Hasta La Gadget!

A new report by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) indisputably confirms what many scientists had predicted: 2014 is officially the hottest year on record. And this past year is not an anomaly — the previous 10 hottest years on the books have all occurred since 1998. This announcement adds to the urgency expressed just last month in Lima, where political leaders and business tycoons from around the world met for the 20th yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 20) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The gathering in Peru was historic in that it was the last time the decision-making body would meet before COP 21 in Paris next December, where an international and legally binding agreement on climate will be signed.

However, growing movements of those on the frontlines of climate disruption argue that the high-level political remedies touted at venues such as the COP amount to false promises and leave out marginalized voices. Via Campesina is perhaps the most prominent of these movements, with more than 250 million peasant, pastoralist, and indigenous members from around the world. Along with allies ranging from labor to environmental networks, Via Campesina organized the Cumbre de los Pueblos (Peoples Summit) in its own grassroots rendition of the COP 20 process in Lima to promote bottom-up solutions to the climate crisis and refute the corporate-driven and exclusionary nature of the official negotiations.

Two policies highly promoted at COP 20 were Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) and Climate-Smart Agriculture, both aimed at reducing temperatures worldwide through carbon trading. At a first glance, REDD and Climate-Smart Agriculture appear laudable actions — especially given what are seemingly climate-friendly names. But under the surface, these programs create chaos within already volatile ecosystems and sabotage humble livelihoods.

Take REDD for example. In a nutshell, REDD allows wealthy industrialized countries and corporations to continue polluting by buying forests in the Global South to offset the carbon they release into the atmosphere through their practices elsewhere. These forests, meticulously managed by generations of indigenous people, are folded into the market — often resulting in the forced eviction of communities. Even worse, REDD makes no distinction between natural forests and industrial tree plantations — meaning that its implementation often results in massive loss of biodiversity.

“There is no excuse to turn nature into a commodity,” said Tom Goldtooth, director of the U.S. and Canada-based Indigenous Environmental Network, a close ally of Via Campesina. Both groups are strongly opposed to REDD and work together in spaces such as the No REDD in Africa Network. Goldtooth spoke powerfully at the Peoples Summit in Lima, warning against the interconnected nature of imperialism, militarization, and market-dependent strategies. “We reject the WTO of the sky,” he concluded.

Climate-Smart Agriculture, another centerpiece strategy to the COP proceedings, basically takes the tenets of REDD and applies them to farmland. Between 44 and 57 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions are from food production, and the overwhelming majority of these discharges are the direct result of wasteful industrial agriculture. Climate-Smart Agriculture builds on staples of the Green Revolution — modified seeds, chemical pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers in the name of intensification and productivity — to impose new biotechnology on farmers around the world, creating yet another wave of dependency on markets. Just as with REDD, investors from the Global North will receive carbon credits from their contribution to Climate-Smart Agriculture projects in the Global South, thus increasing speculation within the food system by expanding its profit value.

“There’s absolutely nothing smart about it,” said Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, a Haitian Via Campesina leader who coordinates the movement’s work around climate change, in a critical workshop on Climate-Smart Agriculture in Lima. “The climate crisis is rooted in capitalism, which is also in crisis as an economic system,” he explained. “Entrepreneurs are trying to emerge from this crisis, and as a way of doing so are creating green capitalism, of which Climate-Smart Agriculture is typical.”

The slogan of the Peoples Summit in Lima — “change the system, not the climate” — is one that will persist throughout the year and into next December’s COP 21 in Paris, where a parallel Peoples Summit will again accompany official negotiations. Via Campesina and its tight network of allies are committed to their cutting-edge alternatives, particularly food sovereignty and agroecology.

Food sovereignty assumes the fundamental principal that rural working people and their urban counterparts — not market institutions and corporations — should govern the global food system. Agroecology is the key practice for realizing food sovereignty, building local markets through ecological methods grounded in tried-and-true ancestral knowledge. In that process, carbon is sequestered in the soil — helping to curb global warming patterns while protecting territorial rights. “Agroecology can double food production in entire regions within ten years, while mitigating climate change and alleviating rural poverty,” stated Olivier de Schutter, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food upon presentation of his March 2011 report to the Human Rights Council.

