3 lessons for leaders from the toxic culture of The Tonight Show

Jimmy Fallon finally gets it: culture matters.

On September 7, 2023, Rolling Stone issued this report about The Tonight Show, headed by Fallon:

Chaos, Comedy, and ‘Crying Rooms’: Inside Jimmy Fallon’s ‘Tonight Show’

The report referred to experiences like...
💥 Show staff joked about killing themselves because of how they are treated
💥 They cry in the guest dressing rooms so often, they refer to the rooms as "crying rooms"
💥 High turnover of showrunners (the production executive) because of Fallon's erratic behavior

On the show, in other media, and on SNL, Fallon is an affable guy. He has a positive public reputation and was surprised by the results of the report.

The day the report was published, Fallon and Chris Miller, current showrunner, had a call with all employees. Fallon apologized to staff for the show's unhealthy environment.

Fallon and Miller indicate they want an inclusive, fun environment. It sounds like they get it and will seek to improve.

Here's what stood out to me in the Rolling Stone article:

Rolling Stone contacted more than 80 The Tonight Show employees, past and present, for the study of The Tonight Show. Not one spoke on the record or said anything positive about working on The Tonight Show.

Not a single one.
Out of 80.

None of the nine showrunners since 2014 would comment on the record either. Not one of them said anything positive about Fallon.

So what does this have to do with business leaders?

Business leaders and owners, here are a few things to learn from this:

◼️ Fix problems early. Fallon’s and the show's have been going on for 14 years. It would have been more efficient to fix these issues before it took a humiliating report full of dirty laundry.

◼️ Set high standards for all and live them. It is confusing when the boss gets away with treating people differently than you would allow others. Or, when the best biz dev person gets to treat people poorly because they bring in revenue. The mental gymnastics required of staff to accommodate for the incongruent standards leads to distrust, bur out, and turnover.

◼️ Assess your culture now. Here is a quick way to learn what your employees think: a word cloud. Invite your employees to share the seven words they would use to describe your company. The words will give a glimpse into what is happening and whether it aligns with what you think and want.

Stay on top of your company's culture before high turnover, poor behavior, or rumors prompt an external investigation. How would it serve your company to be in Rolling Stone like Fallon's show?

Don't assume everything is fine unless you hear about it.

Culture matters, and it will damage your company and reputation if you take it for granted. The good news, however, is that it also contributes to company success.

If you need help, let us know. We can help you nourish your culture so it builds your revenue, retention, and reputation.

Are you All-In or not?

One of the keynotes I share is The All-In Way: 5 Strategies to High Performance in Life and Leadership. The presentation includes the five strategies, along with lots of stories and examples of companies and people who are All-In or out.

One of the All-In examples is Dr. Michael Ackerman, M.D., Ph.D., Pediatric Cardiologist with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. If you’ve been part of The All-In Way, you may remember Dr. Ackerman’s story and his treatment of my nieces and nephews.

Early in his career, he was preparing an eight-year old girl from Michigan for a heart transplant, and she questioned him about surviving the surgery. He said she would survive and he would dance with her at her high school prom. Ten years later, her mother got in touch with Dr. Ackerman when it was time for her daughter’s prom.

Ten years later?! Don’t you think the mother would have understood if he explained his busy schedule? After all, by then, he was a well-known cardiologist with a schedule full of patients, transplants, teaching, and speaking events.

Dr. Ackerman remembered the promise he made to the little girl, and he made the trip to Michigan for the prom. The healthy patient and her cardiologist shared a dance to Rascal Flatts' Bless the Broken Road. After the dance, the young lady’s father drove the doctor five hours to the Detroit airport so he could catch a flight to Florida where he had a speaking engagement the next day.

Dr. Ackerman showed up.

He kept his word.

He lives and leads All-In, and he has the reputation to match.

Last month, LeBron James’s son, a freshman at USC, had a cardiac arrest during a basketball workout. Bronny was taken care of by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and recovered. The family released an update saying Bronny has a treatable congenital heart defect just this past weekend.

