Leaders know where to point the camera, enabling us to notice our embodied narratives and guiding us to choose ones that reinforce and deepen our identity.
Storytelling and Mapmaking
We become the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves; we become the stories we live.
Our stories become our maps and as we walk them, we create our landscape – our experiences and choices.
Belonging to a community (an organization) is not a private matter; we are all connected. Within a community, there is no such thing as a random comment; every comment contributes to an emergent and unfolding narrative that either works for or against us.
It is the understory, the timeless and enduring story we live beneath the surface, that shapes our character and culture. When we live a story, consciously or not, it becomes our map – defining our worldview, our possibilities, and who we become.
Reflection Questions
How would you describe the leadership narrative you are currently living? Share a story that illuminates how this narrative shows up in your organization.
Reflecting on the roles of leaders as storytellers and mapmakers, have you experienced an epiphany as a leader? What made this a defining moment for you?
How might you begin to illuminate and name the understories within your organization?
Notes
1. David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous (New York: Vintage Books, 1977), 166.
2. Robert Lenzner and Stephen S. Johnson, “Seeing Things As They Really Are,” Forbes, March 10, 1997.
3. See discussion about quote at Andrew Cave, “Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast. So What’s for Lunch?” Forbes, November 9, 2017.
13
Choose, Build, Live High Expectations!
Mel Spiese
Major General (Ret.) Mel Spiese spent 36 years on active duty. An infantry officer, he had extensive experience in formal training and education positions as a senior officer, including colonel assignments as Director of the Combined Arms Training Program, Command of School of Infantry, and Director of Expeditionary Warfare School. As a flag officer, he commanded Training Command, Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command, and Training and Education Command, as well as serving as the Deputy Director of Strategy, Plans, and Assessments, J-5, at US European Command, and Deputy Commanding General of First Marine Expeditionary Force and Commanding General of 1st Marine Expeditionary Brigade.
Specific actions in training and education assignments include the complete restructure and redesign of Enlisted Professional Military Education, leadership development in Professional Military Education anchored in Values-Based Leadership, and institution of Values-Based Training in all Entry-Level Training programs, among many other accomplishments. He was responsible for Mission Rehearsal Training for units deploying to combat in Iraq, and the transition of Mission Rehearsal Training from Iraq to Afghanistan. He transitioned to Cubic Defense Systems upon retirement from active duty and is now consulting independently for a number of businesses, in addition to the development of Leaders Can Be Made.
■ ■ ■
While attending an Inspired Work workshop in 2015, I was asked by the founder (and author of The Workplace Engagement Solution1), David Harder, if the Marine Corps had a problem with workforce disengagement. We were discussing the characteristics of the younger generations – Millennials and Generation Z – and the challenges they present to employers. He was interested in aspects of work behavior and performance that had become common expectations of our generation.
I began with a laugh, “No. The Marine Corps experiences many challenges with junior members, but not disengagement.”
The Marine Corps is the youngest of the military services and turns over roughly 20% of the force annually. It draws from the general population, and the demographic we were talking about has shouldered the brunt of the past 15 years of intense operations overseas.
Those who choose to be Marines are not particularly remarkable compared with the demographic at large, except for an interest and willingness to reach for something bigger inside of themselves. They come to us willing – even eager – to transform themselves. When young recruits enter the Marine Corps, they have only one thing in common: They are ordinary people seeking something more. That certainly was my personal story when I was 17 years old. I was living an unremarkable life on an unremarkable path. Then I was presented a remarkable opportunity, that when taken, forever changed me and the expectations I had for my life. But I could just as easily have chosen a life of low expectations.
The Marines have not lowered expectations. On the contrary, they have deliberately held onto high expectations and found a way of seeing the potential behind immediate appearances. What we commonly see in today’s civilian workforce is an outcome of reduced cultural norms and low societal expectations. But the unseen thing as I look at society today is the potential and possibilities buried beneath those low expectations. Since the Marine Corps draws from the same demographic pool as civilian employers, the civilian workplace has the same access to the innate qualities of dedication, persistence, selflessness, adaptability, resilience, and excellence that are present in today’s Marines.
It comes down to how organizations view and work with their people. It is not a matter of what may be written or said, but rather the reality of what is practiced. Is the workforce the heart of the organization to be developed and groomed? Or do members represent components to be manipulated and costs to be managed by senior executives? That answer, as it is manifested in organizational behavior, makes all the difference in the world.
What is it about the Marines that is different? The Marines see – and therefore believe in – the potential and innate dedication in the young civilians who present themselves to recruiters all over the United States. And Marine recruiters are trained to hold the belief that this dedication is out there in America’s small towns and big cities alike.
