On My Own: My Jump Into The Abyss
“It is our light not our darkness
that most frightens us…”.
Marianne Williamson,
A Return To Love
In June 1995, I launched my own business, serving as a catalyst helping leadership teams engage their people in shared vision & values to achieve higher levels of participation, teamwork and performance. Reminiscent of working at the prison years ago, I thought if I stayed in the Federal Government mush longer I might become prisoner of the same systems I came to help change. I decided to leave. My dilemma was where to go. I had already worked in state and federal government, and the private sector. I had always wanted to experience the freedom of following my own path, yet that path seemed ominous. I was a single mother with a daughter in private school and no outside financial help. I had a mortgage, and I had exhausted most of my savings. I was scared. I had a very lucrative offer in front of me to join an internet company as Vice President for People, yet my heart was not there. I wanted to push my limits.
The day of my decision, Rita Cleary, one of the DreamMakers in my first book, faxed me the poem from Marianne Williamson, that began “It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us…” I took the “into the great fall into the abyss” as my colleague Meg Wheatley describes in Leadership and the New Science. It was time for me to pursue my own dreams; putting my personal vision and values to work unconstrained by the structures of organizations. This proved to be the right decision at the right time for me. I work with companies, non-profit organizations and communities, serving as a catalyst, helping them to realize their mission, vision, values and goals.
One very special corporation I partnered with was Popular, Inc., a 117-year-old financial corporation. Popular, Inc. They had been vision and values led since its inception in 1893. I worked with the CEO and Chairman, Richard Carrion and two companies in the Popular family. Richard, like his father and grandfather before him, led the company with a bold vision, born out of the companies deeply held values, and with compassionate leadership.
My first assignment was to I work with Roberto Herencia, President of Banco Popular North America. I partnered with him and his leadership team from 2002 to 2005. BPNA was a community bank headquartered in Chicago, IL, with branches in five of the largest urban markets in the United States.
“ They named their transformation process
“A New Day”. The tagline was – “Make Dreams Happen”
In 2001 Banco Popular North America was in trouble, it had not been profitable for many years so Richard Carrion promoted Roberto Heencia to president and gave him the mandate to turn the company around. Roberto and his team led a remarkable business and cultural transformation. They had the courage to dream a big, bold vision; they clarified their values and they engaged all the employees, in the change process. They named their transformation process - A New Day - The tagline was Make Dreams Happen! They called employees Dream Makers and empowered them to make dreams happen.
The results were amazing. In just 3 years, assets rose from 5.6 billion to $11.5 billion; net income increased from $12.4 million to $99.6 million. Employee engagement, as measured by Hewitt Associates, rose significantly and they earned a place in Fortune’s 100 best companies to Work for List.
This was no easy feat, the first thing management did was to downsize their employee population by 25%. Most of the people affected were in New York City, BPNA’s largest market. To compound matters this happened just months after September 11. With this tragedy as the backdrop, I witnessed the most compassionate, transparent, participative process I have ever seen. Guided by their values, the leadership notified the employees, 6 months in advance of their loosing their jobs. Roberto went to New York and met with every employee. That same day, his leadership team members flew to every other location in their markets in the U S, to insure everyone in the company got the same information at the same time and as a genuine expression that they cared.
I was in New York with Roberto when he delivered the difficult message to the employees. He explained in detail why the decision had been made and what the company was going to do to support those who would lose their jobs. The New York main office was located in the financial district of the city, as I sat there listening to Roberto I could actually see Ground Zero. This was a painful day. Roberto wept as he gave the employees the message.
“…by time the workforce reduction went into effect, every employee had a new job.”
One of Banco Popular’s core values is “Our People” Roberto took this value to heart. He not only gave employees six months notice, he gave them an abundant of information so they could understand the business imperative for the decision. He also visited them often over the next six months. Most important, Roberto invested in their transition. We brought in an outplacement firm that I had used when Herman Miller had its first work reduction. The People Services team at BPNA partnered with Clyde Lousteader & Associates outplacement team, and by the time the workforce reduction went into effect, every employee had a new job.
The employees of Banco Popular took the values to heart. People who knew they were losing their jobs worked hard over the six-month period to help ensure the transition went smoothly. During this same period, Roberto rolled out the new vision for the company to the entire organization. An amazing thing happened when Roberto and his team unveiled the new vision in New York later that year. The employees, who were being transitioned out, celebrated and cheered the new vision, along side of their friends who were staying.
This remarkable cultural and business transformation was powered by mobilizing all the employees around a compelling vision, rooted in their deeply held values. They engaged all employs in Vision Engagement – a series of dialogues where everyone had an opportunity to clarify and translate the vision’s importance to their work. Then, management and employees came to Shared Agreements on goals and measurements for four major areas of focus; Customers, Our People, Community and Financial Performance. Roberto then called on the employees to work in teams to help make the changes happen. Three years later, they surpassed every goal and they developed a high performance, high-energy company of DreamMakers.
The second company of DreamMakers I had the opportunity to work with in the Popular, Inc., family was EVERTEC – Banco Popular’s Business Processing and Technology Business. The challenge they had was different but just as difficult. Richard Carrion had made the decision to spin off the banks backroom operations into a subsidiary. With this new mandate they needed to create a culture that served a “for-profit business”. They had to create their own identity; develop their own customers and develop their systems and process’s. This was truly a whole company transformation. This would require a far different culture than the one that served the backroom operations of the bank.
They achieved a phenomenal transformation. They called their change process Travesia: Explora, Descubre & Conquista! (A Journey: Explore, Discover & Conquer) They used a similar process as BPNA; they mobilized their employees around their vision, values and goals. They came to Shared Agreement with their employees on measurements for five major goals. Then they had the courage to change everything, their systems, structures processes, measurements, and culture to serve their vision, values and goals. Two and a half years later they had met every strategic and operational goal. Most important the culture was bubbling with excitement; innovation was happening across the company, and the employees pride and spirit was palpable.
Values are, and always have been at the heart of Popular, Inc. “Community” & “Our People“ are critically important to everyone in the Popular family. Richard Carrion believes that:
“In order to be happy at work, we have to believe
that what we do has value. That in some way,
we contribute to making the world a better place.
If we believe that, we will have the necessary drive
and enthusiasm to excel at what we do”
Richard Carrion, CEO and Chairman, Popular, Inc.
Imagine what our world would be like if leaders of businesses, organizations and institutions practiced this philosophy. But rather than imagine, why not commit to lead our lives, our teams and our relationships, wherever they are, with this kind of reverence.
May all your beautiful hopes and dreams come true!
Michele
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