Description
Have you become unhappy and stressed while taking on the responsibilities of being a leader? Do you want to manage your team in a better way? If so, then this summary is for you. In this you will learn that the daily interactions you have with your team members are the core of leadership. You’ll also learn how to improve these interactions so you can motivate your people, build stronger relationships with them, and be ready for any challenge as a team.
Book Summary
Introduction
In 2001, Campbell Soup Company’s stock price suddenly declined, as did its standing in the S&P 500. Campbell became the worst performer among the world’s big food companies. The book’s author, Douglas Conant, was called in by Nabisco to improve Campbell’s situation.
Campbell’s employees became very frustrated and disappointed at this time. Every day he had to deal with angry customers, irritable colleagues and unfriendly suppliers. The entire system of the company had gone haywire and people were feeling very upset and tired.
Meanwhile, Douglas had spent five years leading a large division at Nabisco, which had transformed the division from producing average results to consistently generating sales and increasing its market share. Douglas believed that solving problems with complete aggression and treating people with love is the true identity of leadership.
- Advertisement -
By 2009, Campbell Soup Company was outperforming its competitors in the S&P 500. There was a boom in sales and business was going very well. Campbell’s employees were also highly motivated and the company was seen as a diverse and socially responsible company.
So how did Douglas Conant solve this problem? What was the secret behind this transformation of Campbell?
The answer is “touchpoints”. These are the daily moments that most leaders see as interruptions. But Douglas sees these touchpoints as opportunities to build relationships with people and find solutions before problems get out of control.
In this summary you will learn how to use touchpoints effectively. You’ll also learn how to use daily moments to guide and inspire your employees. A simple conversation or even a walk through the factory can make a big difference. And this summary will teach you how to do all this.
The Power of TouchPoints
Suppose you are a senior executive and it is 3 o’clock in the afternoon and you are sitting in your office trying to finish a proposal which is very important for the future of your department. Suddenly one of your team members knocks on the door and asks for your advice on a difficult problem.
How will you react? You will get irritated and say come later? Or will you leave your work and solve your team member’s problem first? It’s your choice what you do.
Being a leader, you will have to take many decisions daily. People will come to you, send you mail or call you hoping for help. They may have many questions and may ask you for a solution to their problem. There are all kinds of issues, big and small, in the company, there are planned meetings and surprises which you have to handle in every situation.
Many times you will have to take a decision as quickly as possible with the limited information you have. You will have a lot of work to do and will feel very short of time. Usually this is the routine of a leader.
But what if you started approaching these daily interactions with a new mindset? How about if you look at them as leadership moments instead of distractions? Every interaction you have has the potential to become the highest or lowest point of someone’s day.
Each of these moments can become an opportunity that can give you clear performance expectations and influence your employee’s results. Every interaction holds the opportunity to become a touchpoint.
Touchpoint means a conversation between two or more people where together they try to complete a task or solve a problem. We experience many such touchpoints in our workplace every day.
Unfortunately, most leaders view touchpoints as a distraction from planning and strategy. On the other hand, both the authors of this book feel that touchpoint really works. These are those moments when you take action on your plans and priorities. Your ideas turn into reality only by coming into touchpoints.
There are 3 variables of touchpoint – issue, leader and team members.
Issue means a problem, decision or question that needs to be dealt with.
Team members include those who are impacted by the issue, such as your direct or indirect reports.
The leader is the most senior person who should listen carefully and help others to solve the issue. If you are a leader then it is important for you to know whether that issue is your issue, the issue of others or the issue of the team.
If that is your issue then you will have to take the decision. If others have issues then you should guide your employee and help them in taking decisions. And if this is a team issue then you should take responsibility and deal with it together with everyone.
Every touchpoint can make or break a relationship. A small moment can change people’s perspective on what they think about themselves, about their leaders, and about the future. The author of this book, Douglas Conant, attended graduate school and his professor was a teacher who liked high standards.
Once Douglas did an average job on an assignment and submitted it. His professor didn’t scold him, just said, “You can make better batter.” Doug remembered that moment and since then he always remained motivated.
When he became CEO, Doug used to challenge people to perform better instead of giving negative feedback. He realized that saying “you can bat” gives people more confidence and encourages them to improve.
This is an example of positive touchpoint. Doug’s co-author Mate Norgaard had the experience of a negative touchpoint. Many years ago she used to be a product manager in a multinational company. Once, Mate realized that his new product was not matching the company’s standards.
So he told this to his boss and marketing director and suggested that they should immediately stop the production and first improve this new product. But the marketing director said that this is the fourth quarter and they have to fulfill their quota. He told the mate, “If you are not able to do this, we will find another capable person.”
The Met team reached its quota, but after this he had no respect for himself and his boss. The marketing director was only asking him to blindly complete his duties and not develop commitment towards his work.
This is the potential of touchpoints. Positive touchpoints increase people’s confidence and commitment. Whereas negative touchpoints make people feel bad or negative about themselves and others.