As Wayne Dyer said so often, “When you believe it, you will see it.” In my 36 years in the Marine Corps – much of which was charged with the task of turning young civilians into the best America has to offer – I knew firsthand that even in the Marine Corps, the power was in seeing what so many others overlooked in the personal lives of each of the young men and women I was responsible for and came to know.
Identity
This is the heart of Marine success. The Marine Corps has an identity, individual and collective, that reaches the best in people and elevates them to something definable and measurable that is bigger than self, not lowering to meet people where they are, nor catering to comfort or selfish gratification. It is a hard-earned identity, not given, and appeals to the highest ideals and aspirations inside of people rather than the lowest common denominators.
The Marines have not cornered the market on identity, of course, and identity is often a major element in attracting talent for companies of all sizes. We know of organizations and companies that have become institutions in themselves, and anchor their appeal on organizational identity. The difference is the nature of that identity. Is it cheap gratification of being associated with a brand? Or deep, enduring satisfaction of pulling together for a selfless cause?
Ultimately though, outcome results from input and process. If input revolves around catering to self, outcome is likely to be the same. An organization so structured will attract and develop people who have little loyalty to the larger whole, but seek other opportunities that cater to self.
For all that is hyped about organizational culture and values, words count for little; behavior and practices count for all. A review of the websites of automobile makers who made news the past several years regarding decisions that resulted in loss of public confidence and adverse governmental action reveals multiple uses of words like trust and compliance. In the end, though, those were empty words compared to the deliberate organizational actions that led to blistering results. Wonderful words, but irrelevant when it mattered.
Many comp
anies making news today are identified as innovative and creative, yet their day-to-day experience is a culture of conformity and low expectations. The workforce is becoming disengaged, and data abounds regarding unhappiness and lack of fulfillment. This is culture and values in practice, and as outcome results from input and practices, this is not surprising.
An identity built on characteristics that uplift and elevate, that equip and develop the best in people, can free the spirit and unleash the individual. The performance of Millennials and Generation Z Marines over the last 15 years has been superb. They have lived up to defined institutional standards built over two centuries. Young people continue to be drawn to the Marine Corps, despite known adversity, risk, and challenge. It’s because of the Marines’ identity.
Based on my experience in the Marines, I have identified four key steps that have been proven to bring out the best in the unseen talents of Millennials and Generation Z.
1. Identify: Find and Attract the Right People
This is the first essential step in bringing new life to an organization. Done poorly, everything that follows is overtaxed, potentially wasted, and the organization tends to fail in achieving its desired outcomes. For the Marine Corps, it is its institutional life blood.
This, obviously, refers to the recruiting process, the process of finding and hiring the right people. The Marines first appeal to the individual’s self-interest, in a sense, just like all potential employers looking for entry-level talent. Given that the Marines recruit from the same demographic as civilian businesses, the major difference is the nature of the individual’s self-interest, that quality of being aspirational, of wanting the chance to serve a cause bigger than self. Success has required adjusting communications and messaging to the cultural norms and value set of Millennials and Generation Z, which reflects a dynamic, attentive, and responsive recruiting process.
That process cannot be superficial; a mere screening of talent and appealing to job position and compensation cannot get employers who they want if they seek something deeper in their workforce. Success lies in ensuring that you attract the kinds of people who fit the culture of the organization or its desired change. Many may present themselves, but it’s up to the employer to sift through winners and mere wannabes.
This is also a process of transparent mutual inquiry. Employers owe it to the candidates to set real expectations and standards by which they will be measured and ultimately rewarded.
It is worth noting that at no point in the post-9/11 period has the Marine Corps come up short in getting volunteers for recruit or officer training. The quality has increased in every measurable way. This speaks to the message and process adopted by the Marines, and the nature of the generational demographic, both of which contrast the popular narrative.
2. Invest: Deliberately Develop What the Organization Values
It is unfair and unrealistic to impose an expectation on an employee that is not supported by training and consistent role modeling. This is where investment comes in. Investment turns an expectation into a reality. It can be broken down into two parts: instruction and induction.
As it relates to expectations, the Marine Corps presents and develops everything to its entering workforce that it expects as an outcome of performance. This is the willingness of the organization to commit to the individual, and the development of the qualities needed to make the individual effective within the organization.
A common objection is, “If I invest all this training in my employees, I’m just training them for my competitor. Why should I train these folks when they’re just about to leave in three years?”
Concern about return on investment can be mitigated with development that is intentionally, incrementally, and strategically delivered. Investing in onboarding and training in specifically timed increments can be geared to phases of deliberate career management, presenting a value proposition that elicits professional commitment and loyalty. By the time the person is fully invested in training, you will already have had a valued run of service with the individual. Then, if the employee chooses to stay, you will have a wealth of trained talent upon which to sustain operational success and organizational culture, and that you can depend upon to onboard and develop the future workforce.
