ExecBlueprints-Reinventing Leadership Development 1

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The Learning and HR VPs from Comcast, Accuray, and BeavEx on:

Reinventing Leadership Development: Proactive

and Progressive Strategies

Dan GallagherVice President, Learning and Development Operations, Comcast

Theresa L. DadoneSenior Vice President, Human Resources, Accuray Incorporated

Sandra F. FosterSenior Vice President Human Resources, BeavEx Incorporated

In this tough business climate, this ExecBlueprint’s authors see manifold opportunity — for those leaders who can not only change with the times, but who are capable of leading the charge. Such

leaders, according to Dan Gallagher of Comcast, anticipate tomorrow’s marketplace needs, and can reinvent themselves, their people, and their businesses in a true spirit of collaboration so that they, together, stay ahead of the curve. In other words, tomorrow’s CEOs will be team players, not the “lone wolves” of today, and their selfless style will drive loyalty as well as performance. Today, HR has a responsibility to help develop such leaders by introducing innovative programs that are inte-grated with core business objectives, yet are still capable of shaking things up. One place to start is by scrapping your old lists of competen-cies and asking: What does it really take to be a leader at our company? Gather feedback from the ground up: conduct surveys, ask leaders, try on new models. Finally, ask: Will this program enable tomorrow’s lead-ers to see the forest for the trees and initiate a plan to protect and grow that forest? ■

Action Points

I. What Are Key Considerations for Developing Leaders?In today’s global environment, everyone’s contributions have a shelf life. Now, more than ever, company leaders need to learn how to engage the entire company in a process of continuous improvement — and innovation. Development programs should, therefore, not only support individuals; they should also express the company’s values and culture.

II. The Bottom LineTo determine if your development programs are producing the leadership your company needs, you must conduct a customized, multi-layered self-assessment. This evaluation should not only benchmark your organization’s performance against its peers, but also levels of employee engagement, executive satisfaction, and ease of implementation.

III. Must-Have Talent Management and Development ProgramsEven though you may be concerned right now with ensuring that your executives’ skills are up to date, you should also be asking: who will lead this company 10 years from now? To address this concern, your training efforts should target multiple audiences, take place in multiple venues and formats, and address multiple, ongoing objectives.

IV. The Golden Rules for Growing Your Own Leadership CapacityYou may have racked up many successes in the course of your career but, at some point, you will probably feel the need to shake things up — if not for your sake then for that of your colleagues and/or company. This may involve cultivating a new skill set. It may mean pursuing new, meaningful goals — or deepened collaborations. It’s up to you.

V. Essential Take-AwaysTo succeed over the long term, your company will need to reinvent itself several times. Your leadership development programs, meanwhile, will need to keep pace by helping company executives cultivate a global perspective, anticipate the effects of their actions, and generate support systems — all in order to build business cases that “turn heads.”

Contents

About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.2

Dan Gallagher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.3

Theresa L. Dadone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.8

Sandra F. Foster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p.10

Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points . . . p.12

© Books24x7, 2010 About the Authors ExecBlueprints 2

About the Authors

Sandra Foster is senior vice president of human resources for BeavEx Incorporated, an Atlanta-based

company that is the leading provider of time-critical, same-day transportation and logistics services to businesses throughout the U.S.

Ms. Foster has extensive background in human resources and operations man-agement. Prior to joining BeavEx in 2004, she was founder and president of an HR and management consulting firm, Kensington Management Consultants, which provided services to Fortune 100

companies as well as small privately owned companies.

Given her operations management experience, Ms. Foster brings a fresh perspective to the human resources field, viewing the HR function through the lens of a strategic partner while engaging multi-functional teams to be highly effec-tive in execution of the strategic plan. Her teams have historically been high-performing and focused on results, setting records for implementation of change initiatives, process improve-ments, and efficiencies in operations. She

understands the importance of job fit, and has been highly successful at getting the right individuals in the right positions to maximize organizational performance and reduce turnover from 48 percent to 9 percent.

Ms. Foster is also a certified facilita-tive mediator and has successfully medi-ated complex disputes in various court systems.

Sandra F. FosterSenior Vice President Human Resources , BeavEx Incorporated

Dan GallagherVice President, Learning and Development Operations , Comcast

Dan Gallagher has 15 years of experience in leadership and organizational development roles

with organizations such as Comcast, Commerce Bank, Hay Group, Cahners Publishing, and Saint Joseph’s University. Since 2000, Mr. Gallagher has worked at Comcast and is now the vice president of L&D operations-business units. In this role he is responsible for the training strategy and resource optimization for more than 10 business units totaling 20,000 employees.

