Leadership Excellence

Excellence L E A D E R S H I P

THE MAGAZINE OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, MANAGERIAL EFFECTIVENESS, AND ORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY

September 2012

Gregg Thompson President, BluePoint Leadership Development

Corporations Are People Are You a High-Performer? Leading an Enterprise

“LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE

IS AN EXCEPTIONAL

WAY TO LEARN AND THEN APPLY THE BEST AND LATEST IDEAS IN THE FIELD OF LEADERSHIP .” —WARREN BENNIS, USC PROFESSOR OF

Make Six Critical Shifts

AUTHOR AND MANAGEMENT

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Excellence L E A D E R S H I P

THE MAGAZINE OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, MANAGERIAL EFFECTIVENESS, AND ORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY

VOL. 29 NO. 9

THE GLOBAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT RESOURCE

SEPTEMBER 2012

Fishing the Stream

Just as grizzlies must be completely focused on the fish, leaders must be focused on their internal and external customers and stakeholders to enjoy market success. GREGG THOMPSON

Leading an Enterprise You need to make six shifts now . . . . . . . . . . 3

Avoid 10 behaviors that get you fired. . . . . . . .7

Take five steps to align and leverage talent. . . . .12

OLIVER DEMILLE

JACK ZENGER AND JOE FOLKMAN

Non-Political Leaders CAROL KINSEY GOMAN

Great Leaders They know all decisions are emotional. . . . . . . . . . .4

CHRIS MCCHESNEY, SEAN COVEY, AND JIM HULING

Execution Excellence Develop and use the four disciplines. . . . . . . . . 5

JONES LOFLIN

Managing Up

We need more and better leaders in all sectors . . . . .8

SANDI EDWARDS

ROBYN BENINCASA

8 Leadership Lessons Learn from the toughest teams on earth. . . . . . . . . 16

Why Invest in LD?

KEN J. BRUMFIELD

Now you can show that it pays big dividends. . . .13

Crisis Leadership Establish your senior executive team culture. . .17

Optimal Transparency

MIKE STAVER

All stakeholders need access to information. . . . 9

Blame-based Leadership

VINCE MOLINARO

Take seven steps to neutralize fear. . . . . . . . . 14

Leadership Contract

ALLAN MCCARTHY

It has four main terms and conditions. . . . . . . . .18

The CXO Killer

ANDREW J. BLUM

Mismanaged stakeholders can kill leaders. . . . . . . . 10

Reset Your Strategy

SARA CANADAY

It’s a conversation, an on-going dialogue. . . . . .15

High Performers

JACK AND SUZY WELCH

Start using the CARD method. . . . . . . . . .6

Corporations Are People JUDITH W. UMLAS What else could they be?. .11 Grateful Leadership

HOWARD M. GUTTMAN

DOUG WILLIAMSON

Are You a High-Performer? Full Alignment

Use the impressive power of gratitude and personal acknowledgment. . . . . . .16

Clear the obstacles to their success. . . . . . . . .19

LACI LOEW & CORI HILL

Hi-Po Leaders Do you tell them that they are high potential?. . .20

Volume 29 Issue 9

E . D . I . T . O . R ’ S

N . O . T . E

Leadership Excellence (ISSN 8756-2308) is published monthly by Executive Excellence Publishing, LLC (dba Leadership Excellence), 1806 North 1120 West, Provo, UT 84604.

Ghost of Covey Past

Editorial Purpose: Our mission is to promote personal and organizational leadership based on constructive values, sound ethics, and timeless principles.

Business! Mankind was my business!

Basic Annual Rate: US $99 one year (12 issues))

by Ken Shelton

N

Kurtz, and most “charismatic” leaders, Covey is a paradox, full of irony. In truth, Covey, through me, conveyed much light. Much like Conrad, I would never, condemn Kurtz—or Covey—to his face, or once departed, to the face of his loved ones. In fact, in my final meeting with Covey, a coincidental encounter a few months ago in the Celestial Room of the Provo Temple, I knelt at his feet as he sat beside his wife Sandra (in her wheelchair), looked into his eyes, and whispered, “Thank you, Stephen, for all you taught me, and for the work we did together to build Zion. I want you to know that I remain faithful to our shared cause of promoting principle-centered leadership worldwide.”

STEPHEN R. Covey dies at age 79 on Monday, July 16, 2012, from injuries sustained in a bike accident that occurred three months earlier. Fact: For 10 years, from 1984 to 1994, I was Covey’s business partner in Leadership Excellence and ghost writer on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and Principle-Centered Leadership (with an assist on a third book, First Things First). His death prompted this reflection: Reflection: When his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley, appears as a ghost in chains, Scrooge tries to console him, “Jacob, Seven Lessons Learned you were always a good man of business . . .” whereupon Marley screams, Here are seven of the many lessons Business! Mankind was my business! I learned from Stephen R. Covey: During the decade that I served as • Be proactive. Without a high degree Covey’s ghost writer and as Editor/ of pro-activity, you likely won’t start and finish anything noteworthy. partner in Executive Excellence, I believe that mankind was our business. • The key to productivity is to At least, I know that it was then— Stephen R. Covey achieve the daily private victory and is now—my motive and mission, early in the morning—and then put as I wrote from interviews with Covey two first things first during the day. best-selling books—and about 125 articles • Effectiveness is a different dimension and for our joint-venture, a monthly magazine measure of time management (life leaderlaunched in May 1984, Executive Excellence. ship) than efficiency—and often involves I was never Covey’s employee, refusing emotional intelligence and relationships. • While independent producers can achieve offers that could have made me wealthy, as I knew instinctively that I could better serve much on their own, team and enterprise him as a fiercely independent talent/agent—out- results often hinge on healthy relationships. • Mutual gain—often the consequence of side the politics and poker of his company. From long experience, I can testify: It’s not seeking a third alternative—is the aim in easy being a ghost—holy or solely. It’s lonely. negotiations, transactions, and relationships. • The key to influence is to first be influYou enjoy little visibility and credibility, no voice and name brand identity—you work enced by seeking first to understand (empathy), anonymously as invisible talent for hire. As a then to be understood. • Immutable natural laws and principles ghost, you serve and sacrifice to make your friends rich and famous. At the end of the (not social values) govern and ultimately day, you are still dead. As Covey once told prevail in life, and so wise are they who me: “Ghosts are supposed to be invisible.” operate in sync with them. The magazine Covey and I co-founded, In The Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad reveals the true motives of those involved in Leadership Excellence, remains true to its the British expeditions to extract ivory out of original charge and charter, even though it the Congo—particularly its leader, Kurtz. In now carries the name of one more deservmy book Counterfeit Leadership, I comment ing of its inclusive nature, Warren Bennis. on the true motives of most leaders—it’s all So, “doctor” Covey, I bid you adieu, not about the money, fame, lifestyle, and legacy. farewell, for we shall meet again in some Is this, then, my conclusion, my epitaph, Celestial realm where I hope to report that regarding Stephen R. Covey: was his life —notwithstanding the ivory and irony—I and “leadership center” just another Congo finished the work, the business of mankind, expedition into the heart of darkness? Was it in we were meant to do. LE the end all about the ivory? Yes, and no. Like Editor since 1984 EWS ITEM:

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Corporate Bulk Rates (to same address) Ask about logo and custom editions and foreign bulk rates. Article Reprints: For reprints of 100 or more, please contact the editorial department at 801-375-4060 or email [email protected]. Permission PDF US: $75. Internet Address: www.LeaderExcel.com Submissions & Correspondence: All correspondence, articles, letters, and requests to reprint articles should be sent to: Editorial Department, Executive Excellence, 1806 North 1120 West, Provo, Utah 84604; 801-375-4060, or [email protected]. Customer Service/Circulation: For information on products and services call 1-877-250-1983 or email: [email protected]. Executive Excellence Publishing: Ken Shelton, CEO, Editor-in-Chief Sean Beck, Circulation Manager Contributing Editors: Chip Bell, Warren Bennis, Dianna Booher, Kevin Cashman, Marshall Goldsmith, Howard Guttman, Jim Kouzes, Jim Loehr, Tom Peters, Norm Smallwood The table of contents art is a detail from F i s h Ta l e s (image cropped) © Bonnie Marris, and is courtesy of the artist and art print publisher Greenwich Workshop. For additional information on artwork by Bonnie Marris, please contact: Greenwich Workshop 151 Main Street Saymour, CT 06483 1-800-243-4246 www.greenwichworkshop.com Full view of table of contents art.

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LEADERSHIP

SHIFTS

Leading an Enterprise Six shifts you need to make now. by Gregg Thompson

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T SOME POINT IN OUR

careers most of us have said to ourselves: “I want it all. I want to run the whole business.” Our minds come alive with thoughts of the freedom, the rewards and the recognition that come with the role. So, you finally do have it all; you are leading the enterprise. Now what? As much as I believe that leadership is everyone’s business, I also believe that not all leadership is the same. During your career, you’ve likely made several shifts in your approach to leadership, but none as dramatic as that required when you become the leader of the enterprise. You are now not just responsible for a team, a function or even a huge division; you are now responsible for the business itself. And this is no small thing. Shareholders put their precious assets in your hands, employees count on you so they can pay their mortgages, and customers expect amazing products and service. Enterprise leadership is a very difficult, often unrewarding endeavor. Your job is to create value out of a cluster of diverse, moving pieces while shareholders are demanding extraordinary returns, employees are demanding extraordinary careers, and customers are demanding extraordinary attention. All of this needs to be achieved in an unforgiving marketplace surrounded by government agents with voracious appetites for taxes, regulations, and power. In the Leader’s Voice, Clarke and Crossland write: “Some will judge you unfairly, blaming you for their lack of success. Others will expect resources you can’t give, answers that you don’t have, and permission that you can’t grant. You will be misquoted. Your judgment will be questioned. You will certainly stumble. Failure will stalk you like a predator. The toughest problems will be yours alone. You must take responsibility for the failures and give credit for the successes. Lose the fantasy that you’ll be cherished, immortalized and revered. Expect long hours and few moments of gratitude.” You now have enormous responsibility for which you’ll never be fully L e a d e r s h i p

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compensated, you’ll be blamed for many things that are not your fault, and a big part of your job is to ensure everyone else gets the credit for your best work. Welcome to enterprise leadership! When you step up to lead the enterprise, you need to be on your very best game. Here are the six surprising shifts that you must make to effectively lead the enterprise. These are the critical differentiators that separate the winners from the losers. Shift 1: Immediately declare independence. You were selected for the job because you have the unique ability to pull together disparate entities (people, resources, opportunities) and create and execute a winning business model. Sure, take advice, learn from others, but know that it’s your job alone to create a fresh, winning business model. If your boss had the answers, you wouldn’t be

needed. Have the faith and audacity to believe that the best thinking is going to come from you. Start by asking yourself: How can we do what’s never been done before? Be cautious of those who exhort you to think more strategically. These are code words often used by executives when they really mean think more like me. Your boss may serve as a good coach and mentor but the job of creating a winning business model is yours alone. Shift 2: Disregard the financials. Whoa! Before you stop reading, think about all the inane, value-destroying work you used to do to satisfy some executive’s insatiable desire for financial reports. Remember when you swore that, if you ever had the authority, you would allow people to direct all that wasted effort into real work? In any event, if you’re really doing your job, you’ll be consumed by only two activities: marketing and OD. Marketing is all about creating value in the market-

place and organization development is about creating the people systems that will extract that value. Spend every ounce of time and effort on marketing and organization development; others can look after the numbers. Sure, you can drive your people to deliver the target EBITDA, revenue or market share—but you’ll lose much value in the process. Your organization will contort itself, turn itself upside down and burn extraordinary energy to deliver these numbers for you, month after month, quarter after quarter, year after year. Don’t go down that road. Tremendous value will be lost in the journey. Choose the better path. Shift 3: Don’t delegate anything. For all the years you’ve been a manager, someone has likely been encouraging you to delegate, delegate and delegate some more. It’s time to stop this outdated, paternalistic practice. Think about what it must feel like to do “delegated” work rather than work that is uniquely yours. Even cool delegated work has a paternalistic flavor to it. Stop delegating and start building big jobs, enormous jobs for everyone. Build jobs that are so big the incumbents get dizzy just thinking about them. Your job? Well, you get everything that is left over. Your job description is defined by the work that can’t be done by others; both the crumbs and the excruciatingly complex. Shift 4: Stop making nice. You likely are unaware of the fact that you have been conditioned to get along with others, be predictable, play nice with your colleagues, don’t rock the boat, don’t confront others, and for heaven’s sake, be a team player. Until now, you’ve spent much of your career placating others and trying to be well-liked. Stop it. Treat people with great dignity and respect, but challenge them to step up to a bigger game. Set stretch goals for everyone. Look for the best in people and hold them accountable to be just that. Take no prisoners. No one gets a free pass. Be generous in giving others the feedback they need to hear. Remember, you have spent your career taking tension out of the system. Your job has changed. Now you need to inject tension into the system every chance you get. Triple expectations. Reorganize. Name elephants. Rotate jobs. Confront waste. Eliminate products. Bring in customers. Promote weirdos and zealots. Push your organization to the edge—where high performance lives. Shift 5: Play to your weaknesses. I know that this sounds like heresy in our strengths-based world, but please S e p t e m b e r

