Excellence - Government Accountability Project · Excellence LEADERSHIP THE MAGAZINE OF LEADERSHIP...

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Jackie FreibergLeadership Consultant

ExcellenceL E A D E R S H I P

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

SEPTEMBER 2008

Lead Likea Sherpa

Lead Likea Sherpa

Create a Cultureof Urgency

Create a Cultureof Urgency

Link Learningand PerformanceLink Learningand Performance

Manage theInnovation Journey

Manage theInnovation Journey

“Leadership Excellence is an exceptionalway to learn and then apply the best and latest ideas in the field of leadership.”

—WARREN BENNIS, AUTHOR ANDUSC PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT

ExcellenceL E A D E R S H I P

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

JOHN KOTTER

Shared UrgencyCreate a culture of urgency in six ways . . . . . 3

JIM CHAMPY

Great CompaniesThey share five traits. . . . .4

NELSON SOKEN AND B.KIM BARNES

Innovation JourneyTake a proven paththrough five phases . . . . . 5

WARREN BENNIS,DANIEL GOLEMAN, AND JAMES O’TOOLE

Candor KillersIdentify what impedestransparency. . . . . . . . . . . .6

DENNIS A. KELLEY

Are You a Leader?

To find out, answerseven questions. . . . . . . . .7

RON CROSSLAND

Leadership ItchThis is a poor way todevelop leaders. . . . . . . . .8

BILL GEORGE, ANDREWMCLEAN, NICK CRAIG

Compass CenterBuild self-awareness and self-acceptance . . . . . 9

MATT SCHUYLER

Future of WorkCurrent trends shape it. . 10

MARK ALLEN

Wisdom ManagementApply four principles . . .11

MARSHALL GOLDSMITHAND PATRICIA WHEELER

Coaching for GrowthThe best advice has fourrecurring themes . . . . . . .12

KEVIN AND JACKIEFREIBERG

Lead Like a SherpaEveryone must embracethe summit goal. . . . . . . .13

JOSEPH MICHELLI

New Gold StandardLook to Ritz-Carltonfor service excellence . . . 14

KIM MARCILLE

Create MomentumAmplify possibilities into realities . . . . . . . . . . .15

DANIEL R. TOBIN

Action LearningMake it part of yourleadership program. . . . .16

DEBBE KENNEDY

Leading High PerformanceLeadership influences positive outcomes. . . . . . 17

RAM CHARAN

Leadership PotentialLearn how to spot a leaderat different stages . . . . . .18

GARY HARPST

Strategy ExecutionGrow your capacity to execute strategy. . . . . .19

HOWARD M. GUTTMAN

Onboarding TipsLearn from leaders whohave met the challenge. .19

MARY JO HUARD

Creative LeadersIdeas are now the currency of success. . . . . 20

VOL . 25 NO. 9 S E PT E M B E R 2008

Sense of UrgencyHaving eagle eyes for early opportunities is just the first part to the excellence equation.You must then exercise your ambition by modeling urgent behaviors, thus hunting ideasfor innovation and seizing the magic of the moment.

FOR EIGHT OF OUR 25 YEARS,we’ve published a list of

top leadership development(LD) programs, but failed to mention thedesigners, directors or drill sergeants ofthese programs as top practitioners in thefield. In this issue, we are naming names.

Our selection is based on three criteria: 1) These individuals led a LD program in afor-profit company, or had a key role in thedesign or implementation of the program;2) They prepared participants for andplaced them in leadership positions; 3) posi-tive business outcomes accrued to the orga-nization as a result of the LD program.

I was also influenced by a report by KortnyWilliamson, CorpU Research Analyst, on “SixPersonalities of a CLO.” With some irony, shewrites: “Organizations need more leadershipfor the learning (LD) function.” Otherwise,“LD teams tend to focus more on deliveringtraining programs than developing strategy,driving performance, and contributing to thebottom line.” She suggests assigning the taskof LD to “seasoned executives who havestrong business and relationship skills, andcan leverage LD to achieve business results.”

She notes that six competencies identifythe CLO’s roles and responsibilities:

1) Visionary—draws a blueprint how thedevelopment of leaders will create a competi-tive advantage; 2) Strategic Alliance Architect—LD requires many suppliers to providetraining programs, technology, and servicesthat meet business needs and serve its pur-poses; 3) Master of Communication—heightensawareness of the strategic importance of LDand facilitates more purposeful communica-tion, presenting a few key objectives that areeasy-to-understand, and aligned with thecompany’s core values and strategies; 4)Relationship Engineer —builds relationshipswith internal and external partners, under-stands business issues, appreciates the cultur-al and environmental issues that impactperformance, and influences other executiveson the value of performance consulting; 5)Extreme Innovator— drives performance higher,using creativity to analyze problems and per-formance challenges, determine root causes,assess the cost of not intervening, and applyeffective intervention tools; 6) PerformanceConsultant—meets with business unit leaderswho know where the business is heading andits key strategies and priorities, understandswhere performance gaps exist and uncoversroot causes of those gaps, and measures thecosts and benefits of closing these gaps byapplying resources to resolve problems.

Here’s our list of the top 100+ players inthe growth field of leadership development:

T h e f i e l d i s r i p e a n d r e a d y t o h a r v e s t .

by Ken Shelton

Volume 25 Issue 9

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Top 100+ People in LDE . D . I . T . O . R ’ S N . O . T . E

2 S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 8 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

Alan Malinchak - ManTech U.Alex Stiber - SchwanAlicia Mandel - USOCAlysa Parks, Maureen

McDermott - CDWAndrea Johnson - Home DepotAndrew Noon - Mutual of OmahaAngella Rosata - St. Thomas HealthAnne Nagy - Nationwide Ins.Arlene Ferebee - GlaxoSmithKlineAudrey Goodman - MedcoBarbara Amone - UBSBeau Parnell, Irada Sadykhova -

Microsoft Beverly Momsen - ChevronBeverly Saunders - Atlantis ResortBill Robinson - Ontario Power Bret Skousen - Black & DeckerBrian Wallace - HSBC BankBryan Murphy, David Clark -

Farmers Group Camille Mirshokrai - AccentureCarol Birt - Boise CascadeCarol Pledger - Goldman SachsCathy Gorman - Interstate BatteriesCedric Coco - Lowe’sCherlz Franz - Pfizer, Inc.Chip Chesmore - John DeereChrista Centola, David Letts -

RaytheonClark Handy, Marianne Langlois -

ConvergysClaire Schooley - Forrester ResearchCynthia McCague - Coca-ColaCyrus Devere - Panda Resturants

D'Anne Carpenter - Trinity HealthDaisy Ng - Darden RestaurantsDaniel J. Stewart - Kohls Corp.Dave DeFilippo - Bank of N.Y.

Mellon Asset MgtDave Roberts - Western UnionDavid Clark - NikeDeborah Exo, Elizabeth Rohlck -

Herman MillerDenise Smith-Hams - GenetechDermot O'Brien - TIAA-CREFDiana Oreck - Ritz-CarltonDiana Thomas - McDonald’sEileen Rogers - DeloitteElizabeth Vales - Allstate

Technology & OperationsEric T. Hicks - JP Morgan ChaseFabio Tonolini - Tenaris Univ.Faye Richardson - SteelcaseFranklin Shaffer - Cross Country

HealthcareGary Fisher, Peter Marchesini -

InVentive HealthGreg A. Lee - MotorolaHeather Bock, Lori Berman - Howrey Horacio Rozanski-BoozAllenHamiltonJanet Baker - AflacJayne Johnson, John Lynch -

General ElectricJeannie Milan - InsureMeJerry Moran, Tina Grove -

Mohegan SunJim Brolley - Harley-DavidsonJim Heinz, Tim Fennell - Lockheed

Martin

Jim Phelan, Kathy Koressel - MerckJohn Christman - Genworth FinancialJohn Congemi - Best BuyJohn Donnelly, Kathleen Goldreich -

CitigroupJohn Rooney - U.S. CellularJohn Schlembach - Aramco ServicesJohn Shepherd - MarsJonathan Amy, Martha Brophy -

Pricewaterhouse-CoopersJose Conejos - NokiaJudi Affek, Vickie Canon - 7-ElevenJudith Edge - Fed ExJulie-Ellen Acosta - BoeingJustin Lombardo - Northwestern

Memorial HospitalKarie Willyerd - Sun MicrosystemsKaren Gay - Cirque du SoleilKate Martine, Lanny Hoel - TrustmarkKen Kenner - BJ ServicesKenny Kinder, Mark Searcy -

Coverall Cleaning ConceptsKevin Peterson-ArcherDanielsMidlandKevin Wilde - General MillsKimberly Kelly, Susan Berg - PaychexKy C. Lewis III - Sharp HealthcareLeon Ronzana - American HondaLeslie Young - Bank of AmericaLesley Hoare - Kimberly-ClarkLisa Northup - Americredit Linda O’Connell - Mayo ClinicLynne Zappone - InterContinental Marc Reed, Shawne Angelle - VerizonMarian Anderson - Washington

Mutual

Martha Soehren - ComcastMatt Schuyler, Capital OneMatthew Bertman - Pulte HomesMichael Trusty - Rolls RoyceMichael Winston, Sharon Doyle -

CountrywideMike Stafford - StarbucksMoheet Nagrath - P&GNancy Brennock - TrextonPam Bilbrey - Baptist Health CarePat Crull - Time WarnerPatricia A. Bradford - UnisysPru Sullivan - Green Mountain CoffeeRalph Schiavone - Malcolm PirnieRandy Krug - HormelRay Stevens - StaplesRebecca Ray - MastercardRichard Ames - CarnivalRobert Russcoe - UnisysRonald Glaser - Intl. Trade Admin.Sally Levell - Tenet HealthSystemsSari Brody - IkeaSharon Smart - Mattress GiantSherry Makely - Clarian Health Stephen Hadlock - Wheeler MachinerySusan Muehlbach - Northwest AirlinesSusan Skara - Watson LabsSusan Suver - U.S. SteelSuzanne Scott - CiscoTamar Elkeles - Qualcomm Tamara Patrick - Whirlpool Teresa Roche - AgilentTim Galbraith - Yum!BrandsVicky Jones - GM Global LPVicky Rogers - Jet Blue

versation to the real issues and cancelunnecessary activities.”

UUrrggeennccyy OOppttiioonnss aanndd MMiinnddsseettIn effect, people face three options:Option 1: Complacency and anxiety.

Many people believe that things arenot perfect, but for them, they’re doingthe right thing. At a feeling level, theyare content with what they’re doing,even complacent. In fact, they may becritical of highly productive people.Their complacency is manifest in theirbehavior, as they continue doing whatthey did yesterday. They tend to post-pone or procrastinate new behavior.

Option 2: False urgency and freneticactivity. This is what many leadersoften mistake for real urgency. Falseurgency is manifest in anxiety-driven,frenetic, unproductive behavior.

Option 3: Real urgency with processand progress. At a feeling level, this isdriven by a determination to movenow, to win now. At a behavioral level,it’s seen as hyper-alertness to what’shappening on the outside (in the mar-ket), focused on the real issues, gettingup every day with a commitment to

make progress on thoseissues, without gettingburned out, which hap-pens if you fail to get ridof the junk and delegate.

The urgency mindset isthis: “There are greatopportunities and hazardsout there, and we mustdeal with them.” There’senormous determinationto make something hap-

pen now and win. And determination isdifferent from frenetic activity, anxiety,contentment, and the complacency ofshowing up and doing the same thing.

CCuullttuurree ooff UUrrggeennccyyYou may find a sense of urgency in a

person or a pocket with a company, butrarely do you find it through an entireculture. As a leader, you need to instill(not try to install) a sense of urgency inthe culture. If you start building thebest practices into your systems andstructures, urgency will eventually seepinto the culture. You need to identifyand implement methods that increaseurgency and build momentum. Soon

Shared Urgency

SUCCESSFUL CHANGEfollows a basic pat-

tern, starting with creat-ing a sense of urgency. In fact, the big-gest challenge leaders face in causingchange comes right at the beginning—in creating a strong sense of urgency.

Most leaders struggle to meet thischallenge for two interrelated reasons:

First, they miss important informa-tion. Most information is filtered beforeit gets to them, and much good infor-mation never gets to them. So, theydon’t see the complacency that residestwo levels down, or in a branch office.They can’t believe it, because they seetheir margins slipping and clearly com-municate urgent priorities. They don’tunderstand why everyone doesn’tshare a sense of urgency to deal withthe dilemma or seize the opportunity.Some leaders remain out of touchbecause they’re overwhelmed withwork, have a thousand messages com-ing at them daily, are internallyfocused, or have succeeded in the pastand become arrogant.

Second, they mistakeenergy and activity for realurgency. Top execs oftensee enormous activity:they see people runningaround, holding meetings,and starting projects, andso they look at me and say,“Look, we have a sense ofurgency!” I find freneticactivity, usually driven byanxiety, but no sense of shared urgency.

When people have a shared sense ofreal urgency, they tend to be extraordi-narily alert. They move faster, launch-ing initiatives that address the problemsand opportunities they face. They listenbetter and cooperate more. When theiragenda starts to fill with new tasksbecause they must run the currentoperations and leap into the future—they identify the low-priority items andeither cancel them off their calendars ordelegate them to others to free up timeto handle new, more important tasks.They think, “This change may take usthree years to complete, but every daywe’ll make progress. We’ll redirect con-

these urgency practices become “theway we do things around here.”