Mr. Gallagher served on the Philadelphia Society for Human Resource

Management (PSHRM) board for nine years where his tenure as chapter presi-dent (2007-2008) brought record-setting growth and contributed being selected the 2008 Delaware Valley HR Person of the Year award from the 11 local SHRM chapters.

He was an adjunct instructor at Temple University and Saint Joseph’s University, and guest lectured at Uni-versity of Pennsylvania as well as several international conferences. He was also a Regional Finalist for the 2009-2010 White House Fellowship program.

In 2006, Mr. Gallagher co-founded Generous Generations, a non-profit organization that promotes generosity and connects families with opportunities to give. In 2010 he will publish a book on leadership of which all proceeds will go to City Year. As a member of the Saint Joseph’s University National Alumni Board, Dan initiated the first ever National Day of Service that attracts 1000 volunteers annually.

Theresa Dadone serves as Accuray’s senior vice president, human resources, and has been with the

company since July 2007. From 2003 through 2007 Ms. Dadone

served in various human resources man-agement roles, including vice president

of human resources at Hewlett-Packard Company. Prior to that, she served as vice president, human resources, for Propel, Inc., a Web acceleration com-pany, and as senior vice president, human resources, for Healtheon/WebMD.

Ms. Dadone holds a B.S. degree in Clinical Psychology from San Jose State University in San Jose, CA.

Theresa L. DadoneSenior Vice President, Human Resources , Accuray Incorporated

☛ Read Sandra’s insights on Page 10

☛ Read Theresa’s insights on Page 8

☛ Read Dan’s insights on Page 3

Dan GallagherVice President, Learning and Development Operations , Comcast

© Books24x7, 2010 Dan Gallagher ExecBlueprints 3

Never Waste a Good RecessionIn my upcoming book, I reference the quotation, “Never waste a good recession.” I couldn’t figure out to whom I should attribute the phrase, so I Googled it. This only made matters worse. “Never waste a good recession” is everywhere, from marketing seminars to envi-ronmental sustainability confer-ences, to the tune of three million hits. A digital signage company in Austin, Texas, uses it as the title of their employee idea blog. A Greek Orthodox Church in Atlanta uses it for meetings on collections. So many organizations are out there striving to turn negatives into posi-tives. Is this a sign of sound, pro-gressive thinking? Or a dismal snapshot of the state of leadership in corporate America?

Defining ReinventionToday’s competitive business leader cannot afford to innovate as a reac-tionary measure. Innovation as a reaction to a bad business climate is simply rhetoric. True leaders anticipate needs. They perpetually imagine “what if” and dream in dollar signs. This progressive lead-ership style has spawned a buzz word of its own: reinvention. Forward-thinking leaders know that the tried-and-true, self-centered, MBA-curriculum-driven strategies of the past will no longer fly. Reinvention must be proactive and holistic. It must inspire change not only within the leader, but also within the leader’s environment.

Reinvention moves leaders away from a culture of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” to a culture of “if it ain’t been broken in the last six months, reinvent it!” It is an

intentional and proactive process that results in reimagining leader-ship potential. Instead of viewing leadership as a singular, individu-ally motivated function, this model asserts that today’s corporate exec-utives must approach leadership as an ongoing, community-based ini-tiative. In other words, leaders who produce results by engaging and investing in others will out-produce those who depend and focus on themselves.

The Model in TheoryTo accomplish this shift in think-ing, I’ve developed a three-point, interdependent model for reinven-tion: reinvent self, reinvent others, and reinvent the business. Leaders must learn to integrate all three aspects into their leadership port-folios. This is not a model about finding a new job or radically alter-ing career paths. It is a prescription for optimizing how leaders produce results with a critical eye for inno-vation and “zero tolerance” for the corporate status quo.

Reinvent Self teaches leaders to grow individual skills and leverage them into a larger platform that is capable of turning imaginative ideas into substantive solutions. Reinvent Others teaches leaders to focus on giving back to others as a means of self-discovery and increased leadership stock. Reinvent the

Business creates a lens for leaders to look at their organizations, proj-ects, and decisions in terms of four buckets: profits, products, service, and employees.

