How Did We Get ‘Hear’?

Go ahead ... ask me   what I did this summer.  So because you asked ... I had a cochlear implant and granted,  that's a unique answer ... for me and for just about anyone.  Curious as to what this has to do with business, leaders in business or The Third Zone?  Believe me ... it's an appropriate question and as you'll discover, a VERY connected answer.  Please read on.

Our efforts as The Third Zone have provided the opportunity to work with organizations and specifically, the leadership within, to help them forge greater success.  Whether the goal and desire was to develop more effective leadership, achieve alignment around a shared vision or bring about needed change, in general, what we were able to accomplish was to help them bridge the gap between their dream of achievement and their reality of performance.  And as we play our role as such there is no doubt that we have benefited as well.  From each experience, we take away different learning as we facilitate the various journeys upon which our clients embark.  However, was I surprised to experience the impact on me personally in a way I would never have expected or anticipated!  And for that I remain forever grateful.

I have a serious hearing impairment - one that was diagnosed at the age of 3 and that required the use of hearing aids as a college freshman at 18.  For the ensuing decades I have functioned quite well and, as you might imagine, my hearing aids simply became ear attachments that even I forgot I had.  My life was good and full in every sense and I never anticipated a change.  That is ... until about 18 to 24 months ago when things started to change.

As I came to grips with and accepted the further decline in my hearing I realized that my situation around my ability to hear ... or not ... would have a distinct impact on the future quality of my life ... both personal and business.  I realized that I needed to do something that would alter my current path and I felt I had to do it quickly.  This led to intense research of available options and finally within the past month, receiving a cochlear implant - a step that is intended to take me into a hearing world the degree to which I haven't experienced for many, many years.  With my decision and the resulting action I have reclaimed the driver's seat of my life and how great it feels!

Still wondering what this has to do with the business of The Third Zone?  Here it is.   Coincidentally, during the past 18 to 24 months, our work with the leadership of our client companies has revealed a fascinating and challenging journey for them, their businesses ... and for us.

My personal journey brought with it an epiphany of sorts as I began to see the parallel process between my personal circumstance and those that numerous businesses and their leaders have been.  The similarities are closely aligned with the belief that the solution is timely and available to struggling businesses today.  Hear these two voices and judge for yourself.

Phase 1 – Awareness of Faltering hearing

My experience:

The Third Zone was experiencing good times.  Our dynamite team of talented certified coaches delivered skilled leadership team and individual coaching to facilitate the changes that our clients wanted and needed to make.  For me, realizing that my hearing was further diminished brought to mind what appeared to be very logical thoughts and responses. 

• The hearing aids needed repair or replacement. 
• The telephone was faulty and a new one was in order.
• The telephone headset was simply losing its’ power.

The business experience:

Businesses in general, viewed the talk of a down housing market as something that was exaggerated hype or something that just wouldn’t affect their industry … that is, until it did.   And this is when some began to take aggressive ‘action’ in this order:

• ‘watching the expenses’ – somewhat poorly defined
• finding a less expensive suppliers
• revamping systems to find a less expensive method
• reducing staff expenses by allowing attrition to make reductions
• Finally, making serious cuts through layoffs.
• In the minds of so many it was just a matter of riding out the storm.

Phase 2 – This Isn’t Working.  How Long Can I Hold My Breath?

My experience:

I had to face my facts.  The hearing aids had been repaired, I had a new telephone and headset and I was still experiencing the hearing challenge.  Why wasn’t this working?  How much longer could I impose on my coaching clients to repeat what I missed ... that is, without them becoming impatient and frustrated with me?  The band-aids were NOT working because my ‘crisis’ was bigger than any solution I had tried to devise.  I knew I had to accept and face the reality of my new world.  So here’s what I did:

• took steps to verify that I had done everything possible to improve my hearing ‘tools and allow me to return to the world of  ‘normal’ I had come to know
• Reluctantly, I identified ways I could explore other options available to me that would or might return me to the fulfilling life that I had known in the past.
• * I began to accept that the world that I had known was not going to look the same and yet, believed that if I was willing to make real changes, I could return to the driver’s seat in a positive way.

The business experience:

What’s wrong here?  We’ve been doing all the right things to conserve our dollars and wait out the economic storm.  It seems like what we’ve done still isn’t enough.  It’s absolutely crazy to think that we can keep cutting more people and survive.  The air is thin and we’re starting to worry about how long we can hold out.  Here is what was happening among the leaders:

• The team is frustrated. 
• They hold very different and divisive opinions as to what needs to happen.  
• They share the recognition that their future is in jeopardy as a company and as their individual livelihoods.
• Some question the likelihood that the successful business will return
• The obvious lack of alignment among the leaders is apparent and unsettling throughout the company.
• They agree that what they have done to date is not working.  To survive and thrive again was going to being open to serious changes.
• The business they had known was not going to look the same tomorrow.  Leaders were beginning to believe that if they were willing to make real changes, they could return to the driver’s seat in a positive and productive way.