world of startup marketing today. Facilitate the customer journey through using automation and you'll make things more efficient for both you and the customer. Using automation is simple because there are so many options on offer today for how to do it.

8. DON'T Have Mixed Messages

You should make sure that your marketing is sending a unified message across all platforms to avoid confusing your target audience. Companies like Amazon and Google debunk the myth that things have to be complicated by sending exactly the same message across all platforms. They never send more than one message because they want to accomplish one goal and one aim.

How will you market your startup today?

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'The idea for my business was borne out of necessity'

Eight years ago, I discovered that my daughter was being bullied at her school. As a mum, you think it’s your job to make everything right, and I knew I needed to make this right for my daughter. So I told her, “You will not be going back to that school. I will find the best one ever.” Here in Cambridge, England, we’re lucky to have extraordinary schools, but most are private—and they’re not cheap. In order to send her to another school, I had to step up and find a way to pay for those fees.

Thankfully, when you’re passionate about something and you have no other options, it gives you the drive to find a solution. I was never blessed with this lightbulb moment of, “I’m meant to be the person who brings back the classic British leather satchel!” No—the idea for my business was borne out of necessity. I started with 600 pounds in savings, (the equivalent of around $1000) and I knew I wanted to generate enough money to send both of my children to private school. And here I am today: The CEO of The Cambridge Satchel Company, which makes over $15 million in sales a year.

Read more: 7 Successful People Who Kicked Off Their Careers With Failure

And honestly, if I can do it, anyone can. Here are the most valuable lessons I learned while starting my own business from my kitchen:

1. Find one clear, strong idea—and then run with it
Starting out, I came up with 10 things I thought I could do that would make money. I researched each and made an Excel spreadsheet (I’m a very geeky person!) ranking them on different factors like how much funding I would need or how long it would take to have a product ready to sell. Based on these rankings, I gave each business idea an overall “score,” and making satchels scored the highest. Once I decided that was the right move for me, I threw all my energy, decisions and focus behind that idea.

It was as simple as that. Sure, you could do more research, hire experts or invest a ton of money in branding and graphics until the end of eternity. But at a certain point, you’re just procrastinating. Just crack on with it! If your business is good, it’s not going to stand or fail on something like your logo.

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2. Persistence is key
I have to say, one of my strengths is that I can nag and grind people down. It can be an annoying trait but also be a useful one. When I was looking for my first manufacturer, I found the phone number of a school uniform outfitter that supplied leather satchels. I called up the outfitter and asked where he got his satchels. He refused to tell me. I could have given up, but I knew that this was a pivotal moment in starting my new business. I needed a manufacturer, and he had the answer. All I needed to do was keep pestering him until he told me what I needed to know.

I called him every 25 minutes, each time with a different mundane question—just enough to interfere with what he was doing. I was relentless! I kept calling the next day, and after a while he asked, “Is this going to carry on all day?” He finally broke down and gave me the number for his satchel manufacturer.

I was obnoxious and relentless. But the end result mattered more to me than it did to him, so I kept pushing. You have to have thick skin and determination in order to make things happen.

Read more: 3 Ways to Become a Better Leader

3. Approach everything with a ‘can-do’ attitude
Don’t get hung up on what you can’t do. Instead, focus on what needs to be done and how you can get there. In order to actually make a profit, I knew I couldn’t sell just in Cambridge. I had to sell online, which meant I had to make a website. This was seven or eight years ago, and e-commerce and website building were not anything like they are today. I had no idea how to make a site from scratch, but I didn’t let that hold me back. I learned basic coding over three nights from a free Microsoft course. Sure, what I made wasn’t the most beautiful website—but it was functional.

Read more: 9 Habits to Establish Before Turning 30

4. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there
It’s important to stay alert for any opportunity. They used to film the Harry Potter films in Cambridge, and I thought, “Those characters are in school—they should have satchels!” So I phoned Pinewood Studios and told them, “I’m supplying the satchels for the new Harry Potter film.” I said it with such conviction that they put me through to the props person. And even though the props person didn’t have any need for my satchels, I told him the story of my business and why it was important. He ended up connecting me with the group that sources his props. I sent them a picture of my satchels and got an email straight back, asking for 10. It was my very first bulk order.

I had no business knowledge when I started my company, but I had a very real need. It just goes to show that if you have a big enough, hot enough fire behind you, you can start moving and learn a lot really quickly.

Julie Deane is the founder and CEO of The Cambridge Satchel Company. She lives in Cambridge, England, with her two children.

3 Productivity Hacks for Launching a Business While Holding Down a Day Job

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Launching a business is incredibly time-consuming. It's even more challenging when you're holding down a full-time job. With only 24 hours in the day, how can you manage your time so that you can fulfill your existing personal and professional commitments while dedicating the time required to launch your business?