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hear me out. Everyone is telling you to identify your strengths and ignore your weaknesses. The problem is that you have likely maxed out these strengths and you need to find another gear. You now have an enormous job. A bevy of stakeholders is counting on you to do something special. You need more skills, competencies, and talents. I agree with John Gardner when he said that “Most human talent goes undiscovered.” It’s time to start claiming your hidden talents because you need to quickly find overdrive. Have a quiet, no-holds-barred conversation with yourself. Many of your so-called weaknesses are likely talents that you haven’t yet developed. Not very innovative? Get creative. Not very political? Get connected. Not very empathetic? Start listening. Not very visionary? Start dreaming. Find those talents that you have been holding in exile and get them in the game. Now. Shift 6: Assume that you are wrong. This might be the toughest thing you do. You will likely have done the best you could to create a winning business plan, but you are definitely wrong—to some degree. When you recognize this, you’ll take the first big step towards becoming the most prized of all leaders—the learner. You’ll see market opportunities before they exist and landmines before they are laid. If you assume you are on the right path, you’ll ignore the small, subtle signs suggesting an untraveled, more fertile path. It’s human nature to protect our plans. Be strong enough to see these signs and bend. The enterprise needs leaders who can learn more and faster than others. Sadly, most can’t make this switch, choosing the comfort of their well-thought-out assumptions, models and ideas. At this point you are likely asking yourself two questions: “Am I up to this?” and “Is it worth it?” Most assuredly: yes and yes. Every day I see ordinary people like us (99 percent of all leaders) do extraordinary things when they are called upon to lead the enterprise. Without exception, these are leaders who recognize that they have just entered a brave new world and need to make a major shift to a brave new approach to leadership. And it is very much worth it. To know in your heart-of-hearts that you have created a thriving enterprise that profits everyone it touches may be the greatest reward you will ever receive. We will all thank you for making the shift! LE Gregg Thompson is President, Bluepoint Leadership Development and author of Unleashed: Leader As Coach. Contact by email [email protected].

ACTION: Make these six shifts.

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LEADERSHIP

BODY LANGUAGE

Great Leaders They’re positively infectious. by Carol Kinsey Goman

Negativity diminishes problem-solving abilities and narrows creative thinking. Effective change agents focus primarily on positive emotions that motivate, inspire, and move people to commit to change and then to act on that commitment.

BL Will Make or Break Yo u

Leaders who believe that what they say carries more weight than anything they do, will fail. The policies, actions, REAT LEADERS KNOW behaviors, and BL of the best leaders that all decisions are aligned with their verbal messages. are emotional. No one Here are three predictions: makes decisions based on pure logic. Often logical reasoning is just a way to Prediction 1: Visual technology will justify emotional choices. make BL skills more crucial. Leaders Emotions are infectious. You can catch have always been under scrutiny, but an emotion nonverbally just by being in with visual technology, a leader’s BL is more exposed to evaluation. Leaders the same room with someone. Since need to develop their nonverbal skills emotional leads tend to flow from the to make the most of these tools. most powerful person in a group, when the leader is angry or depressed, Prediction 2: The BL of effective leaders negative body language (BL) spreads to will become increasingly warm. Followthe rest of the team, affecting attitudes ers look for two sets of BL cues in leadand lowering energy. Conversely, ers: 1) warmth and empathy and 2) power happy and buoyant leaders make the and status. Both are necessary. But when entire team feel upbeat and energized. creating a collaborative structure and philosophy, effective leadership is less People watch your every move. about projecting power, more about During a major change, people are on building relationships. Relationshiphigh alert—constantly looking to their leader for emotional cues. If building is all about the body you stay relaxed and optilanguage of trust, inclusion mistic, your team members and empathy. So the soft side will be more positive and of nonverbal communicaproductive. If you become tion (undervalued and upset, depressed or angry, underutilized by leaders those emotions will be repmore concerned with prolicated by your team and jecting strength, status, and expressed in various lessauthority), will become key than-optimal results includto achieving goals. ing higher absenteeism and Prediction 3. Authenticlower productivity. ity increasingly will be revealed through BL. Warren Bennis Body language (BL) says it all. notes: “Leadership is 100 percent charNever promote an initiative you don’t acter.” BL reveals character. Regardless believe in—always be as transparent of how skilled a nonverbal communiand candid as possible. Doing so will cator, you can’t fool the people who help your body align authentically to work with you over time. Your BL will reflect that openness. Even then you give you away. Like good manners and need to pay close attention to your good grammar, BL is a tool for expressnonverbal signals. If you slouch, look ing your best self in a certain situadown, clasp your hands in front of you, sway back and forth, or sound tion—it can’t hide bad character. tentative, these behaviors come across You can become aware of and change as uncertainty or insincerity. ineffective BL habits, see the impact Positive motivation is most effective. that certain nonverbal behaviors have on your audiences, and add more effecLeaders use two sets of emotions to motivate change: negative and positive. tive gestures, postures, and expressions In crisis motivation and burning platform to your leadership repertoire. But the rationales, the idea is to frighten people most charismatic, influential, and powerful BL will always be totally congruent into accepting change. Negative emotions like fear, anger, and disgust can with who you are, what you stand for, trigger physiological responses that and what you truly believe. LE prepare the body for fast actions. But Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D., is a coach, consultant, speaker, and change is often continuous, evolutionauthor of The Silent Language of Leaders. Call 510-526-172 or ary and ambiguous in nature. For such email [email protected], www.SilentLanguageOfLeaders.com. change, negative emotions don’t help. ACTION: Practice your body language.

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PERFORMANCE

EXECUTION

Execution Excellence Develop now the Four Disciplines.

by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling

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HY DOES EXECUTION BREAK DOWN?

These are obvious explanations: most people aren’t sure what the goal is, aren’t committed to it, don’t know what to do about it specifically, and aren’t being held accountable for it. Most people are never held accountable for regular progress on the organization’s goals. And the goals are not translated into specific actions—few people have a clear idea of what they should be doing to achieve the goal. No wonder execution is inconsistent! There are also problems with distrust, misaligned compensation systems, poor development processes, and poor decision making. Your first instinct might be to say: “Fix everything—and then we can execute our strategy.” But while lack of clarity, commitment, collaboration, and accountability exacerbate the challenge of strategy execution, we find that the core problem with execution is your day job! We call it the whirlwind—the massive amount of energy needed to keep your operation going; ironically, it’s also the thing that makes it so hard to execute anything new and robs you of the focus required to move forward. Leaders seldom differentiate between the whirlwind and strategic goals since both are necessary. However, they are clearly different, and they compete for time, resources, energy, and attention. And the whirlwind usually wins. It is urgent and acts on you every minute. The goals you set for moving forward are important, but when urgency and importance clash, urgency wins. Important goals that require you to do new and different things often conflict with the whirlwind of the day job, made up of urgencies that consume your time and energy. Recall a key initiative that launched well and then died. Did the end come with a loud crash—or did it go down

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quietly over time, suffocated by the whirlwind? The answer: Slow suffocation! Executing in spite of the whirlwind means overcoming its powerful distraction, and the inertia of the way it’s always been done. The whirlwind isn’t all bad. It keeps the organization alive. If you ignore the urgent, it can kill you today. However, if you ignore the important, it can kill you tomorrow. So, if you and your team operate from within the whirlwind, you won’t progress— your energy is spent trying to survive. The challenge is executing your most important goals amid the urgent! You likely face the whirlwind when you try to explain a new goal or strategy to someone who works for you. Your mind is centered on the goal and you explain it in easy-to-understand

terms. But, as you’re talking, the person is backing away, while nodding and reassuring you, but trying to get back to what they call real work. To achieve results, you need to execute a behavioral-change strategy. Strokeof-the-pen moves will only take you so far, as you’ll be battling the whirlwind. The 4 Disciplines of Execution aren’t designed for managing the whirlwind. They are rules for executing your most critical strategy amidst your whirlwind.

The 4 Disciplines Once you adopt the 4 Disciplines, you will never lead in the same way again. Discipline 1: Focus on wildly important goals (WIGs). The more you try to do, the less you actually accomplish. Why? Smart, ambitious leaders want to do more, even when they know better. Isn’t it difficult for you to say no to a good idea, much less a great one? And yet, there’ll always be more good ideas than you and your teams can execute. That’s why your first chal-

lenge is focusing on the wildly important. This discipline requires you to go against your basic wiring as a leader and focus on less so that your team can achieve more. When you implement Discipline 1, you start by selecting one (or two) extremely important goals, instead of trying to improve everything all at once. WIGs are the goals that matters most. If you’re now trying to execute 10 important goals, your team can’t focus. When you narrow the focus of your team to one or two WIGs, the team can easily distinguish between what is truly top priority and what is the whirlwind. They move from a loosely defined and difficult-to-communicate collection of objectives to a small, focused set of achievable targets. Discipline 2: Act on the lead measures. This discipline of leverage is based on the principle that all actions are not created equal. Some actions have more impact than others—and you need to identify and act on those to reach your goal. Whatever your strategy, your progress and success will be based on two kinds of measures: lag and lead. Lag measures are the tracking measurements of the WIG. Revenue, profit, market share, and customer satisfaction are lag measures. When you receive them, the performance that drove them is already in the past. Lead measures track the high-impact actions your team must do to reach the goal—the behaviors that drive success on lag measures. A good lead measure is predictive of achieving the goal and is influenced by the team members. Consider the goal of losing weight. While the lag measure is pounds lost, two lead measures might be to limit calories per day and exercise more per week. These measures are predictive: by performing to them, you can predict what the scale (lag measure) will tell you next week. They are influenceable because these new behaviors are within your control. Acting on lead measures is one secret of execution. Most leaders lack the discipline to focus on the lead measures. Lag measures are what you’re trying to accomplish, but lead measures are what get you to the lag measures. Lead measures, once identified, become the key leverage points for achieving goals. Discipline 3: Keep a compelling scoreboard. People play differently when they keep score. It’s not about you keeping score for them. Discipline 3 is the discipline of engagement. The highest performance comes from people who are emotionally engaged, and the highest engagement comes from S e p t e m b e r

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knowing the score—whether you are winning or losing. If you narrow your focus in Discipline 1 (your WIG with a lag measure) and determine the critical lead measures that keep you on course toward that goal, you have the elements of a winnable game. Next capture that game on a simple scoreboard designed for (and perhaps by) the players. This scoreboard is so simple that team members can see instantly if they’re winning or losing. If the scoreboard isn’t clear, the game you want people to play will be abandoned in the whirlwind. If your team doesn’t know if they’re winning, they’re likely losing. Discipline 4: Create a cadence of accountability. Unless we consistently hold each other accountable, the goal naturally disintegrates in the whirlwind. The cadence of accountability is a rhythm of regular meetings of any team that owns a WIG. These meetings happen weekly for 20 to 30 minutes. In that time, team members hold each other accountable for producing results. Each week, team members answer a simple question: What are the one or two most important things I can do in the next week (outside the whirlwind) to have the biggest impact on the scoreboard? Then members report on whether they met the previous week’s commitments, how well they are moving the lead and lag measures on the scoreboard, and their commitments for the coming week (all in a few minutes). When team members create their own commitments, their ownership increases. Team members are always more committed to their own ideas than to orders from above. And, making commitments to team members, rather than solely to the boss, shifts the emphasis from professional to personal promises to the team. Since the team commits to new goals each week, this discipline creates a justin-time execution plan that adapts to challenges and opportunities. When the plan is adapting as fast as the business is changing, the team can direct enormous energy to the WIGs without getting blocked by the whirlwind. When you see the lag measure of a goal moving as a result of your efforts, you know you are winning. And nothing drives team morale and engagement more than winning. The 4 Disciplines are based on the four principles of execution: focus, leverage, engagement, and accountability. Leaders must find ways to implement them, even when the whirlwind is raging. LE Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling are coauthors of The 4 Disciplines of Execution (Free Press). Visit www.4dxbook.com.