When I consult, I talk about twokinds of change—episodic and continu-ous—and ask, “What kind of changeare you facing?” Historically, most lead-ers report facing episodic change—anIP changeover or new strategy imple-mentation in Division X. It’s a specificthing that comes and goes. Now, moreexecutives are facing continuouschange. And I can’t imagine how theywill cope, unless they can build a senseof shared urgency into their culture.

The leaders who do this best tend tobe leading medium-sized and smallercompanies. Some big companies thatonce had a shared sense of urgency nowhave arrogance and complacency. Evenafter being whacked hard by the compe-tition, they are mostly engaged in frenet-ic activity—people are running aroundin circles like rats in a maze—not build-ing a shared sense of urgency into thesystems, structure, and culture.

SSiixx WWaayyss ttoo PPrroommoottee UUrrggeennccyyA shared sense of urgency is not

always the consequence of tough com-petition or harsh external conditions.Proactive leaders and lower-level man-agers create urgency in four ways:

1. Bring the outside in. People on theinside tend to become disconnectedfrom the world. Great leaders maintaina sense of urgency by reconnectingpeople with the outside world—bybringing the outside in, bringing infor-mation and outsiders in, at the righttime and in the right way, realizing thatchange is a head/heart thing. It’s notjust about how people think, but mostlyabout how they feel. And that means nothiring a big consulting company andhaving them dump a logical report onpeople at the wrong time and place.That practice only creates anxiety. Theleader has to say, “Let’s look at thefacts—we’ve got to move, now.”

2. Send scouts out. One CEO told ahigh-potential employee that he want-ed him to enroll in a university’s lead-ership development program, andthen said, “Let me explain why. I thinkyou have potential, and this programwill accelerate your development. Youwill learn what’s going on and leavewanting to come back here and helpothers develop that same sense ofurgency—to share with them in a waythat captures their minds and heartswhat you’ve gone through. That’s myprimary objective.” So, sending a scoutout is another way to bring the outsidein and create a sense of urgency.

3. Listen to your front-line sales and

by John Kotter

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 8 3

PERFORMANCE URGENCY

M a k e i t p a r t o f t h e c u l t u r e .

service employees. Tell them, “You’renot only selling products—you’re sup-plying vital information about what’sgoing on.” And don’t send this infor-mation up seven levels of hierarchy orwrite meaningless reports. Senior lead-ers should seek these people out. SamWalton would fly around in his propplane, talking to store managers andstaff associates alike, constantly asking,“What’s up? Don’t just tell me whatpeople are buying—tell me when theysmile, or frown. What are the trends?What cars are in the parking lot now?”His aim was to bring the outside in,and not do it in a dry, factual, every-body-forgets-it-in-15-minutes way.

4. Find opportunity in crisis. Whena crisis looms or appears, pause for aminute and ask, “Is there an opportu-nity here to help us get out of compla-cency and start feeling a strong senseof urgency?” Don’t assume there willbe. In many cases, you must get inthere and bail out the boat. But culti-vate the mindset of looking for oppor-tunity in every real or potential crisis.

5. Behave urgent every day. Once atHarvard I met a CEO who braggedabout one of his Indian managers whohad become a beacon of urgency. Hewas constantly talking about what washappening in the industry and compa-ny, how their past success meant noth-ing, how they had to move faster, andthen modeled moving faster. If holdinga meeting was a low priority, he’d can-celed it; if he held it, he would endevery meeting by saying, “Next week,I’m going to do A, B and C as a resultof this meeting.” He’d turn to the guyon his left and says, “How aboutyou?” He tapped into their aspirationsto do something great and win.

6. Deal with the No-Nos. These arepeople who have some power, usually,who hate all change, and who won’tadmit it. They present themselvesappropriately, but they are relentless inkeeping complacency up, creating fearand false urgency. When you findthese people, you need to deal withthem so they’re not in the way.

To inspire a strong sense of sharedurgency, you’ve got to win over thehearts and minds of people. Creating asense of urgency is a life-and-deathissue. If you don’t get your act togeth-er quickly, somebody will buy you upand then slice and dice you out of exis-tence. If that image doesn’t engender asense of urgency, nothing will. LE

John Kotter, HBS professor, is best-selling author of Our Iceberg Is Melting and a new book, ASense of Urgency. VisitJohnKotter.com; for training call Greg Kaiser at 919-618-9955.

ACTION: Create a sense of urgency in your culture.

by Jim Champy

unmet needs of thousands of indepen-dent musicians and performers andwhose founder has led the company toa unique position in the music businessfor independent performers—a $13 bil-lion-a-year market that no one saw ororganized until Sonic bids came along.

4. Focus: Good companies stayfocused on what they know and cando well. When companies search fornew ideas, they often drift intounknown territory and get in trouble.Good companies just keep growingand expanding into familiar territory.Shutterfly is a wonderful example of acompany that’s growing by expandingwithin the social expressions business,helping communities of people sharephotographs in hundreds of ways.Niches can be very large markets.

5. Execution: Satisfying a customerrequires relentless attention to execu-tion. Building a company’s capability todeliver makes the difference betweenturning a great idea into a business orfailure. But execution is not just aboutdelivering a product—it’s also aboutservice. Over the years, I’ve observedthat technology companies are bad atrecognizing and responding to the ser-

vice needs of their cus-tomers. Counter-intuitively,high-tech requires a lot ofhigh-touch. Partsearch is acompany that knows whatit’s doing with customerservice, helping customersfind what they need in anocean of millions of partsand accessories for con-sumer electronic products.

6. Inspiration: Smartcompanies engage all of their associatesin building the business, from idea cre-ation though delivery. Ideas may cometops-down, but they also come bot-toms-up and from every other direc-tion. Everyone in the company feelsthat they own a piece of the action andare accountable for performance. Theinspiration for a company starts at thetop, but good leadership drives thatinspiration deep into the company byengaging people broadly in decision-making. People are more than mechan-ical parts of the enterprise, and themore they see customers, the bettertheir business sensibilities.

These six traits are common in greatorganizations, smart companies oper-ating quite brilliantly. LE

Jim Champy, author of Outsmart! Reengineering theCorporation, X-Engineering, Reengineering Management, andThe Arc of Ambition, is Chairman of Perot Systems’ consultingpractice and head of strategy. Visit www.jimchampy.com.

ACTION: Become a great organization.

FOR YEARS I’VEsearched for great

companies. Like manyobjectives, greatness is in the eye of thebeholder. It’s an honorable aspiration.I’ve looked at over 1,000 high-growthcompanies and found many good ones.

My search is driven by a desire tofind companies that have new busi-ness models, delivering new productsand services to customers and execut-ing in new ways. I’ve written aboutmy discoveries in Outsmart!. AlthoughI could find no single formula for whatcreates a great company, I did find sixshared characteristics.

1. Culture. My ultimate test of thequality of a company is whether Iwould like to work there. The goodnews: I see many high-growth compa-nies where I would work.One simple test for a greatculture is how a company isexperienced by its con-stituents—its customers,associates, owners, andbusiness partners. The bestcompanies treat all of theirconstituents well and, intheir own unique ways,aspire to greatness.

2. Ambition: The leadersof great companies have a great ambi-tion for the company—one thataddresses an unmet customer need.The ambition is not one of personalgreed—it’s about building a companythat delivers on its promise and does itwith a unique quality. My experienceis that it takes a great ambition to cre-ate even a good company. I’m inspiredby the company Minute Clinic, whoseambition is to change how healthcareis delivered, for the benefit of everyoneinvolved in the system.

3. Customer: Every good companybegins by meeting a customer need.That need is often deeply understoodby the founders because they, them-selves, experienced the need—and sawhow that need was not being well met.Sometimes the founder delegates themanagement of the company to some-one who operationalizes the idea. Butthat wasn’t the case in the example ofSonicbids, a company that saw the

Great CompaniesWhat are five shared traits?

LEADERSHIP GREATNESS


sible failures. Success may seem likethe result of good luck or timing; how-ever, consistently successful innovationis not random. Effective innovationleaders and managers use a consistentpattern, moving through five phases. Inthe program Managing Innovation, weuse the concept of avatars to describepersonae that represent the mindsetsand skill-sets that support each phase.Each avatar is an archetype—an embod-iment of a set of qualities and skills.

1. Searching: Hunting and gatheringideas and opportunities for innovation.In this phase, the Seeker is far-sighted,outward looking, curious, and ardentin looking for ideas and opportunitiesfor innovation. When Searching, lookinside and outside your organizationand industry for ideas. Diversity ofthinking is the mother of innovation.

2. Exploring: Examining and testing

ideas to discern their potential value. Inthis phase, the Alchemist is tireless,discovery-oriented, skeptical, and logi-cal in exploring and investigating ideaswhen it is time to focus on those thatare most promising. When Exploring,encourage constructive debate. Providea forum where members of your teamcan challenge one another’s thinking ina respectful and productive way.

3. Committing: Making clear deci-sions and commitments on how tomove forward. In this phase, the Judgeis wise and prudent, but also decisiveand bold in making commitments toinvest time, talent, and other resourcein specific innovation efforts. WhenCommitting, be prepared to kill ideasthat are not chosen or are outmoded inorder to provide resources for innova-tion. Do so skillfully and with compas-sion, but don’t hesitate to do it.

4. Realizing: Delivering the innova-tion. The Director drives the innovationto completion; he or she is team-focused,

Innovation Journey

SUPPOSE THAT YOU’VE BEEN ASSIGNEDto “accelerate innovation” and

given a free hand to develop the strat-egy and operational plan. Where doyou start? How can you achieve it?

Leaders are under pressure to meetor exceed market expectations eachquarter. Different approaches are tout-ed as the road to success. Methodssuch as Six Sigma and Lean Sigmadeliver results by improving bottom-line performance through operationalefficiency and effectiveness. In con-trast, innovation, seen as a key meansto achieve competitive advantage,delivers results by generating organicgrowth to the company’s top line.

Innovation requires tapping peo-ple’s creativity and imagination andcultivating a culture that stimulatesand supports innovation. Innovationis not the result of imposing specificprocesses and disciplines, but is aninherently human activity thatrequires a broad understanding ofhow people think and behave.

Innovation differs from develop-ment efforts because it requires a de-gree of uncertainty and challenges tothe status quo. Often, processes thatdrive improvement require repeatabili-ty and minimize variability. Innovationis about increasing variability andencouraging expansive and divergentthinking. Rather than the “drive forresults” leadership that seeks quickalignment and efficient execution,innovation leaders ask people to lookat problems from different perspec-tives, take unfamiliar positions, identi-fy and test their assumptions, and takerisks. Such leaders make room forexperimentation, mistakes, and failureswhile requiring focus and discipline.

JJoouurrnneeyy tthhrroouugghh FFiivvee PPhhaasseessWe describe innovation as a jour-

ney—adventure travel with twists andturns, dead-ends, retracing of steps,accidents, surprises, dangers, and pos-

results-oriented, and requires disciplineand politically savvy to move towardimplementation. When Realizing, be a“buffer” to protect your team from inter-ference while they are driving for results.

5. Optimizing: Maximizing the valuecreated by the innovation. In this phase,the Magician—optimistic, creative,entrepreneurial, generous—makes themost of the innovation, creates maxi-mum value for the team and the orga-nization, even if the specific innovationfails (as many do). When Optimizing,ask, “How else can we use, improve,extend, or scale this idea” before mov-ing on to the next big thing.

TThhee LLeeaaddeerr’’ss RRoolleeLeaders play a critical role in guid-

ing innovation. As in any journey intounknown territory, fear and risk shouldbe minimized. The traveler is more like-ly to succeed with a professional, sea-soned, and prepared guide to facilitatethe journey. As Louis Pasteur said:“Chance favors only the prepared mind.”

Strong leaders help provision peoplefor their journey. They communicate thevision of a strategic destination while atthe same time leaving room for passion,excitement, spontaneity, and respon-siveness to circumstances and opportu-nity. Innovation leaders deliberatelymanage the journey with its inevitablevariability in a way that optimizes theoutcome while maintaining focus on atimely arrival at the destination—evenif the destination changes en route.

Such leadership and managementdemand high flexibility. Each phase ofthe journey requires different mindsetsand skill-sets, though many skills areuseful in more than one phase. Mostpeople are more comfortable in one ortwo of the phases of the journey andtend to stay in their “comfort zone”longer than necessary. Leaders andmanagers must either learn how to“morph” from one to another or iden-tify others who can represent and callforth the required mindsets and skill-sets at each phase. Since innovation isan untidy process, you need to knowwhen to move back and forth.

As you begin your innovation jour-ney, “provision” yourself with theseinsights. Ultimately, innovation isabout people and psychology, behaviorand attitudes—not just good intentionsand well-defined processes. Innovationleadership and management give youa competitive advantage. LEB. Kim Barnes is CEO of Barnes & Conti Assoc. (visitwww.barnesconti.com) and co-developer with David Francis,Ph.D., of Managing Innovation. Nelson Soken, Ph.D., is seniormanager at Medtronic and facilitator of Managing Innovation.