Double Click: The Model in ActionThere are two rules for implement-ing this model. First, while all three aspects must always be present in your leadership portfolio, there is no pressure to reinvent all three at the same time. Furthermore, the emphasis you place on each will

Today’s competitive business leader cannot afford to innovate as a reactionary measure.

Dan Gallagher

Vice President, Learning and Development Operations

Comcast

Dan GallagherVice President, Learning and Development

OperationsComcast

“Today’s leaders will win tomorrow by adopting a simple yet profound leader-ship philosophy — to reinvent self, oth-ers, and the business.”

• With company since 2000

• Responsible for training strategy and resource optimization for 10 busi-ness units (20,000 employees)

• Bachelor’s degree, Sociology, Saint Joseph’s University

• Master’s degree, Training and Organizational Development

Mr. Gallagher can be e-mailed at [email protected]

Dan GallagherVice President, Learning and Development Operations , Comcast (continued)


shift over time and define your evolving leadership brand. The sec-ond rule is that while you don’t have to start by reinventing self, you must have a very strong self-awareness. This self-awareness is one of the five key pillars that support a successful reinvention. The other four pillars are: an above-average network and support sys-tem, a business case that turns heads, a savvy perspective of the political landscape, and a coura-geous drive for magis (more for the good of others).

Reinvent SelfYou, like any product, must evolve to remain competitive. You have a shelf life. What worked for you five years ago may now be holding you back, or, at the very least, creating complacency. Your ideas, skills, and abilities have a shelf life. Reject the “tried and true” in exchange for the new and mysteriously excit-ing. The trick is to forecast indus-try trends and embrace change ahead of the curve. While this demands courage, the rewards are great. Self-reinvention allows lead-ers to cultivate their passions and develop skills that serve to both reinvigorate and re-energize them,

while also addressing future needs. With this type of proactive think-ing, the challenge becomes perpet-ually challenging yourself to grow and evolve. This shift in personal philosophy will inspire the growth of new skills and abilities which in

turn will spawn imaginative ideas and substantive solutions.

How? Self-assessment is the answer. Fortune 100 companies hire young thoroughbreds who walk out of college ready to rule the world. After only a few years, however, these same companies house a stable of dinosaurs. Amer-ican corporations teem with profes-sionals whose ideas and passions outdate their wing tips. Your personal reinvention may not call for much more than a shift in how and where you expend your energy. The beauty of this model is that it does not stop here. A reinvented self is only the beginning. Renewed of purpose and spirit, rife with new skill sets, your reinvention evolves, setting its sights on your business and its stakeholders.

Expert Advice

The world’s hostile, unstable business community demands that we expect the unexpected and respect the unexpected. Even if your “business” is a non-profit, reinventing the business is, in many ways, about fiercely competing with your organization. Be the Coke to your own Pepsi. Be the Yankees to your own Red Sox. Demand more of your business (or projects) than anyone else, and no one will stop your perpetual growth. Inspiration for innovation is all around. There are now mega churches in the South that take up their collections using on-site ATMs. While I am skeptical that the surcharges go right to God, the idea is revolutionary. Jane Golden of the internationally recognized Philadelphia Mural Arts Program reinvented anti-graffiti initiatives by recruiting high-end artists to work with at-risk kids. The product beautifies our city and provides a physical reminder of what can happen when innovation marries philanthropy.



Reinvent OthersReinvent Others teaches leaders to focus on giving back as a means of self-discovery and increased leader-ship stock. It works on the premise that if IQ is one’s cognitive ability, and EQ is one’s ability to manage emotions, the Generosity Quotient (GQ) is one’s ability to give. GQ drives collaboration, consensus, and collective ownership. This goes well beyond the collaborative nature of modern business. Those who influ-ence others will simply out-pace and out-produce those who cannot. In addition, those who have the ability to influence multiple groups inside and outside of their organizations are more valuable than those who live lives of one-track productivity. But GQ is more than this. To under-stand GQ, channel the greatest teacher you’ve ever had. Channel the coach who inspired you to dig deeper. Channel the mentor who saw more in you than you saw in yourself. What made them great was that they were more focused on your success than their own. Now pay it forward!

This reinvention is not about networking or spheres of influ-ence. It’s not about investing in

relationships merely as a means of doing business. Wake up tomorrow and take real stock in those who silently beg for your guidance. Find them. Invest in them. Share their worries and grow with their triumphs. Create an atmosphere around you in which others feel invigorated and energized. Boost instead of boast. Just as people fol-low non-profits they are passionate about, so too will people want to follow your lead.