ACTION: Develop and deploy the 4 disciplines.

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MANAGEMENT

CAREER

Managing Up Use the CARD method. by Jones Loflin

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HERE IS A QUESTION

that surfaces in a training program or discussion related to time management and it’s not about email overload, prioritizing or managing the calendar. People see the need to be more accountable for how they use their time. They know that they can’t get it all done and must prioritize and plan appropriately to get their most important things done. The question, then, is “How do I deal with a ___________ (boss, supervisor, coworker, friend, or spouse) who thinks I should get it all done—at any cost?” Sometimes the issue isn’t related to a manager, but rather a prevailing culture that drives the attitude and behavior of everyone. Addressing the issue can be touchy. When you seem less than willing to tackle all of the tasks and projects presented to you, your boss could interpret your behavior as a sign of poor performance or lack of commitment. If you find yourself in a similar situation and sense that someone you report to (or work or live with) has less than realistic expectations of you and how you can spend your time, try using the CARD method to bring their expectations in line with reality and your capacity. Here’s how it works: C—Communicate your current workload. Think about the person making the request of you. What percentage of your daily routine or workload do they understand: 70 percent? 50 percent? 30 percent? If the number is less than 100 percent, they may see no problem in adding one more thing to your schedule. Take every opportunity to educate them on what is on your plate. Use phrases like, “Let me share with you . . .” or “Here’s what things look like for me right now . . .” In his book Margin, Dr. Richard Swenson notes: When working with other people, remember that there is absence of malice but presence of callous. People are simply not sensitive to your situation. So, inform them of your current workload so they can evaluate their request with respect to the bigger pic-

ture. Be prepared to correlate current tasks or initiatives with organizational goals, mandates or what your manager says are the top priorities. Enlighten them on how engaged and focused you are on getting the right work done. A—Ask for help. In many cases, the person making the request of you is paid to make sure you are engaged in the tasks that are most important to the organization. Ask, What do you see as the most critical use of my resources now? Number them if necessary. Use positive phrases like, Help me understand or Give me your perspective. Have them clarify the value of this new task in relation to current goals. This request could be a knee-jerk reaction to an issue, and a simpler, less taxing solution may exist. Once you have the support and cooperation of your manager and boss, they may be more supportive when you can’t get to task 45 this week. R—Request resources. When someone makes a request of you, you tend to think how quickly you can do it for them—especially if it’s someone in authority over you. In some situations, they may indicate exactly when they need something completed. Before you simply say yes to the task, see if you can leverage added resources to make the new assignment less stressful. If they want the task done in a week, ask for 10 days. If they need it by 3 p.m., see if it can be postponed until 5 p.m. Ask if someone else can help you with the task or take a portion of it so the assignment doesn’t wreck other priorities. Can a coworker take part of your work so you can focus on the new task? Resources may be limited, but you’ll never know what’s possible unless you ask. D—Determine the quality of completion. In an ideal world, every task would be completed with A+ effort, but some tasks don’t require or merit such excellence. Ask questions about what the finished product will look like. Are they looking for a general idea of the cost of a product or service, or do they want a three-page spreadsheet? If you have too much to do, ask your supervisor which tasks need an A-effort and which ones would suffice with a C-level of completion. Failing to take these steps may derail much of the investment in managing your time. LE Jones Loflin is author of Getting the Blue Ribbon and coauthor of Juggling Elephants. Visit www.jonesloflin.com.

ACTION: Play the CARD when managing up.

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“When you said I missed your point, what did you mean?”; “When you said there’s a change in direction, help me with that.” Often, a HPL will raise the issue to the group, focusing always on behavior: “Here’s what I’m observing.” Adept Or is your team now planning to fire you? facilitation is a must. On one team of U.S. and European executives, the team leader grew alarmed at the growing times as surprising to the leaders as by Howard M. Guttman mistrust and subversive behavior. He they were to the business community. walked into his team’s quarterly meetA Gallup survey found that one in four employees would fire their boss if given ing in Paris, opened an empty suitcase, EADERS LIVE ON THE and insisted that the team throw its dirty edge, especially in the chance. Among actively disengaged tough times. Although employees, the number jumps to half. laundry into it. Two hours later, the suitthey can’t control all financial and other Clearly, no leader is immune from a coup case overflowed. But the leader was business outcomes, they should at d’état, but smart leaders lower the odds. clueless about how to get his team to least effectively command their teams, move on. The lack of closure persisted, We worked with a high-powered ensuring that they are high-performing leader who had strong credentials and and the infighting and subterfuge led a clear vision, but remained focused on several team members to complain enterprises whose members are fully about their leader’s ineffectiveness to his own agenda and came across as engaged, working together transparthe executive committee. As results directive and dogmatic, which didn’t ently to achieve results for us. plummeted, the leader was Are you a high-performance leader (HPL) sit well with members of reassigned to a lesser role —or is your team plotting to fire you? his top team, all of whom on the headquarters staff. were seasoned pros. He HPLs are a breed apart. They’re paid Whatever the strategy, rarely accepted differing to produce results through and with HPLs deliver a clear mesothers, so they ensure that their behav- points of view, and when sage: Things are not working. he did he often would ior energizes members of their team. change course unilaterally Underground behavior is not To find out how well you meet our and then deny having done acceptable. We need to change criteria for high-performance leaderso. As resentment built up, the way we’re showing up. ship, answer these 10 questions: the stars left. Those who Beyond being sensitive 1. I give my team members clear, remained began to collude to team dynamics, examine measurable goals. 2. My team’s goals with one another, and evenyour own behavior. Ask /priorities are aligned with our busiyourself, “Could I be a co-conspirator ness strategy. 3. My team members are tually his team members decided to in the dysfunction around me?” clear about their roles and responsibili- throw their leader overboard. They ties. 4. My team members put winning reached out to his boss and other exec10 Behaviors That Get Leaders Fired utives. Soon, the leader was fired. for the team ahead of functional selfinterest. 5. I put aside the leadership • Treating your team members like Cues and Clues for Leaders story that as the leader I am paid to subordinates or drones make the decisions. 6. We have a clear, • Practicing vest-pocket decision makHPLs come equipped with finely agreed-upon process in place for mak- tuned sonar. They pay attention to ver- ing, keeping your team off balance ing decisions—who will make which • Stealing credit, being quick to blame bal cues, especially when they come decisions and how. 7. We have clear, • Zoning off your thinking—concealfrequently: I have another point of view; agreed-upon protocols for resolving ing the whys—from your team That’s not what I understood before; You issues and conflict. 8. My team mem• Being dismissive—or worse, belitmissed my point; Is this another change in bers hold one another—and me— tling opposing viewpoints direction?; Yes, but . . .; Don’t you think accountable for results. 9. I adjust my that . . . ?; and Wouldn’t it be better to . . . ? • Showing up as an ice king or queen, leadership behavior—directing, coachshowing no concern on the human level In addition, such leaders remain ing, collaborating, delegating—accord- alert to behavioral cues, such as: team • Showing up as an industry/technical ing to team members’ and situational expert, rather than one based on refermembers no longer seeking them out needs. 10. When I look at my team, I for conversation; colleagues retreating ent or personal power—all IQ, no EQ don’t see followers; I see a team of leaders. to formalistic Yes, sir and No, ma’am re• Engaging in feedattack not feedback sponses; sidebar conversations prolifer- • Creating fog, not clarity, especially If you aren’t a HPL, beware: Your ating; overt or covert resistance; and regarding the rules of game team may be plotting to fire you. This past March, Mike D’Antoni “resigned” issues being tabled rather than resolved. • Conveying the message that this is my As a HPL, you avoid such symptoms game—and you better play it my way as head coach of the New York Knicks. Creating a high-performance environat your peril. At the first sign of trouble, He and star player Carmelo Anthony you need to identify the team members ment provides the best hedge against couldn’t see eye to eye on how basketyou trust. Use them to test your perwhat arguably is the most humiliating ball should be played. The team’s owner ceptions. Ask, “Are my optics on the situation facing a leader: being sacked favored his player, and D’Antoni left. by those who should have been his or He is not alone. Marquee leaders such money?” If so, carefully develop a strategy to bring the issue to light. her most ardent supporters. as Yahoo’s Carol Bartz, HewlettLE You might talk privately to those Packard’s Leo Apotheker, Ernst Lieb at Howard M. Guttman is principal of Guttman Development whom you suspect of being outliers. Mercedes-Benz USA, and Olympus’s Strategies (www.guttmandev.com) and author of Coach Yourself to Win. Visit www.gutttmandev.com. This is the time to tamp down defenMichael Woodford, to name a few, were sacked in moves that were some- siveness and probe dispassionately: ACTION: Create a high performance culture.

Are You a High-Performer?

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7

LEADERSHIP

EMULATION

Non-Political Leaders Yo u n e e d t o s t e p u p a n d l e a d o u t .

by Oliver DeMille

Façade Society, Façade Po l i t i c s

In the old American West, a façade town featured buildings lining Main Street, so visitors to the town would be need of more, and better, leadership. impressed with the up-and-coming community. But often these buildings Consider some pressing national were simply façades, built to impress. challenges: 1) 75 percent of current Today, the idea perception is reality has Americans worry that another recession is coming; 2) U.S. consumer confi- reached the level of myth. It’s taught as dence is low; 3) lower gas prices look truth, parroted as a lasting principle, like a positive trend, but they keep us and used to scold individualists into addicted to foreign oil; 4) neither 2012 working harder to conform, fit in, and presidential candidate has shown the seek to impress others to get ahead. will to establish an effective national In The Inner Ring, C.S. Lewis lamimmigration policy; many wonder if basted this view: If you spend your life the American Dream is still real; we trying to impress and fit in, he warned, want more government oversight of you’ll waste a lot of time and energy and others, less of ourselves; we want the miss many things that really matter in life. government to decrease spending, but Moreover, you won’t appeal to the can’t agree on cutting any programs. only real society of substance—the I could cite other serious concerns, people who ignore trying to impress but one thing is certain: only the right kind of leadership will solve such problems for the long term. Sadly, it appears evident that our political leaders may no longer be able to fulfill this role. President George W. Bush entered office with big goals of creating a more compassionate conservatism, but opposition lined up against him before he proposed a single policy. President Obama took over the White House with big intentions of reframing our national and fit in and instead set about doing politics into a less divisive, more coopera- good things. He called this group the true inner ring, who know that perceptive endeavor. He seems to have been surprised by how quickly the opposing tion is merely perception—truth, reality, party lined up to get him out of office— integrity and quality are what matter. regardless of what he did, or didn’t do. In his seldom-read classic, Discourses The reality of our new politics is on Davila, John Adams said that nearly frustrating. The next president, either every person is plagued by a debilitating dein 2012 or 2016, will likely face the sire to be esteemed by others, to impress same problem. Welcome to the new and fit in, to be admired, and that this system in Washington: A president is the basis of many human flaws— isn’t judged for what he does as much jealousy, envy, ambition, vanity, hatred, as for which party he belongs to. revenge, pride—and most human pain. We are a nation with major strugIn contrast, the best things in life— gles, and desperately need great lead- virtue, nobility, honor, loyalty, wisdom, serership, but top elected officials have vice, strength—are often valued only to little chance of providing such leader- the extent that they increase the admiship—the system simply won’t allow ration of others and attract “attention, it! The next campaign starts the morn- consideration, and congratulations.” ing after Election Day, with no break Many good and important things are between elections and no sense of a U.S. not pursued by people because they president we’ll all follow for four years. don’t boost their status or station. Since human nature is built on this I see the solution as many leaders inner drive to rise in station above other rising from non-political arenas.

