Maverick Mastery®

Despite the word ‘Maverick’ being banned by a leading State University for its continued over-use during the past twelve months, the economy is actually dangerously short of real Mavericks and the emergence of Generation Y employees is set to make this situation even worse, according to leading talent management expert Judith Germain.

Following the 34th release of Lake Superior State University’s annual List of Words to Be Banished and the playful inclusion of ‘Maverick’ for its overuse by John McCain in the US Presidential Campaign, Dynamic Transitions MD Germain believes that joking aside, the time has come to redefine what being a Maverick actually means, and why it is good for business.

“McCain coined the word ‘Maverick’ in his campaign speeches but clearly missed the full scope of what being a Maverick actually means in a business context. I define Maverick as wilful independence and ‘Maverickism’ can actually be found on a continuum from the conformist right through to extreme maverick tendencies”, explains Germain.

“A maverick personality is one which is wilfully independent at all times and in all circumstances. They are keen to make their mark and do things their way and often blaze innovation and lateral thinking to the projects and problems that they are working on. They often exasperate the people around them and peers can feel that they can’t keep up or hurt if an objective comment from a maverick is delivered in their usual blunt and brutally honest way”, explains Germain.

Germain believes that having maverick tendencies as opposed to having a maverick personality, is when the CEO or business owner is wilfully independent in their business dealings only.

Germain believes that the real advantage can be gained by those who can achieve Maverick Mastery® which is about being talented and different and being able to blend knowledge and skills for business success.

“When mavericks are running their business they do things in a way that is different to the rest of their industry, they take risks that other CEOs shirk at, and push harder and seek challenges that others feel are ‘insane’. This can be good for business especially if the CEO can harness their maverick nature”, says Germain.

Germain also believes that more Generation Ys need to adopt maverick tendencies if they want to stand out from their peers in an increasingly competitive environment. “Generation Y employees are already at a disadvantage in the current recession due to a difference in their values and work ethics, meaning they are often seen as lazy and unwilling to put in the extra time and effort that Generation X managers see as a given. Finding out what it means to really be a maverick and adapting those tendencies at work will give Generation Y employees real leverage and help them to secure their place in the business”, explains Germain.

Judith Germain is founder of Dynamic Transitions, a leadership company specialising in dealing with Mavericks in the workplace and Troublesome Talent. For more information visit www.maverick-mastery.com

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The Lake Superior State University has an annual list of words to be banished and this year the word ‘maverick’ has been voted to be banished. The reason for this is ‘the constant repetition of this word for months before the US election diluted whatever meaning it previously had’ (see here).

This year has seen many people stating that they are a maverick, wearing the badge of maverick with some misplaced pride. The most recent example has been Senator McCain who has used the term in his election campaign.

If the true definition of ‘maverick’ is ours (wilful independence) then who would you class as a real maverick?

December can be an exciting time for business owners lost in a whirl of networking events and alcohol, often forgetting that this is also the time that their reputation can be damaged, having long term effects on their business.

For many new businesses Christmas Parties are seen as opportunities to let your hair down and fill the order books for the forthcoming year. Unfortunately this type of behaviour can be very damaging as well as disillusioning for business owners.

I would like to share with you the experience of a consultant entrepreneur. For simplicity I’ll call him Sean Rollar although that’s not his real name.

Sean set up his business 3 months ago in a flourish of enthusiasm and hope. However running his own business has been a lot harder than he anticipated and he is yet to secure his first real client. He still has some of his redundancy money left but he knows that he must secure a client by the end of January or he will have to return to corporate life, something that he wants to avoid at all costs.

Sean was looking forward to attending his local Chamber’s Christmas Party, there would be a lot of businesses there that could buy his services and it would be a great opportunity to socialise and enjoy himself after a hard 3 months. Securing a client there would be a great way to round of the year.

He took care to dress well and pack lots of business cards anticipating that out of the 100 people attending he would meet at least 50 of them. Sean practiced his elevator pitch and set off for the party. Arriving at the party was daunting as he didn’t know anyone but he was determined to make his mark.