Reinvent the BusinessThis one is simple. What sells today may not sell tomorrow. Others can quickly replicate your process. In fact, as you read this, someone in a factory in China, a warehouse in India, or a garage in the U.S. is right now finding ways to replicate your business model at half the cost. Economic, social, and techno-logical innovation forces organiza-tions to perpetually master the art of reinventing their business — faster, better, and/or cheaper. Using the four-bucket approach (prod-ucts, profits, service, and employ-ees) allows you to maintain a global perspective — to think and

act like a general manager. This approach allows you to see and foresee the ripple effect of actions you are taking and others you are avoiding. If your company isn’t reinventing itself, it may find itself replaced by some sleek start-up or mechanical conglomerate.

So how do you move from want-ing to reinvent to actually rein-venting? The five pillars. The chart below illustrates each pillar and how its function is unique within each aspect of reinvention.

Critical Thinking and Connect the DotsThe value of this model comes from a keen emphasis on two unique areas that are differentiated from others: (1) critical thinking and (2) a leadership skill system called, “connect the dots.” While neither of these components can be com-pletely taught in a one-day training experience, I am also convinced that these two ingredients are what win the blue ribbon at the county fair. Master them, and you will win too.

In terms of critical thinking, start by completely deemphasizing the negative connotations of “criti-cal.” “Critical,” in this sense can best be described in the following example by Georgetown University (a Jesuit institution) President John J. DeGioia in his remarks to the Phi Beta Kappa Society, on May 16, 2002:

“The world needs such original thinkers who define situations, fear-lessly grapple with conflicting ideas, and discern the possibilities for action. If we seek to teach anything here, it is to recognize that we live in ambiguity; that we must learn to function within that ambiguity.”



Defining Critical ThinkingCritical thinking is a skill that allows individuals to have the cour-age and confidence to thrive, even in ambiguity. Reinventors embrace uncertainty with the same confi-dence that they utilize during more lucid times — with leadership. Having the courage to function in ambiguity can make others ner-vous, especially board members and upper-level executives. Even the most naive new professional knows that scaring superiors can be a bad thing. So, how do you both embrace critical thought and avoid career suicide?

Disengagement comes from checking your brain at the door, abandoning your critical thinking faculties, and obeying orders as commanded by the management hierarchy. Critical thinking increases engagement and, as a result, own-ership for decision-making is pushed to the lowest level. This bucks the age-old trend of driving large decisions upward. People at all levels of the business need to be ready, willing, and able to rein-vent themselves, others, and the business — even if none are consid-ered broken. Leaders need to have the discipline and the courage to know what to reinvent and when to reinvent it. Some of it is skill, some of it is luck, but all of it comes from critical thinking.

Connecting the DotsThe second key point is the “con-nect the dots” philosophy. Sure, I was a kid receiving my first Crayola 64-pack when I first heard this phrase. But that definition changed one day in 2003 when I heard David Cohen, former chief of staff to then Philadelphia mayor Ed Rendell and

now executive vice president at Comcast, discuss community invest-ment strategies. David spoke to the fact that there are certain things people do because it’s “the right thing to do,” and there are other things people do because it is “good for the business.” He then went on to explain that these things aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive. I immediately saw this not only as a strong corporate philan-thropy strategy but also a great lead-ership skill. Great business leaders can frequently connect the dots between two very seemingly unlike things for the benefit of both.

Less obvious is why this process adds so much value. What does a marketing campaign have to do with employee retention? What does management’s commitment to the environment say about brand loyalty? How does investing in the

customer experience positively impact profitability? Many mature organizations have leaders who have mastered the art of connect-ing the dots. They align and appro-priately sequence organizational initiatives. In most businesses, “how” things get done more effec-tively inspires success than “what” gets done. The reality is that lead-ers who connect the dots always think globally about the ripple effect of decisions. They not only see the proverbial “forest” (not just “the trees”), they also initiate a plan to conserve and protect that forest, while not forgetting to pub-lish a few press releases along the way. Reinventing is the ability to merge imagination and execution. Leaders must think critically and then act courageously based on connecting various aspects of the business that drive progress.



No More American IdleThe reinvention model, as well, is greater than just the sum of its parts. Let’s use Bret as an example.