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people—there will always be conflicts. Adams’ solution was to create separate branches of power, and to set up the government so these branches could check and balance each other in a way that no one government entity could become too powerful. The result would be that the people would be able to live free of over-reaching government. In making this argument he shows that this drive to fit in, impress, and outdo other people is a serious obstacle to happiness. When people become more knowledgeable, for example, they tend to engage in more, not less, serious conflict with other learned persons. Thus, the leading inhabitants at our great universities are constantly striving for reputation, notoriety, and celebration. And, our branches of government are unable to lead because those who should be our best hope for great progress immediately, upon being elected or appointed to office, set out to compete with other officials for more fame, glory, reputation and credit. The real work of most men and women lifted to leadership is to win this contest with each other. The drive to impress the nation wins over the drive to improve the nation. Adams wrote of the honors of men as mere “frivolities” that provide “neither profit nor pleasure, nor anything amiable, estimable, or respectable, yet they attract the attention of mankind more than learning, virtue, or religion.” Ribbons, medals, titles, and other symbols of man’s honor show that the Status Motive is even stronger than the Profit Motive. Indeed, to true heroes and high achievers, we give symbols, precisely because their lack of monetary value communicates just how highly we esteem them—far above money. Honors and symbols become frivolities when we seek them rather than the actions for which they are awarded. For true heroes, ribbons and medals mean much less than simply knowing what they did. It’s wonderful to honor heroic acts that merit admiration and thanks, but often, as Adams puts it, “the great majority trouble themselves little about merit, but seek for honor”—and not by serving in ways that merit them, since such service is often difficult and dangerous. Besides, meriting great honors doesn’t ensure receiving them. Hence, to ensure the world’s admiration, many people (leaders) directly seek prestige and hire publicists and PR firms. Adams says: “By displaying their taste and address, their wealth and magnificence, their ancient parchments, pictures, and statues, and the w w w. L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m

virtues of their ancestors; and if these fail, as they seldom have done, they have recourse to artifice, dissimulation, hypocrisy, flattery, empiricism.” Because of our thirst for honors, and since façade honors are easier to obtain, all our manmade institutions eventually fail. Adams mourns that government can’t solve the problems of humanity, nor will institutions of commerce. Families and churches come the closest, but families often war over trivialities and churches take up arms against unbelievers, and various religions and secular groups resort to violence when they fail to convince in other ways. As soon as men create institutions, they begin to war—within the ranks or with others. The solution for all would-be leaders, notes Adams, is to dedicate your life and efforts to truly serving in genuine ways. Such service is only authentic when we give up concern about getting the credit. Adams sees real leadership as committed service, devoid of seeking credit/reward. The best honors for great leaders aren’t the praise or baubles of men but the highest of all tributes—emulation. The leadership solution is to emulate those who do it better. Parents who emulate great parents are the hope of the world, as are great teachers, inventors, artists, statesmen, and entrepreneurs. Emulation includes improving upon the best of the past. As leaders emulate the best and improve on it, the world improves. The motive, says Adams, is a desire not to impress and fit in, but to excel in a way that blesses communities and society while helping individuals succeed. Our greatest heroes should be the great men and women whose sacrifice and greatness makes them most worthy of emulation. Emulation is as strong an emotion as admiration; in fact most children learn emulation first. So, how can we fix Washington and put America back on track? The answer is not to turn to leadership from our big institutions. Yes, the solution lies in leadership, but not from the top down. We won’t get back on track until we become a society of leaders. The right kind of emulation is our most powerful means of lasting influence and change. Who you and I choose to emulate will determine the future. Emulation is the most powerful symbol, since who we want to be like on the greatest days of our lives will color the rest of our time. Who we decide to emulate, and how faithfully we do so, will make the future. LE Oliver DeMille is the author of A Thomas Jefferson Education and the chairman of the Center for Social Leadership. Email [email protected].

ACTION: Create a society of leaders.

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ETHICS

FAIRNESS

Optimal Transparency All employees have equal access. by Sandi Edwards

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ODAY, MORE LEADERS accept that greater openness facilitates better functioning, and more employees extol the benefits of transparency. But there is much territory in the land of transparency that requires delineation to help companies achieve more effective openness. Does commitment to transparency, regardless of follow-through, create a more “in the know” workforce? Our research probed transparency and found that 52.4% believe their organizations are more transparent than a few years ago. Half report their companies have made a recent, public commitment to greater transparency. While 36% believe their senior leaders are genuinely committed to transparency, 48% conclude that their leadership has shown inconsistent commitment. Thus, 84.5% of respondents believe that transparency is an organizational commitment to some extent. If we add the 14.4% of leaders who pay lip service to it, 98.9% of companies place value on transparency. Our premise was that employees who have a sense of being included by their employers in discussing strategy or future plans will be more engaged, productive, and in the know. Yes, most companies show some commitment to transparency, and most respondents believe that they know what’s going on at their company most or some of the time; know what will make their company successful; and know their personal roles in the company’s success. From this, we see a clear correlation between a commitment to transparency and employees’ sense of engagement. One curious issue is that people believe their fellow employees are much less in the know than they are. A mere 8.6% of respondents report employees know what’s really going on at the company most of the time, with 54.5% knowing some of the time. Astonishingly, 35.5% hardly ever know what’s going on at the company. Why the disparity, and what does it say about our transparency efforts?

Defining Optimal Tr a n s p a r e n cy If people are correct that they are personally in the know but that others are in the dark about what goes on, it may be due to limits companies impose on their transparency efforts—limits that cause each employee to view efforts as being aimed only at that person. For example, in 90% of organizations there is limited or no transparency in succession planning. Similarly, 38% keep their high-potential selection criteria secret, and 38% do not share information on admission to leadership programs. In contrast, 41% of organizations are very transparent with employee surveys, and 35% report openness on strategy. This level of transparency may account for people saying, “I know what’s going on at the company while others don’t”; “I understand what it will take to make the company successful”; and “I understand my role in company success.” We haven’t discovered the point where a company’s level of transparency satisfies its need to keep certain things under wraps, while maximizing the benefits open communication brings to engagement, commitment and satisfaction. Optimal transparency would be where employees see others as having the same access to information about the company as they do. For instance, we believe openness about leadership development translates into equal opportunity and higher engagement since it conveys a sense of fairness. Certainly there may be sensitivity surrounding restructuring and identifying high-potentials who may someday complement and replace current leaders. But if the process is mysterious and opaque, then selection may be seen as political, or at least capricious. This lack of clarity may be both counterproductive and destructive to the progress otherwise gained by increased transparency. Finally, openness in succession planning efforts can help employees to understand their role in the organization today, but also the role they may play in the firm’s future success. These additional transparencies can help to better align employees with business strategy and foster a sense of purpose and greater commitment at the individual level. The time to determine the most effective boundaries in the land of organizational transparency is today. LE Sandi Edwards is SVP of AMA Enterprise, special division of the American Management Association. Email [email protected].

ACTION: Be transparent fairly.

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PERFORMANCE

The CXO Killer Mismanaged stakeholders.

by Allan McCarthy

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F, AS AN EXECUTIVE OR leader or someone with responsibility, you are not actively managing the stakeholders in your sphere of influence, then your longevity in your role is at risk. Yes, your job is at risk even if you are doing exactly what the organization needs and wants you to do to drive a sales and marketing agenda. The term stakeholder was first used in a 1963 internal memo at the Stanford Research Institute. It defined stakeholders as groups without whose support the organization would cease to exist. This definition has evolved to mean “someone, a group, or entity that has an interest in a deliverable or outcome.” This can be expanded to state: “A person, group, or organization that has a direct or indirect stake in an organization since it can affect or be affected by the organization’s actions, objectives, and policies.” Stakeholders in a business include customers, directors, employees, agencies, owners (shareholders), suppliers, unions, creditors, and the community from which the business draws resources.

S t a k e h o l d e r Po w e r I s I n c r e a s i n g Stakeholders today have more influence. “Most discussions of decision making assume that only senior executives make decisions or that only their decisions matter—this is a dangerous mistake,” noted Peter Drucker. Stakeholders also have higher sophistication, education, and expectations that, if not managed, might lead to sad consequences. To succeed as a leader, you must: 1) identify your stakeholders, 2) understand their needs, expectations, and perceptions, and 3) proactively manage these stakeholders’ perceptions. If you don’t, yours may be the next CXO obituary. How to identify and manage the stakeholder landscape. All stakeholders are not equal and different stakeholders or stakeholder groups require different levels of consideration. In this light I have devised a simple, straightforward method to ensure that stakeholders are identified and managed and that related actions are incorporat10

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stakeholder slate indicate that it will be very difficult to implement intended actions. After performing Stakeholder Analysis, you may recognize that it could be impossible to succeed in the environment or that the path forward will require too many compromises— leading to an undesirable result. One sales leader left the company after six months. Why? After identifying and meeting with key stakeholders, he didn’t believe that he could implement the necessary sales agenda to achieve success. The culture had too many powerful stakeholders with different ideologies and views about the sales/product road map. “I didn’t think I could be successful there—and it wouldn’t have been fun trying.” The stakeholder landscape was too complex and had conflicting expectations about what constituted a successful sales agenda. After resigning, he went back to Cisco Systems where he knew the stakeholder environment would support his ideas and methods. To me, this was a sign of an astute executive. He was able to read the stakeholder environment and make proactive choices. What if I dislike a stakeholder, disagree with a stakeholder’s agenda, or the stakeholder won’t work with me? You don’t need to like the people you work with, but it certainly helps. Figure out how to be compatible and reach alignment on expectations. If you inherit a situation in which alignment is not possible among key stakeholders, make this determination quickly upfront, as opposed to waiting until a tipping point or event causes a crisis. Sometant to include in the information loop times the best that can be done is to escalate the issue up the management and keep up to date (rated C). These hierarchy—even to the board level, if stakeholders exert indirect influence necessary. And if resolution isn’t possithat may not have immediate consequences. Recognize that they exist and ble, it may be better to cut your losses and move to a new opportunity. may have underestimated power over a leader’s agenda and actions. Including A few final parting thoughts: 1) inthem in this process helps eliminate volve your management team, 2) know surprises and facilitate the agenda. your stakeholders and proactively manThe Perceived Status rating is your age these relationships, and 3) include this best guess (or the leadership team’s activity in your planning algorithm. If guess) as to whether or not the stakeyou don’t manage stakeholders then holder is in fact supporting your agen- stakeholder perception will surely manage da (i.e., positive), indifferent or unsure you. As John Kenneth Galbraith said, about your agenda (neutral), or direct- “In any great organization it is far safer ly or indirectly hindering the achieveto be wrong with the majority than to ment of the agenda (negative). be right alone.” Investing appropriately In rating each stakeholder individual in stakeholder management enables you or entity on Impact and Perceived Status, to take the right path with supportive you have the making of a working doc- stakeholders who are endorsing and pulling for your continued success. LE ument that can be managed over time. A stakeholder with an Impact rating of Allan McCarthy is a scaling expert and author of Beyond Genius, A or B coupled with a Perceived Status Innovation & Luck: The ‘Rocket Science’ of Building HighPerformance Corporations (www.mccarthyandaffiliates.com). rating of “neutral” to “negative” is a red flag. Many such ratings on the ACTION: Reach alignment on expectations. ed into the plan. There are no hardand-fast rules here. What is important is that time is invested in identifying, evaluating, and determining those actions needed to gain endorsement and support from key stakeholders. I advise leaders to examine stakeholders on two levels: 1) Impact: what influence does this stakeholder have on my ability to get things done and achieve success? and, 2) Perceived Status: is the stakeholder supportive of my plan and progress to date? Stakeholder Impact is separated into three categories: 1) A sponsor or someone or group that needs to endorse my agenda (rated A). Without it I can’t proceed. Sponsors might have final approval of budgets and/or headcount and hire/fire power over the leader performing the stakeholder analysis. There should be only a few stakeholders with an A rating, 2) Individuals or groups that need to buy in, commit to, or, at a minimum, support the agenda (rated B). Without their help on some level, it will be difficult to achieve success, and 3) Individuals or groups with whom it’s politically correct and impor-

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Corporations Are People Wo r k i n g t o g e t h e r t o w a r d a s h a r e d g o a l .