He bought himself a drink to settle his nerves and strode confidently towards a couple of people talking. After twenty minutes he moved on and spent the rest of the evening chatting and drinking, eventually ending with a turn on the dance floor. After a successful night he returned home calculating that he had given out 40 cards. Sean was looking forward to the next Christmas Party he was attending that night, believing that if he was as successful at that party as the Chamber one he will have no problem filling his order book next year.

That night as he changed for bed he reflected on his experience at the second Christmas Party. He was surprised to see that there were many people there that he had met the night before but they had been very reluctant to talk to him. In fact he received a very strange reception and wondered what had happened to cause his experience to be so different.

Below are three things that Sean could have done which would have had a positive impact on his attendance at the party.

Sean needed to put the Christmas Party in its proper context

Whilst Sean understood that the Christmas Parties may bring work opportunities he did not consider it in the same vein as a work meeting. Having made that decision he did not consider that his actions at the party would or could have an effect on his business reputation. This meant that he did not watch how much alcohol that he had drunk, treating others to a version of himself that he would not present at a formal meeting.

The reason why he was being ignored might have been his boisterous dancing! It is important to remember that wherever your business contacts accumulate your behaviour is on show. People will make a determination on how likely you are to behave in a business by watching what you do in social events.

Not really networking – just bumping into people

Sean did not want to ‘waste’ the networking opportunity of the party so he handed out his business card to everyone that he met, in an over eager manner. To potential clients and advocates the manner that he did this made him look desperate for business. This is essentially ‘unattractive’ as well as damaging to his business over the long term. It also made him seem preoccupied to his own business and not listening when others were speaking about theirs.

Be clear how you want to be remembered

Whenever you attend networking events or business meetings consider beforehand how you would like to be remembered. For example in Sean’s case he wanted to be remembered as a Management consultant who specialises in change management. The problem he has is that his business proposition of ‘management consultant’ is not memorable. There are many management consultants out there so he needs to try harder and be more unique to be remembered.

Sean was becoming memorable for his behaviour and not his business, therefore reducing his ability to gain advocates and new clients. Sean needed to develop a networking strategy that ensured that he was around those that could provide him with referrals and advocacy and enabled him to articulate clearly his business proposition. Sean needed to stand out from the crowd for the right reasons.

Your reputation and credibility is key to your success, particularly in the current economic climate. It’s what makes you different from your competitors and whilst it can take years to build a good name, it can take just a few seconds to destroy it, so make sure your actions and behaviour during the festive celebrations work to increase your attractiveness as a potential supplier or business partner. Networking (even at Christmas) is about building relationships and not trying to sell to your network. Create the right impression and your network will do the selling for you!

Despite years of flexible working and child friendly policies, women are still struggling to reach the boardroom and the proposed Equality Bill may make this rise to power even harder to achieve, according to leadership experts at Dynamic Transitions.

Under the proposed Equality Bill, designed to bring together nine major laws and over 100 regulations, companies will be free to discriminate in favour or women, however Dynamic Transitions MD Judith Germain believes that this in fact will do more harm than good when it comes to supporting career progression for women.

Non-parents may feel they have to pick up the slack from parents who are working more favourable hours

“The proposed changes allowing positive discrimination of women and the right to request flexible working for parents of children under the age of 16 will in fact make it harder not easier for women to climb the career ladder. This will be especially true for those in management positions or who work in smaller businesses”, says Germain.

Germain believes that the bill is likely to cause resentment from other employees as it gives entitlement to some people and not others. Non-parents for example might like flexible working and may believe that they will have to pick up the slack from parents who are working more favourable hours.

Germain also believes that managers may perceive that they are being forced to pamper to the whims of parents, a sentiment mirrored by Sir Alan Sugar earlier this year when he warned that current equality laws were ‘counter productive to women’ and would make it harder for women to get jobs.

“Whilst the new bill is designed to boost the proportion of female staff into senior positions, this doesn’t then remove the barriers once they are there. There may be a potential backlash from other employees who feel that women in senior positions don’t deserve to be in the position they are in and are only there because of their gender. As a result, they will receive little respect from the employees they should be managing, something which will be extremely detrimental to their success in the organisation and could put their future career at risk”, explains Germain.

Dynamic Transitions is a leadership company specialising in managing Troublesome Talent®. For further information or to find out more about Dynamic Transitions visit www.developing-leadership.com or telephone +44 (0) 208 288 0512.