ACTION: Lead and manage innovation.L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 8 5

CHANGE INNOVATION

H o w c a n y o u l e a d a n d m a n a g e i t ?

by Nelson Soken and B. Kim Barnes

their own assessments of the reliabilityof the source of specific data. As aresult, sources with low credibilityintroduced information that was laterfound to be wrong. Analysts shouldnot be put in the position of making ajudgment on crucial issues without fullunderstanding of the reliability andsource of the relevant information.

Businesses tend to operate with lessopenness about mistakes—and fewerfull-scale investigations—than does ademocratic government, and so exam-ples from government are easier tofind. But any time an organizationmakes a seriously wrong decision, itsleaders should call for an intensivepostmortem. Such learning opportuni-ties are often overlooked. Sadly, lead-ers tend to call on the PR department

to spin the matter, to make anotherinadequately thought-out decision,and perhaps to scapegoat, even fire, afew staff members. Because most lead-ers cover up their mistakes, systemicflaws in information flow tend to re-main to do their damage another day.

3. The “shimmer factor” impedes thefree flow of information. The public andprecipitous fall of many celebrity CEOshas dimmed the once-shining image ofexecutives. But despite the discreditingof many executives, leaders still tend tobe perceived by many as demigods.And that perception still deters follow-ers from telling those leaders essentialbut awkward truths. As everyoneknows, there’s a far different standardfor scrutiny of the CEO’s expenseaccount from that of a file clerk. In toomany organizations, one of the privi-leges of rank is a tendency to get auto-matic approval of behavior that wouldbe questioned in the less exalted. Many

Candor Killers

IN A RATIONAL UNIVERSE, LEADERSwould embrace transparency on eth-

ical and practical grounds, as the statein which it is easiest to accomplishgoals. But that is rarely the case.Powerful countervailing forces tend tostymie candor and transparency.

Here are four such forces:1. Leaders routinely hoard or mis-

handle information. A common maladyamong insiders is hoarding informa-tion. This is one way information getsstuck and is kept from flowing to thosewho need it to make solid decisions.Wholesale classification keeps informa-tion away from the frontline peoplewho actually manage the business andserve customers. Small cliques of insid-ers tend to hoard information becausethey want to know things that othersdo not. Some executives seem to takean almost juvenile pleasure in knowingthe “inside dope” and keeping it awayfrom their underlings. In some organi-zations, knowledge is seen as the ulti-mate executive perk, not unlike thecompany jet, kept solely for the useand delight of the elite. This stance iscostly in terms of efficiency and morale.

2. Structure or system impedimentshamper information flow and bungledecision making. The U.S. declarationof war on Iraq was largely based onseriously flawed data from America’sintelligence community. Later internalinvestigations brought a structuralproblem to light. Inadvertently, thesystem of information flow had beendesigned to foster poor decisions bydepriving key decision-makers of cru-cial data. The main flaw lay in the dif-ferent mandates of two divisions atthe CIA: the operations directorate,which gathers intelligence data fromaround the world, and the intelligencedirectorate, which sifts through thatraw information to draw conclusions.

To protect their sources’ identities,the operations people did not reveal

leaders encourage this godlike view ofthemselves in countless nonverbalways—from the cost and spotlessnessof their desks to the size and isolation oftheir homes. We often hear tales of lead-ers who do something outrageous,undeterred by those who should bewatching but who fail to speak up.

The best antidote to the shimmereffect is the behavior of the leader. Thewisest leaders seek broad counsel, notbecause they are so enlightened butbecause they need it. Power does notconfer infallibility. There’s a compellingreason to become more open to infor-mation from people at every level: thoseclose to the action usually know moreabout what’s actually going on withclients, production or customer service,than do those on the top floors.Effective leaders find their own ways toelicit many points of view, believing“None of us is as smart as all of us.”The CEO of Pacific Rim bank, forinstance, schedules 20 days each year tomeet with groups of his top 800 people,40 at a time. Aware that isolation in acorner office may weaken his ability tomake good decisions, he regularly seeksfrank feedback from many sources.

Beyond asking for the counsel ofothers, leaders have to hear and heedit. Reflect on how receptive you are tothe suggestions and opinions of othersand alternate points of view.

4. Sheer hubris hinders the flow ofinformation. One motive for turning adeaf ear to what others have to sayseems to be sheer hubris: leaders oftenbelieve they are wiser than all thosearound them. The literature on execu-tive narcissism tells us that the self-confidence of top executives can easilyblur into a blind spot, an unwillingnessto turn to others for advice.

In extreme cases, narcissism cancause leaders to refuse to hear whatothers say. Leaders can suffer from“tired ears.” The CEO of one interna-tional organization, for instance,decried the lack of an informal pipelinewithin the company—he felt that theexecutive summaries he received dailyfrom his direct reports were being sani-tized for him. Yet he could not imaginehimself turning to anyone lower in theranks for a private conversation—letalone cultivating a nonpowerful confi-dant—because it might be seen as asign of weakness on his part.

Address these and other impedi-ments to transparency. LE

Warren Bennis, Dan Goleman, and James O’Toole are coau-thors of Transparency (Jossey-Bass). Visit www.josseybass.com.

ACTION: Address the candor killers at your work.


ETHICS CANDOR

W h a t i m p e d e s t r a n s p a r e n c y ?

by Warren Bennis, Dan Golemanand James O’Toole

Speak it, write it, even draw it if neces-sary to ensure the team understands it.Your team will respond much better tothe work they do when they clearlyunderstand why they are doing it andhow it helps the company. People wantto feel meaning in the work they do.When they understand the companyvision and how their job fits into it,they will feel connected and valued.

Does your team have clear, specific,measurable goals that support thevision? Once you communicate thevision and your team understands howthey fit into it, you must ensure theyhave specific goals to measure theirprogress. Goals enable the leader tomeasure how the team is progressingtoward the vision. You can reward teammembers who contribute to the success

of the team, and provide support tothose who don’t. Goals bring account-ability to the leadership process. Yourteam will thank you for creating equitywithin the team. It destroys morale andfrustrates team members when weakperformers and strong performers areall treated the same. Goals allow you toeasily separate the weak from thestrong and manage them accordingly.Just make sure goals are set fairly andequitably, are meaningful and connect-ed to the vision. They must be specificand measure progress against the goal.The more clearly you define the goals,the more likely your team will achievethem. The goals should make teammembers stretch and grow to achievethem, and yet the goals must be achiev-able—or the team may just give up.

Does the team understand the systemof rewards and consequences? Strongleaders ensure that team membersunderstand the consequences of theirperformance. Develop and communi-

Are You a Leader?

LEADERS TODAY MUSTbalance many

responsibilities androles. They are pulled in many differ-ent directions and can get caughtbetween what they need to do inorder to create a winning team andkeeping all their constituencies happy.Leadership requires quick action andthe need to juggle multiple prioritiesthat may cause leaders to lose focuson the development of their team.

One big mistake a leader can makeis to believe that developing their teamisn’t their top priority. The best-runcompanies devote much time andresources to developing the skill, val-ues, beliefs and identity of their team.No single person can accomplisheverything that must be done for abusiness to grow and prosper. That iswhere the team comes in. A leaderwith a strong team will see exponen-tially greater results. A leader has nogreater responsibility than to recruit,train, develop, coach, recognize andreward the people who are responsiblefor the success of the leader’s business.

AAsskk SSeevveenn QQuueessttiioonnssTo ensure you devote the time and

effort necessary to build a winningteam, ask yourself these seven ques-tions and see how well you stack up.

Does your team clearly understandyour vision? A vision is useless emptyrhetoric unless the people responsiblefor delivering it through the compa-ny’s products and services know,understand, and live the vision. As aleader, you must have a laser focus onyour vision. You must communicate itto the entire team and then reinforce itthrough coaching, at meetings, andthrough your recognition and rewardprograms. Ensure that your vision isclearly connected with your strategicplan and that a specific cause is tied toit. A vision should be connected to anaction plan that makes the vision cometo life. When you communicate thevision to your team, connect the visionto the cause so your team will under-stand how it influences what they do.Paint a picture with your words.

cate clear systems for handling teamperformance. It destroys morale andcreates mediocre performance whenteam members sense that no matterhow hard they work—or how littlethey achieve—they’ll be treated thesame as everyone else. Why workharder or do more than expected ifthere’s no reward? Your team mustunderstand the consequences—bothgood and bad—to their performance.Leaders must communicate thereward system in place as well as thecorrective action systems. Rewards donot always have to be monetary. Thereare many ways to reward your teamthat are low cost or no cost. Find theright ones for your situation and applythem consistently—your team willrespond. And with poor performance,make sure the team understands theconsequences for not contributing andconsistently apply them.

Do you pull the weeds when youneed to? Your team will respect youand perform better for you when youremove the weak members from theteam (pull the weeds). In gardens,weeds show up. They start to grow,and soon they are choking the flow-ers. As more weeds grow, more flow-ers disappear. When you have a teammember who does not perform or cre-ates conflict you must deal with theproblem—not pretend it will get betteror hope the person leaves. One majormistake leaders make is to let thesenon-performers pull the team down.Strong performers know who isn’tperforming, and they respect youmore when you deal with problems.

Does your team receive regularcommunication, coaching, and devel-opment? Once you communicate thevision, provide clear goals and com-municate the consequences, you can’tkick back and take it easy. Strongleaders are also great coaches. Theycommunicate regularly as conditionschange and make adjustments to thestrategy. The team must be keptabreast of updates and issues impact-ing their roles. In your coaching role,find out what is working and whatisn’t. Where they are succeeding andwhere they are struggling. Ask ques-tions and listen to what they say. Findout how they feel about their perfor-mance and abilities. Determine if theyare confident in their ability toachieve the goals or if they needtraining or help. When you show youcare and provide the support theyneed, they will follow your lead.

Does your team fear the “F” word?Teams that fear failure in their attempts

by Dennis A. Kelley


LEADERSHIP TEAMS

Answer seven questions to f ind out .

to become better will become para-lyzed by that fear. They will fail totake action without first checkingwith you, even on trivial points.Winning teams do whatever it takesto get the job done and take reason-able business risks. As a leader, youmust support this risk-taking. Trustyour hiring decisions and your coach-ing talents and let them do their jobwith minimal interference. The onlyfailure is the failure to participate. Ifthey take action and make a mistake,they should learn from it and becomebetter for it. Your team will achievehigh success more quickly by failingthan by always playing it safe andrunning to you for permission or tomake all their decisions for them. Ifyou and the team communicate regu-larly and you are coaching effectively,your risk will be minimal, and theirdevelopment will soar.

Does your team trust you andrespect you? When customers likeyou, trust you and believe you, theywill buy from you. As a leader, realizethat you are selling your team everyday on what you need them to doand why they should do it. If yourteam does not trust you or respectyou, they won’t buy what you aretelling them. When you lose theirtrust and respect, you must fight toget it back—and it will have a nega-tive impact on their performance. Dowhat you say you will do—even if itis not popular. Be fair, honest and eth-ical in your dealings with them, andthey will follow your lead. Nevercompromise your ethics or tell yourteam simply what they want to hear.Confidentiality may prohibit yousharing everything with them, but donot hold it over their head. Deal withthem honestly and keep their trust—itwill pay big dividends.

CCrreeaattee aa SSttrroonngg TTeeaammIf you are strong in all seven areas,

you deserve congratulations—as youare well on your way to leadershipsuccess. If you still need to work onsome of these areas, make a commit-ment to yourself and your team to getstarted today. As a leader, your prima-ry role is to create a strongest team.The more successful the team, themore successful you will be. Get theRIGHT people on your team, doingthe RIGHT things, and work hard todevelop your team. LE

Dennis A. Kelley is President of The D. Kelley Group andauthor of Achieving Unlimited Success. Visitwww.AchievingUnlimitedSuccess.com.

ACTION: Ask yourself these seven questions.

by Ron Crossland

My advice? If you have an itch,scratch it. But treat it as an itch, anddon’t equate scratching with having ahealthy LD regimen. When you have ahealthy LD system, itches occur rarely,and you can build the health of thecompany, not just react to irritations.

There are three things you shoulddo that may prevent itching altogether.

1. Eat healthy, exercise, and get plen-ty of rest. These healthy habits main-tain physical, emotional, and mentalhealth and reduce the odds for suffer-ing from many ailments. Likewise, aLD process that provides a broad baseof development across all leadershipdomains is like eating healthy. If this isaccompanied by job rotation, careermanagement opportunities, or fre-quent, rigorous, mandatory trainingprograms, you have the exercise com-ponent. Getting plenty of rest meanskeeping an eye on time for personalreflection, conversation, sabbaticals,and appropriate work-life balance.

2. Senior team involvement andcoaching. No counselor would adviseparents: “Ensure your kids are well fed,do their homework, and get plenty ofsleep. After that, leave everything to the

school system, television,social networks, and ran-dom opportunities.” Sowhy would you do thiswhen developing leaders?C-suite leaders and seniormanagers should beinvolved in attending pro-grams, teaching partici-pants, and touching basethrough conference calls orin-class visits, even if for

only 30 minutes at a time. If all a seniormanager does for LD is write the checkand delegate responsibility to HR, thenkill the program and save the money.