The statement said Bronny had follow-up evaluations at the Mayo Clinic led by Dr. Ackerman and at the Atlantic Health/Morristown Medical Center. (Source: Sports Illustrated)

LeBron James could take his son to any cardiologist anywhere in the whole world.

He took his son to Dr. Ackerman.

💥 It’s not about dancing at the prom. It’s about keeping your word. Even when you’re busy.

💥 It’s not about platitudes like, “Let me know if you need anything.” It’s about showing up with spaghetti dinner the fifth week after the funeral when the freezer is empty of casseroles. It’s about showing up for collaborations and commitments because you said you would.

💥 It’s not about what everyone else does. It’s about your standard of excellence.

A high standard of excellence for skill and care is ideal for a cardiologist, right?

Is less acceptable in your job?

It’s not about the job, it’s about you. It’s about what you choose as your own standard. You set the standard of excellence high because that’s who you are, not because that’s what you get paid or that’s what the boss requires. Because who you are.

Do not lower your standard for your own behavior because people around you have low standards. Or because some out-of-touch geezer boss gets a bonus off your work. Keep your standards where you want them to be because that is who you are.

You’re All-In or not.

Choose what All-In means based on who you are.

Live and lead accordingly, and you will have a more fulfilling life.

7 Ways leaders can improve their company's retention of women

International Women’s Day is March 8, 2023. There are seven primary missions of IWD, as shown in the photo. The one we at Voyage work with most often is:

IWD MISSION 2023: To forge inclusive work cultures where women's careers thrive and their achievements are celebrated

Recent data from two different reports shows room for improvement remains. Let’s discuss them briefly, then identify action items for your consideration.

1) 'It's a huge concern': Senior-level women are calling it quits after decades climbing the career ladder

CNBC’s article shared data from LeanIn.org and McKinsey & Company. Their newest data exposes a trend that women leaders are leaving their top roles at the highest rate ever.

For every women who steps into a director-level role, two step out of that level role or one higher.

It’s no wonder women would exit after climbing the ladder to the highest rungs. Once they reach those high levels, women still face headwinds and are expected to do more than the men.

Alexis Krivkovich, McKinsey senior partner and an author of the joint Lean In and McKinsey "Women in the Workplace" report explained, "They are doing more in their roles than men are typically doing across a whole gamut of things that support their office culture and community. They do twice as much sponsorship support, spend more time on diversity work, and spend more time mentoring and sponsoring" colleagues within the organization.

Women increasingly want to work for companies that prioritize career advancement, flexibility, employee well-being and more, and are quitting when their needs aren't being met, according to Lean In and McKinsey's report.

2) The Tallest Poppy™, an international study led by Women of Influence+, unveils the high price ambitious women pay for their success

Last week, a leading global organization released its groundbreaking findings in a report called The Tallest Poppy 2023 Study, which reveals the impact on women when they are “attacked, resented, disliked, criticized, or cut down because of their achievements and/or success.”

The international study revealed that nearly 90% of women worldwide are penalized and undermined because of their achievements at work.

You might assume it’s women cutting down each other, but the data says otherwise. The study found that it was men in leadership positions who penalized and undermined women who succeeded. The top drivers for the behavior were jealousy, sexism, and insecurity.

Specific actions of cutting the tall poppies the article included:

• 77% of respondents had their achievements downplayed

• 72.4% of respondents were left out of meetings and discussions or were ignored

• 70.7% said they were undermined because of their achievement(s)

• 68.3% had their achievement(s) dismissed

• 66.1% said others took credit for their work

When women have been cut down in those ways, they feel more stressed, less self-confident, and notice a negative impact on their health.

The impact on companies when Tall Poppy Syndrome is accepted includes losing top talent, reducing productivity of the top talent, and creating a culture of distrust.

What can you do? 7 Actions to Take

1.  Take a few minutes to read the reports shared here. Take however deep of a dive you need to in order to believe Tall Poppy Syndrome is happening, and that it is causing women to under-perform and leave.