Related: Time Management Is Really Life Management

For the past year, I have struggled with this problem myself. Every day, I have had so many balls in the air that I might as well be a professional juggler. To survive this period and be effective, an entrepreneur-with-a-job needs a system to identify the best use of his or her time; otherwise life will spiral out of control, causing burnout.

I found my own system by seeking counsel from my mentor, and discovered the following three productivity hacks for launching a business while holding down a day job:

1. Ask yourself the right questions ahead of time.

Every night before you go to bed, sit down with a blank sheet of paper and ask yourself the following questions, then write the answers down:

What are the highest income and impact actions I can take for my day job?

What are the highest income and impact actions I can take for my new business?

What are the highest impact actions I can take for my relationships with my family and friends?

What are the highest impact actions I can take for myself personally?

2. Prioritize.

By this step, you have a list of the highest income and impact actions you need to take. Many people would just start taking action on the list, but to be effective and ensure that the right things are being done, you should first prioritize them.

Your goal is to get the maximum results with the minimum effort required. To do this, ask yourself: “If I could complete only one thing on this list by the end of tomorrow, what would that one thing be that would make me feel like the day was a success?” Then repeat this process, assuming the first task has been completed, until your list is fully prioritized.

Related: 3 Time Management Tips That Will Improve Your Health and Productivity

3. Block your time.

If you were to complete just steps 1 and 2, you would likely see gains in your productivity. However, the reality is that there are more items on your list than can be done in a day, not to mention the infinite distractions you'll find will constantly threaten your productivity.

For my part, as I began these steps, I constantly felt scattered and was still not getting things done to my satisfaction The solution came during my interview with Jay Papasan for my podcast The Mentee.

Papasan and his partner Gary Keller of Keller Williams wrote about the concept of "time blocking" in their book The One Thing, which I recommend.

You are probably already used to scheduling important meetings in your calendar. Time blocking just means doing the same thing: making appointments with yourself to accomplish the vital actions you identified in Step 2.

By proactively blocking off your time, you can move through your day with the confidence that every item on your calendar will be the best use of your time and will generate the maximum results. I saw the biggest productivity gains because I stopped having to ask, “What should I be doing next?”

It was already decided. And I didn't get distracted and end up checking email or social media. I would simply look to my calendar, see what the next "appointment" was and take action.

At the point at which you become disciplined in implementing these three productivity hacks, you will find yourself accomplishing more in one day than you did the whole entire week before.

These three hacks are not earth-shattering, of course. But like anything in business, the results lie in your ability to take action and execute. You just invested your most valuable resource, your time, to read this article.

Will you next ensure a return on your investment by taking action and implementing what you just read? For those of you who do, I’m confident you will be pleased with the results.

Careers Workplace

10 Tough Job Lessons Worth Learning by Age 30

Stephanie Taylor Christensen / LearnVest

July 15, 2015

Anthony Lee—Getty Images

Workplace setbacks are rarely career enders.

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Some of the most important lessons you learn during your first decade working in “the real world” come from one source: The school of hard knocks.

There are professional failures you can’t predict, opportunities that end up being too good to be true, and moments when you don’t live up to your potential.

Although they may seem career-ending in the moment, these workplace setbacks can prove their value over time.

In part, it’s because they are mistakes you’ll never forget or repeat.

We rounded up 10 tough career scenarios that often happen as you’re building your career in your 20s—along with expert advice on how to find the “silver lining” lessons within these career clouds.

#1: Your dream job is a dud.

It’s a common predicament: You nailed what you thought was the perfect gig—but your day-to-day hasn’t lived up to the hype or your lofty expectations.

That’s the situation Golda Manuel found herself in when, at 28, she scored a pharmacist position at a health care company in San Francisco.

“My attraction to the job was the breadth of impact I thought I could have, but there was no time to focus on one customer—it was very impersonal,” recalls Manuel. “I expected it to make me happy and earn me respect. Boy, was I wrong.”

The Silver Lining Lesson: This kind of career reality check can inspire soul-searching—and ultimately lead you in an unexpected, more satisfying direction.

Take Manuel, who cofounded Social Scout, an app that helps small business sellers succeed on Amazon—a complete 180 from her pharmacist gig.

“I’m now able to speak to fellow small business owners to understand their growing pains, and work in a community with a common goal and purpose,” she says.

A dream job’s letdown is also a reminder not to assume any one thing will make you happy—be it a job or a purchase.

Cheryl Palmer, founder of Washington, D.C., coaching firm Call to Career, emphasizes setting realistic expectations from the get-go for any job—even those purported “dream gigs.”

So instead of being bummed that your job isn’t as fast-paced as you’d hoped it would be, for example, look at it from the viewpoint that you can channel that energy toward networking and getting more involved with industry events.