Coaching can double the impact ofLD processes. So, to amp up your LDprocess with only marginal financialinvestment, add coaching and trainyour managers in coaching practices.

3. Raise graduate entrance expecta-tions. A good LD program providesbasic education and coaching for allmanagers. But advanced LD or “high-potential” programs should be toughto enter and stay in. Everyone shouldhave a shot, but invest extra resourcesin those who make the grade. About 60percent of VP-level managers don’taspire to go higher. Invest in peoplewho do and facilitate their progress. LE

Ron Crossland is Chairman of Bluepoint Leadership Develop-ment, and co-author of The Leader’s Voice, and TheLeadership Experience. Email [email protected].

ACTION: Have a healthy LD regimen.

ECONOMIC PERFORMANCEis down or flat. Labor

relation tensions are up.Competitors create new products faster.Turnover increases. Wall Street snubsyou. The C-suite team becomes queru-lous. Factions appear. Satisfaction is low.

Leadership development is now seenas a key strategy for preventing or reduc-ing the effects of these ailments and hasbecome a standard feature in companies.

What mistakes do companies makein creating a LD strategy? The biggestone is scratching the leadership itch.

Have you ever had an itch that irri-tated you constantly? A rash, hive, orbug bite that controlled your attentionand soured your mood? You want toscratch or medicate it until it goes away.You get temporary relief,but the itch returns, causingyou to scratch harder andlonger and overuse the itchcreams, potions, and tablets.

Many companies havean itch and then focus theirLD program or process onrelieving the itch, not onmaintaining a healthy body.

Two cases come to mind.One company was criticizedin the media for its unethical behavior.The company was called a soulless ma-chine that concentrated only on market domi-nation without regard to means. Its answerwas to develop a set of values and drive avalues-based LD process, without placingthe values in a larger context.

A second company enjoyed an envi-able market position. It had no seriouscompetitors and had good financialreturns, but was not growing. It’semphasis for LD was to focus on strat-egy. All other leadership issues wereeither lightly addressed or ignored.

This itch response is a poor way todevelop leaders. Senior managers aresimply viewing the tiers of leaders andmanagers beneath them as functionalcogs to be focused on current problems.They use training and development tofocus attention. Over time, participantsrealize that many aspects of leadershipare being ignored and that their devel-opment is a guise for scratching.

Leadership ItchIt’s a bad way to develop people.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT


an understanding of your blind spots,areas of resilience, and vulnerabilities.

We all know inauthentic leaderswho represent themselves in one wayand then behave in the opposite man-ner. You may have been guilty of thisas well. However, authenticity is notabout being or pretending to be perfect.

Those leaders who can speak open-ly about their weaknesses, blind spots,and vulnerabilities permit others to dothe same. If you can do this, you createdeep trust and commitment in yourrelationships. Thus youwill be living with thehumble truth of owningand accepting all of whoyou are—both the gifts andthe challenges.

We each have manyaspects that we present tothe world in layered suc-cession. Like an onion, wehave many layers. Outerlayers are expressions ofour external identity to theworld. These are the first signals toothers about who we are and what liesbeneath. They are also forms of protec-tion; they prevent the world fromintruding on our core selves.Underneath the outer layer are deeperlayers: our strengths and weaknesses,our needs and desires. These are theelements from which we operate.Deeper still lie our values and motiva-tions, the criteria that define our ownsense of success and fulfillment.

Most hidden of all are our shadowsides, our vulnerabilities and our blindspots. We all have them, whether ornot we’re aware of them or acknowl-edge them. Often others see these“blind spots,” even if we do not. Thesedeeper layers are difficult to identityunless we are brutally honest withourselves or invite others to give usfeedback about such vulnerable places.

At the core of our being lies ourauthentic self—our true and genuinenature. If we can “own” all aspects ofwho we are, we can live in harmonywith our authentic selves and presentour true self to others and to the worldaround us. Our True North comesfrom this authentic place, from whichwe find our calling to leadership.

Why is the outer skin of our onion

Compass Center

YOU DISCOVER YOUR AUTHENTIC LEAD-ership by developing yourself. All

leaders face challenges in stayingaligned with their True North—theirmost deeply held beliefs, values, andprinciples—as they cope with thepressures and seductions of leading.

You will need a compass to guideyou on your journey. At the center ofthe True North compass is the theme ofthis article: Build your self-awareness.To the north: live your values. To theeast: use your motivated capabilities.To the south: build your support team.To the west: lead an integrated life.

These five points of the compassenable you to stay focused on yourTrue North while coping with andovercoming challenges. You must takeresponsibility for your own develop-ment, using this compass to guide you.

BBuuiilldd YYoouurr SSeellff--AAwwaarreenneessssSelf-awareness is at the center of

the True North compass. A compassneedle orients itself to Earth’s magnet-ic field. To do so, it pivots on the fixedpoint of a tiny fulcrum. Your self-awareness is the pivot on which yourbalanced development and your ori-entation to your True North depend.

With self-awareness, you knowwhen something is authentic for youand when it is not. You can’t be trulyself-aware without honest and directfeedback from others. So, enlist theassistance of trusted peers, mentors,and friends, reflect on their feedbackand explore what changes it suggestsin your life and leadership.

When you review your feedback,you may find that your self-assess-ment differs from the assessments youreceive from others. Explore these dis-crepancies. How and why does yourperspective differ from that of others?You can’t be authentic without beingaware of your core strengths, yourweaknesses, and your underdevel-oped areas. You also need to develop

so tough? For fear of being judged orrejected by others, we are understand-able reluctant to expose our deeperlayers. We want to display ourstrengths, not expose our weaknesses.We want to state our desires, but natu-rally we are concerned about thepower others gain over us when theysee our needs. Deeper down, our val-ues and motivations are importantsources of authentic leadership.

As a result of our fears, we often tryto cover up the core where our vulner-abilities, weaknesses, blind spots, andshadow sides reside. We may be so goodat covering them that we’re unaware ofthem. We may be in denial about themuntil we are forced into situationswhere they are suddenly exposed.

The paradox underlying the show-ing of only parts of ourselves while

hiding others is that ourvulnerabilities, shadowsides, and blind spots arealso the parts of us moststarved for expression,acceptance, and integra-tion. When we do notacknowledge them asbeing just as critical towho we are as ourstrengths, they cause us tobehave in inauthenticways. Only when we

embrace these aspects can we becomefully authentic as leaders and people.

AAcccceepptt WWhhoo YYoouu AArreeNone of us can be the best at every-

thing. Each of us has a set of strengthsthat come naturally, talents we havedeveloped over time, and things weare never going to be good at. Whatenables us to be authentic and effec-tive leaders is maximizing the use ofour strengths—not focusing on ourweaknesses—and surrounding our-selves with others whose strengthscomplement our own and fill in forour gaps. The ability to accept yourselfas you are is a gift that leads not onlyto self-acceptance but to true freedom.

Accepting and loving yourself forwho you are requires compassion. Foryou to acknowledge your weaknessand shadow sides, you have to acceptthe things you like least about yourselfas integral to who you are.

The goal of self-awareness is self-knowledge, and ultimately self-accep-tance as the leader you are and theleader you are capable of becoming. LE

Bill George, Andrew McLean, and Nick Craig are coauthors ofFinding Your True North: A Personal Guide (Jossey-Bass). Visitwww.truenorthleaders.com.

ACTION: Boost your self-awareness as a leader.


LEADERSHIP SELF-AWARENESS

B u i l d y o u r s e l f - a w a r e n e s s .

by Bill George, Andrew McLeanand Nick Craig

TTeecchhnnoollooggiiccaall TTrreennddssThe rate and reach of technological

change also impact the workplace. Theinfrastructure is now widely availableto give employees access to informationanywhere and anytime. Soon, high-speed Internet and wireless access willgrow more robust and ubiquitous andbecome an expected amenity, whilemobile devices quickly converge into asingle, fully-integrated tool. Traditionalbrick-and-mortar offices may no longerbe the focus of work efforts as meetingsare conducted in cyberspace.

Technological advances also intro-duce uncertainty and risk. Consumersexpect faster transaction speeds andgreater accuracy, while more market-ing channels make reaching the con-sumer harder. Regulatory compliance,

information security, and privacy issueswill create added risk and uncertaintyfor both companies and consumers.

BBuussiinneessss PPrroocceessss TTrreennddssFuture enterprises will be more dis-

persed in terms of markets and suppli-ers, and expand their dependence onmultiple extended partners. Businesseswill focus on improving productivitywith shorter product cycles. “Faster,better, cheaper” will remain the mantra.Uncertainty will drive structure churn,while environmental regulations willcreate economic uncertainty. Flexibility,adaptability and ideation will be suc-cess factors. Global risks will intensifydue to the threat of terrorism, financialshocks, and natural disasters.

TToommoorrrrooww’’ss WWoorrkkppllaacceeThe workplace will need to be flexi-

ble. In some cases, companies willhave to create new spaces to enhanceconcentration and focus, privacy and

Future of Work

EMERGING TRENDS AREchanging the nature

of knowledge work,demanding new options. Businesscycles create more intensity, complexity,and uncertainty—demanding high pro-ductivity. Also, the balance of power isshifting from individual contributorsto cross-functional, networked teams;and technology is accelerating the paceand scope of change. Work is morecomplex, collaborative, distributed intime and place, less predictable, andmore demanding. To remain viable,leaders need to respond to trends withflexibility, speed, and innovative, cost-effective solutions.

WWoorrkkffoorrccee TTrreennddssRetiring Baby Boomers could soon

lead to a scarcity of knowledge work-ers. If these retiring workers can’t bereplaced, more work may be off-shored, or companies may need tobring back retired workers on a part-time basis. Also, some companies areexperiencing a breakdown in theemployer-employee bond as pensionsdisappear, benefits become portable,job sites increase or become mobile,and employee churn rises.

The millennial generation, or GenY, is altering employee expectations.For example, most millennials wouldprefer to work for companies that givethem opportunities to contribute theirtalents to nonprofits on companytime. A company’s commitment tosocial responsibility can determinewhether millennials will accept a joboffer. And they are more likely to pickan area to live that suits their lifestyle.

Work models and patterns that enablepeople to work when it’s convenient tothem and when they’re most produc-tive are popular. Gen Y expects work tomirror the college experience with flexi-bility in work hours. Gen Xers alsovalue flexible work hours and locationsthat enable them care for children orcontinue their education. Baby Boomerstoo are vocal about wanting more flexi-ble work practices that allows for eldercare, exercise, or personal growth.

security, and yet allow for spontaneousinteraction. Workspaces will becomeincreasingly diverse, some co-located,some virtual, and some both. Web2.0—the use of the Internet as a collab-orative platform to maximize creativityand productivity—social networkingand social computing will be the con-ference rooms and workspaces of thefuture. Employers need to increase theusable workspace in the office.

Tomorrow’s workplace needs to bevibrant and energizing, with a focus onnatural daylight, sustainable healthyspace, natural landscaping, open spaceto maximize views from windows, cre-ative office construction, low panelsbetween offices, open desking, andglazed walls to make activity apparentand expose inefficient use of space.Mobile technologies help eliminate theneed for brick and mortar, or reducecosts for energy or real estate.

TThhrreeee PPhhaasseess ooff CChhaannggeeThe key to coping with change is

actively managing the change processwhile enabling people to move throughthree phases of the change curve:

1. Awareness. In this phase, leadersbuild cognizance that change is coming.Common emotions include denial, anxi-ety, and shock. Productivity and moralemay decline. Leaders should help peo-ple understand the new direction andwhat options are available to them.Employees may begin to feel fear, anger,frustration, and confusion.

2. Acceptance. During this phase,leaders and employers begin to makedecisions regarding the new change.This is often a stressful period. Peoplemay engage in approach-avoidancebehavior—they may recognize andeven wish to embrace change, but fearthe negative consequences of giving uptheir old way of working. Morale andproductivity dip, but will soon rebound.

3. Adoption. In this phase, employeeskepticism turns to hope, energy, andenthusiasm, and morale and produc-tivity are restored. Leaders should helpemployees explore their new workbehaviors, commit to a new way ofworking, and institutionalize the newways by ensuring that the company’smission, leadership alignment, andgoals support the desired changes.

By focusing on trends in technology,the workplace and business processes,leaders can adapt to the new future ofwork and enjoy market success. LE

Matt Schuyler is the Chief HR Officer at Capital One FinancialCorporation. Visit www.capitalone.com.

ACTION: Adapt to the future of work.

by Matt Schuyler

1 0 S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 8 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

MANAGEMENT TRENDS

T o d a y ’ s t r e n d s s h a p e i t .

tion is something you build in up front.To get measurable results, fist define

clearly what success would be—articu-late precisely what results you wantbefore you design the training. You canthen focus on achieving those results.Beyond creating a program that deliversthe learning people need to achievegoals, you need to ensure that the learn-ing becomes behaviors.

3. Link learning and action. The bestprograms ensure transfer of knowledgeand skills to behaviors that enhanceperformance and achieve desired re-sults. Of course, approaches to learningthat try to link coursework to real-workaren’t new (action learning is predicat-ed on this concept). What is new is theidea that all development efforts shouldbe linked directly to real-world applica-tion—and this process should be man-

aged by the corporate university.