This concept becomes an organizational value and will allow potential or new employees to see that it is a community they want to be a continued part of.
This mindset is the critical element in the successful development of a workforce. It has enabled the Marine Corps to take an otherwise not highly considered demographic and elevate them to a standing that meets the image and outcome the Marines have achieved over the last two centuries.
It is obvious that the Marine Corps cannot expect people to show up with all required skills. But far more critical than job skills are the intangible, yet measurable, personal qualities, practices, and values that the institution has determined to be essential for individual and organizational success and for institutional regeneration and sustainability. Those qualities and practices that are most vital to the organization are not left to assumptions, but rather are accepted as an institutional responsibility to develop and inculcate within all of those who enter the Marine Corps.
As it invests in people, particularly in intangible but critical qualities, the Marine Corps invests in itself as an organization. This is not a contracted responsibility; it is an inherent one, and it is the institutional buy-in for ensuring that those qualities and practices are consistent outcomes in all Marines and that they permeate the institution.
3. Incorporate: Linking Functional Integration to Organizational Mission
Incorporation addresses organizational structure, processes, and practices. Even the best of processes that properly identify and invest in a workforce end as people fill their positions and begin their routine work. Incorporation implies building into the organization the means by which stated values, described culture, and individual expectations – all of which should be inculcated into new employees – come to life. This concept works on two levels: (1) the organization must reflect what it says it is in its expectations of employees and how they experience their day-to-day interaction with the organization, and (2) the organization must enable and support the qualities and behaviors it espouses to value in the workforce through the thoughtful positioning and use of its people.
This is the employer’s side of the employment contract. The employee has been brought on board and educated. Now it is the employer’s job to find a meaningful role for that person and set them free to do it.
Nothing is more transparent than organizational practices, particularly those tied to an organization’s leaders. We see buzz words such as trust, innovate, initiative, and empower routinely touted, yet in practice, the desire to control, or adversity to risk, can often devalue that messaging, thereby eliciting cynicism and disengagement within the workforce.
Just as it is improper for an organization to place an expectation on a person who hasn’t been properly trained, it becomes more damaging to place an expectation on someone that is ignored or violated by organizational process, decisions, actions, or culture.
Today’s workforce has an expectation of empowerment; it is their nature. Marines are incorporated directly into functional positions tied to the organization’s investment in building character and equipping them with skills. They are also empowered to perform, with a bias toward action. In the world in which they operate, they simply have to act; the alternative is not acceptable. The Millennial and Generation Z Marines have more than risen to the challenge, and have met over 200 years of unmatched individual and organizational success.
As a deliberate process, incorporation delivers the return on investment. As the organization invests in the individual, its return is the individual operating at a high capacity and committed to the organization, its mission, and its success.
4. Inspire: The Day-to-Day Intersection of Workforce, Organization, and Leadership
> Inspire is to inform and infuse the individual with the shared vision modeled by organizational leaders. Tied to mission, it becomes the aspirational reminder of the bigger outcome that all are pulling toward together. It is holding, casting, and modeling, constantly keeping vision foremost in mind, resulting in perseverance to the collective goal and keeping day-to-day nuisances in proper perspective.
Inspiration speaks to the ongoing relationship between the workforce and the organization, manifested in the decisions and actions of its leadership. This is not just a structural, vertical leadership relationship, but it also includes informal and peer-to-peer leadership and influence. Inspire is both personal and organizational. This gets to practices (more than words or commands), which are those things the organization ultimately and actually prizes. Inspiration is what is valued and rewarded in recognition, evaluations, compensation, and promotions seen and experienced by the workforce. Success in inspiration is an organization that structurally encourages and supports the workforce consistent with what it has instilled in its people and espouses as important.
The Marines inspire through the reminder of high personal standards that surround each individual and that are modeled by those with the responsibility and privilege of leadership. It is done visibly, sometimes under great pressure, most often quietly. It not simply a constant in the work life of Marines, but also a glue that holds together units at many levels, and ultimately, the institution itself over time.
Conversely, as we understand aspects of the disengaged workforce, we know there is disinspiration, as well. It is inherently damaging to see mediocre performance, or acceptance of falling short of goals, being tolerated by leadership. If employees think, “Do I really want to be on this team? Do I trust my peers or respect my leaders?” or similar thoughts, you have a disengaged workforce. People seek inspiration from both peers and leaders. As it achieves a shared positive vision, the workforce supports and builds upon itself.
Work is Love Made Visible Page 11
