The Chocolate Conversation

How can a conversation transform your company? Your leadership, market leadership, followership, and change all happen in conversation. The single factor that determines your success or failure as a leader is the conversation you're having. What is a "chocolate conversation" and how does it factor? When you think of chocolate, many things come to mind: Snickers, truffles, or éclairs. One person's Snickers is another person's truffle—every single person has a different interpretation of what chocolate is. The most effective leaders are those who strive to understand different interpretations, standards, and concerns. Instead of letting differences separate and confuse people, the best leaders do the opposite: they create a common worldview where people feel that they play a part. They don't stop there, however. They understand individual points of view and know how to work in each person's standard. And finally, the leader uncovers the unmet needs or concerns that can undermine an organization and keep an individual from moving forward.

In this presentation, speaker Rose Fass speaks about how conversations determine leadership and transformation, how leaders can avoid meltdowns, and how leaders can drive change in four key areas: growth, scale, productivity, and relevance.

Addicted to Relevance

There is one big question every CEO should be asking: Are we relevant? Do customers want what we have? Too often, leaders are focused on growth, scale, and productivity. Here’s the problem: if relevance isn’t one of your business considerations, you won’t have the opportunity for growth and scale, and productivity will become about shrinking your company.

The power of relevance is that it creates new markets, disrupts old ones, and can generate billions of dollars of growth. Think about the technology industry: the likes of Google, YouTube, and Facebook have reshaped the way people connect with each other. The bottom line is simple: businesses that are not relevant may hobble along but will eventually fail.

The answer to relevancy is change, and that starts with you. In this discussion, Rose Fass talks about the part you play in relevance as a leader. You’re the one who has to make things happen, but to do that you have to be relevant to your team, your company, your company’s strategy, and your customers. She shows you how to have the only two conversations that matter—conversations that reframe thinking and incite action.

Your Company Culture

In this discussion, Rose Fass talks about different cultures with different worldviews and conflicting standards coming up against each other, and how to properly navigate through that phase.

In every company, there is “a way people do things around here,” and that is how the culture becomes defined. It’s made up of what people value, the principles they live by, and the way they treat customers and one other. Culture is the blueprint of your company—it is also the make-or-break element in mergers and acquisitions. Hanging on to a business model that is no longer relevant is a recipe for slow growth and perpetual cost-cutting. Figuring out what needs to change means taking a hard look at your company culture and owning up to how things get done and what you need to do differently to be relevant, to grow, and to scale your business. Many companies try to accomplish this change through merging with or acquiring a company that has what they need. However, what companies do not realize is that, while each company may have the right strategic reasons to come together, if the cultures don’t complement one another, it won’t work. Different cultures mean different worldviews and conflicting standards.

By addressing unmet needs, you can set new standards and reframe everyone’s worldview. You can define what needs to change and how all can participate, contribute to, and drive that change across your entire company. With that, a transformed culture will emerge: one that works for you, your people, your business, and your customers.