FFoouurr CCoorree PPrriinncciipplleess ooff WWMMFor years we’ve excoriated compa-

nies for not investing in the develop-ment of their people and growing thecapabilities of their employees. Evenworse is when companies investmoney to develop people, but see noreturn. While the company that doesnothing gets nothing, at least it doesn’twaste money. Companies that do itpoorly also get little return, but they’realso wasting money and time (peoplehate sitting in training classes thathave no value, and fail to completevalueless e-learning programs).

Wisdom management refers to pro-cesses designed to ensure ROI in devel-oping people. To ensure a successfulWM application, take these four steps:

1. Define the developmental needs ofyour organization and its people. Ioften see managers using a shotgun

Wisdom Management

WE’VE EVOLVED FROMfrom talking of

continuous learningand knowledge work to managingand sharing knowledge. So why aren’twe seeing more productivity? Whydoes learning have a flurry of activitybut a shortage of meaningful results?

Research shows that 60 to 90 per-cent of job-related skills and knowl-edge acquired in programs are notbeing implemented on the job. If 75percent of the $60 billion U.S. traininginvestment is being wasted, we’rewasting $45 billion a year!

This happens because of a failure toemploy wisdom management—a failureto manage how knowledge is used.Wisdom management is a planned andsystematic process for managing how peo-ple use and apply their knowledge andskills in ways that benefit the organization.

TThhrreeee VViittaall LLiinnkkssTo cultivate wisdom management,

make these three vital links:1. Link learning and wisdom. A cor-

porate university conducts activitiesthat cultivate learning, knowledge, andwisdom. While most CUs focus onlearning and knowledge, few cultivatewisdom. I advocate that the CU be thelocus for WM. Beyond giving peopleknowledge and skills—we need toensure that they are being utilized.

2. Link design and results. It’s notenough to ensure that learning takesplace. Learning without behaviorchange doesn’t affect performance. Wewant people to do things differently.And behavior changes should pro-duce positive results, not negativeresults or no change. Training is predi-cated on a desire to improve perfor-mance. To know whether training isbeneficial, we need to measure perfor-mance improvement.

When we know a training programwill be evaluated (we’ll measurewhether it improves results), we’remore likely to design the training in away that gets us the results we want.By building the evaluation in up front,we help to ensure meeting our goals inthe design and delivery phases. Evalua-

approach to training and develop-ment. They throw a bunch of stuff outthere and hope that something sticks.My ability to evaluate the effectivenessof training or development programsdepends on the answer to the ques-tion, “What are you trying to achievewith this program?” Many peoplestruggle to answer this question. If youdon’t know what you are trying to do,I can’t tell you if you succeed. Whenyou clearly articulate what you are try-ing to accomplish, you have a muchbetter chance of measuring it and suc-ceeding at it. If you can’t define it, youcan’t achieve it.

2. Determine the best means of givingpeople the required knowledge, skills,and experience. People used to think ofCUs as a catalogue of classes, but thereare many methods for developing peo-ple beyond classroom training. Selectfrom the menu of choices (the best solu-tion may be a combination), and try toexecute as well as possible.

3. Translate the development initia-tive into behaviors that impact perfor-mance. Whether you choose classroomtraining, e-learning, coaching, mentor-ing, job rotation, or puppet shows asyour means of development, goodexecution means there is some meansof translating that activity into behav-iors that matter. Although I advocatedetailed measurement, the goal is notevaluation—it is implementation. Byspecifying the desired outcomes,you’re more likely to achieve them. Sothe goal is not “spend three monthswith a coach” or “take a class for twoweeks.” The goal is, “reduce the num-ber of employee grievances to zero” or“create a marketing plan that comple-ments the strategy.” Clearly statedgoals with measurable outcomes willget you the results you want.

4. Always ask, What do I need to doto ensure this developmental activitydelivers the behaviors I want to seeand the results we need to see? If youkeep asking this question, you’ll focusmore on delivering the behaviors andresults and less on activities. The keyis not designing a great curriculumand getting a terrific instructor—it isgetting results. If you develop this dis-cipline and change the focus to thisquestion, you’ll shift the mindset toone of WM—and consistently achievedesired results. LE

Mark Allen, Ph.D. is an educator, consultant, author, speaker,and faculty member at Pepperdine’s Graziadio School of Businessand Management, and editor of The Next Generation ofCorporate Universities (Pfeiffer) and The Corporate UniversityHandbook (Amacom). Email [email protected].

ACTION: Take four steps of wisdom management.

by Mark Allen

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 8 1 1

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

L i n k l e a r n i n g a n d p e r f o r m a n c e .

promotion . . . status . . . money. Theonly way to cure the disease is to findhappiness and meaning now.

3. Don’t get so lost in pleasing thepeople who don’t care that you neglectthe people who do—your friends andfamily. You may work for a wonderfulcompany and believe that your contri-bution is important. But when you’re95 and on your death bed, very few ofyour fellow employees will be wavinggoodbye! Your friends and family willlikely be the only people who care.

4. Give it a try—follow your dreams.Older people who tried to achieve theirdreams were happier with their lives.None of us will ever achieve all of ourdreams. If we do, we will just make upnew ones! If we go for it, we can atleast say at the end, “I tried!” instead

of, “Why didn’t I at least try?”When we interview high-potential

leaders worldwide and ask them: “Ifyou stay in this company, why willyou stay?”, we hear the same answers:“I’m finding meaning and happinessnow.” “The work is exciting, and I lovewhat I am doing.” “I like the peoplehere. They are my friends. This feelslike a team—like a family. I mightmake more money if I left, but I don’twant to leave the people here.” “I canfollow my dreams. This organizationgives me the chance to grow and dowhat I really want to do in life.”

To make a new beginning in life orin your leadership, look ahead to theend and then decide what to do.

GGrroowwiinngg IInnttoo SSuucccceessssWhy do some people reach their

creative potential early while equallytalented peers don’t? We’ve all seen thenear-misses: people who have talent tospare but never quite make it; and

Coaching for Growth

THE BEST COACHING ADVICE YOU’LLever receive in life comes from a

wise old person. Listen carefully:First, take a deep breath. Now,

imagine that you are 95 years old andabout to die. Before you take your lastbreath, you are given a wonderful,beautiful gift: the ability to travel backin time and talk with the person youare today. The 95-year-old you has thechance to help the you of today tohave a great career and a great life.

The 95-year-old you knows whatwas really important and what was-n’t; what really mattered and whatdidn’t; what really counted and whatdidn’t count at all. What advice doesthe wise “old you” have for you? Takeyour time. Jot down the answers ontwo levels: personal advice and pro-fessional advice. And once you writedown these words, take them to heart.

In a world of performance apprais-als, this may well be the one that mat-ters most. At the end of life, if the oldyou thinks that you did the right thing,you probably did. If the old you thinksthat you screwed up, you probablydid. At the end of life, you don’t haveto impress anyone else—just the per-son you see in the mirror.

FFoouurr RReeccuurrrriinngg TThheemmeessWhen a friend once talked with old

people facing death and asked themwhat advice they would have giventhemselves, their answers were filledwith wisdom—and four themes:

1. Take time to reflect on life and findhappiness and meaning now. A frequentcomment runs along these lines: “I gotso wrapped up in looking at what Ididn’t have that I missed what I didhave. I had almost everything. I wish Ihad taken more time to appreciate it.”

2. Look to the present. The greatdisease of “I will be happy when…” issweeping the world. You know thesymptoms. You start thinking: I’ll behappy when I get that . . . BMW . . .

those, like the tortoise in Aesop’s fable,who enjoy eventual success that onceseemed out of reach to most observers.

If you believe you are born with allthe smarts and gifts you’ll ever have,you tend to approach life with a fixedmind-set. However, those who believethat their abilities can expand overtime live with a growth mind-set—andthey’re much more innovative.

As coaches, we encounter peoplewho have a stellar track record, off-the-chart IQ, great technical expertise, anda track history of success—but whothen reach a career plateau. In contrast,we work with individuals who,despite a rather pedestrian early trackrecord, lack of Ivy League pedigree,surpass those who appear to be the“chosen ones.” How does this hap-pen—and what can you do about it?

This is good news for those who donot grow up feeling chosen or special.Feeling much more like the tortoisethan the hare, you may stumble alongwhile others seem to sail through lifeeasily and successfully—or so it seems.

In reality, the pampered and pedi-greed are often the ones who stumble,due to adopting a fixed mindset. We’veall seen folks who were tapped as starsearly in life. Cheered on by doting,praise-lavishing parents, they developthe sense that their talents are God-given qualities that they can count onfor future success.

What’s the problem with this? Theyfeel entitled to succeed and become risk-avoidant, fearing the embarrassment offailure. They deal with obstacles by giv-ing up, feigning disinterest or blamingothers. Or, having enjoyed so manyearly wins, they keep on doing whatmade them successful, despite all thechanges around them—not a greatrecipe for ongoing success.

Mark was a bright, results-orientedVP in his company and yet he offend-ed his peers with his brusque style andimpatience. His manager doubted thathe could, or would, change. And Markhad no patience with fluff. He neededa clear business case for making anybehavior change. Once he understoodthat listening more and increasing hispatience would lead to better buy-infrom others and improve his depart-ment’s product, he embraced thechange enthusiastically. Mark imple-mented his development plan diligent-ly with great results—to theastonishment of his manager.

What propelled Mark’s progress? Heembraced a mindset of growth. Nevera natural star or charismatic presence,he’s a regular guy who approached


PEOPLE GROWTH

by Marshall Goldsmith and Patricia Wheeler

This is the best advice you’ll ever get.

fully supportive of your journey? Arethey willing to give financially, emo-tionally, and unselfishly so you can dowhatever it takes to achieve a challeng-ing professional goal, a dream or even apersonal passion? Maybe you’re nottrying to summit Everest, but what areyou trying to summit? A new project, acareer transition, a personal health orwellness goal? Part of our ability toaccomplish big things is to know wehave the unconditional love and sup-port of our family and friends at home.Your team at home must be yourbiggest fans, allies and supporters.

Team. You cannot climb or summitEverest on your own—it takes a team.Summiting Everest is about knowingand trusting members of your team tobe there whenever and wherever youneed them. Do you know and trustyour team inside and out? Do youknow who you can count on in apinch? Do you know who providesintellectual support when the goinggets tough, and who provides emo-tional support when things get frus-trating? Who is willing and capable ofdoing whatever it takes under stressand extreme pressure? Is your team

worthy of your trust? Areyou worthy of their trust?

Sherpas. Dave says theSherpas are without adoubt tactical experts andathletic wonders. However,after seeing the Sherpas inaction, Dave thinks whatreally makes them great istheir ability to truly under-stand the dynamics of theteam. Sherpas have to be

gutsy! There are times when a Sherpahas to make a tough call and tell aclimber that they are a liability to theteam, and that if they continue theteam could die. Are you a liability toyour team? Do you have the guts to actlike a Sherpa and call out the liabilities?DPWs are serious liabilities. If you area DPW or know of one, be a Sherpa—remind your team of the importance ofteam and teamwork.

Every summit, every program,every project, every new goal must beembraced by everyone! An organiza-tion’s success is as much the will of thepeople as it is the will of the leader. Ifpeople choose not to engage, andbecome a liability, everyone suffers. Isit time to invite people to step up andbe players or stop the climb? LE

Dr. Kevin and Dr. Jackie Freiberg are speakers, thought leadersand authors of the best-seller NUTS!, GUTS! and BOOM! Visitwww.freibergs.com or call 619-624-9691.

ACTION: Inspire your team to the summit.

IF YOU BELIEVE THAT AN ORGANIZATION’Ssuccess is as much the will of the

people as it is the will of the leader,then we as leaders must do whateverit takes to inspire success.

What plagues most businessestoday? The data on employee engage-ment, satisfaction, loyalty and commit-ment is shocking! Most people todayfeel stuck, stalled, bored, or frustrat-ed—and some are even actively disen-gaged when they come to work.

Problem: There are far too manyDead People Working today. DPWs arephysically present but psychologically,emotionally and intellectu-ally checked-out at work.This is a big problem be-cause DPWs won’t provideyour company with theintellectual and emotionalcapital that you need to getahead and stay ahead.

Solution: It is time tothink and act like a Sherpa.We learned some powerfullessons from the Sherpaswho skillfully and courageously guideteams to summit Mount Everest. Whilepreparing for a program for Intel, wemet Dave Arnett, a Director at Intel,who summited Mount Everest on May21, 2007. Fewer than 3,000 people havemade it to the summit of Everest, andDave is one of them. Last year sevenpeople died trying, and Dave knewfour of them. It is a daunting journey,even for the bravest of the brave! Davehumbly noted that his success in sum-miting Everest had everything to dowith the support he gained from hisfamily, his team, and the gifted Sherpas.

Family. It’s hard to imagine sayingyes to an adventure that could leaveyou widowed and all alone to raise twoyoung daughters, yet Dave had uncon-ditional support from this family.Dave’s wife and children were fullysupportive of this crazy journey. Theywere with him in spirit and prayerevery step of the way! Is your family

Lead Like a SherpaPERFORMANCE INSPIRATIONchallenges with curiosity and saw

roadblocks as signs that he needed tochange strategy, increase effort, stretchhimself, or try new behaviors (highemotional intelligence).

