It's not what you know...

I was sitting at a conference about 18 months ago next to a colleague whom I think the world of, Tom Compernolle, the guy knows Retail Grocery like nobody else. David Nour, author of Relationship Economics, was speaking to this group of consulting partners and directors about how you develop real professional relationships that, in turn, lead to your own success. Tom leaned over to me and said “I know all this stuff”. I just beamed…because I had just left a more in depth workshop led by Nour where he threw in this little phrase that has become my anthem, “It’s not what you know, it’s what you do.”

If I had a nickel (okay…maybe a quarter) for every time somebody told me “I know this stuff”, or “this is intuitive”, or “this is common sense”, I would be sitting in a lovely, mountainside cottage with my dog happily chasing squirrels instead of barking maniacally at the UPS driver, the Fed Ex guy, the Mailman, and every nanny strolling by w/a stroller (read: peace, tranquility, and good will towards all men and women kind…and sorry to all my squirrel followers).

This statement, “it’s not what you know it’s what you do”, in its simplicity, directness, and ability to shut-up the naysayers of Change Management, has given me a whole new outlook on my chosen career. I know you know this…you’re not stupid or you wouldn’t have gotten this far in your respective organization…but are you doing it?

Everybody knows this stuff, right? You know you need communications, but are you insuring that communications are strategic, targeting the correct stakeholders, disseminated in a fashion that has the highest impact, and most importantly coming from the correct leaders? And, please…don’t even get me started on so-called newsletters.

You understand the need to model the correct behavior changes, but have you enlisted your management spine to demonstrate new behaviors that are essential for a successful transformation? Are you acknowledging and rewarding the new behaviors…have you even identified what they are?

You know the other stuff too, the leadership challenge for your sponsor, the stakeholders, the organization alignment…you know it…but are you doing it?

I propose a little more “do” in 2010!