by Jack and Suzy Welch

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want to be accused of being evil, heartless and stupid—the kind of person who would steal candy from a child, harm a puppy, start a forest fire —then just do this: Offhandedly mention in public that you agree with Mitt Romney that corporations are people. That notion sets some people right off their rockers! Take, for instance, the scene last month when senatorial candidate Elizabeth Warren introduced President Obama at a big fundraiser in Boston: “Mitt Romney believes corporations are people. No, Mitt, corporations are NOT people,” she pronounced. “People have hearts. They have kids. They get jobs. They get sick. They love and they cry and they dance. They live and they die. Learn the difference.” The audience went wild. What nonsense. Of course corporations are people. What else could they be? Buildings don’t hire people, design cars that run on electricity, discover drug therapies to defeat cancer, or show up at a customer’s factory and say, “We won’t leave until we solve your inventory problem.” Buildings don’t encourage their employees to mentor inner-city kids in math and science or fund homeless shelters in Boston or health clinics in Rwanda. People do. Corporations are people working together toward a shared goal, just as hospitals, schools, farms, restaurants, ballparks and museums are. Yes, the people who invest in, manage, and work for corporations are there to make a profit. And yes, corporations may employ some bureaucrats, jerks, cheapskates, and even nefarious criminals. But most are regular people—just like you and your friends and neighbors— who want to make a living and make a difference. And while they’re doing that, they do indeed love and cry and dance. If you don’t know that, you’ve never been on a team that has pulled

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together over coffee and late nights and shouting and laughing and created something amazing to hit a deadline. You’ve never been in the room when a longtime client says it’s not working anymore and she’s taking her business to your biggest competitor. You’ve never sat in the room when someone runs in and says the new medical device that no one thought had a chance, the heart valve that every engineer has worked on for two years, passed its first human clinical trials with flying colors. In such moments, you see and hear and feel that corporations are people. When people say that corporations aren’t people, they really want to say that Business is evil, that capitalism doesn’t work, that it’s unfair, and that we need another system—one that, to quote the president, “spreads the wealth around.” Capitalism isn’t perfect. But free markets are the best system to provide opportunity to those with an idea, or simply the motivation to work their butts off to make their lives better. We also know capitalism can spawn bad behavior (greed is part of the human condition and always will be). That’s why regulations and controls exist, as they should. This movement afoot that hates on business is craziness. It will destroy America as we know it because very few jobs get created in an environment that’s outright hostile to business. And without jobs, the whole thing falls down. We become a welfare state. If that’s what you want, we can’t change your mind. But in your efforts, stop hiding behind words. Corporations are people. If you want to put an end to corporations, at least say what you mean.

Create a Healthy Culture Most companies don’t face up to one immutable rule of business: Your soft culture matters as much as your hard numbers, and if your culture is to mean anything, you have to hang—publicly— those who would destroy it. Creating a healthy, high-integrity

culture is not puppies and rainbows. And yet, many leaders think a company’s values can be relegated to a fiveminute conversation between HR and a new employee. Or they think culture is about picking which words—do we honor our customers or respect them?— to engrave on a plaque. What nonsense. A culture is not about words at all. It’s about behavior—and consequences. It’s about every individual who manages people knowing that his or her key role is that of Chief Values Officer, with enforcement powers to match. At every performance review, employees are evaluated for both their numbers and their values, and only four outcomes exist: 1) for employees with good numbers and good values—onward and upward; 2) for those with bad numbers and bad values—you’re outta here; 3) for those with good values but mediocre numbers—we’ll give you another chance with more coaching, since your behavior has earned you that chance; and 4) for employees with great numbers but crummy values (those who don’t share ideas with co-workers, who belittle customers behind their backs, who kiss up to the hierarchy but kick down their people)—90 percent of the time, managers give these people a pass. “I know Jim can be a jerk,” they say, “but I just need him now.” Or “Sure, Sally’s attitude upsets everyone, but she’ll come around.” Actually, Jim and Sally are sending a big message to every employee: Our company’s values are a joke. And the only antidote is to send Jim and Sally home, and not with the usual “They want to spend more time with their families” BS, but with the truth. “Jim and Sally had great numbers,” everyone needs to be told, “but they didn’t demonstrate the values of this company.” We guarantee this will have more impact than 100 “Our values matter!” speeches by the CEO. Values drift is pervasive in companies. Employees either don’t know the organization’s values, or they know that practicing them is optional. Either way, the result is vulnerability to attack from inside and out—and rightly so. Look, it’s Management 101 to say that the best competitive weapon a company can ever possess is a strong culture. But the devil is in the details of execution. If you don’t get it right, it’s the devil to pay. LE Jack Welch was the CEO of General Electric for 21 years and is the founder of the Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University. Suzy Welch is an author, speaker and the former Editor of the Harvard Business Review.

ACTION: Create a healthy performance culture.

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PERFORMANCE

ALIGNMENT

sibility. Part of that responsibility is to face and deal with misalignments and gaps that work against high performance. The reasons for ignorance and neglect are many, but one that is simply not acceptable is lack of vigilance—not rsuit. making it a priority to be constantly on the lookout for the discordant signs and troubling signals that reveal things good practice when the stakes are high. are not exactly as they should be. In the interest of performance, efficienLeaders need to create cultures in cy and value creation, we must be in which the benefits of chronic discontent the relentless pursuit of the truth. and dissatisfaction are seen as an To do so, we must overcome the myth important, mobilizing, performancethat criticism is bad. It is not! It’s a vital enabling competency, no matter how element in building and sustaining inconvenient the truth or how painful high performance. Implicit in criticism the evidence may be to acknowledge. is an intolerance for things that don’t make sense, don’t work the way they should, don’t Deceptive Vi r t u e hold up to the highest standards of excelWe’ve all been caught at times in the lence, or are misaligned. Refuse to become grips of self-righteous behavior. We can hostage to a conflict avoidance mentality. probably forgive mild forms of bravado when the outcome or circumstance isn’t Reputation Management important. In organizational life, the same behavior can be fatal. In no orgaReputation matters, and it can be measured through the choices we make, nization can claims of excellence be conand the things we choose to do and not doned, when there is ample evidence to do. Those choices result in a certain the contrary. No organization can justivalue placed on our brand at the orgafy the focus being turned away from the ugly facts, by simply directing the conversation to more pleasant topics. Leaders set a tone by embracing a fact-based approach in all parts of the business. While set standards are followed when it comes to financial reporting, for example, the same rigor is not applied to human capital or organizational effectiveness. Here are four examples: Employee Engagement Evaluations that are overstated to pump up egos, Customer Satisfaction Scores that are coerced or manufactured, nizational and personal level. It’s an Performance Reviews that are not objecissue of credibility. A bad reputation has tive or accurate, and Talent Reviews that costs, obvious and hidden. A good rep- are cloaked in mystery. Why do we accept spin in the soft utation has benefits that can be leveraged. The math is so obvious, and the bene- elements of organizations, when we would never accept it in other parts? fits so worthwhile, you’d think more The best leaders know when to attention would be paid to reputation claim true success and when to management. Not so. The evidence lies attribute credit to random forces. It’s in the incongruities observed, as eviimportant to be smart—even more dent in the misalignments that persist important to tell the difference between and the gaps they reveal. Among the most common misalign- good fortune and good performance. ments are the misalignment of expectaPractice evaluating your decisions tions, capabilities, resources, responsibilities, and outcomes with a solid, rigorous, objective post-mortem review. The accountabilities, and goals/objectives. review needs to incorporate evaluation A common fatal flaw is to focus on the immediate, rather than the important. methodology—you need to dissect the The costs and consequences of miscontributing factors in order to learn alignment can be ignored or underesti- from experiences—both good and bad. mated for a time but, inevitably, the The pursuit of excellence has more to hidden risks overwhelm even the hard- do with genuine humility than it does est working, most charismatic leader, if with over-blown claims of superior not recognized and dealt with. intelligence. The landscape is littered Leaders have a stewardship respon- with organizations and leaders once

Full Alignment The not so trivial pu

by Doug Williamson

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LIGNMENT IS VITAL.

Hidden, ignored, or denied gaps can easily become chasms when they’re pressure-tested under bad conditions. To allow dangerous gaps to persist is irresponsible leadership. Why, then, do so many leaders fail to address and resolve misalignments? The main reason is the game of trivial pursuit—the lack of professional rigor, a curious addiction to mediocrity, a tendency to fear the truth and unwillingness to apply the pressure tests required in other parts of the business. Misalignment, and the gaps that result, can be fatal. Gaps between the performance we get and the performance we need, between what we believe and what the facts really suggest, and between what we say and what we do. A high performance culture can only be built when there is a deeply rooted element of the DNA that makes the pursuit of alignment more than the usual hollow words we hear echoing around too many halls.

Pe r i l s o f M i s a l i g n m e n t Good leaders spot four sources of misalignment: 1) gaps in strategic thinking and contextual intelligence; 2) gaps in competence, character and capability; 3) gaps in resilience, flexibility and adaptability; and 4) gaps in execution and accountability. Recession has removed any illusion about what it takes to be competitive and remain relevant. This is not the time to candy-coat the brutal facts that lie just beneath the surface. There’s a bizarre tendency—what Jack Welch terms superficial congeniality —to be artificially kind in the misplaced belief the truth might actually hurt. It is a flawed and unhealthy preference for conflict avoidance, rather than conflict resolution. It’s the belief that we can create high performance organizations (HPOs) and leaders by placing niceness higher on the scale of respect than truth/candor. This twisted logic might work when your competitors are asleep, the economy booming, and inflation covers your sins, but it’s not a 12

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considered brilliant, but who fell from grace when their egos became larger than their competence. Candor has to be a daily discipline— a natural, reflexive response to any circumstance, at any time. It has to be seen as a way to create value. Candor is one of the tools, mindsets, behaviors and habits of true excellence. It’s not always comfortable, or convenient— but never optional. Too often the power of candor is hidden under the cloak of fear. Hence we see: employees who are afraid to speak-up, managers who are afraid to call-out bad behavior, executives who turn a blind eye out of convenience, and leaders who fail to set the right expectations and enforce them. Until you see candor as the ultimate act of respect, and practice it in every part of the enterprise, you’ll be cheating yourself and those you claim to serve.

Five Steps to Ta k e To leverage all talents and opportunities that come your way, you need to face the facts—and close every gap you find, relentlessly pursuing misalignments that impede performance. It takes courage, tenacity, and a belief that the worst truth is still better than the best lie. To be game ready, take five steps: 1. Explore, not exploit. The mindset that most helps people and teams pursue excellence is one of exploration or discovery, fueled by curiosity and the joy of discovery, rather than an attitude of extraction or exploitation. 2. Modernize and tighten the metrics. There’s no room in a HPO for data that doesn’t drive accurate insight. There can be pain in bad numbers, but that pain pales compared to the perpetuation of false claims and hidden weaknesses. Re-build your Scorecards. 3. Anchor accountability. The fascination with matrix management has created loopholes and excuses that aren’t tolerated in HPOs. If you operate with matrix management, at least devise tighter means to enforce accountability. Conduct an Accountability Audit. 4. Enforce consequences. The concept of due process should not mean that bad behavior goes unpunished. Reconsider how you deal with bad behaviour and poor performance. 5. Harmonize and calibrate standards. Fiefdoms and silos create dysfunction and hidden costs. Launch a campaign to aggressively identify and banish silos. LE Doug Williamson is President/CEO of The Beacon Group, specializing in Organizational Transformation and Leadership Development. Visit www.dougwilliamson.ca or email [email protected]. Tweet Doug at @rdw52.

ACTION: Address and resolve misalignments.

L e a d e r s h i p

E x c e l l e n c e

COMPETENCY

DEVELOPMENT

Why Invest in LD? It pays measurable dividends.

by Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman

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ANY FACTORS COMBINE TO CAUSE

success: being part of a strong economy, having a distinctive strategy, being in a growth sector, or creating a differentiating technology. But many of these forces are out of the leaders’ control. The rest are quite rare and difficult to achieve. One factor within your grasp is the quality of your leaders. • You’ve likely had this pleasant experience: A dynamic new leader joins the organization, and suddenly everything improves. Energy increases, pride rises, the effort and dedication of people increases, and greater results are achieved. • You’ve likely also experienced the opposite: Things are going well, and then a new leader arrives and things fall apart. High performers quit, conflicts increase, work suffers, and nobody is having fun. Criticism of leaders grows, results slide, revenues diminish, and fellow employees become the cause of the problem as much as the economy or market conditions. Most people know strong leadership when they see it. Now we can measure leadership effectiveness with precision, along with the connection between leadership effectiveness and organizational outcomes, including profit. So, investments in developing leaders can be made with greater confidence, knowing that it creates a direct and measurable improvement in bottom-line results. In sales, for example, we see a clear relationship between a sales leader’s leadership effectiveness and the total sales for the unit. When we plot leadership effectiveness (based on 360-degree feedback scores) on the horizontal axis, and sales revenue on the vertical axis, we see that the best sales leaders generate six times the sales of the least effective! In our research, one variable remains the best predictor of employee satisfaction, engagement and commitment—the effectiveness of the immediate supervisor.