REDD and Climate-Smart Agriculture are experimental programs with irreversible implications on the environment, while food sovereignty and agroecology respect the earth’s natural systems. “Food sovereignty is our struggle against capitalism and the way it shapes our land,” said Nivia Regina da Silva, representative of the Landless Workers Movement (MST) in Brazil. MST is a founding member movement of Via Campesina that, among other initiatives, runs political training and agroecology schools throughout the country. Along with other Via Campesina members and allies, MST organized a lively conference on food sovereignty that was a focal point of the Peoples Summit in Lima.

“Peasant agriculture can feed the world and cool the planet,” affirmed Jean-Baptiste.

Via Campesina’s activism around climate is integral to its obligation of representing those most affected by systemic injustice. And this year, while high-level negotiations further unfold, the movement and its allies will be sure to turn up the heat every step of the way.

“The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say ‘I.’ And that’s not because they have trained themselves not to say ‘I.’ They don’t think ‘I.’ They think ‘we’; they think ‘team.’ They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don’t sidestep it, but ‘we’ gets the credit. This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done.” –Peter Drucker

It’s September 5, 2006. Alan Mulally is appointed president and CEO of Ford Motor Company. This American icon is facing bankruptcy and extinction. The company is projecting a $17 billion annual loss. Every brand — and every model — is unprofitable. There is no commitment to be best-in-class.

Not surprisingly, the prevailing business culture at Ford is one of self-protection and survival. It is a culture of “I.” The leaders of Ford’s many global brands and divisions don’t talk to each other. Some executives are engaged in bitter internal rivalries — all of which have nothing to do with better serving customers. Clearly, the culture is broken, right down to the assembly line level, where employees who stop production for any reason get reprimanded by their managers.

From “I” to “We”

Like many CEOs who are brought in from outside a company, Mulally encountered substantial resistance at Ford. He had no background in the auto industry; he wasn’t a car guy. Insiders and pundits alike questioned his ability to make enough of a difference. Yet, Mulally made a tremendous difference. Under his leadership, Ford experienced a profound turnaround and a true cultural transformation.

Mulally was able to build rapport and trust within his team in a very short time. He was able to help his executives transform their relationships with one another — from fighting against each other to pulling together. And he was able to lead them in working together to create a compelling vision, to conceive and implement the highly successful One Ford plan.

How did Mulally effect such dramatic change so quickly? Let’s step inside Ford for a moment to experience one perfect example.

Red, Yellow, Green

Every Thursday morning at 7 AM, Mulally meets with his direct reports. He institutes a “traffic light” color coding system for projects and deliverables: Green means everything is on track. Yellow means some attention is needed. Red means there are critical problems.

At the very first weekly business meeting, most senior leaders arrive with a chart that shows Green, Green and Green. Very few charts are showing Yellow. None are displaying Red.

Mulally stops the meeting. He faces his team and essentially says: I see a whole lot of Green here. Is anything NOT going well? Because right now, we’re on track to lose $17 billion.

One brave executive, Mark Fields, decides to take what is, at that point, a huge career risk: He presents a Red alert. It concerns the launch of Ford’s next big thing, the Edge SUV in Oakville, Canada, Ford’s first true crossover vehicle. The launch has been delayed because of technical issues. A grinding noise is coming from the SUV’s suspension.

The room goes deathly silent. The leadership team is shocked by Fields’s disclosure.

And then Mulally acts. Rather than reprimanding Fields, Mulally applauds. And then he says, “Mark, I really appreciate that clear visibility.”

Then Mulally does something just as radical. He asks: Who can help Mark with this?

