2014 HCI Human Capital Summit & Expo Day One Insights
Day one of the annual 2014 HCI Human Capital Summit & Expo in Orlando, Florida gave attendees and presenters a chance to explore how the talent landscape has not just changed but continues to change with an increasing frequency. This year’s theme "The New Social Economy: How Communities, Collaboration and Social Technologies Drive Innovation and High Performance”, while a mouthful, examines the blurred line between the value of what we know and the value of who we know
“Let’s Try To Do Something Extraordinary”
“Let’s try to do something extraordinary,” asserted Mark King CEO of TaylorMade and Adidas Brands in his session “Lessons in Leadership”. King continued, “Companies that drive innovation into their culture will be the winners in the market.” Organizations need a plan to get incrementally better each year but how can you be disruptive and aspire to do something truly great? The gap between a company’s resources and its primary goal is where innovation occurs; sharing examples of TaylorMade’s rises and falls in the market as they learned that you can gain power by giving it up. As TaylorMade made the shift to distributed leadership, they created a culture of accepting challenges. Without that ecosystem, King explains, the firm never would have been willing to sacrifice their sacred cow; their market leading and best selling driver to create their now iconic white driver. King challenged the attendees to “find their white drivers,” and aspire to do more
“The Ability to Give up the Need to Be in Control and Still Be in Command”
New York Times Bestselling Author of Open Leadership Charlene Li continued the theme of changes to leadership in her session “Open Leadership: Transform the Way You Lead with Social Technologies.” Li defined Open Leaders as, “Having the confidence and humility to give up the need to be in control, while inspiring commitment from people to accomplish goals.” Exploring the strategic issues impeding Open Leadership like misaligned executives, organizational silos, and a lack of a holistic strategy, Li prescribed a path to success that the business objectives should be driving strategy utilizing her mantra of Learn, Dialog, Support, Advocate, and Innovate. “Deep integration of Social Media and social methodologies into organizations can drive business impact,” Li stated and, “Social learning and education is more than training, it’s a lifelong aspect of success.” Citing examples like Starbucks crowdsourcing innovations from fans and customers, Li pointed out how social technology can help leaders give up the need to be in control and yet remain in command. Li laid out a three step plan of attack for firms to develop Open Leadership; first align the social goals with key strategic goals – pick initiatives where social will have the most impact, then double down. Second, ask the right questions about value. How does this help us create and deepen relationships? Finally, define HR’s role in social.
Credible + Fairness + Respect = Trust
“In Creating a Trust Based Culture that Supports Social Connections and Collaboration,” China Gorman, CEO of Great Places to Work, continued with the themes of communication and transparency explaining to the crowd that trust is the KEY to success. The challenges vary in the organization by the affected group. The executives’ challenge is transparency – they must be show the willingness to embrace open communication. For managers, the challenge is authority, linking back to Mark King and Charlene Li’s sessions, how managers must be willing to let go of oversight and authority. Politics is the challenge for employees and they must be willing to share, and value both communication and collaboration to build trust. Gorman cited examples of multiple firms cited as Great Places to Work in her presentation. Holder Construction Company has developed a culture with a high level of trust and a company motto of “Challenge Everything,” as they find their “white driver.” China also cited Helix Energy for their use of social technology and crowdsourcing to create their “innovation wall.” Gorman does throw out the caveat that, “If you are not communicating well, social technology won’t help you get better.” Culture in the workplace leads to common practices; which in turn sets up firms to leverage social technology tools to work for their benefit.
We have another day of thought-provoking and inspiring content lined up for tomorrow at the 2014 HCI Human Capital Summit & Expo with Richard Phillips, Captain of the Maersk Alabama, real life inspiration for the Tom Hanks’ movie Captain Phillips, and Author in his session Steering Your Ship Through Rough Waters: Lessons on Leadership from Captain Phillips and President of Ignite Sean Paley’s session Elements of Innovation on the schedule. What was your favorite insight or session for the day? Tweet us @Human_Capital with the #HCIevents to share your thoughts.