In one large company, the worst leaders scored 4 percent in employee satisfaction, engagement, and commitment. Their employees grumbled about their jobs, frustrated and unmotivated. The best leaders had a score of 92 percent with high employee satisfaction and commitment. While many factors impact employee satisfaction and commitment, the key factor is leadership effectiveness. Having excellent rewards, career paths and a pleasant workplace will make little difference to people who have poor leaders.

Highly Committed Team Members In another study, employees who describe themselves as being highly committed to the organization gave themselves a “5” on a five-point scale. These employees come to work early and stay late. They’re excited by challenging assignments, enthusiastic, willing to do more, and have a positive attitude. Even the worst leaders had 13 percent of those employees. So, even if you randomly hire people, you’ll get 13 percent who are highly committed. Average leaders have about 30 percent of employees who are highly committed; the best have 60 percent! When you ask leaders about the impact of going from 13 to 30 or 60 percent, the answers are consistent: Their ability to get projects done on time and on budget soars, along with productivity, innovation and initiative. Abundant research confirms the relationship between employee satisfaction and engagement and customer satisfaction. In one study, Rucci, Kim, and Quinn identified “the employee-customer-profit chain” at Sears and found that employee behaviors affect customer behaviors, which affect company financial performance. When employee satisfaction improved by 5 percent, customer satisfaction improved by 1.3 percent, which led to a .05 percent improvement in revenue. In a $50 billion firm, that improvement was worth $250 million! This study (replicated by JC Penny’s, Best Buy, and Marriott) shows that the effectiveness of a leader leads to the satisfaction and retention of employees, which leads to satisfaction of customers, which leads to increased revenue and sales. Investing in leadership development absolutely pays dividends! LE Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman are partners in ZengerFolkman. This article is adapted from eBook, Chapter 1: How To Be Exceptional: Drive Leadership Success by Magnifying your Strengths, http://www.zengerfolkman.com/ebook.

ACTION: Realize the ROI from your LD.

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PEOPLE

BLAME

Blame-based Leadership Neutralize fear behind the blame game. choose to blame others. It empowers you to act. Courageous leaders are obsessed with the imperative to elimiRE FINGER-POINTING nate excuse-making and blame-gaming and responsibility- from their organizations. dodging poisoning Take Seven Steps your culture? Fear-based leadership lurks at the heart of the blame game. To take responsibility and help othAs a leader, what can you do to overers to do the same, take seven steps: come your fears, find your courage, 1. Look at the man (or woman) in and help your followers do the same? the mirror. You can’t expect your followers to change their attitudes while Imagine: When you arrive at the office, you find yourself in a blame-free you stay mired in blame-based thinkzone. Your team attacks projects proac- ing. So, take a hard look at your own tendency to blame others and at the tively and with confidence. When a fear driving it—fear of failure, of being problem arises, everyone involved underprepared, of confrontation, of “owns it” and takes corrective action. Sadly, instead of facing the day with risk, of being wrong, and of being unpopular. Once you identify the fears, excitement, most leaders dread what select behaviors you can change to set awaits them at the office: excuse making, blame shifting, and responsibility a better example. If you tend to overpredodge ball. The culprit is fear. Any pare—meaning that progress happens organization that has perfected the at a glacial pace—you might courablame game is one where hidden fear—fear of failure, of confrontation, of difficult tasks—runs rampant. And these energy-draining, counterproductive cultures originate with the leaders. Blame-based leadership seeks to find a bad guy so that there is someone to absorb the problem, like a lightning rod absorbs a bolt of electricity. If a bad guy can be found, everyone else can take a sigh of relief. If it’s operations’ fault, for example, management isn’t to geously take the next step forward, blame. When it’s someone else’s prob- even if you’re not sure that the proposlem, no one takes action to solve it. al is perfect. Your employees will see Blaming is only one symptom of that action, even if it isn’t 100 percent hidden fear. Others include pretending mistake-free, drives results. Proactively not to know things, perpetual getting confront any policy, person, or mindset ready, and letting shiny ball distractions that hold you and your organization derail high-return tasks. Fear keeps us back. Be an obstacle remover and take from taking the quick, decisive actions bold, decisive action. And when you that courageous leadership requires— screw up, set an example and “own it.” and the global economy demands. 2. Get real about how your organization handles mistakes. What happens Removing fear and establishing a take-responsibility culture begins with when a team member screws up or leaders. Once you let people know that takes a risk that doesn’t pay off? If a you are on their side and want them to leader swoops in to mete out swift and win—while stating that you won’t set- certain punishment, two things happen: 1) the blame game will flourish tle for anything less than the highest degree of execution and performance— (no one wants to be the fall guy when something goes wrong); and 2) most they’ll adopt your fearless attitude. people will shy away from taking any Acknowledging that you are ultirisks in the future. Do you need a mately responsible for the results of your bland, play-it-safe, riskless culture? To life, thoughts, and actions creates a freegrow, you must handle mistakes in a dom not experienced by those who

by Mike Staver

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constructive way. If you’re too harsh, no one will want to upset you by taking risks. So, instead of putting negative pressure on your people, help them work through any kinks while focusing on performance and growth. Celebrate your people’s accomplishments without compromising their momentum. Acknowledge progress with complete focus on the success of what is right here, right now. 3. Preach the “choose or lose” gospel. When employees feel powerless, they toe the company line, mindlessly follow orders, or choose to do nothing. Help people see that they always have a choice (yes, doing nothing is a choice). Ensure that everyone considers the full range of options, even those that might seem impractical or illogical at first. Once you realize you have choices, it’s harder to blame others for your actions, or lack thereof. If you’re alive, you have choices—and they all matter. Challenge people to think about the big picture consequences of their choices. Ask them, How will this decision affect your goals? or, What’s your intended outcome? And, What will you do if things don’t go as expected? You can’t ask these questions every day to every employee. But you can put the information out there and reiterate it. For example, you might send out an email that reads: “Ask yourself, What’s the most important choice I’ll make at work today? What do I hope to achieve?” In time, you’ll hardwire this careful consideration into your culture. 4. Set clear goals with deadlines. Have you ever left a meeting thinking your team made progress, only to learn later that none of the great ideas came to fruition? As deadlines were missed and mistakes made, everyone blamed someone else, claiming they didn’t know they were responsible for those tasks. If you didn’t spell out a who-doeswhat list, maybe they really didn’t know —or felt the anxiety of uncertainty. People like clarity. Knowing what’s expected of you is the best remedy for fear. So make sure everyone, including you, has specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timed goals. Then, if your goal isn’t reached, you can blame only yourself. If it is reached, you can reap the rewards. Encourage employees to write their goals, and at each meeting, have them repeat their goals back to you. Do the same for them. Don’t leave anything ambiguous. You’ll be amazed at the difference this makes. 5. Get people thinking in terms of solutions, not problems. A can-do attitude is the remedy for blame addiction. It builds a culture of responsibility. There’s w w w. L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m

nothing wrong with telling people: “From now on, I want to hear fewer reasons why we can’t and more suggestions for how we can.” Those messages make conversations easier because people already know your expectations. Ask them, If can’t wasn’t an option, what would you do? If you can’t blame someone, what can you do? These questions get them to meet the challenges they face with the right attitude and keep them focused on solutions. And when everyone brings a solutions-oriented attitude to the table, the entire culture improves and everyone is driven by results. 6. Dissect outcomes in a “no excuses” moratorium. You are in the results business. You either have the outcome you hoped for, or a pile of useless excuses. To help people take more responsibility, examine the results of all projects and initiatives together. Trace how your people’s choices and attitudes impact the final outcome—and don’t let them (or yourself) off the hook. The purest responsibility-based conversation includes clear expectations followed by excuseless discussion of results. The courageous elements of your leadership will manifest in the questions that you ask regarding performance. To help people to accept responsibility for their performance, you could ask: What did you do or not do that led to these results? If you could turn back the clock, what would you do more or less of? Of the things you controlled, which do you think contributed to this success/failure? Such questions drive “no excuses” performance. 7. Partner up. Do you use accountability partners? Pairing people up in accountability teams that meet twice a month to talk about their goals and their progress will increase the responsibility everyone feels. These meetings aren’t designed to make people feel bad or to catch each other failing, but to help people adopt mindsets of execution and performance. Over time, the questions asked get tougher, and achievements get bigger and come faster. Your people can’t achieve greatly and accept responsibility if you don’t ask clear, direct questions delivered in an I-want-you-to-win tone. Your team deserves a leader who is courageous enough to ask, and ask often. You’ll get better at this as you practice it. You’ll also see results improve over time as people start thinking about their own roles, and how their choices and attitudes impact the big picture. LE Mike Staver is a business coach, speaker, and author of Leadership Isn’t for Cowards (Wiley). Visit www.thestavergroup.com.

ACTION: Help people take responsibility.

L e a d e r s h i p

E x c e l l e n c e

LEADERSHIP

STRATEGY

change around it. So, strategy development work is ongoing—leaders must talk about strategy all the time, use it to set the frame for their decisions, talk about what is working, what is not— It’s a conversation, a dialogue. and make incremental revisions to it as leaders reach new conclusions together. Strategy can no longer be developed by Andrew J. Blum at the start of the year and stay in place until next year’s cycle (things move too WORK WITH CLIENTS TO fast, and change too often). You might help develop, clarify, even hold a quarterly strategy developexecute and communiment and review. This is often less cumcate their strategy. We often arrive on bersome than a comprehensive annual scene to find that several attempts at strategy and planning process that peoaddressing strategy have been made ple ignore within weeks of completion. and much work conducted. Sometimes, 2. Dialogue does not mean democracy. a fully baked strategy is in place. Yet When I suggested to my client that he rarely is the strategy clear—and this meet with his line managers several times a lack of clarity is a persistent complaint. year to revisit their strategy, he recoiled: “You can’t imagine how much debate With so much strategy work being we had in drafting this version. I don’t done and so many people focused on have the energy to do this quarterly.” strategic issues, why do so few leaders One challenge of developing strategy say that their strategy is clear and well understood by all? together through dialogue is that these It begins with how the strategy gets discussions can evolve into debates that developed. The strategy process is less seemingly can only be resolved when about finding an answer and commueveryone sees things the same way. nicating it outwards, and more about The good news is that agreement discussing options, collaborating on doesn’t need to happen. Businesses are approaches, and reaching a not democracies. The point solution that has shared of a strategy development meaning backed by emoprocess is to be exclusive and tional commitment. conclusive, and if the right For example, I recently level of debate occurs where met with a head of corpoboth reasonable and unrearate strategy. The line leadsonable options are considers were all developing ered, the leader’s job is to separate strategies, though declare an answer and he had already put a plan demand aligned execution. forward and these sub plans What I’m suggesting is very different from declaring were often in direct conflict with the direction he had given. When the answer and demanding alignment at I asked him why, he said, “I don’t think the onset. This is about creating a diathey agree with the strategy I developed.” logue that includes conversation and “Exactly!” I replied (I see this often). exploration of options, and concludes once the various viewpoints are dis“What do you mean exactly?” I told him: line leaders never agree with cussed. There’ll always be some disagreement on strategy, which is why a strategy that they don’t have a hand in developing. The fix wasn’t in changing alignment and not agreement is the goal. his strategy but in making the developWith my client, we conducted a ment of it an interactive, collaborative strategy reset meeting that included all leaders who needed to align around dialogue: “Until you include your line the strategy. After all viewpoints were leaders in defining questions, boundpresented, we then crystallized them aries, tensions and tradeoffs, they’ll never see it as their own, or agree with into four options and synthesized those into an integrated strategy. All leaders it. In fact, they’ll reject it.” “So, what should I do now?” he asked. saw where their ideas were supported and saw the realities and tradeoffs that With that, I offered this coaching: needed to be addressed. They aligned 1. Strategy is an ongoing dialogue, not an annual deliverable. The best around the strategy and, for once, strategy work is an ongoing dialogue. agreed that they had a unified strategy While a team can work towards alignthat they could execute together. LE ment on some basic parameters, goals Andrew J. Blum is CEO and Managing Partner of The Trium Group. Email [email protected] 415-252.6670. and execution priorities, a strategy changes as circumstances and realities ACTION: Create and act on a unified strategy.