“I encourage clients to find as much job satisfaction as they can while still being realistic,” Palmer says. To keep the pros and cons in perspective, she recommends regularly taking the pulse on your job satisfaction. If it’s at 80%, you’re doing pretty well—but if it dips to 40%, it may be time to move on.

#2: You didn’t adequately prep for an interview.

You’re burned out from months of job hunting. You’re overconfident. You’re just not that into the position—but you need a job.

Whatever the reason, not knowing enough about a company, a role or the person interviewing you leaves an equally poor impression.

That’s what happened to Karen Robertson. At 21 she felt overqualified for a telemarketing job but needed the income. “I was about to get my [teaching] degree, and I was arrogant,” she says. “I felt like any fool could do the job—and it came off that way in the interview.”

Needless to say, she didn’t get the gig.

The Silver Lining Lesson: An interview requires your valuable time—and someone else’s. Flubbing it takes you down a few notches.

So how do you save face?

“Send a thank-you note, anyway,” suggests Rosalinda Randall, a career etiquette expert and author of Don’t Burp in the Boardroom. “I believe there’s value in acknowledging that you were unprepared, and that with the research you’ve done now, you would be grateful for another opportunity.”

Doing your homework is just as important when networking.

Toronto-based career and leadership coach Kamara Toffolo once confidently approached an exec at a financial services conference to introduce herself. It went well—until she introduced herself again later in the day.

His response? “You’re in a business where you need to remember names.” Ouch.

“I am now an expert at remembering faces and names,” she says. “It’s a skill that has served me very well.” In fact, Toffolo graciously apologized for her error and, years later, that same man gave her a job.

#3: You were too eager to say yes.

An “I’ll do it!” attitude can build a reputation as a team player—until you find yourself in danger of seriously dropping the ball.

“This is a classic symptom of being a people pleaser, and something that many of us run into early in our careers,” says Toffolo.

The Silver Lining Lesson: Biting off more than you can chew reflects some admirable qualities, like ambition and initiative. But long-term success also depends on learning to set expectations and ask clarifying details, whether it’s related to deadlines, process or resources.

“It’s perfectly acceptable to say to someone that you will check or look into something before assuring them it can be done,” Toffolo says.

Understanding why a project left you unprepared can also highlight professional areas of improvement. So take this as an opportunity to assess where you may need more training—and then make a plan for how to brush up on those skills.

#4: You got passed over for a promotion—or laid off.

Sometimes you can go above and beyond what’s asked of you—and still get overlooked. Or, worse yet, you can get laid off unexpectedly, despite putting in your best effort.

If you don’t get a coveted promotion, Toffolo says you should use it as motivation to be more proactive.

“Getting passed over means you should keep doing a great job, but with the addition of asking for more responsibility and involvement,” she says. Once you’ve built a strong case, speak up for that promotion you’ve worked so hard to demonstrate you deserve.

The Silver Lining Lesson: While fortune does favor the bold, keep in mind that you can’t control all the factors influencing your office or your industry at large.

A pattern of being passed over, however, can signal that it’s time to take a step back and consider a professional pivot.

As for being blindsided by a layoff? Don’t take it personally, says Toffolo. instead, take action to keep moving forward.

For Amanda Rose, 34, being laid off from a corporate gig led her to launch her own business, the matchmaking firm Dating Boutique. Rose says the experience taught her that not getting what you want in your career can be more valuable than getting it.

“Your success is determined by your mind-set, your will and your work ethic—not someone else,” adds Rose.

#5: You have a nightmare boss.

“Unfortunately, in my experience, bad bosses are more plentiful than good bosses,” Palmer says.

So the better you can learn to peacefully coexist with people you don’t enjoy, the less you’ll be impacted by them—both in and out of the office.

The Silver Lining Lesson: Don’t try to “solve” the boss. Instead, learn how to manage your reactions, and work within the conditions you face—assuming, of course, that the boss isn’t violating human resources laws.

“Keep your interactions on topic and to the point. Always use a civil tone, even if your boss does not. Avoid whining or forming a bash-the-boss clique,” advises Randall. “In other words, don’t give them anything to use against you.”

Ultimately, a bad boss can teach you behaviors to avoid and help you envision the kind of leader you want to become.

#6: You scored a high paying job—and hate it.

In a TEDTalk about motivation at work, behavioral economist Dan Ariely explains that most of us need to feel a sense of continual progress and purpose to stay motivated.

That’s one reason why the initial high of landing a lucrative gig may quickly become the new normal and leave you feeling dissatisfied.

The Silver Lining Lesson: Don’t get us wrong—money is an important part of a job. It impacts when you can reach the financial goals that will deliver on the quality of life you desire. And what you earn now determines what you’ll command in your next gig.

But just as the thrill of a shopping spree wears off quickly, so does the elation of a high salary when the professional rewards are otherwise sparse.