In our early meetings, Mark took alearner’s approach to his 360-degreefeedback. Although surprised with thenegatives, he didn’t deflect or blamehis stakeholders. Although a very pri-vate man, he faced his fear of disclos-ing more about himself to others toenhance his leadership. In otherwords, he embraced the possible.

You can adopt an attitude thatenables you to grow and change.

First, listen to yourself—to theinternal music and lyrics that you hearinside your head? Are you telling your-self to give up? That your challengesare the fault of others, less wonderful,less “enlightened” people? Or do youtell yourself that you can figure outwhat abilities you need to grow orstretch toward to succeed? These beliefsystems are the underpinning of thesuccess—and failure—of many.

Second, create a regular time andspace to reflect on who you are—yourbeliefs, your vision, your inner dia-logue. This will be unfamiliar anduncomfortable for those who valuespeed and are used to a track record ofstardom. My advice: do it anyway.

Third, find a partner to serve as“spotter” and dialogue partner as yougrow. This could be a trusted colleagueor an experienced executive coach.They’ll help you leverage yourstrengths and stay out of the way ofyour blind spots.

Recently, Mark described how henow observed patterns in meetings.“Now that I know myself better,” hesaid, “I see how other people use dif-ferent behaviors to manage stress. I’mless impatient with them because Iknow what they’re trying to do, and Idon’t let it get to me.” In fact, Marknow uses his new knowledge in devel-oping and mentoring others. Hisdepartment is delivering results moreeffectively, and other leaders are ask-ing him and his team to participate inhighly visible and strategic projects.

So what started out as a simple self-improvement project by an ordinaryguy has turned into a big win for hiscompany—largely because he has amindset of growth. LE

Marshall Goldsmith is best selling author of What Got You HereWon’t Get You There. Visit www.MarshallGoldsmithLibrary.com.Patricia Wheeler is an executive and team coach and ManagingPartner in the Levin Group. E-mail [email protected] call 404 377-9408.

ACTION: Cultivate a mindset of growth.


by Kevin and Jackie Freiberg

Inspire your team to the summit.

essary to enhance a guest’s stay orrecover service without seeking theapproval of a supervisor.

3. It’s not about you. Since the 1990s,Ritz-Carlton executives looked outsidetheir business to drive internal processinnovation. They sought input fromother world-class businesses throughthe Malcolm Baldrige National QualityAward evaluation process. Ritz-Carltonleadership not only benchmarks otherbusinesses, but they invest heavily insystematic listening to their staff, cus-tomers and investors.Extensive data is securedfrom these sources and per-formance is measuredagainst the engagementlevel of guests and staff.Leaders understands thatthe more they listen to theneeds of those they serve,the more likely their staffwill be to listen to the needsof the guests.

4. Deliver WOW. Ritz-Carlton lead-ers define the desired memorable andemotional connection of a guest as a“Wow” experience. Staff members areencouraged to personally affect guestsin pursuit of this emotional intensity.The idea of a “Wow” experience hingeson delivering service that appeals toboth the thinking and feeling aspects ofthe consumer. Twice a week, “wowstories” are presented during the line-up process. These stories range fromherculean efforts made by staff to servecustomers (such as constructing aramp on their off time so a guest in awheelchair could enjoy a sunset on thebeach) to more subtle or smaller acts ofcare and concern. In all cases, excellentservice is a reward unto itself. Whethera staff member works alone or with ateam, service gives back to the giver—and those acts of giving are held up asexamples of how well-defined valuescome alive through the efforts of staffeach day. Leaders celebrate and cementculture by the stories they tell.

5. Leave a lasting footprint. From theonset, leaders at Ritz-Carlton sought tobuild a company with an enduringlegacy. Social responsibility was not atrendy add-on but a component of itsearly mission statements. In addition toformal giving programs such as

New Gold Standard

WHEN IT COMES TOrefined service

and award-winninghospitality, The Ritz Carlton Hotel Co.sets the standard of excellence. Withunyielding attention to detail, staffmembers consistently create memo-rable experiences for their guests.

As I studied this company, I identi-fied five factors in its sustained success:

1. Define and refine. Simon Cooper,president, noted, “You can’t put theveneer of quality on a business thatlacks a sound foundation. The GoldStandards, and the disciplined busi-ness practices that emerge from them,create the platform for our achieve-ments.” The Gold Standards can befound on a pocket-sized card carriedas part of the uniform of Ritz-Carltonemployees. The Standards reflect theservice values, credo, motto and threesteps of service each employee is touse as guidelines for the care theyprovide one another and guests.

These values are reinforced daily in“line-ups” where all employees hearstories of service excellence in the con-text of the mission and culture. Leadersdefine their culture through their Credocard, Line-up and Gold Standards, andthey refine their products and servicedelivery methods in accord with chang-ing customer needs. New hotel designsreflect the uniqueness of the locale andpersonal service delivery.

2. Empower through trust. Ritz-Carltonleaders have created a culture of trustthat begins with a methodical selectionprocess that assesses and measures thetalents of prospects against the talentlevels of high performers. Once select-ed, leaders extensively train new hiresin the operational aspects of their jobsand in the desired outcomes they wanttheir employees to produce for cus-tomers. Once staff members under-stand those outcomes (memorableguest experiences and customerengagement), leaders step back andallow the frontline to create those out-comes for the customer. This is evi-denced in the $2,000 per day, per guestauthority given to every staff member,enabling them to do whatever is nec-

Community Footprints, The Ritz-Carlton has developed the LeadershipCenter to provide training programs inquality focus and service excellence toindividuals from businesses large andsmall. Also, Ritz-Carlton leadershippartners with hotel guests, vendors, andkey account reps to celebrate those rela-tionships and enable those individualsto participate with leadership in com-munity outreach programs.

Consistent application of these lead-ership principles has led to legendarycustomer service and memorable andtransformational experiences for allwho come in contact with The Ritz-Carlton, thus setting The New GoldStandard of excellence.

SShhrriinnkk NNoott——AAddjjuusstt tthhee SSaaiillWhile cost-cutting may be inevitable

in tighter economic cycles,the leaders at Ritz-Carltonavoid a scarcity mentalityin challenging times:

1. When consumers faceeconomic challenges, theyoften place a greateremphasis on value. Whilemany customers will“pinch pennies” and “clipcoupons” to address finan-cial hardships, they will

still look for opportunities to “treat”themselves. When consumers dospend money freely they will want toexperience true quality and not awatered-down or corporately scaled-back version of quality.

2. Focused excellence prevails. If cut-backs are necessary, companies canand should reallocate resources towardtheir core areas of excellence. To be“excellent” means resisting the urge tooverreach into areas where your prod-ucts or service will be mediocre. Doinga few things expertly beats doingmany things adequately.

3. Inspire staff to focus on purpose andoutcomes, not fulfillment and procedures.All business is personal. While mosthotel companies that compete for thismarket segment have exquisitely cleanand well-appointed facilities, the prima-ry driver for guest loyalty emerges fromthe personal attention and caring ofstaff. From the onset of their employeeselection process, leadership at Ritz-Carlton looks for underlying talent inservice characteristics. They then trainand certify the skills necessary for thenew hires to do their jobs while con-stantly linking job function to the over-arching purpose of the business—namely to provide for “the genuine careand comfort” of their guest.

by Joseph Michelli


PERFORMANCE STANDARD

F i v e f a c t o r s l e a d t o s u s t a i n e d s u c c e s s .

ment. Telling associates may connectyou with resources you might nothave imagined on your own. Tellingyour family and friends will set theirexpectations and garner their support.

3. Written records. Now that youknow where you’re going, do you havea written plan to get there? The planwill help you break down the achieve-ment of your vision into monthlygoals. For example, how manyprospects must you touch to developenough hot leads to result in the num-ber of closed deals you need to meetyour goals? Does a new compensationplan need to be written for your sales-people to drive the right behavior, per-haps rewarding them for newbusiness? Writing down your vision ishelpful, as you can refer back to it reg-ularly to ensure you and your peopleare still working toward that target.

4. Action records. If you were to actas if your vision was definitely going tobecome reality, how would your daybe different? Prioritize the actions thatare focused on the creation of yourvision. Would you write a businessplan to raise capital, set an appoint-ment with a banker to present that

plan, speak at more func-tions, buy a targeted list ofprospects, or seek theadvice of a mentor.Determine which actionsyou can you take today insupport of amplifying yourvision into reality.

Remember to believe inyour vision and in yourability to create what youenvision. There are two

places when you may have troubleapplying decoherence: at the begin-ning—when the fear of commitmentprevents you from getting started—and in the middle—when it sometimesseems as if nothing is happening. Onceyou begin your decoherence plan,you’re halfway there. By persisting,even when it seems useless, you’ll seeyour vision decohere—become real.

TTaakkee AAccttiioonn oonn YYoouurr PPllaannTo create stability in your desired

business possibilities, continue to gen-erate new information about yourvision every day. Get it out there!Think about it, write about it, talkabout it, and take action on it to createmomentum and ride the wave. LE

Kim Marcille is a speaker, consultant, founder of PossibilitiesAmplified, and author of Amp It Up! Secrets from Science forCreating the Life of Your Dreams. Visit PossibilitiesAmplified.comor e-mail [email protected].

ACTION: Amplify possibilities into reality.

ESCALATING PRICES OFoil and gas will have

a ripple effect. Peoplewill spend even less, as the price ofheating their homes, getting to work,and buying groceries bite further intotheir stressed budgets. Businesses willspend less trying to meet their numbers.Are you ready for the ripple effect?

If not, take heart: By starting now,you can prepare—and protect yourbusiness from future threat—by apply-ing the concept of quantum physicscalled decoherence where all possibili-ties are available at the same time. It’sthe universe’s method for amplifyingspecific quantum possibilities whilesuppressing others, for turning quan-tum possibility into reality.

The key is in choosing the specific,positive possibilities thatyou want to amplify intoreality—such as filling thesales pipeline with qualityleads—while suppressingnegative possibilities, suchas running out of cash.

How can you amplify thepositive possibilities andsuppress the negative? Aquantum possibility mustpossess specific characteris-tics in order to be amplified into reali-ty. Your business possibilities musthave the same characteristics.

When applying decoherence, con-sider two main things: 1) the possibili-ties that get amplified are robust,meaning a lot of information existsabout them; and 2) the possibilitiesthat get amplified are stable, meaningthey remain consistent over time.

The desired possibilities for yourbusiness must be robust and have lotsof stable information about them. Youcan create four types of records:

1. Thought records. Do you have avision for what you would like yourbusiness to look like by the end of theyear? In five years? How clear is thatvision? Define the specific possibilitiesyou want to turn into reality.

2. Verbal records. Whom have youtold about your vision? Do your peo-ple clearly understand the vision?Sharing the vision will create align-

Create MomentumAmplify possibility into reality.

by Kim Marcille

LEADERSHIP MOMENTUM4. Empowering the front-line savesmoney. While many leaders talk abouttheir empowered workforce, few putmoney behind the hype. Since staffmembers (Ladies and Gentlemen) at Ritz-Carlton, are given the authority tospend up to $2,000 per day per guest,without seeking the approval of theirsupervisors, front-line workers canimmediately resolve service break-downs for guests or simply engageguests by doing something unexpectedthat will make the hotel stay memo-rable. The cost-saving nature of thisfinancial empowerment is derivedfrom the morale and loyalty of employ-ees, the clear cost savings of resolvingproblems immediately, and the impactthat an empowered workforce has oncustomers. Empowered employeestransform satisfied customers intofully-engaged brand loyalists whospend more and refer family andfriends to the business.

Rather than contracting or adoptinga defensive posture during economicuncertainty, The Ritz-Carlton leadershipstays the course. By clearly “defining”the core components of the company’svalues, quality standards, and servicetradition, Ritz-Carlton communicatesthe path by which a guest’s experiencecan be elevated, how the staff membercan purposefully add value and themeans by which the company willthrive. By having every staff membertake time every day at every hotelworldwide to participate in a processcalled line-up, Ritz-Carlton leadershipre-engages staff in a discussion of theoverarching mission they all share.Further, by being attentive to the needto “refine” the brand so that it remainsrelevant in changing economic times,for evolving customer segments and indiverse international markets, leader-ship builds on their well-defined culture.

The “It’s not about you” principlereflects the disciplined practice of lis-tening to staff, customers, vendors andall stakeholders to constantly assurethat business does not principally servethe needs and preferences of leader-ship. By adopting a penchant for listen-ing to stated and unstated needs whilemaintaining a passion for service, greatleaders produce businesses thatendure. From the customer’s perspec-tive, these businesses are extensions ofthemselves and not commodities.

Learn from Ritz-Carlton and adjustto arrive at your desired destination. LE

Joseph A. Michelli, Ph.D., is a speaker, consultant and authorof THE NEW GOLD STANDARD (McGraw-Hill) and TheStarbucks Experience. Email [email protected].

ACTION: Set your own gold standard.


ing what she learned? And what ifthey together defined an action learn-ing project, with a timeline, milestones,and a reporting mechanism?

If these steps had been taken beforestarting the education program, shelikely would be using what shelearned. Action learning projects ensurethat what is learned gets put to use.