2.  Identify the women in your organization who may be experiencing Tall Poppy Syndrome. Commit right now to modulating your own behavior, as necessary, and to calling out behaviors like those listed.

3.  Speak up when a woman is being ignored or when a man is taking credit for her ideas. In fact, speak up when anyone is treating anyone as described in the report. Words like belittling, being silenced, disparaging comments, and microaggressions were used to describe experiences. Speak up when you see that happening.

o   You don’t have to be a jerk about it but can simply say, “Jerry, that idea sounds like what Elaine brought up in the last meeting. Elaine, could you remind us of where you were going with the new product line?”

4.  Build a culture of trust. Start by reding The Speed of Trust but Steven M. R. Covey. It’s not related to either study or genders but is a great foundation for a culture of trust.

5.  Encourage transparency and equity for decisions like promotions and opportunities. Often these are secretive and questions are discouraged. In fact, women reported being sabotaged if they were seen as too ambitious. Being transparent about opportunities can clarify skills to develop and ways to do so.

6.  Hold people accountable for their behaviors when they belittle, silence, or disparage coworkers at any level in the organization. Treating colleagues that way should be unacceptable and when there is a pattern, the perpetrator should be spoken with directly. Once the expectation has been clarified, if the pattern continues, an exit conversation may be needed; however, it should probably not be with the top performer but with the person who undermines the top performers.

The leaders who tolerate Tall Poppy Syndrome and those who perpetuate it are probably well known in your company. The women probably could name them. Those same leaders cut down men too.

7.  The last action is to ask yourself this question: Do your core values mean anything? On a personal note, be sure your behavior aligns with your personal core values. From an organization standpoint, you represent the company’s core values. Does tolerating Tall Poppy Syndrome align with what you espouse as the company’s values? Get your confidence in alignment with your core values, and be a leader.

Be a leader.

How you treat women and how you tolerate others treating women impacts your company. In this time when it’s hard to retain top talent, most companies can no longer afford to turn a blind eye to how women are undermined or outright sabotaged.

Be a leader.

The women at the top of the career ladder notice your actions. So do the women on the way up. And, so do the men.

Learn from McDonald's: A blurry moral compass leads to years of costly issues

When the CEO's moral compass is blurry, you can bet the ethical one is too.

McDonald's, who has access to all the resources in the world, has been dealing with a serious culture breach caused by the failed moral compass of its former CEO for more than four years.

Two days ago, McDonald’s plight was in the news again because the SEC charged the former CEO with misleading investigators about reasons for his firing in 2019.

Let's consider the impact of the issues McDonald's has been facing, so you can be prepared just in case:

⚫ If someone breaks the rules in one area, you can bet they break or bend rules in other areas too. For example, if it's okay to bend the rule about one relationship, like the former CEO did, they are likely to bend the rules about other relationships too.

Beyond that rule, however, you better keep a keen eye on other rules because the relationship rule might not be the only one broken.

⚫ Others look up to the CEO and will follow along breaking rules too. If it's okay for the CEO, others will think it is okay for them to break rules related to relationships, exaggerate expense reports, lie on client project hours, skip recording PTO usage, and more.

⚫ Lies are expensive. McDonald's spent millions of dollars and countless hours because of the former's CEO's behavior. And, they still are! Does your company have either of those to spare?

On a personal note, how humiliating it must be for one’s ongoing moral failures to put grown adults in the situation of having to call the law firm and insurance company to explain the situation.

⚫ The reputation damage to the brand is embarrassing and costly in other ways too. Top talent does not want to work for a company that allowed that kind of behavior. When poor behavior is accepted, people lose trust in the decision makers. They will not bring their A game when trust dissipates.

The message sent to other top employees (and all employees) is that leadership is weak, values don’t matter, and money over purpose. No one brings their best in those circumstances.

In some cases, customers will lose trust and take their business elsewhere too. Now, McDonald's probably did not lose many consumers over the former CEO. Their great french fries far outweigh the impact of the former CEO to consumers. Most companies’ products and services don’t have that luxury.