Recognizing that income itself has a limited impact on how you feel each day can encourage you to reevaluate future opportunities with more honesty about what you really value and want in a job.

For instance, would you rather take a pay cut but report to an inspiring manager? Or bring home more dough but have to clock long days because of a competitive environment that prioritizes face time?

“A great work environment, work-life balance, room for growth, and a supportive corporate culture are all part of the motivation equation,” Toffolo says.

#7: You covered up a mistake when you should have come clean.

Even the most seasoned professionals sometimes make a misstep—and not recognizing and being honest about this can telegraph immaturity and insecurity.

Shoving something under the rug may leave you feeling anxious—and you’ll have a lot more explaining to do if and when your boss finds out.

The Silver Lining Lesson: Instead of trying to wish away an error, when you do finally fess up, Randall recommends making no excuses and placing no blame.

Simply let the boss know that you have learned from the experience, and suggest what you would do differently the next time.

She also advises asking your boss two questions to smooth over any rough waters: “How can I make this right?” and “What can I do to minimize the damage?”

#8: You blew a big presentation.

Public-speaking groups like Toastmasters exist for a reason: Presenting is a skill—and not one that comes naturally for most.

Bombing in front of a live audience can happen to the best of us—politicians, Oscar winners, C.E.O.’s, and athletes included. We have YouTube to prove it.

But while giving a lackluster presentation isn’t a professional habit you want to repeat, it’s not a career-ending gaffe either.

The Silver Lining Lesson: “Consider why your presentation went wrong, and what you could/should have done differently that would have led to a better outcome,” Palmer says.

Did you need more time, more information, more practice, or do you simply need to brush up on your public-speaking confidence? All of this can be solved for, so you don’t repeat your presentation faux pas.

“I also recommend meeting with your boss to apologize,” Randall says. “Leave out the list of excuses and ask for an honest critique. Even if it hurts, listen, consider and apply what you’ve learned.”

#9: You’re friends (or enemies!) with the wrong coworkers.

You spend a lot of hours at the office, and it can be more fun when you’re among friends—but if too many conversations center on inappropriate office gossip, you risk calling your judgment into question.

It’s not always easy to spot the “good eggs” from those who are insincere or who have a bad reputation that could tarnish yours. And if you’ve made professional enemies, their impressions could come back to haunt you later in your career.

The Silver Lining Lesson: Letting your guard down too much in the workplace presents a challenge—but also a great opportunity to redefine who you want to be professionally moving forward.

So seek out positive role models at work—and begin respectfully limiting the amount of time you spend with the “wrong crowd.”

As for people whom you’ve rubbed the wrong way, “talk to them and let them know that you want a fresh start,” urges Palmer. “It will take some time to rebuild the relationship, but it’s better to do that than to have to expect a knife in your back.”

#10: You disagreed with your boss—in the open.

Let’s say your manager invites you to share a project’s findings at a meeting attended by lots of company bigwigs.

Your presentation goes off without a hitch: The attendees are interested, asking questions and discussing ideas that may be important to keep the project’s momentum moving forward.

Then your boss makes a proposal but you don’t agree. And you say so. And just like that, the high-energy meeting goes to … crickets. You misread the room—and your place in it.

Bottom line: There’s a fine and sometimes ambiguous line between sharing opinions and speaking out of turn.

The Silver Lining Lesson: Learning to edit yourself is a key ingredient in the recipe for professional success. Your way isn’t the only approach—and you can’t always be the star.

When you’ve spoken publicly against your boss, Palmer says damage control is priority number one.

“Explain that you are still getting acclimated to the work world, and you realize that you were wrong to air your differences in a forum like that,” she says. “Then reassure your boss that it will never happen again.”

In the future, if you feel strongly that your suggestion is warranted, wait to bring it up with your boss in a more private setting—and weigh how best to broach the matter.

It’s a long climb up the corporate ladder, and there’s more payoff to being a supportive team player than an always-on self-promoter.

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Smart companies understand that workspaces are a business tool. An office environment reflects and reinforces a business’s core values, through the placement of different teams and functions and design elements that reflect culture, brand, and values.

For example, we’ve seen an explosion of open office layouts, in part because openness, transparency, and collaboration are some of the attributes companies strive for today. Sometimes these designs work well; however, research shows that this collaborative push may be too much of a good thing. Increasingly, people are rediscovering the value of quiet and focus and asking for spaces where they can concentrate.

In fact, collaboration and quiet are two ends of a continuum with a range of in-between work modes — each with an optimal setting. The best way to identify these is to identify everyday work patters and micro-moments that correspond to office design decisions.

This is easier said than done, however. It’s one thing to note a person working solo in an otherwise empty seminar room, or a group of people huddling around someone’s desk because a conference room wasn’t available. It’s quite another to imagine what an alternative, effective scenario might look like.