Reset Your Strategy

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PEOPLE

GRATITUDE

Grateful Leadership Use the power of acknowledgment. by Judith W. Umlas

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S A LEADER IN THIS

economy, you may think people should be grateful just to have a job, receive a regular paycheck, and have health benefits, maybe a retirement fund. I invite you to reject this thinking and become a Grateful Leader! The concept of Servant Leadership—practiced by Southwest Airlines, Marriott Intl., Starbucks, and others—suggests that leaders should serve their people first and help meet their needs. The originator, Robert Greenleaf, said: “Servant Leadership begins with the natural feeling that you want to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings you to aspire to lead.” By using this practice, leaders gain great results in employee engagement, customer satisfaction and bottom-line profits. By becoming a Grateful Leader, you’ll quickly see the benefits. Grateful Leaders regularly see, feel, recognize and express appreciation for their employees’ and other stakeholders’ contributions and for their passionate engagement—and then take action to acknowledge, support, and engage their people profoundly so that desired outcomes are achieved. These leaders get to know their employees and other stakeholders as people. Why establish a culture of appreciation and acknowledgment? One woman told me that she worked at Booz Allen Hamilton and loved going to work every day. She felt valued and appreciated, and regularly received positive feedback. Then, she accepted an attractive job offer from another company, feeling it was the right career move. However, she soon felt that she’d made a mistake—her new company had no culture of appreciation. She was never acknowledged for going above and beyond. People silently performed in their cubicles, and then went home. So, she quit the new job and returned to her former company. Gratitude was so crucial to her that she left a higher-paying, senior-level job to return to a company where people took the time to validate and 16

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appreciate her. A partner in the company said that this had happened before: “We call them the comeback kids! They don’t know what they have until they leave it, and then they desperately want to return. We welcome them!” This is the power of acknowledgment to engage and keep your best people. There are many good ideas for engaging and retaining your best people, but there is no substitute for delivering heartfelt, authentic acknowledgments to people when you see the opportunity and feel they deserve it. Acknowledgment lets a person know their value to their organization or team and the importance of the contribution they make.

Practice the 5 Cs I’ve identified the foundation for acknowledgment as 5 Cs: • Consciousness. You are aware of the gratitude and appreciation that you have in your mind, but you feel awkward about expressing to people who may not perform as well if they know how highly you think of them. They may not strive to do better. But the opposite is true—praise from managers, leadership attention (one-on-one conversations), and a chance to lead projects are better motivators than financial incentives. • Choice. You have the choice to deliver praise or appreciation to colleagues/customers or to withhold it; hopefully the choice will often be yes once you see how critical this is. • Courage. It definitely takes courage and determination to risk people’s non-acceptance or cynicism, but it is truly worth it! And 9 times out of 10 they are thrilled and delighted with your gratitude and appreciation. • Communication. Communication is simply how you choose to deliver this message. In person, via email, voicemail, text message, Skype or skywriting. It doesn’t matter how—just do it! • Commitment. Commitment is a natural by-product of the first four Cs. Once you see how people light up with pride and joy, how they are happier and perform better, you’ll want to create a culture of appreciation and gratitude and to model this behavior for all of the leaders so that you can reach critical mass. As you see examples of Grateful Leaders, note what to enhance in yourself. LE Judith W. Umlas is SVP of International Institute for Learning, Inc. and author of Grateful Leadership, Using the Power of Acknowledgment to Engage All Your People and Achieve Superior Results. Visit www.gratefulleadership.com.

ACTION: Practice the five Cs.

PERFORMANCE

TEAMWORK

8 Leadership Lessons From the toughest teams on earth. by Robyn Benincasa

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HEN FACED WITH A

challenge, many leaders operate out of fear of failure, focusing on not falling short, on trying to stay one step ahead. But great team builders think differently. Sure, they’re aware of the possibility of failure—and they prepare to deal with things that go awry—but their main focus is on doing what it takes to win versus simply not lose. Nowhere is the need for teamwork greater than in adventure racing. Whether scaling a mountain at subzero degree altitudes or traversing the punishing terrain of a tropical rain forest, an adventure racing team learns that winning, and surviving, hinges on every member. So much of what separates one team from another is not talent but the ability of each teammate to consistently create teamwork synergy. In races that my team and I have won, we created that magic quality that is human synergy to make our team better than the training and experience of our individual members. You can use synergy skills in any situation and with any team. If you make a habit of building synergy, you’ll cross every finish line that you set your mind to cross. The challenges we’ve encountered on these adventures are applied in eight TEAMWORK essentials: Total commitment—keep the end goal in mind; Empathy—put yourself in one another’s shoes (coach don’t criticize); Adversity management—take care of small issues before they become big ones; Mutual respect for teammates— praise in public, coach in private; We thinking—avoid competition within the team; Ownership of project—give each member a vital role; Relinquish ego—satisfy your ego with team, not individual, success; and Kinetic leadership—recognize individual strengths and allow leaders to emerge. TEAMWORK drives home what it takes for each of us to change our mindset of leadership for ourselves and see others for what they can add. When you are dropped off in a remote location and your goal is to get to a point 500 miles away by any means possible, it is no longer a sport but a journey. w w w. L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m

Hope is a better place than fear for maximum performance. When a team member gives up hope and says “it’s over—there is no way out,” brainstorming is shut down and entropy takes over. The best team builders can even position a U-Turn in a positive light, as merely a new set of challenges. Seek to understand first—and to be understood second. We’re all in our own heads most of the day, working out problems, working on goals, on a mission. So when we interact with others on our day’s journey, we need to realize that the other person may have a different goal, agenda, or experience from where they approach the situation. Your job as a manager is to create other leaders. A manager is a facilitator of teammates’ success. A great manager enables different team leaders to emerge based on their strengths. On great teams leaders change constantly—it builds ownership and an entrepreneurial spirit (two motivators that inspire a whatever it takes mentality when it comes to goals). Great managers don’t hold the leadership role with an iron fist or feel threatened if someone else is leading. Accept and embrace adversity as a chance to learn and excel: “You’re racing career is over—you’ll never run again” my surgeon told me at age 40, after 10 years of winning extreme global races. Recovering after two hip replacements, I focused on paddling competition, which led to my two world records in kayak paddling (lake and river) and my new goal for a third in open water (ocean). See challenges versus roadblocks. Start with the right mindset and attitude. Reassuring and encouraging others is what world-class team builders do. Utilize life skills in other platforms: Recovering from my first hip surgery, the idea came to me to establish Project Athena to help cancer survivors live an adventurous dream as part of their recovery. Today, I help them trek the Grand Canyon or run a half marathon. Such success allows them to amaze themselves as they face life challenges. The most important leadership skill is knowing: when to inspire, to instill tough love, to coach, to lay down the law, to get out front and show your team the way, to let them lead—and even when to cut bait. Follow your passion and make it a reality. Being a female firefighter enables me to be all the things I love most —athlete, rescuer, emergency medical first responder, teammate, and adventurer. It’s never the same day twice! LE Robyn Benincasa is author of How Winning Works: 8 Essential Leadership Lessons. Visit www.worldclassteams.com.

ACTION: Use synergy to create a winning team.

L e a d e r s h i p

E x c e l l e n c e

LEADERSHIP

PREVENTION

Crisis Leadership Establish your SET culture. by Ken J. Brumfield

H

ow can you make critical decisions and act decisively in a crisis, especially when there’s potential for loss of life or property or cessation of business operations? In recent years, we’ve seen many leaders navigate through tumultuous times—some survived the storms and others did not. Those who succumbed to the perils of crisis leadership include notable figures, like BP CEO Tony Hayward. It seems like yesterday that we were waiting for the BP oil spill to end in the Gulf of Mexico, but the 2010 BP disaster disrupted and negatively impacted Mr. Hayward’s career and image. However, we’ve seen staunch public support for other executives such as embattled president of the University of Virginia, Theresa Sullivan. She weathered the storm and continues to serve as president, although the university’s board of trustees originally voted for her ouster. There are other examples of CEOs who didn’t survive the organizational crisis of their times, such as former Penn State University president, Graham Spanier. Of course, the usual and standard discussions, analyses, and conjecture exist as to why certain senior leaders persevere and others do not. The senior executive team (SET) culture also contributes to successful leadership. The SET is the highest management level. These leaders are responsible for day-to-day operations and, ultimately, the profitability. Although higher executive power exists in boards of directors and shareholders, those groups are not involved in the day-to-day decisions that affect how the organization carries out its mission and achieves its goals. The titles that comprise the SET may vary based on the type and size of the organization. Members of this team include the CEO, COO, CFO (or their equivalent titles in small organizations), and other upper-level management. We see wide variety in the number of individuals on the SET and in the positions they hold in their organizations.

Individually, SET members have specific duties and responsibilities for the functioning of their offices, departments, or divisions; collectively, they’re responsible for planning and decision making. SET members must embody two main characteristics: 1) they must be champions of their areas, and 2) they must serve as senior advisors to the CEO. They are the inner circle who determine strategic and tactical plans. They must step beyond their boundaries to focus on the big picture or overall vision and company wellbeing. SET culture is manifested as the CEO and senior executive team members develop shared assumptions and beliefs. Leadership must be in place before and during organizational crises. My focus is on leadership as a process of influence: over the organization, over specific aspects of the organization aligned with a leader’s responsibilities, and over other members in the organization. Understanding the SET culture is the key to understanding and determining how managers will perform in crisis events. The assumptions, beliefs, and values—the cultural artifacts—of SET team members provide a snapshot of the SET culture that exists. This culture also reflects the culture of the organization. SET members pass this culture on to the managers who report to them. The culture affects the way these managers make decisions. Since they play critical, even pivotal, roles during crisis events, their decisions affect the success or failure of their organization in crises. During crisis situations, managers usually make effective rational decisions when a balanced SET empowers and trusts them to manage the crisis. Managers usually make constrained decisions when a fragmented SET is distrusting and doesn’t give them the authority they need to manage the crisis. So, the SET culture impacts the way managers make decisions that, in turn, produce successful (rational decisions) or unsuccessful (constrained decisions) outcomes. A strong top management team culture that embraces and fosters a culture of innovation is key to adapting to change and surviving a crisis. Top teams that embrace a risk-taking and creative culture and support and reward innovation achieve positive outcomes. LE Ken J. Brumfield is a professor, consultant, and author of S.E.T. Culture: What Every Organization Needs to Know Before Crises Occur. Visit www.facebook.com/setculture.

ACTION: Establish your senior executive culture.