With that question, the energy in the room shifts. Mulally has rewarded honesty and transparency, and he has opened up a space for teamwork and collaboration. In moments, leaders are coming up with suggestions. Some pitch in to help. And within two weeks, the Edge delivery is marked Green: on target.

Mulally looks back on this as “a defining moment in Ford’s turnaround.” And, he says, “Within two weeks, the entire set of charts was all rainbows.” People were ready to speak the truth and get some help.

Honoring People

Mulally’s emphasis on openness, appreciation and teamwork — and, in a broader sense, on honoring people — naturally extended beyond his direct reports. Mulally says he considers it an honor to serve as a leader, and he has shown that by honoring the people he serves.

At Ford, he did so by putting people first, and by ensuring consistency of purpose. Leading by example, he created a safe environment for people to have an honest dialogue, especially when things went wrong.

He also unified Ford’s many fiefdoms. The One Ford plan evolved into One Team, One Plan, One Goal, One Ford. And employees around the world felt it: They even created “One Ford” songs.

Looking back, Mulally attributes much of Ford’s success to its team of employees, dealers, customers and suppliers. And the company found lots of ways to celebrate these people, including honoring everyday heroes: The company collects stories about Ford vehicle owners, dealers and employees who see something that needs to be done… then do it. These stories are shared widely, including on YouTube.

Achieving Resonance

Mulally’s leadership style is high-touch, with deep resonance. He amplifies positive emotions, events and relationships. At Ford, he set an example with his self-awareness … authenticity … clarity … focus … commitment … empathy … and joy.

All of these qualities served to build respect, trust and resiliency within Ford. People felt able to withstand any challenge, to communicate clearly with genuineness, to innovate and to create vehicles that were best-in-class.

Of course, the tremendous shifts at Ford paid off. The company started generating annual profits in 2009 and has done so every year since. Of course, its stock price also has rebounded. Today, Ford has a bright future, and employees, dealers, customers, shareholders and suppliers are flourishing.

This turnaround happened, in large part, because of the shift from an “I” culture — rife with self-preservation, in-fighting and survival — to a “We” culture filled with openness, appreciation and honor. The change started at the top, where Mulally created and nurtured a space in which every senior leader on his team could feel safe to open up — and even play. The profound change at Ford started by creating resonance.

Exceptional leaders are resonant. They are attuned to people’s feelings. And they support people in creating, amplifying and catalyzing positive emotions. A truly great work culture cultivates the development of resonant leaders so that people at all levels can flourish and thrive.

To implement such an approach in your business, focus on leading from the heart and being authentic. Get clear about who you are and what your values are.

Then focus, as Mulally did, on building rapport and trust with your direct reports. Listen to understand. Applaud honesty (what Mulally calls “visibility”). Celebrate people’s genuineness.

When you lead from this space, you’ll feel inspired to ask simple, but incredibly powerful questions, like Mulally’s culture-shifting query: Who can help Mark with this? When you ask appreciative questions from a space of genuine, heartfelt concern, people will open up. And the questions can be exquisitely simple, like: How are you today? Do you have everything you need? And how can I help you?

As Founder and Chief Energy Officer, Global Rockstars, a thriving on-line community, Johann Gauthier energizes people to achieve epic results. He acts as Co-Lead, Communications and Community Circle, for Great Work Cultures. Connect with Johann on Twitter: @GauthierJohann.

As Founder and Chief Joy Officer of Inspire Profits Inc., Sue Elliott helps companies make more money by making their people happier. Through executive coaching, consulting and training for people at all levels in organizations, she facilitates clear communication, collaboration and joy at work. Connect with Sue on Twitter: @empoweringsue.

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There are working desks, and then there is a special breed of working desks, too. Having said that, if you happen to be one who spends a whole lot of time with your laptop or notebook, you will be able to figure out the most optimal odd angles that you would have to contort yourself and the notebook in order to work your best. After all, one will need to take care of the prized family jewels, since the laptop can get rather toasty in the long run. Here is a unique desk for your lounging needs – which comes in the form of the Super Gorone Desk.

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