Bret graduates from a good col-lege and lands a good job. His im-mediate focus is to show his company that he adds value to his team. This sentiment is an unconscious priority of “reinvent the business.” Bret pours his essence into proving himself by building up his organization. As years pass, Bret eventually marries that cute girl from the coffee shop. In turn, Bret puts a decent amount of pres-sure on himself to make more money, so his wife can stay at home with their kids. Based on his suc-cessful business reinvention, Bret gets promoted, tackles more respon-sibility and is now managing a team of direct reports. After attend-ing a leadership program, a mentor tells Bret that he’s never going to get anywhere unless he builds a team that is highly productive, and to a large degree, self-sufficient. This advice awakens a change in Bret’s thinking. He must focus on “reinventing others” — both at work and at home. Bret must do this in order to remain successful because, in his new professional role, “reinventing the business” requires that Bret “reinvent others,”

namely his team. At home, Bret focuses on cultivating a successful, happy, and healthy family by focus-ing on others — his wife and kids. Parenting is the world’s most self-less act.

Fast forward 15 years. Bret faces his first mid-life crisis. His kids are in college. The nest is empty. He buys the cliché convertible. Noth-ing helps. So, Bret decides to shake up his career. He pursues some-thing he has “always wanted to do.” He no longer wants to work solely on projects that analyze the past; he wants to work on projects that define the future. He propels himself into his new work. He rein-vents this new business and experi-ences tremendous success doing so. As Bret nears retirement, he real-izes that he cannot use work as his sole source of accomplishment and success. He turns to giving back to his community as a volunteer at City Year and a mentor to small business owners. Bret moves into full retirement and finds that he has to reinvent self to enjoy his extra time. He takes up golf and teaches at a local community college to keep himself active.

Bret learned along the way that for this reinvention model to work, the decision must be owned by him, not someone else. Since the

millennium, three factors drive the need for innovative leadership: global competition, economic crisis, and a call for corporate conscience. First, thanks to the Internet and glo-balization, emerging countries are now competing on a level playing field. Second, profit margins are tanking, unemployment is rising, and the government is active in bail-out and regulation discussions. For the final reason, just thank Enron and Bernie Madoff. The public dis-trusts corporate leadership. Post-9/11 research shows that employees value social consciousness more than a paycheck. Collaboration is the future of business. Tomorrow’s CEOs will be team players, not the lone wolves of today. They will be selfless leaders who drive loyalty as well as performance. They will be reinventors. ■This article was written in collabo-ration with Joe Costal ([email protected]). Mr. Costal has spent the last decade writing, teaching, and speaking about leadership development. He teaches English at Oakcrest High School and is an Adjunct Professor at Stockton Col-lege. Mr. Gallagher and Mr. Costal will publish a book on this same topic in early 2011 and all proceeds will go to City Year (www.cityyear.org).

Theresa L. DadoneSenior Vice President, Human Resources , Accuray Incorporated

© Books24x7, 2010 Theresa L. Dadone ExecBlueprints 8

Reinvention Versus EvolutionI would not use the term, “reinven-tion,” because to me it suggests completely changing, and we are not doing that. The word I prefer is “evolution.” How do we evolve and continue to grow the organization?

In essence, a leader in a com-pany needs to be constantly respon-sive not just to the pure business challenges but also to the human-capital challenges that arise because of the business changing or evolv-ing in response to its own internal

business and outside economics. As managers and leaders we need to be constantly reminded of how we can enhance our skills for engaging and motivating our employee pop-ulation and ourselves.

Evolving Through Feedback and Leadership DevelopmentOne way we are evolving (and I believe this is a best practice for a company our size) is by formally asking for feedback from our employees. One way we have achieved this is by conducting an annual employee engagement

survey. We take the results seriously and consequently have received recognition for having achieved the most significant improvement in scores year over year. This is thanks to the focus that we put on tackling areas where improvement was needed. Additionally, we have 360-degree feedback for our executives and have just now launched it for all managers as well.

We also have a number of other mechanisms that can help us test and calibrate how we are doing, including with programs that we have already implemented or are about to implement. Our CEO

has mandated that 20 percent of his direct reports’ objectives be tied directly to making improvements in leadership style, as measured by the instruments I mentioned previ-ously. This is one of the objectives that the board of directors reviews and approves, and serves as one area in which we are rated every year. The objectives of every employee includes a goal related to “living our Leadership Standards.” This is one way that we can con-stantly evolve ourselves as a com-pany because it means we are constantly evolving the behaviors that we use to drive our success.

