Hartford Business Journal

28 Hartford Business Journal • April 22, 2019 • www.HartfordBusiness.com EDITOR'S TAKE Give business leaders a 'CT to sell' A lot of attention has been paid lately to Gov. Ned Lamont's efforts to task business leaders with helping sell or boost the state. Even the Wall Street Journal highlighted Lamont's ability to recruit business executives to be in, or support, his administration. The April 2 article headlined "Connecticut Bets on Busi- nesses Luring More Businesses," notes that former Goldman Sachs executive David Lehman, Indra Nooyi, former PepsiCo Inc. CEO, and Jim Smith, Webster Bank's former CEO, are among the private-sector heavyweights Lamont has tapped to help shape the state's economic-development strategy. He's also hired former Core Informatics and IBM executive Josh Geballe to lead the Department of Administrative Services, and billionaire hedge fund executive Ray Dalio recently an- nounced he will donate $100 million to the state and help raise millions more to support economically distressed schools. This is all good PR for Connecticut, and it's a smart strat- egy to have successful business leaders help re-think how the state operates. However, it will mean very little if the legislature pushes through the anti- business agenda it's been touting so far this session. Paid family and medical leave. Higher minimum wage. Tolls. Broadening the sales tax. Increasing income taxes on the wealthy. Taken individually, most busi- nesses can absorb these measures. Some private-sector leaders have even sup- ported highway tolling as a way to invest in the state's run-down infrastructure. Taken as a whole, however, these policies will represent a major cost increase for many employers, especially small businesses. As an example, take a manu- facturing company with 35 employees — a few of them making minimum wage — that has a small truck fleet to transport its goods. It will see higher costs from highway tolls and an hourly minimum wage that would gradually rise from $10.10 to $15. Paid family medical leave, which would apply to firms with a single employee under one bill, could mean the company has multiple workers out for 12 weeks at a time, making it difficult — and poten- tially more expensive — to find replacements, especially in an industry already facing a major talent shortage. Business-to-business transactions are exempt from Lamont's proposed sales- tax expansion, though I'm skeptical that will pass muster in the legislature, especially the House, which is dominated by the progressive caucus that also wants to raise income tax rates on the wealthy. Even still, broadening the sales tax will hit local retailers, many of which are struggling for survival given the continued rise of e-commerce. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who passed two of the largest tax hikes in state history during his eight years in office, certainly caught the ire of the business commu- nity. But business owners tell me they are even more concerned today about the direction of the state. The problem with the legislature is that it contains very few business people, so they are detached from the challenges companies face. (Yes, I'm aware Lamont was a small-business owner himself, but he seems to be allowing ideol- ogy to drive some of his decision-making.) Some also view "businesses" only as large corporations that earn billions of dollars and handsomely reward shareholders and executives. While Connecticut is still home — thankfully — to a number of Fortune 500 employers, mid-size and small businesses are the engine of the economy and impacted most by these policies. Earlier this month, HBJ news editor Gregory Seay wrote about the ramp-up in political activism of the state's largest Realtors' lobby, Connecticut Realtors, which is concerned about the impact the state's economic malaise is having on the housing market. While I don't agree with all their tactics, I did find appropri- ate a slogan they brandished during last fall's election: "Give us a CT to sell." It's the same mantra business leaders now in Lamont's inner circle should be sharing with the freshman Democratic governor and state legislators. It's not enough to have high-profile executives hawking the state. They need something they can actually sell. COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS How to be a courageous leader By Karen Senteio M any of us wonder why some people have courage and others don't. This intriguing question is the subject of many books, papers and podcasts. It's also a theme in the iconic 1939 musical "The Wizard of Oz." We know we need courage, but it is surely elusive to many. If you ask what courageous leader- ship looks like, people stumble on the answer because it is hard to describe. We know when it is not there, but how do we describe courageous lead- ership so that it is clear, measure- able and there- fore, learnable? How can we become coura- geous without a clear definition and a clear path that provides a way to develop this elusive characteristic? How do we cre- ate organizations that not only profess courage but systematically blaze paths to innovation and creativity? How do we as leaders develop and embrace an appetite for falling and getting back up to try again … and again? Simon Sinek, TED Talk sensation and author of "Leaders Eat Last," tells us "leaders rush headlong into the unknown." The very idea turns most of us into cowardly lions! Why is that? Ironically, "courageous leadership" demands that we shed the armor we wear every day, armor we have con- vinced ourselves will keep us safe and our profits predictable. This armor blocks the door to re-creation, creative spar- ring and brilliant disagreement, the sometimes uncomfortable discourse we need in order to rumble with groundbreaking ideas. Putting our armor aside exposes our vulnerability, but there are no shifts without vulnerability and a culture that allows for it. Brené Brown, author of "Dare to Lead," points out that "Who we are is how we lead." She and Sinek agree that these times call for a new approach to how we lead organizations, businesses and governments. It is about making the decision to either open hearts or squeeze them, to focus on people rath- er than numbers and to lead for the long term rather than the short-term win. Those are the choices we need to make, and that takes courage. In "Leaders Eat Last," Sinek reminds us that when groups face a threat, real leaders will put the group's inter- est ahead of their own self-interest. Leaders make sacrifices, they take the hit, they dedicate their time, energy, reputation — "maybe even the food off their plate," says Sinek, because "when it matters most, leaders eat last." What does such courageous, self- less leadership look like in our work- place, the community in which many of us spend most of our time? Courageous leadership at our jobs is evident when we say "yes" to taking on new projects that have no guarantee of success. It shows up again when we are willing to back members of our team should such projects not work. Boards of these organizations display courage when they support their forward-thinking executives, even after a bad quarter. Brené Brown tells us, "The level of collective courage in an organization is the absolute best predictor of that organization's ability to be successful." So, how do we build courageous workplaces? We can start by being courageous ourselves, no matter what level of official leadership we have inside the organization. We can cre- ate and enlarge "circles of safety" by showing others we are trustworthy. And guided by a greater pur- pose than our individual or organizational self-interest, we can genuinely care about one another in ways that make self- sacrifice and risk-taking feel like the most natural thing in the world. Those we work with will be more willing "to rush headlong into the unknown" if, as the "once-cowardly" lion in "The Wizard of Oz," discovered, we our- selves act in ways that foster trust, a genuine concern for each other and a higher purpose for our efforts. Karen Senteio is the director of consulting and training for Leadership Greater Hartford. Opinion & Commentary Greg Bordonaro Editor Karen Senteio Courageous leadership at our jobs is evident when we say 'yes' to taking on new projects that have no guarantee of success. It shows up again when we ... back team members should such projects not work.

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