It’s up to you how you use these touchpoints. You could be the CEO of a company, a manager, a mentor, or a parent. Your job should be to touch others and guide them in the right decision. Through positive touchpoints, you will help people make the right decisions even if you are not physically present.
Your positive touchpoints can have a huge impact because the people you touch will feel good and will also give positive touchpoints to others. This will help you see why it’s important to make every touchpoint positive, especially in an organization with multiple levels.
If there is a problem, handle it aggressively but be gentle with people. This means that you have to avoid becoming a strict or intimidating person. Your focus should be on solving problems as well as building strong relationships with people. First you care about your employees and then expect them to care about the company’s goals.
Being tough-minded about problems but being gentle with people will help you achieve high levels of performance. You can start with two or three touchpoints daily. Gradually you will be able to turn every interaction into a touchpoint and practice it continuously, seven days a week.
David was a plant manager at Procter & Gamble, overseeing approximately 500 to 1000 employees. He had developed a habit of visiting the plant daily and finding time to visit all four shifts every week.
While touring the plant, David used to connect with about 50 to 100 people in an hour. He also kept a paper with him in which he used to write about the 10 things that he had to do. Some tasks included taking updates on safety issues or announcing awards for the winning team.
David observed that the biggest mistake plant managers make is that they become so busy that they become stuck at their desks and do not take the time to visit the plant. David realized that a lot of work could be done in an hour by walking around the plant.
They can take updates from people, remind people about company standards, and try to solve any problems immediately. People can come directly to him and express their views to him. David can guide them or take a decision at that very moment. Every conversation is a touchpoint where they can guide and motivate their employees.
Use Your Head
You can say that you don’t have time to try this new approach. Or you are very comfortable in your current position and do not want to try something new. It may be that you are very stressed or that your role as a leader is completely new to you.
To master touchpoints you have to use your heart, mind and hands. Using your brain means you have to have a logical model for leading people and dealing with change.
Using your heart means having a clear purpose and working with others with complete honesty.
Using hands means being skilled at touchpoints and being prepared for them.
To put it in more simple words, using your brain means having a logical approach. Using your heart means working honestly and using your hands means being skilled.
Let’s start with using our brain. You have to develop some ideas or leadership models. You should have a clear understanding of these principles so that people are not surprised to know your opinion in a particular situation.
If you have a clear model, your employees will be able to decide and take action without even asking you. This will give them more control over their work so that you can have more free time to focus on your other tasks.
There is no standard leadership model because it depends on you and your situation. To create a good model, you must have a good understanding of human nature and the nature of change. People and change are the two basic issues that you have to deal with as a leader.
For example, the Campbell Leadership Model has 6 steps: inspire trust, create direction, drive alignment, build vitality, execute with excellence and produce extraordinary results. This model was used by Douglas Conant and his direct reports.
and what will you do? The first step in developing a leadership model is to write down what you think about people and what motivates them. After this you have to answer two important questions – What is it that inspires people to give their best? In today’s fast-paced world, what is it that motivates people to give their strongest performance?
As a leader, you have to understand how to convert people’s energy, commitment and creativity into their best performance. You can write down your past experiences while remembering them. Or you can also remember the experiences of your colleagues or boss.
Create a prototype or dummy model of your leadership model. At this point, it may just be a list of ideas but you can edit it later. Some examples of ideas are “Trust people,” “Be transparent and honest,” and “Help them perform at their best.”
Once you have the prototype, you can take help from a colleague or mentor. Ask them where improvements need to be made and how you can make the model clearer so that people can understand it easily.
After editing, your leadership model is now ready to be shared with everyone. Explain this to your team and others and ultimately you will have to be consistent and flexible.
Apply your model with full discipline. If something needs to be changed then adjust your model because only then will you be able to survive in the future.
Most people don’t like change, but you have to help them deal with it. You want to know why people give negative reactions, so keep asking them questions about what needs to be improved in the model.
Roger is a manager on the packing floor of Unilever with 100 people working under him. Only a month had passed since he joined this job when he came to know that the factory was going to be closed next year.
A few months later, a funny incident happened on the packing floor. A female employee came to Roger and said that she had accidentally packed her apple in a 200 gram facial cream box.
One and a half hour had passed and the apple was safely packed inside the box and was about to be sent for international shipping. Roger decided to take back the entire export batch. He and his team together opened each box and started searching for that apple.
After about two hours they got the apple and everyone started laughing and joking about it. In the last months after the factory’s closure, the woman and her apple became a legend in the factory.
If Roger had wanted, he would have let the shipment go without paying much attention to it. At most, what would have happened was that a customer somewhere in the world would have found an apple inside a box of facial cream and by then the factory would have been closed.
But Roger had a leadership model that he always followed. His principals were honesty and trustworthiness. Spending the last months at the factory became easier and more meaningful because Roger was following his principles. He did the right thing and became a good role model.
Anyway, see you again with the powerful explanation of the new movie.
