Avoiding The Velvet Noose, by John Hersey & Beverly Belury

You have probably heard of the Golden Hand Cuffs. We heard a speech that made us realize that The Velvet Noose is also alive, well and potentially infecting millions of employees, managers and executive who make their living in Corporate America. This article is about how to avoid wearing one.

At a recent program we attended the featured a speaker was the former division president of a Fortune 500 Company, and now President and CEO of a large hi-tech company that happens to be a one year-old spin-off of the same Fortune 500 Company. Unlike so many hi-tech IPO’s, this company is enjoying solid results. In this crowded and highly competitive category the president and his management team are obviously doing many things right. He’ll tell you the difference lies in the corporate culture.

Toward the end of his presentation, an audience member asked the speaker what he had learned during this transition from Fortune 500 to IPO . His answer stimulated our thinking about this article. This man, who had risen from entry level engineer to product manager to a stint in Scotland to division Vice President to Corporate Vice President to Division President in the span of 28 years with a Fortune 500 Company said that he had learned more and had more fun during the past 18 months than during his previous 28 years. WOW!

It turns out that this is a common example of the The Velvet Noose. It is a work environment that doesn’t break the skin but does stop the circulation, the circulation of creative ideas and energy through you, your group and entire organizations. The Velvet Noose chokes off possibility through entitlement oriented cultures, slow paced work environments and programs that encourage victim-speak and a get-by attitude. It is so suffocating in some organizations that breaking out of the noose only tightens the knot.

Believe it or not, the speaker was choking even though his career seemed to be thriving. As we listened to his presentation we realized he had not been playing to his full potential for those 28 years. The culture of this company didn’t discourage this type of behavior but it didn’t encourage it either. If it had, the speaker just might have had more fun and enjoyed it more, wouldn’t you agree?

So, what about the rest of us? What about the employees/managers/executives that do not rise to the top? What about those of us who show up everyday but don’t become Presidents or Vice Presidents? What does The Velvet Noose do to us? We learn to settle, to accept things as they are, that’s what! Through those cultures that don’t discourage or encourage winning attitudes and behaviors, we settle for the way things are; the way they have always been; the way they will always be. We get by without playing full-out, without having fun, without challenging ourselves, without taking a few risks and without learning as much as possible.

Mark Victor Hanson, co-creator of the Chicken Soup Series, said "The Goal of a tree is to be as tall as it can be, not just tall enough." Cultures that create The Velvet Noose help each of us to be just tall enough; doing just enough to get the job done or to get that next promotion; just enough and no more.

Just being tall enough doesn’t cut it in any 21st Century business, certainly not in the more success minded corporations. We each have to be as tall as we can be. Jack Welch, Chairman & CEO of GE was recently quoted as saying "the reality is, we simply cannot afford to field anything but teams of ‘A’ players." For sure, GE is putting together programs to attract, nurture and retain the ‘A’ players. For all we know, so is the company you work for. There is one other thing that we know. These companies are not sitting around waiting for you or me or anyone else to do all the work. They are changing, more rapidly than ever. You can’t blame "them" for your velvet noose. After all, you put your head in the noose in the first place. Sure the company culture may have been such that independent thinking was discouraged or bold and decisive management was frowned upon. But, you accepted it. You decided that YOU would become whatever THEY wanted YOU to become.

When the opportunity to head-up this spin-off division of the Fortune 500 Company came, our speaker seized the moment. He literally took the same people that had worked in the "Velvet Noose" culture and created a new culture, one that thrives on speed, innovation, decisiveness and boldness. The employees not only embraced the change, they welcomed it and as a result this company has experienced a solid performance. The president believed these people would not only welcome a new culture but they would thrive in the new culture. His belief in them is paying off in a very big way.

So, what do you do? Quit? Not necessarily. Here are a few steps to take to avoid hanging yourself with The Velvet Noose:

a. Step 1. Recognize it—

a. ask yourself if you are playing out on what we call "The Skinny Part of the Branches" or are you "Hugging the Trunk of the Tree?"

b. Step 2. Dissect it –

i. What part of YOU is choking in your job?

a. Are you in the wrong position?

b. The wrong culture?

ii. What part of you has given in to The Velvet Noose?

iii. Where are you not playing to your strengths?

a. In our business we use some behavioral profiles to help company’s be certain that they have the right person in the right position. Carol Bergeron recently completed her Personal Success Profiles and said the following: ""Last year I went through a rough time. Because of several difficult business decisions at my company, I had taken on a role that was not a good fit. I didn`t realize just how bad a fit it was until I reviewed the details of my profile. It was then that I discovered that I had lost sight of the things that gave me joy in working, and had filled my time with activities that, while necessary to my work, were not things that I enjoyed or was particularly good at. I recall feeling rather annoyed when I realized several discrepancies between my natural and adapted style. But it was right. Realizing this helped me to identify that I was not a bad person---just someone in a position that did not build on my strengths. And it helped me to begin to envision how things could be different--and act on that vision."

iv. Today Carol is working for the same company but now in the capacity for which she had been hired in the first place. Her energy level, attitude and performance are significantly improved over one year ago.

c. Step 3. Correct it i. Identify the problem

1. Is it you? Your superior? Your department? The company culture?

ii. Identify three things YOU can do to rectify the situation. 1. Try to avoid allowing yourself to change jobs at this stage. Focus attention on what YOU can do to improve the situation.

iii. Communicate the problem and your solution(s) to your superiors.

iv. Give yourself a deadline for improvements. Avoid being the victim—don’t blame anything on "Them". Measure your results and/or changes weekly.

The Velvet Noose has stifled many a good career and many good company’s that had terrific potential but poor results. It has turned ‘A’ players into ‘C’ in a matter of weeks. It has caused "A" players to leave companies and "C" players to stay and, in fact hire more "C" players. As the pace of the New Economy increases and as performance standards change there will continue to be less and less room for "The Velvet Noose Culture" and those employees/managers/and executives that fall victim to it. Take it upon yourself to determine if your company’s culture is creating The Velvet Noose and whether or not you have also willingly put you own head in it. Take charge but be sure to loosen up! It is going to be an invigorating ride and you’ll need all the oxygen you can muster.

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