Learning and Development ProgramsWe offer a number of employee training and development programs, including an entire e-learning cur-riculum and over 30 instructor-led programs.

We have benchmarked ourselves against best-in-class companies and found that we offer employee devel-opment programs that have the same depth and breadth as those found at much larger companies. We enjoy excellent attendance for the programs, which is very posi-tive and speaks to the quality of our

Theresa L. DadoneSenior Vice President, Human Resources

Accuray Incorporated

“‘Grow’ does not necessarily mean that we’re scaling to a bigger size or moving more revenue units (although that would be very nice); rather, it refers to how we evolve as leaders. How do we grow as leaders, both as management leaders and as individuals?”


• Previously HR vice president, Hewlett-Packard Company

• B.S., Clinical Psychology, San Jose State University

Ms. Dadone can be e-mailed at [email protected]

In essence, a leader in a company needs to be constantly responsive not just to the pure business challenges but also to the human capital challenges that arise because of the business changing or evolving in response to its own internal business and outside economics.

Theresa L. Dadone

Senior Vice President, Human Resources

Accuray Incorporated

Theresa L. DadoneSenior Vice President, Human Resources , Accuray Incorporated (continued)

© Books24x7, 2010 Theresa L. Dadone ExecBlueprints 9

programs. The anonymous feed-back we request from every course on course content, delivery, and rel-evance all come back very positive.

Leadership Development Trends: Talent ManagementTalent management is an area where I think we have evolved and I am hoping it is an area where we will continue to evolve. It is a sys-tem that includes talent acquisition and assessment. We want to be able to monitor and improve our talent assessments so that managers can use them as a tool to help build their businesses, build their teams, and encourage their teams to develop. Talent management in the broadest systemic way has been on my radar screen for a while, and it

is also one of the strategic initia-tives for us as a company.

Benchmarking EffectivenessI believe benchmarking is an impor-tant component to managing an HR function. An effective HR organization needs to understand how other organizations are doing and blend that information with what is best for their own organi-zation and company. We track met-rics for a number of areas that are relevant for our business and com-pare these to those of other firms that are similar sizes and in similar industries.

I believe that benchmarking to be “best in class” is not something to which an organization should aspire

unless it is for those areas that are strategically important to the com-pany. Rather, we pick and focus on a few metrics that are meaningful for us. As we develop our HR strat-egies, that data becomes one of the considerations. ■

Expert Advice

In recognition of our company’s need for global harmonization, our cor-porate headquarters hosts a global development program to which we bring our leaders from around the world. This program will run every quarter and will give leaders of all kinds — not just managers — the chance to meet each other, and share ideas and concerns while learning the skills that will help them be effective in doing their job.

How is Accuray Growing Each Level of Its Team?

Employees:• Training and

development programs (online and instructor-led)

• Performance goal related to “living our Leadership Standards”

Managers:• 360-degree

feedback• Performance goal

related to “living our Leadership Standards”

Executives:• 360-degree

feedback• Global

development program

• Core objectives relating to making improvements in leadership style

Companywide:• Annual employee

engagement survey

Sandra F. FosterSenior Vice President Human Resources , BeavEx Incorporated

© Books24x7, 2010 Sandra F. Foster ExecBlueprints 10

Defining Leadership We recently faced a dilemma when we discovered that we did not have enough bench strength in our organization. When we began drilling down to find out where our issues were, we realized that we really didn’t have a good definition of leadership in place for our com-pany. We started asking ourselves some important questions. What does it take to be a leader at BeavEx?

Consequently, we started from scratch and considered all of the competencies that a successful leader here would need. We built a new leadership competency model from the ground up by gathering feedback from the leaders in the organization, survey data, and assessment tools that determined whether benchmarks associated with our established competency models for different positions were indeed valid. After putting all of that together and coming up with a “straw man,” we held meetings across the organization to validate our model. From the district-level manager all the way up to the CEO, everyone signed off on this new model. This process allowed us to establish the most important leadership competencies, create a leadership development program, and identify high-potential employ-ees so that we could provide them

with the opportunity to learn and develop.

We are also in the process of cre-ating a completely separate role in the organization, the director of talent management, who will be responsible for driving leadership and employee development, along with BeavEx University and general performance management.