To get everyone speaking the same spatial language, we created a Collaboration and Quiet index consisting of seven attributes that can more concretely enable people to match a desired way of working with a physical space: location, enclosure, exposure, technology, temporality, perspective, and size.

To better understand how these work, try the exercise below on your own or with your team. Pick an example of a work activity that happens regularly, like a daily or weekly standing meeting. Using the continuum below, try to identify the ideals for your particular situation (they will likely fall somewhere between the two extremes on either end). For the attribute “location,” for example, you could ask your team: Is the meeting best facilitated if it’s held in an in-demand central meeting room or near where other people are likely to gather? Or is it best facilitated closer to your team’s work area and away from where you are likely to encounter others?

When you’re done, consider all your answers collectively — this can help give you the language to identify your needs beyond, say, “We need more collaborative meeting space.”

There are a variety of ways you can use this exercise beyond one meeting. It can serve as the basis of a design visioning workshop with a larger group about how and where people work and how they would envision working in new ways in the future. We created a version of our index as an online survey that feeds us input in a more systematic way and as a means of reaching more people — you could, too, if your organizations are more accustomed to engaging in surveys online rather than in person.

To illustrate how this all plays out on a larger scale in real companies, here are two mini case studies from businesses we’ve worked with.

Adobe

Adobe’s New York office had been growing due to its acquisitions of smaller technology companies. And as a mature company in a fast-growing sector where the competition for talent (especially in New York City) has led competing firms to heavily invest in their work settings, Adobe saw an opportunity to rethink the future of its Midtown Manhattan office.

At the same time, the company knew they had some challenges. For one, employees in the Midtown office had stopped using the space on a regular basis, for a variety of reasons. Many were opting to work from home or elsewhere, and the company had a fair number of employees working remotely across the globe. As a consequence, even those who did work Midtown were often spending much of their time collaborating virtually.

The space itself wasn’t giving people a compelling reason to come to the office unless they had to, either. The layout was consumed with individual offices, cubicles, and few amenities. Furthermore, people from newly acquired divisions began working side by side, but brought legacy work culture and space needs along with them — and they often conflicted.

Instead of redesigning their office under the blanket statement of “we need more collaborative space,” Adobe asked us to help them figure out what employees specifically needed to support their daily work. To support Adobe’s analytical and data-driven culture, we worked closely with their real estate team, which collects and analyzes data about their workspaces, and got feedback from employees on the seven attributes above as a key part of planning process.

To create more of a “destination” work environment, we learned that employees wanted spaces that were transparent and provided a greater perspective to other activities in the office. They valued purposeful spaces that provided plug-and-play technology so that information could be more easily shared among team members, and to better support virtual collaboration. And people wanted more meeting spaces that could be used quickly and informally.

But while they valued more openness, the survey results indicated that they didn’t want the work environment to feel like a start-up. Boundaries that delineate among activities and teams were still important to them. These results were later validated through subsequent meetings with Adobe staff in order to further refine the requirements.

The design of Adobe’s Midtown New York space is underway, and there is excitement about where it’s heading. Because of its adaptation to an online visual format, our methodology was able to communicate to Adobe team members in a way that aligned with how they engage their end users — through imagery and through analytics.

Yodle

Since its 2005 founding, the marketing company had grown to over 1,100 employees. The New York headquarters housed over a third of its workforce, including developers, the sales team, operations, and leadership. Yodle’s developer teams typically worked on a number of rapid projects that require easy coordination and the visualization of timelines and tasks.

The company wanted to preserve the energy of a start-up while creating sufficient space to accommodate future growth. The old, now-crowded space had evolved in an ad-hoc way, and people were packed into nooks and crannies. Teams were separated with no central places to meet, while executives remained isolated in private offices. The scrappy functionality of the space culturally constrained their evolution from start-up to mature business.

After undergoing a rapid visioning exercise using the seven attributes to define and differentiate the different work modes for each of their teams, several surprises emerged. The developer teams realized that they were more interactive than they initially imagined, but also needed quiet space to churn out quick turnaround projects. To address this, the final design ultimately incorporated a “quiet car” — a semi-enclosed area in a quiet corner of the floor where they could take their laptops and work without disruption on these intensive projects. This setting also visually signaled that people were not to be disturbed when working in the space.

Another surprise was the realization that the company needed a town hall space and central gathering area. The final design incorporated a large feature stair that was wide enough to provide stadium seating for larger gatherings. Despite mixed opinions and initial skepticism among staff about the usefulness of the feature stair, it has become one of the most actively used settings in the entire office. Managers note that the fact that people linger there after meetings has increased inter-group learning. As word about the new space has spread, the number and quality of job applicants has increased.

courtesy of HLW International

Getting started

The challenges that Adobe and Yodle faced are common, and illustrate how projects can begin with a statement like, “we need more collaborative space” and conclude with a much deeper story about how people work the way they do, and why.