AA SSuucccceessssffuull PPrrooggrraamm DDeessiiggnnI once designed a two-year LD pro-

gram for 35 mid-level managers desig-nated as having high potential forfuture leadership positions. The pro-gram had three core components:

1. A series of two-day educationalsessions were presented quarterly bybusiness school faculty or consultantson a variety of topics.

2. At the conclusion of each session,participants were given an action-learning assignment, sometimes asteams and sometimes as individuals.

3. At the beginning of the next quar-terly session, participants presentedtheir results and lessons learned to apanel of senior company executives.

The action-learning assignmentserved three purposes: 1) Participantsimmediately got to apply some of whatthey learned in the education session,transforming the information theyreceived into their personal knowl-edge.2) Senior executives, in reviewingthe presentations, got to view a num-ber of people who would not normallyhave been in their direct line of sight.And 3) The executives were able to seewho took leadership positions on theteams and how effectively participantsworked as part of the ad hoc teams.

What made a good action-learningproject? Since participants all had full-time jobs, the projects could not require

Action Learning

ONCE I MET A SENIORpartner at a large

consulting firm. Heproudly told me about how they plannedto send 2,000 of their brightest associates,in groups of 200, to two days of lecturesby a leadership guru at a leading businessschool. I asked how they would follow upon the training to ensure that peopleapplied what they learned to their jobs. Hesaid, “Oh, they’re all very bright people.They’ll figure is out.” Right! And morethan $1 million down the drain!

In building leadership pipelines,many leaders spend much moneyproviding leadership education toselected high-potentials. Some employ-ees may be sent to multi-week execu-tive development programs at leadingbusiness schools. Others may be sentfor a few days or a week to a seminarfrom a training firm. Still other com-panies develop their own LD pro-grams, using internal trainers andcompany leaders to provide instruc-tion or bringing in professors or con-sultants from the outside.

Most of these LD efforts don’t giveparticipants the chance to try out theirnew skills within a safe environmentat work. As one executive told meafter returning from a multi-week pro-gram at a business school, “I learnedand changed a lot, but I got back tomy office and nothing there hadchanged. Plus, I was backed up in mywork because of my absence. I haven’tmet with my manager to discuss whatI learned or how I might apply it.”

Without a chance to use what waslearned, the investment in an individ-ual’s education may be wasted if itmakes no difference in the achievementof personal and organizational goals.

What if this employee’s managermet with her before the program anddiscussed the outline—what topics themanager felt were most important,and what she would be expected toapply to her work once she returnedfrom the program? What if, on return-ing from the program, she met withher manager to debrief the experienceand develop an action plan for apply-

more than 15 percent of their time; theyhad to be done within the three monthsbefore the next program; and they hadto relate to an organizational goal.

Potential projects came from thecompany’s executive committee mem-bers. We suggested that they look attheir meeting minutes from the pastseveral years and to identify issues thatkept arising, but were never deemedcritical enough to dedicate human andmonetary resources to solve – thesewere ideal projects for the LD program.

JJuuddggiinngg PPrroojjeecctt PPeerrffoorrmmaanncceeWhen we first proposed the action-

learning projects as part of the pro-gram design, several questions andconcerns were raised:• What if a team member didn’t pull his

or her weight on the project? We expect-ed this to occasionally happen, andwouldn’t we be better off discoveringthis about a participant before he or shewas promoted or given greater respon-sibility?• What if a participant or team can’t com-

plete the project in the time allotted? Thiswas a test of the participants’ planningand project management skills.• What if a participant or team tried a new

approach to a problem and failed? Whenthis happened, we asked participants tofocus their presentation on why the pro-ject failed, what they would do differ-ently if they were to try it again, andwhat they learned from the experience.Sometimes, more learning comes from afailed project than a successful one.

When projects were presented to theexecutives, judgments were made notjust on the success of the project, butalso on the participants’ roles in eachproject: Who led and who followed?Who put in extra effort and whoslacked off? How well did the teamwork together? What were the atti-tudes of the participants toward theirprojects and their accomplishments?

In one round of the program, twoteams presented their projects, bothwith excellent results. At the end of thefirst team’s presentation, the teamleader challenged the senior executives:“Now that we have done all this excel-lent work, what are YOU going to do toensure that this project doesn’t die, thatthe great work we have done gets dis-seminated across the company?” Whenthe second team completed its presen-tation, they told the executives: “Whatwe have demonstrated in this projectcan benefit the company more than wewere able to accomplish in threemonths. We have already developed akit of materials so that others can repli-

by Daniel R. Tobin


COMPETENCY LEARNING

U s e i t t o d e v e l o p l e a d e r s .

vation, change, and growth; address gapsbetween leaders and employees; anddecide how to put differences to workto innovate and boost performance.

See if these sound familiar to youand what other truths you might add:

• Our culture isn’t open to newideas; process is more important. Thereis little interest in change and innova-tion. Everyone sees the need; no onewants to take the risk.

• Gender, race, and age still play arole in acceptance of new ideas. If youthink differently or ask too many ques-tions, you lose the respect of leaders.

• Senior leaders take ideas and pre-sent them as their own. The focus is onexecuting strategy; they forget that peo-ple are leading the execution and showlittle interest in what people have to say.

These issues prohibit putting ourdifferences to work. They erode trust,productivity, and achievement. Areyou leaving similar impressions?

You don’t want to have members ofyour team thinking this way, but it isn’twhat you think you are doing that mat-ters—it isn’t what you’ve said, thinkyou’ve said, or wish you’d said: it’s whatothers perceive and receive from you that

may restrict them fromdelivering the results, inno-vation, and performance.

TThhrreeee IIddeeaass ttoo GGeett SSttaarrtteeddToday we can all influ-

ence positive outcomes—this is leadership. Thelandscape for how we dothis continues to expandacross differences, dis-tance, culture, technology.

Here are three powerful ways forleaders to put differences to work:• Consciously choose your words. Cut

the buzzwords and jargon. They areempty and meaningless. Be aware ofyour spoken and written words. Aimto connect the people you serve.• Take time to get to know people.

Develop a curiosity about people andtheir unique experience, perspective,and differences. This knowledge willhelp tap into the talent they possess, sothey can accomplish great things.• Create a perpetual practice of rich

communication. Make checking in withone another a routine way of boostingperformance. Ask a few questions:What’s going well? What isn’t? Whatare we going to do about it? Listen.

Let’s put our differences to work. LE

Debbe Kennedy is CEO of the Global Dialogue Center andLeadership Solutions and author of Putting Our Differences toWork. Visit www.puttingourdifferencestowork.com.

ACTION: Put your differences to work.

IN EVERY DIRECTION WElook, a siren is sound-

ing, calling for newideas, innovative thinking, and acourageous leadership that brings outthe best in all of us to deliver higherperformance, achievement, and contri-bution. The urgency asks for morethan traditional top-down or bottom-up approaches. The needs are greater,the stakes higher, and nature of ourorganizations has upped the ante. Usand them won’t do it. The responsemust be a collective one. We can’t optout as a cynic, victim, or bystander. Allleaders must show up and step out tosolve pressing problems.

Putting our differencesto work is the most power-ful accelerator for generat-ing new ideas, creatinginnovative solutions, exe-cuting strategies, andengaging everyone. It isthe renewable source ofenergy—fuel for the engineof growth and prosperity.

The breakthrough is theelement of diversity, as realvalue lies at the intersection of our dif-ferences. This encompasses our think-ing styles, problem-solving methods,experiences, competencies, workhabits, management styles, ethnic ori-gins, cultural backgrounds, and gener-ational insight. Our differences giveeach of us a unique perspective.

As Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson said:“Innovation is advanced by chance,challenge, choices, and informed coin-cidence. It is nourished and poweredby the full breadth of diversity and bythe quest for excellence.”

The magic begins when we come to-gether. The secret is learning how, when,and where to tap into all the wealth ofinsight, wisdom, and new thinking tosolve problems, create new productsand services, and build stronger com-munities that benefit everyone.

I once visited with 550 leaders at anonline Leadership Forum to pinpointproblems standing in the way of inno-

Leading HighPerformanceDiversity accelerates innovation.

by Debbe Kennedy

PERFORMANCE DIVERSITYcate what we have done in their localareas. We have sent the kit to key man-agers worldwide and told them thatthe members of our team are availableto answer questions and to coach themthrough the process.”

If you were on the executive panel,to which of these two teams would youlook to fill a vacant leadership position?

RReettuurrnn oonn IInnvveessttmmeennttWhen we proposed the LD program,

one executive team member asked ifwe had done a ROI analysis to justifythe investment. We said that we hadnot and would not. We reminded himof a painful episode in the company’shistory: two years earlier, a product linewasn’t doing well. The senior executivewho led this product line left the com-pany. The CEO promoted a mid-levelmanager, who had built a good trackrecord in the two years he’d been withthe company, to fill the vacancy.

The appointment was a disaster. Theperson came in “knowing all theanswers” without asking any questions,and wouldn’t listen to the ideas of any-one else in the product line. He issuedorders and wouldn’t abide questions orobjections. Within a year, several keypersonnel had resigned and marketshare eroded even more. Eventually,this high potential individual was fired,but the damage was done.

When asked how we could justifythe investment in the LD program, Iasked the executives to consider whatthis errant promotion had cost the com-pany. What would it be worth, I asked,to be able to test these high-potentialemployees before promoting them andto develop their skills before they wereput into a leadership position? The loss-es to the company from that one errantpromotion were many times what theLD program would cost.

Whether building your LD pro-gram, sending individuals to an exter-nal program, or bringing in leadershipeducation session from a third-partyprovider, your chances of successimprove greatly when you tie action-learning projects to the educationeffort to ensure that what gets learnedin the classroom gets applied to theparticipants’ work. Action learningprojects also provide opportunities tojudge the strengths and weaknesses ofhigh-potentials before promoting theminto important leadership positions. LE

Dan Tobin is VP of design and development for the AmericanManagement Association, author of five books on corporatelearning strategies, and coauthor with Margaret Pettingell ofThe AMA Guide To Management Development (AMACOM).

ACTION: Tie action learning to your LD program.


don’t subvert the common purpose.You know you have a leader with

people acumen when you see evidencethat the person selects the right peopleand motivates them, gets them work-ing well as a team, and diagnoses andfixes problems in coordination and rela-tionship with groups of people.

Real leaders enthusiastically selectpeople who are better than they are tolift the organization. They motivatepeople and develop them as condi-tions change, retaining those whoadvance the business anddeselect with dignity thosewho don’t. Such leadersshow a repeated pattern ofaccurately identifying otherleaders’ talents, helpingthem flourish, or easingthem into other jobs wheretheir talents fit better. Youcan often identify a trueleader because the peopleworking under that person are of highcaliber, are energized, and have a nat-ural affinity for the leader.

Leaders with people acumen get themost out of their people by settingclear goals, then giving feedback andcoaching judiciously to help themachieve them. Most use key performanceindicators that measure progress inquantitative terms and influencebehaviors. They watch for problemsthat might hinder achieving the KPIsand give people unvarnished feedbackwhen someone is not up to the task.

Leaders with people acumen antici-pate problems. They size up the groupdynamics, pinpoint simmering conflicts,draw them to the surface, and intervenewhen they detect behavior that disruptsperformance. They also cultivate socialnetworks that include not only subordi-nates, peers, and superiors but oftenextend to customers, suppliers, regula-tors, politicians, and interest groups.

Business acumen. Every successfulleader understands how the businessmakes money by managing the profitand loss (P&L) and balance sheet.Managing the P&L requires leaders toconsider conflicting factors and incom-plete or distorted information andmake trade-offs with the goal of mak-ing money and generating cash on asustained basis. Leaders intuitively

Leadership Potential

EVEN THE BESTcoaches can’t build

championship teams ifthey pick the wrong players. So, learnto spot high-potential leaders early,treat them as such, and be clear aboutthe earmarks of leadership potential.

Do you know a leader when you seeone? If you have the wrong notion ofwhat a leader really is and does andfocus on the wrong people, all yourdevelopment efforts can’t deepen theleadership pool. Brilliant strategists,creative geniuses, financial engineers,hard workers, and other bright peoplecommand our attention and respect.Unaware of their shortcomings anddriven to succeed, such experts maypush for leadership jobs, persuad-ing—even intimidating—their bossesto promote them. But many lackessential leadership traits. And with-out a natural ability to lead, they’reunlikely to succeed as high-level lead-ers outside their domains of expertise.

What do natural leaders look like at25 or 45? Attempts to answer thatquestion take the form of lists of quali-ties; however, these can be misleading.

PPeeooppllee aanndd BBuussiinneessss AAccuummeennOne way to think about the talent

or inner engine of a leader is to thinkof two strands of a helix: people acu-men (the ability to harness people’senergy) and business acumen (know-ing how a business makes money).These strands are largely in place inindividuals by their twenties. Afterthat, we can test for people and busi-ness acumen and expand these capa-bilities, but we can’t implant them inmature people who lack them entirely.

People acumen. Leadership is pred-icated on the ability to mobilize othersto accomplish a vision, goal, or task.Leaders can’t do everything; they getother people to do things by manag-ing. They increase their capacity—theability to get more done—through del-egation combined with follow-through.They set expectations, get the best peo-ple to do what needs to be done, andoversee relationships to ensure thatdestructive or self-interested behaviors

understand the connections betweencustomers, profits, money they borrow,and money they take in. They have aknack for making the right trade-offsand decisions to keep the cash flowing.