There are companies out there with very similar issues right now. Here are a few indicators of culture issues.
◼ No women on the SLT. Or, the one or two top women keep leaving, to be replaced by men.
◼ The company's attorney or other leaders lie in meetings about culture. Obviously, there is more cover-up happening.
◼ When asked about a company, and heads turn, eyes bulge and people whisper, "Oh, you don't want to know about that place." In that case, pray for people who work there and move on because the person whispering is probably right.

Company culture goes way beyond people being nice to each other.

We are able to dig deeper and help leaders face the bigger issues that can damage their companies, reputations, and legacies.

We work with leaders to help them avoid the pain of McDonald's. McDonald's has all the resources in the world, and a costly culture breach happened there.

What resources does your company have? Reach out privately if you need one.

In the meantime, be on the lookout for blurry compasses. Don't let someone else's blurry moral compass blur your own.

5 Ways leaders can retain focus during the holidays

This time of year piles several time- and energy-consuming activities on top of regular work: the holidays, year-end, quarter-end, PTO usage, and more social pressure than any other time of year. Everyone feels it inside the company. This year brings the remnants of Covid-19, along with a looming recession, inflation, inability to retain and replace key talent, supply chain disruption, consumer behavior changes, and more challenges on top of the pile.

There’s a lot going on that needs your energy and time. Plus, you want to get into the spirit of the holidays, enjoy the year-end festivities, and plan for 2023 personally too.

So what’s a leader to do? How can you lead through all of the regular responsibilities and the piles added on this year? Can it be done without burning out yourself or your teams?

Here are five ways leaders can balance the burden of meeting year- and quarter-end targets, while encouraging people to enjoy the holiday spirit and get into the spirit themselves:

1.      Downsize the work holiday party. Spending big money on a Christmas party is viewed as frivolous in these post-pandemic, looming-recession days. Allocating company resources for a committee to spend time planning, setting up, and hosting a big Christmas party is not a great idea either. Donate the holiday party money instead and opt for a more relaxing recognition of year-end accomplishments. Considering that 46% of adults worry about their holiday budget, you can model responsible spending to ease the pressure for them (source).

2.      Plan the rest of the year with your team. Plan what needs to get done by whom, and block the time to do it on necessary calendars. This will help everyone focus on work, whether they celebrate Christmas or not. This is not the time to give stretch assignments or to be demanding. Many people worry about balancing long work hours (35%) with their holidays, so keep the focus without adding to the pressures of the season. (source)

3.      Invite reflections on goals and accomplishments. Ask people what they liked best about the year and what they look forward to in 2023. You can do this in a small meeting, and encourage your folks to do the same. The reflection can deepen bonds among people, remind people of accomplishments while they feel under pressure, and result in preparation for the new year. 72% of employees say it’s important for them to feel part of a community at work, and small group conversations like this can help (source).

4.      Express appreciation for those you work closest with all year. Write notes of appreciation about the impact each person has on the company and why you are grateful for them. Nearly 1 in 3 employees don’t feel fulfilled at work, and this makes it nearly 400% likely they are looking for another job (source). Reflecting on each person in preparation of writing the notes will help you value them going forward. The notes will help them feel valued and fulfilled, which boosts self-esteem during this high-pressure time of the year. Your expressed appreciation helps with retention too.

5.      Model the necessary behavior. Don’t be too demanding, but don’t totally slack off either. People are paying attention to your work more than usual right now. If you take two or three hours for a holiday lunch a few times a week, it will be acceptable for everyone to do the same. Stick with your routine, including sending emails and messages during normal business hours. Shut down early the next three Fridays, and invite everyone who can to do the same without penalty. Encourage rest by getting it yourself.

As a leader, you set the tone.

Be the leader you wish you had during the holidays as your career was evolving—and that was before a pandemic, inflation, recession, supply shortage, talent shortage occurred all at once. People need you to be that leader. Be that leader for them and for yourself.

Don’t let all of the challenges turn you into a Scrooge. You can get the year-end work done and celebrate the joy of the season.