To begin the discussion in your organization, in addition to analyzing the seven attributes with your employees, company leaders should also ask themselves the following questions:

Who are our employees, and who will they be in the next 5 years?

Who else uses our space (visitors, clients, community members, etc.), and why?

How do we want clients, prospective hires, or other visitors to perceive us when they enter our space?

To what extent do we value flexibility and choice over how work gets done?

Are certain modes of working seen as a privilege only available to a select few?

What current workplace behaviors would we like to change?

What are the most satisfying attributes of the existing workplace that sustain productivity?

If people aren’t regularly coming to the office, do we understand why not?

The design and outfitting of workspace is a major capital investment for any organization that can affect a number of business outcomes, including productivity, employee satisfaction, engagement, talent recruitment, and brand impact. Given the myriad ways to design and plan a space, leaders should approach workplace design in a strategic way. Imitating the latest fads start-ups are adopting won’t necessarily get you the results your company desires; asking the right questions — and, above all, listening to employees’ answers — will.

Peter Bacevice, PhD is Director of Research with the New York office of HLW International, a global architecture and design firm. Pete is also researcher with the Center for Positive Organizations at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. He works with a range of organizations on projects related to workplace assessment and strategy, workforce flexibility, and engagement. Follow him on Twitter @Bacevice.

Liz Burow is an Associate Principal with the New York office of HLW International where she directs the firm’s global Strategy & Discovery team. She teaches executive workshops and university courses in visual thinking, end-user engagement and design research. Follow the team on Twitter @HLWStratDisco.

Mat Triebner is a Senior Design Strategist at the New York office of HLW International. He leads a variety of design strategy and change management engagements within the scope of broader architectural and interior design projects.

Data

Data Quality Should Be Everyone’s Job

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All of us depend on data created elsewhere to do our work. In the face of errors, most people’s natural reaction is to correct such errors in the data they need — after all, when you’re dealing with a mountain of day-in, day-out demands, that seems the fastest, most efficient way to complete the task at hand. The problem is that finding and fixing flawed data soon becomes a permanent fixture. Writ large, it is expensive and time-consuming. Worst of all, it doesn’t work well: Too many errors leak through, rearing their ugly heads later on and leading to larger mistakes, bad decisions, and angry customers.

The alternative is to prevent errors at their sources, obviating the need to find and fix them. While this seems obvious enough, it simply doesn’t occur to most people. That’s where data provocateurs come in — individuals who get their teams, departments, and companies to address data proactively. More people need to step into these roles, and companies need to remove barriers that prevent them from doing so.

In an earlier article I called out “data revolutionaries,” those individuals who disrupt companies by advancing data quality agendas. Since that time, I have ruthlessly reexamined why some people achieve stunning results, others do OK, and a few fail miserably. Those that achieved the best results didn’t think of themselves as revolutionaries at all; they were merely trying to do their jobs better. In the course of their investigations, they realized that doing so required a different approach to data quality. Once they understood this point, they aimed to provoke change, but by working within the existing management system, not blowing it up.

The data provocateurs I’ve worked with form a diverse lot: scientists, HR specialists, people at the lowest management levels, division presidents, relative newcomers, and seasoned veterans. When they started, none of them were thinking specifically about a data revolution, or even an alternative approach to data quality. For example, take Kim Russo, head of marketing at TeleTech Services. The company provides pricing data to telecoms, and Russo wondered what it would take to position her company as the quality leader in that space. She was intrigued by the notion of a rebate for any bad data, but first she had to estimate what it would cost. That required measurement. So she reached out to Stephanie Fetchen, head of operations, who plotted monthly errors on a control chart. Quality was high most months, but they found that errors came in bunches. They then engaged the entire company to find and eliminate root causes and prevent future errors. Russo and Fetchen went further, publishing results on the company website and offering a cookie — not a rebate — to anyone who found an error.

The stories of all provocateurs I’ve met are remarkably similar to Russo’s. Each was dissatisfied with the status quo, looked for ways to improve, and came to question the way his or her team dealt with data. They found the idea of preventing errors appealing, tried it out on a small scale, and expanded their efforts as they learned. All met resistance but persisted until they had a real result, such as million-dollar savings, a tenfold decrease in error rate, or a distinct advantage over competitors.

I urge everyone whose job depends on data to see themselves as a potential provocateur. Data managers and scientists of all sorts (not just data scientists) are obvious candidates, as are people who work in finance, planning, logistics, customer service, and the back office of most companies. I also urge less-obvious candidates to see themselves as provocateurs, such as senior managers who are simply trying to run their departments in the face of reports they don’t trust.