You can see such acumen in someleaders at low levels and in early stagesof their careers. They sense of how theircompany makes money, what it offerscustomers, and how it compares withcompetitors. They see the relationshipsbetween the variables, determine whichare most important, and make decisionsthat deliver clear, measurable results.

As the scope of a job increases, sodo the variables, uncertainty, and com-plexity. The leader needs greater men-tal breadth and depth to cut through tothe fundamentals and make decisions.

The search for business acumen willhelp keep other traits and skills in per-

spective. Business acumendefines the substance of themessage being communi-cated. Some young leaderscan excite people to deliveron stretch goals, but canthey define direction? Arethey decisive? Can they sortthrough alternatives to findthe right pathway forward?Can they use their acumen

to choose the right goals and KPIs? Withpractice, any leader can improve, butsome leaders are naturally better at it.

HHooww ttoo SSppoott aa LLeeaaddeerrLook for actions, decisions, and be-

haviors that reveal leadership potential:Is her ambition clearly for a leader-

ship role? Does she take pride in bring-ing together and motivating others toachieve goals? Is she curious about sub-jects outside her area of expertise? Doesshe grasp the business and basics ofmoneymaking? Can she articulate clear-ly the requirements for doing her boss’sjob well? Is she continually learning?Does she deliver extraordinary results?Does she like to work with diverse,high-caliber people? How driven andpassionate is she about leading? Is shedealing with complex and uncertain sit-uations and using occasional failure asa chance to learn? Does she continue tobuild new skills and hone her person-ality traits to achieve her dream?

Finding leaders can’t be left tochance or to mechanical processes thatcreate false confidence that the compa-ny is developing leaders and successioncandidates. To build great leaders at alllevels, you must first find them. LERam Charan is coauthor of Execution and The Game Changer(Crown Business). Visit www.ram-charan.com.

ACTION: Recognize your leadership talent.

by Ram Charan


LEADERSHIP RECOGNITION

H o w c a n y o u b e s t r e c o g n i z e i t ?

interest at heart and will tell you thetruth. This kind of relationship is onlydeveloped over time and in person.This view is absolutely contrary to thetrend in today’s Internet world,toward increased self-service, or a do-it-yourself mentality.

3. Execution system to engage every-one, everyday, in real-time alignment.A well-defined approach with the rightpeople in the room produces highengagement among the leaders. Butthose who are not involved in thestrategic planning process aren’t nearlyso engaged. As we experimented withways for increasing total engagement,we realized that everyone needs to beinvolved in the planning (to an appro-priate degree) and connect his or heractivities with the strategic plans of thecompany. We realized that we could

use technology to help work-ers make real-time decisionsabout what work they shoulddo, in what order, and how toprioritize interruptions andunexpected requests for theirtime and attention. An execu-tion system provides aprocess for marrying compa-ny plans with individual

management of daily activities.4. Community learning to share and

reinforce best practices and acceleratelearning. This element helps addressthe breadth of expertise and the eco-nomic barriers required for implemen-tation. Community learning derives itssynergy from the other three elements.The rate of learning accelerates when agroup of people share a repeatablemethodology, use the same terms andtechniques, and when accountabilitycoaches pool their experiences inapplying the methodology to differentbusiness scenarios.

The goal of these four elements is toengage every worker, every day, inproactively making more aligned deci-sions, rather than relatively fixing mis-alignments later. This, too, is a learningobjective for the entire company. Eachfunction becomes a type of learningcommunity inside a larger community.

Repeatable methodology is a blueprintfor adopting best-practices. Accountabilitycoaching, execution system, and commu-nity learning are how the organizationimplements and sustains practice of themethodology. These four componentsform the complete program for grow-ing your capacity to execute strategy. LE

Gary Harpst is the author of Six Disciplines ExecutionRevolution. Visit www.GaryHarpst.com.

ACTION: Execute your business strategy.

Strategy Execution

HOW DO YOU KEEP UPthe momentum for

high-performance in theface of the rapidly revolving door?About one in four employees departsfor other pastures every year—andthat doesn’t include those who arefired. Add to that the number of inter-nal transfers and the repercussions ofmergers and acquisitions, and churnbecomes a major challenge.

One way to keep the revolving doorfrom spinning out of control is have anexciting long-term strategy and busi-ness prospects, with effective opera-tions, and progressive HR policies. Evenso, you can’t stop turnover, since high-performers are targets of headhunters.

Turnover puts high priority on find-ing the best way to bring in new play-ers and integrate them into the culture.Onboarding within a high-performingculture is challenging. Newcomers tendto feel as if they’re entering a bravenew world in which all the axioms thatworked for them in hierarchical organi-zations are suddenly up for grabs.

Alignment is not only about recon-stituting the performance context—strategy, goals, roles, accountabilities,and ground rules for decision mak-ing—but about reshaping businessrelationships. The alignment processcreates a powerful, shared experiencein which leaders and players learn toshow up “for real”: to be candid,depersonalize, confront one another,and hold one another accountable.

TTaakkee TThheessee FFoouurr TTiippssHere are four tips from leaders who

have met the onboarding challenge:1. Start at the beginning with the

interview process. Let candidates knowwhat to expect. In his initial contactwith candidates for executive positionsat Chico’s, CEO Scott Edmonds explainsthe horizontal model and the compa-ny’s commitment to it. He tells themthat working at Chico’s will differ fromtheir past experience: that they will beheld accountable by both their leadersand peers, that they’ll be expected todeliver on commitments or explainwhy they can’t, that a big part of their

Go with a complete program.

HOW CAN YOU CON-sistently execute

your strategy? You needa complete program. Piecemeal attemptsdon’t last. Sustainability, the capacity tomaintain the necessary balance betweenstrategy and execution, and doing sowhile overcoming hurdles, requires aprogram consisting of four elements:

1. Repeatable methodology to drivelearning and understanding. To bal-ance strategy and execution,you need to have a well-defined, repeatable methodologythat includes strategy, plan-ning, organizing, execution,innovation, and learning. Thepurpose is to accelerate thecontinuous learning of provenbest practices. Without a step-by-step approach, learningbecomes an endless process of mis-steps, trial and error, and firefighting.

2. Accountability coaching to nur-ture and nudge and stay the course.Accountability is required becausesomeone needs to be off the field to beobjective about what’s going on. Theneed for coaching never stops. Coacheshelp people improve the details anddirection of their performance.

An accountability coach is trainedand certified in the repeatable method-ology and guides its use. The coachprovides insight on where to start,how fast to go, and what to do next;the coach also provides encourage-ment and advice, and brings a broad-er perspective, drawing on years ofexperience working with other teams.

The law of entropy holds that anyclosed system will eventually declineor become disorganized unless moreenergy is put into the system. Disor-ganized companies drift into entropy,lacking strong self-discipline and asystematic approach. They need thebenefit of some outside energy: anexperienced, veteran coach who pro-vides accountability and perspective.

Accountability coaching is mosteffective when it’s done face-to-face.We believe this is because successfulcoaching relationships are based on ahigh level of trust. This must be some-one who you believe has your best

by Gary Harpst

Onboarding TipsLearn these from great leaders.

by Howard M. Guttman

PERFORMANCE EXECUTION PEOPLE ONBOARDING


compensation is based on teamwork.He then probes for “fit and feel.”

The mindset of great players includes:thinking like a director, putting the teamfirst, embracing accountability, andbeing comfortable with discomfort. Usethese attributes to screen candidates. Towhat extent do they measure up? Doestheir background reveal clues to howsuccessful they’ll be? Question carefully.For example, ask, “What is the biggestmistake you have made professional-ly?” If the answer comes back, “I’m anoverachiever,” or “My standards are toohigh,” be wary. A candidate who substi-tutes disguised strengths for weakness-es may not accept accountability—muchless hold peers and leaders accountable.

2. Stay close to new hires by puttingin place a weekly feedback session toanswer questions and address needsand concerns. Include new hires intheir team’s reassessment and skilldevelopment sessions. At Chico’s, allemployees who have joined the com-pany in the preceding half year attendan off-site meeting devoted to continu-ing the horizontal integration process.

3. Role-model. Years ago, a team ofsociologists studied the behavior ofstraight-out-of-the-academy policeofficers. They were brimming withpride and enthusiasm; however, thisquickly turned to cynicism once theyjoined the police force. The behaviorrole-modeled by supervisors and peerswas decisive in their change of heart.

David Greenberg, senior VP of HRfor L’Oréal, notes: “When you join ourteam and see all members role-model-ing certain behaviors, you quickly seehow to do it. You see that everyonehas a voice, that disagreement is okay,that conflict is dealt with by deperson-alizing. If someone is marching in adifferent direction, you see them beingheld accountable. This sets up andmakes clear what the expectation is.”

4. Provide mentors. Mars Inc. findsmentoring to be effective in bringing newhires into the performance culture. Eachmember is “adopted” by another player,who takes responsibility for daily rein-forcement of high-performing behav-iors.In another organization, seniorleaders are paired with up-and-comers.

Bringing on new talent regeneratesan organization by importing new tal-ent, skills, perspectives, and energy. Har-nessing these “gifts” early is a challenge.Manage this resource-for-renewal effec-tively to achieve standout performance. LE

Howard M. Guttman is principal of Guttman DevelopmentStrategies and author of Great Business Teams (Wiley). [email protected] or visit www.guttmandev.com.

ACTION: Improve your onboarding of new talent.

by Mary Jo Huard

effort and mentor and offer opportuni-ties for the person to lead.

Principle 4: Leadership needs are metto the extent the group capitalizes onits own diverse talents and interests.The more diverse a group, the morelikely it is to succeed. When diversityis valued, the group openly acceptscontributions from all members, andleading and following are seen asequally important roles.

Principle 5: Putting people firstmeans letting people lead. It meansinviting, recognizing, celebrating, andrewarding leadership and followershipall the time—not looking at leadershipas a static set of traits or style. The“command and control” mentality ofthe pyramid structure is collapsing.Until we clearly understand thedynamic, relational and multi-dimen-sional aspects of leadership, our “deci-sion-makers” will remain barriers todeveloping the effective leaders andcommitted followers. As WarrenBennis said: “Management is gettingpeople to do what needs to be done.Leadership is getting people to want todo what needs to be done. Managerspush—leaders pull. Managers com-

mand—leaders communi-cate.”

WWaanntteedd:: CCrreeaattiivvee LLeeaaddeerrssTo maintain world lead-

ership, you must reconcep-tualize your business.Better quality and serviceare essential, but they arenot enough. Creativity andinnovation are the onlyengines that will drive last-

ing success. Using a set of proven toolscan advance creativity and innovation.Edward de Bono coined the phraseLateral Thinking, defined as “A way ofthinking that seeks the solution tointractable problems through unortho-dox methods or elements which wouldnormally be ignored in logical thinking.”

TQM and downsizing—doing morewith less—are necessary but insufficient.You need creativity to find better waysof doing things. When you have wrungout all the fat, excess, and expense,you won’t get any more benefit outyour efforts without creativity.

Investing in creativity is inexpensivecompared to anything else—and theresults will be dramatic. As Edward deBono said, Ideas are the currency of success—they separate you from your competition. LE

Mary Jo Huard, founder of Southwest Training Institute, spe-cializes in team and leadership development. Call 888-978-6632,email [email protected] or visit www.swtinstitute.com.

ACTION: Invest in creativity.

PROACTIVE, CREATIVEleaders often recog-

nize opportunity, stepinto it, use public media, keep the mes-sage simple, and repeat it often to set achange agenda. Leaders don’t merelystudy people—they change their lives,mixing them up in new ways, pushingthem into new arrangements, persuadingthem that they can transcend their limits.

We recognize their leadership, buthow do we account for it while recog-nizing their differences? Some are cal-culating; others are free spirits. Someseek power; others seeks service andexperience. Some want to reorder soci-ety according to their plan; others seekto discover societies and learn fromthem. Consider these five principles.

Principle 1: We recognize leaders bytheir followers. We identifypeople as leaders becauseof how others behave. Wehave seen others fallinginto step behind these lead-ers—to adopt their goals,follow their plan, cite theirideas as the right ones, andmake choices for them-selves based on what theleader has said or done.

Principle 2: Followersgive permission to lead, not superiors.Some leaders aren’t appointed to theirpositions of leadership—they are cho-sen. Their ideas on various subjects—culture, learning, change, growth—areaccepted by those who follow them.

Principle 3: Since leaders are chosenby followers, they may be found any-where. We may find them in any profes-sion or occupation. Leaders are foundnot just in managerial suites but any-where one person has a chance to influ-ence others. Leadership doesn’t evenrequire face-to-face contact: leaders caninfluence through arts and media—tele-vision, books, music, dance. We musthelp people understand whether andhow they may want to lead, what kindof leadership is needed in a situation,and how selected leaders currently per-form. We can support a chosen or aspir-ing leader in achieving outcomes thatbenefit all of us. We can encourage theperson, provide feedback, share the

Creative LeadersTheir followers say, “Let’s go.”

LEADERSHIP CREATIVITY


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