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LEADERSHIP

CONTRACT

then drive to Connecticut to repair electrical lines damaged by the hurricane. I noticed that they were constantly teasing each other. They shifted easily from talking about their personal lives to talking about the job. They It has four terms and conditions. obviously shared a deep connection. They weren’t just friendly coworkers— people so they can deploy the strategy they had a true bond. I asked one of by Vince Molinaro in a way that delivers value to custhe group why they were “so tight”? tomers, shareholders, and society. He said, “In our work, we take our • Take an enterprise-wide perspective. N EMPLOYMENT CONlives into our hands every day. We’re tract once existed You need to collaborate across silos to like a band of brothers. We have each between employees and lead change and get important work others’ backs—one mistake and you organizations: you get a job, perform done. Adopt a “one company” mindcan lose somebody forever.” well, remain loyal, and the organizaset in how you operate as a leader, How many of us can say that we tion takes care of you until you retire. rather than being self-absorbed with feel this way about our colleagues? Do But there’s also a leadership contract your functional area or line of business. you have a band of brothers and sisters? I • Build relationships. In this intercondon’t think it takes a hurricane to build with four main terms and conditions. a bond like that. Make the choice to nected and interdependent world, 1. Leadership is a decision—make connect with your fellow leaders on a it. Tom Brady, quarterback of the New relationships matter more than ever. personal level. It’s time to Invest time getting to know England Patriots, has made it to five change the quality of our Super Bowls, winning three. Clearly a internal and external stakerelationships at work. It’s strong leader, however, Brady wasn’t holders. Build relationships time we expect more from of trust and transparency. always successful. As a college stuourselves and our fellow • Master complexity and dent at the University of Michigan, leaders. If you do, you will coaches and fans alike doubted his uncertainty. Today’s complitake the first step towards skills. He lacked a strong throwing cated environment creates creating a community of arm and his mobility was limited. In challenges. As a leader, your his first two years at Michigan, Brady role is to create focus and leaders and a strong leaderwas understudy to Drew Henson. help people deal with ambiship culture that sets your Brady got so discouraged that he guity and stress. organization apart. thought about transferring to another • Develop other leaders. Leave a legacy Community of Leaders college. Then his coach told Brady to of strong leaders. It’s about making forget about Henson and focus on his your leaders stronger, so they can Building a strong community of leadown game. Resolved to prove himself, make the organization stronger. ers is the ultimate differentiator—and Brady watched extra game film, • Model the values. You can’t focus exit’s at the core of the leadership contract. worked on his physical skills, and clusively on your personal agenda or So, commit to use the terms and condifocused on reading defenses, seeing goals. The organization’s vision, valtions to create your leadership contract— open receivers, and excelling in pass- ues, and goals must trump ego and one that spells out what you expect ing accuracy. In short, Brady made a self-interest. This means balancing from your leaders and what you won’t decision to become a leader. strong self-confidence with humility. tolerate. Help your leaders build relationships. Commit to building the best Great leadership begins with a decision 3. Leadership is hard—get tough. to lead—to be the best you can be, even Since great leadership is hard to do, lead- leadership in your industry. Over time you’ll see a higher degree when things may not be going as you ers need to get tough—be resilient—to want. It’s easy for leaders to forget lead effectively. However, being able to of alignment and engagement among that leadership is ultimately a decision. take a punch is only part of what it means your leaders. They’ll demonstrate a one At some point, great leaders make the to get tough. You need to see that being company mindset, rather than engaging in turf wars. They’ll break down silos decision to be the leader. Unfortunately, tough is not about being rough. Yelling many leaders are simply filling the at people is easy. Mistreating employ- and drive greater innovation, collaboration, and performance. Your leaderrole. Deciding to lead, and accepting ees is easy. Real toughness involves havall aspects of the job, will help you ing the courage to make difficult decisions ship culture will become self-sustaining. take your game to the next level. At a personal level, you can also about poor performers, holding people make a difference. As you think on the 2. Leadership is an obligation—step accountable, and delivering candid up. Leadership is not all about you— feedback. Instead of dealing with these leadership contract, ask yourself which it’s about your customers, employees, issues head-on, many leaders wimp out. area you have been neglecting? Take your shareholders, and communities. It 4. Leadership is a community—con- personal leadership to the next level. means thinking and behaving differnect. Hurricane Irene hit the Caribbean, Sign up to be the leader you must be. ently, and acknowledging you’re no the U.S. East Coast, and parts of EastLeadership is a decision. Make it. longer a bystander—you step up daily ern Canada in August of 2011. Two days Leadership is an obligation. Step up. after the storm, I was flying home to to make things better. Leadership is hard. Get tough. Leadership There’s an emerging set of six common Toronto. On the plane, I was surround- is community. Connect. Start today. LE ed by eight young men who were full leadership expectations and obligations: Vince Molinaro is Managing Director, Leadership Solutions, • Align and engage. You need to know of excitement and energy. They were a Knightsbridge. Visit www.Knightsbridge.ca, vmolinaro@knightsthe company strategy and your role in line crew for a utility company headed bridge.ca, or follow Vince on Twitter: @VinceMolinaro. to Toronto to pick up some trucks and ACTION: Build a community of leaders. executing it—and align and engage

Leadership Contract

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PERFORMANCE

OBSTACLES

High Performers Clear the obstacles to success. by Sara Canaday

E

VEN IN THE BEST OF

times, CEOs need all of their people doing their best work. But the current economic fits and starts make consistently high performance even more critical. To succeed, leaders must quickly identify their leadership thoroughbreds—those who show real promise for becoming top performers—and invest resources to ensure that the organization can harness their maximum value. Those tasks are vital: if the high potentials succeed, the organization succeeds. I’ve helped many leading companies apply this strategy and reap the measurable benefits. Clearly, it makes good business sense to give the best people every tool possible so they can run at full speed. Here are a few general suggestions to help your organization incorporate this approach: • Institute/endorse a High Potential Rotation Program for managers who need and want exposure to P&L, global business, marketing or other key areas • Dedicate time/resources to ensure these professionals get the training they need in technical and functional areas, as well as the realm of leadership and collaboration skills • Put your future leaders in charge of company-wide projects to expand their scope of experience and test their agility in facing challenges on issues beyond their usual expertise • Ensure that high potentials have time to consider, suggest or promote new strategies and innovative solutions • Cast a wider net when choosing company ambassadors or speakers to give up-and-comers a chance to hone and showcase their presentation skills • Monitor their performance in the spotlight to detect leadership readiness But what if all (or most) of these things have been done, and some highpotential team members still fall short of your anticipated performance goals? What if you’ve created a clear path for them to move up, but their progress seems hopelessly stalled? One common hurdle is the inability of high potentials to switch from being Doers to Drivers. Doers build a successful career on L e a d e r s h i p

E x c e l l e n c e

getting things done, tackling the details, keeping all of the balls in the air. Unfortunately, a new set of unwritten rules comes into play when they try to make the transition into upper-management. The competition is no longer based on the quantity of their accomplishments; instead, they are judged on their ability to involve, lead and inspire other people. The Doers become frustrated when their formula for success no longer works, and their leaders share that frustration. Unless the Doers can shift to become Drivers—adding value by genuinely leading rather than just managing—they won’t progress. The new scorecard is all about delegating and strategizing, innovating and motivating. Even some of the most talented people can fail to recognize that the game has changed. If your high potentials aren’t operating at top speed despite your best efforts, this could be why. Once I consulted with a talented woman named Leslie who struggled with this issue. She couldn’t see why she was passed over for promotions and not perceived as executive material. She arrived at our first meeting with a large folder containing many documents to substantiate her track record. As she described her achievements, page by page, I could tell that her career roadblock wasn’t caused by a missing page in her file. The problem was her inability to make that critical shift in her leadership skills. Leslie was clearly stuck in the role of Doer, despite the fact that she was brimming with potential to be a successful Driver. If your organization is facing these same challenges as you strive to push your high potentials to the next level, there are some practical strategies to help you increase the Driver-to-Doer ratio. Consider these ideas to remove the hidden obstacles to success, accelerating the performance of your future leaders as well as your company. • Strategically pair your promising middle managers with successful executive leaders who can demonstrate the skill of driving rather than doing, help-

ing them to understand the changing expectations involved with senior-level management. Encourage them to observe how the Driver-mentors spend their time during the day. Do they immerse themselves in to-do lists or push themselves to look at the big picture? How do they interact with other people at all levels? What kind of word choices, tone and body language do they employ? How do they influence and inspire teams to reach their goals? • Provide coaching in image management and emotional intelligence to help nurture their executive presence. Credibility is often based on a visual resume. Those who enhance their image and demeanor to more closely match the company’s best and brightest executives gain credibility and increase their capacity to lead and influence others. • Guide your targeted managers to become stronger thought leaders in key areas. Thought leaders develop an area of expertise valuable to the company, and apply their knowledge in ways that result in a unique understanding or a distinct opinion about that topic. They can spot trends and see implications more clearly. Identify unique areas of expertise within your high-potential group, and nurture those through professional development and specific business opportunities. • Deliberately change the assignments you give to rising candidates so they can stretch in new areas. • Let your high potentials know the value they bring to the organization to generate loyalty. Be clear that you are investing in them to take on more responsibility and ultimately become the face of your brand as a top leader. Doers respond quite well to guidance in this new direction, quickly growing in confidence and developing a more robust leadership persona with real traction. The previously stalled high potentials often regain their strong momentum once they understand the new rules. And organizations that invest in this learning process discover that helping their high potentials cross over the bridge from Doer to Driver generates positive benefits and a formidable competitive advantage. LE Sara Canaday is a leadership expert, career strategist, corporate speaker and author of You—According to Them: Uncovering the Blind Spots that Impact your Reputation and your Career. Email [email protected], www.SaraCanaday.com.

ACTION: Clear away obstacles to Hi-Po success.

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LEADERSHIP

POTENTIAL

Hi-Po Leaders To t e l l o r n o t t e l l .

by Laci Loew and Cori Hill

D

O YOU TELL INDIVIDUALS THAT THEY

have been designated as highpotential leaders? To tell or not to tell nominees of their high-potential status can be a difficult question. Some organizations keep it secret—concerned that egos will take over, and that people will stop trying to prove their worth and start acting entitled. Our experience suggests that while there is a certain risk in informing people, the benefits far outweigh the risk. True high-potential leaders won’t coast —they don’t find coasting fulfilling. They want to know that you view them as high potential, that you recognize their value to the company, and that you’re serious about advancing their careers. If you don’t inform them, they’ll likely look for an employer who will reinforce their value in contributing to organizational success. Organizations with mature highpotential strategies have higher transparency. They openly share information on their high-potential strategy with all stakeholders (HR leaders, business unit leaders, high-potential leaders, and other employees). They share the identification and selection process and criteria, where individuals are identified as high potentials, an understanding that high-potential status is earned and doesn’t guarantee promotion, an awareness that the organization will disproportionately invest in developing high-potential leaders, and a set of metrics used to evaluate the success of the high-potential strategy.

I t ’s How You Tell Them Should you tell high potentials their status? Yes, if you respect your leaders and value open communication, your high-potential leaders deserve to know their status. You will benefit in several ways: High potentials will know that their potential is recognized and that they are cared for; the organization will enhance engagement, commit20

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ment, and retention; the organization will show that it values and respects leadership talent; the organization can manage careers and develop leaders more systematically; and people will be motivated to work harder to get into the high-potential pool. What is more important is how you tell them. If you do it right, you set the stage for a trusting, open dialogue where high-potential leaders understand the expectations for them and have a real sense of how their hard work to develop will enhance their leadership abilities and bring greater responsibilities and rewards. If you tell them in the wrong way, it can be as detrimental as not telling people at all. • Tell them well. The conversation about individuals’ high-potential status is sensitive. Individuals want to know why they were—or were not—chosen. Now is when you can either motivate or de-motivate them. Make sure you and your managers have the skills and mind-set to handle the conversation with diplomacy, tact, honesty and respect. Ensure that all high potentials hear essentially the same thing. • Tell them clearly, following six guidelines: 1. Communicate the need for a highpotential solution, along with program requirements and expectations as part of talent management (supply of leadership talent will change as you hire new people, and see how well they develop and perform). 2. Tell people what you are looking for in a high-potential leader, and let everyone know the criteria in making these decisions. 3. Limit the scope. Let people know that their status is only for the current year or program to avoid any sense of entitlement and to keep people motivated to perform and develop. If people know they’ll be reviewed annually and that their status could change, this takes the pressure off when you have to let someone know they are no longer on the list. 4. Ensure that all employees understand the requirements and expectations of highpotential status, know what they need to do to be considered for the pool, and that if they are not nominated one year, they may be reconsidered in the future. 5. Encourage managers to share talent, and ensure they aren’t penalized if they nominate someone who is promoted out of their business unit. 6. Help people see that developing leadership abilities is beneficial for their career growth and for the success of the organization.

• Expect accountability. When enrolling high-potentials, ask them to complete a robust personal development plan (PDP) that includes career aspirations, specific development actions, and their network-building plans. This PDP should be aligned with the strategic talent management needs, and improve engagement and retention.

W h y D e v e l o p H i g h - Po t e n t i a l s Companies with advanced, formal strategies for identifying and developing high-potential talent are 12 times more likely to improve business growth and bottom-line results—and they also gain three additional benefits: • Key leader retention: When an organization has a high-potential development strategy, it is three times better at retaining key positions. • Bench strength: Organizations with advanced talent development strategies are twice as likely to have capable people ready for next-level positions. • Global business management: Organizations with advanced strategies are twice as likely to be able to address global business needs. When companies identify, cultivate and promote high-potential leaders, business results follow. So, adopt seven best practices of organizations that gain from high-potential talent investment: • Use of a systematic process for identifying and developing high-potential leaders that differentiates current performance, long-term potential and readiness for next-level assignments; • Long-term planning (two or more years in advance) to fill critical positions and forecasting talent needs and requirements for each position; • Use of set criteria to identify, calibrate, select and engage high-potentials; • Consistent use of PDPs that include coaching, mentoring, action learning, and experiential and stretch assignments—and match business needs; • Support of talent through all career transitions and promotions to prevent derailment and ensure acclimation at each level of career development; • Full executive engagement in developing high-potential talent; and • Close tracking and evaluating of the business impact of high-potential talent development to keep it on track. LE Laci Loew is senior analyst at Bersin & Associates. Visit www.bersin.com. Cori Hill is director of high-potential leadership development at PDI Ninth House.

ACTION: Adopt the seven best practices.

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