To be clear, simply communicating or complaining about bad data is not enough — you have to act. Most companies don’t manage data very well, and there is no shortage of iconoclasts, malcontents, and rabble-rousers who are all too happy to point this out. They have plenty of ideas about what others should do, but they sit safely on the sidelines when it comes to doing the actual work, refusing to engage in any meaningful way. Provocateurs take the opposite approach. They keep their mouths shut and focus on doing their jobs better, which can then spread the practice throughout the company.

This is not an easy task. I’ve met hundreds of people, maybe thousands, who are dissatisfied with the status quo and have good ideas but are hesitant to push their ideas. They fear that if they fail they’ll miss an opportunity for a raise or promotion. But these fears are unfounded. In fact, the senior managers that I’ve spoken to know their organizations need new ideas, and almost all are horrified that their charges would hold back.

I’d recommend that provocateurs get over these concerns by keeping bosses informed, accepting help from others, and sharing credit for success. Start small, so that any failures happen quickly and quietly. Learn and gain confidence as you go. Ask hard questions, separate solid answers from fluff, keep an open mind to all potential improvements, and persist in the face of resistance. The practical reality is that all new ideas attract heavy resistance, so your chances are better when you have a solid result to show for your efforts.

Driving data quality across an entire company takes top-down leadership, but provocateurs are a crucial first step. Although many end up introducing revolutionary ideas that can change their companies, that is not their initial intent. More people need to take on these roles, and managers at all levels need to remove the fear that keeps people from doing so.

Thomas C. Redman, Ph.D “the “Data Doc,” helps companies, including many of the Fortune 100, improve data quality. He is the author of the article “Data’s Credibility Problem” (Harvard Business Review, December 2013).

Leadership

How Your Leadership Has to Change as Your Startup Scales

Jeffrey W. Hull

May 20, 2016

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laura schneider FOR HBR

When it comes to new tricks, sometimes new dogs are just as hard to teach as old ones. At least, that was what went through my mind as I sat in on a recent senior team meeting at a fast-growing, two-year-old e-commerce company. I winced when Daniel, the 32-year-old CEO, said, “Come on, guys, I need you all to focus more on execution. If we’re going to scale successfully at the pace we’ve laid out, we’ve got to execute faster and delegate more. I want you pushing hard on your teams. Get them to step up and execute! That’s why we’ve brought in Jeff here, to coach all of us on how to motivate the troops.” I smiled sheepishly. Really? I thought. That’s not what I had in mind.

Don’t get me wrong — Daniel’s intentions are good. Many startup CEOs adopt this “visionary entrepreneur” leadership style. They set out a broad vision, provide lofty goals, and model an ambitious work ethic (for recent college grads, it’s not a big leap from “all nighters” to “all weekenders”). And at this stage in a company’s growth, it generally works. Just being close to the founders — working alongside them, being in meetings where there is a personal connection — tends to motivate and inspire young staff. Early employees feel that they belong to a special “club.”

Yet keeping enthusiasm up as the company grows is difficult, especially as the direct link between founders and employees becomes less tangible or less possible (when opening remote offices, for example). As a result, many startups that experience zero turnover during the first year or two suddenly find themselves dealing with as much as 40% turnover in year three.

To address the engagement problem, leaders like Daniel need to recognize that the methods for leading and motivating staff that they used in the startup phase may no longer work. According to Self-Determination Theory, intrinsic drivers such as autonomy (the ability to have a sense of “self-authoring” one’s work), competency (the sense of continued growth in skills and abilities), and relatedness (the sense of connection, inclusion, and belonging) are crucial factors in building an engaged, committed workforce.

To scale the business successfully, Daniel needs his employees onboard. To get there, he needs to focus on these motivational drivers and shift his mindset from “startup” to “scale up.” The latter requires balancing the “push” mode of leadership (tell, direct, delegate) with a “pull” approach (empower, collaborate, coach), which has been shown to generate greater commitment and creativity in staff members no matter their age or the size of the company.

Here are four things leaders and their organizations can do to move from startup mode to scale-up mode:

Listen more. First, you need to shift from directing to coaching, which is all about listening rather than telling. Ask thoughtful, open-ended questions, pay attention (no texting or distractions), maintain eye contact and receptive body language, and let silence be OK (so an employee can gather their thoughts). Many harried leaders may balk, insisting they have no time for this. Keep in mind that it’s not the quantity of time you set aside that matters — it’s the quality of time.

Align employee and business goals. Shift from purely directive goal setting to a reciprocal process that links the growth of the business with the growth of the individual. When people feel that business goals are tied directly to their development, they are much more likely to go the extra mile. Ask employees to reflect on their personal goals and find ways to incorporate them into business initiatives. For example, a digital marketing director at Daniel’s company wanted to gain greater visibility and impact beyond her area of focus. So she and her boss agreed to have her lead the development of a pop-up store, which required collaboration with finance, sales, and product teams. Because the temporary retail outlet was a first for the company, it was highly visible and allowed the marketing director to stretch beyond her digital responsibilities. She was excited about the opportunity, it helped her grow, and the project was a success for the organization.

Create feedback loops. Include time for two-way feedback (“How are you doing, and how am I doing?”) in weekly or biweekly one-on-one meetings with staff members. That way, feedback will become embedded in the culture instead of happening ad hoc in out-of-the-blue “gotcha” sessions or too infrequently, at annual review time.

Build peer-to-peer networks. Even in small companies, big-company programs such as cross-functional quality assurance groups or employee resource groups (ERGs) can help deepen the sense of inclusion and relatedness that’s lost when the company grows beyond the startup phase. (ERGs are groups formed around staff affinities, such as volunteering or support for women, or communities of LGBTQ people or people of color.) These groups bring together staff from different functional areas to share lessons learned from completed projects and to brainstorm potential quality improvements or innovations. They help break down silos, broaden awareness and sensitivity to other groups’ goals and needs, and avoid building a finger-pointing culture. Research into the benefits of ERGs at large companies such as American Express, Accenture, and Merck has shown them to improve retention and engagement. In some cases, acting like a big company may help you become one.

For Daniel, it was a challenge to become a good listener, to set aside time for brainstorming sessions with employees who were two or even three levels below him. However, he’s now a big fan of what he calls his monthly “listening tour” — regular breakfast meetings with employees from across the company. Staff members appreciate the opportunity to connect, and Daniel tells me that he regularly comes away with ideas that might never have bubbled up otherwise.

Daniel and his cofounders also began to sponsor and provide time for a cross-functional, volunteer “QVC” group (quality, values, culture), where staffers meet and brainstorm how to make the company’s values statement real. Yet just as Daniel can see tangible benefits from listening more, he and the other executive see upside from the ideas and enthusiasm generated by this peer group interaction. The head of HR is working to institute a simple online checklist for leaders to track their two-way feedback interactions with staff. She is optimistic that these conversations will become embedded in the fabric of the organization, as she plans to provide training on feedback best practices and monitor use of the checklist.

Initiatives like these, which balance CEO or founder directives with cross-functional interactions and two-way dialogue, can go a long way toward addressing employees’ needs for relatedness, autonomy, and personal growth. If Daniel and other leaders hope to grow their companies past the startup phase, they need to scale with a balanced leadership approach, one that pulls the best from good people instead of unintentionally pushing them out the door.

Jeffrey W. Hull, Ph.D. is the director of education and business development at the Institute of Coaching (a Harvard Medical School affiliate), a clinical instructor in psychology at Harvard Medical School, and an adjunct professor of leadership at NYU. Over 20 years, he has served as a coach and consultant to hundreds of organizations around the world, specializing in leadership development and organizational strategy, design, and transformation.

The One Question You Should Ask at the End of Every Job Interview

There's one thing that ultimately determines whether or not we get the job: The interview. Don't blow it.

By Peter Economy

The Leadership Guy@bizzwriter

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CREDIT: Getty Images

While we all know that resumes and applications–and anything else we submit on paper–take priority for getting our foot in the door with a new employer, there's one thing that ultimately determines whether or not we get the job: The interview. How do we nail it? Read on to find the one question you should definitely be asking–and why it works so well.

Interviews are crucial for employers to put a face to a name, as well as to see whether or not they think the person would be a good fit for the company. That being said, it's of utmost importance not only to put your best foot forward, but also to show that you can add something to their team. When interviews do fail, they leave so many applicants wondering just what they did wrong. The trick to circumventing this problem, however, is actually easier than it seems.

Sometimes, the solution is simply to ask.

According to Francois Jobin, co-founder and Chief People and Operations Officer of local job search site Wirkn, the one question to ask is this:

"Have I said anything in this interview or given you any other reason to doubt that I am a good fit for the role?"

This question clearly demonstrates your confidence to the interviewer, and your true intent on getting the job (which may be exactly what the interviewer is looking for in you, and may itself lead to a job offer).

In addition, by asking directly for critical feedback, you accomplish three important things–even if you aren't offered the job. First, you are able to discover how the interview affected your chances of being hired. Second, it can also allow you to clarify issues that may have served as pitfalls during the interview process that you didn't even notice. Finally, it's a great way to get personalized tips in order to better prepare for your next interview should it be necessary. After all, the only thing worse than making a mistake is not learning from it–and making the same mistake over and over again.

Although this question may seem overly bold and daring, it is one that's absolutely necessary to know how you're doing professionally. Who knows, by taking this small, short-term risk, you may just reap some very rewarding, long-term effects–such as landing that job.

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