Mentoring ProgramsWe utilize a mentoring program where we pair new managers or employees with employees in simi-lar positions. Even though the men-tors are never in the same building and sometimes are not even in the same state, we believe just building the connection is extremely helpful. Our mentoring program is not for-mal and would be better defined as a “grassroots” effort that devel-oped over time. However, it has been highly effective. Since many

of our locations have few employ-ees, an additional benefit of the program is that it gives employees the opportunity to develop rela-tionships and feel that they are con-nected to something larger.

Matching Strategies Because I came into HR with an operations background, I have a bit of a different perspective than someone who has been in HR for their entire career. However, I believe it is very clear that HR strategy planning does not work unless those strategies are

Expert Advice

Upcoming Changes Within the next year, we will have installed a director of talent management. This person will be responsible for leadership development within the organization as well as an overall leadership development program. The goal is to launch a program by the end of 2010. We are pushing more responsibility down the organization, so the HR team has spent a great deal of time coaching managers who found themselves with newly acquired responsibilities. This helped us to quickly identify gaps in strengths at the different levels. During the upcoming year, we want to focus our efforts on closing those gaps.

Sandra F. FosterSenior Vice President Human Resources

BeavEx Incorporated

“We felt any standard vanilla leader-ship competency model out there wouldn’t and couldn’t reflect our unique requirements given our industry structure, the BeavEx culture, and BeavEx values. So, we started from scratch.”


• Previously founder and president, Kensington Management Consultants (HR and management consulting firm)

• Certified facilitative mediator

Ms. Foster can be e-mailed at [email protected]

HR strategy planning does not work unless those strategies are integrated into the business objectives.

Sandra F. Foster

Senior Vice President Human Resources

BeavEx Incorporated

Sandra F. FosterSenior Vice President Human Resources , BeavEx Incorporated (continued)

© Books24x7, 2010 Sandra F. Foster ExecBlueprints 11

integrated into the business objec-tives. I have worked with my team to think about the business as a whole, not just the narrow slice that defines HR. In the process, I am building a team with cross-functional capabilities so that we can use all of our accumulated knowledge to benefit the business.

In any initiative that we pursue, I am always asking these questions:

• What’s this going to look like in real life?

• If we ask the field staff to do this, what’s actually going to happen — what steps do they have to take? What process do they need to put into place?

• Does it advance the service to the customer?

• Does it unnecessarily tie the hands of field staff or any point in the chain of service delivery?

• Does it create redundancy?

In order to answer these ques-tions, you have to intimately under-stand how your company delivers products and services. I regularly ask the corporate human resources staff to go into the field to assist with on-boarding and new site start-ups, deliver coaching and training, and perform compliance audits. This increases their aware-ness and understanding of how things actually work in the field, and removes the theory and guess-work about what folks on the front lines are facing. ■

Essential Steps for Developing a Leadership Competency Model

Gather feedback from:• Organization

leaders• Survey data• Assessment tools

for existing competency models

Develop a “straw man” model.

Hold meetings across the

organization to validate the model.

Use the approved model to:• Establish the most

important leadership competencies.

• Create a leadership development program.

• Identify high-potential employees for development.

© Books24x7, 2010 Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points ExecBlueprints 12

Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points I. What Are Key Considerations for Developing Leaders?Since the millennium, three factors have driven the need for innovative leadership: global competition, economic crisis, and a call for corporate conscience. However, in many industries, the standard tactics described in MBA programs are no longer so effective in combating these real-world leadership chal-lenges. Consequently, many leaders are now feeling the need to grow — or even “reinvent” — themselves, others, and the business in ways that are uniquely suited to their strengths and the company’s identity and culture. To address these concerns, today’s leadership and talent management programs need to inspire executives to:

• Approach leadership as an ongoing, community-based initiative.

• Give back: engage and invest in others, and remain responsive to how business changes can lead to shifts in human cap-ital needs.

• Cultivate passions and new skill sets in order to reenergize efforts, spawn imagi-native ideas, and implement substantive solutions.

• Fearlessly grapple with conflicting ideas, and learn to function in an atmosphere of ambiguity (i.e., expect — and respect — the unexpected).

• Take a proactive — not reactive — stance toward innovation and continu-ally endeavor to anticipate future needs.

II. The Bottom LineIn theory, effective leadership development programs should produce executives who make a positive financial impact on the com-pany. But, unfortunately, a direct effect can prove difficult to measure because, after all, many factors can contribute to an executive’s success or struggles in any given year. More-over, if you’ve significantly customized your programs, you won’t be able to benchmark them against the so-called “best-in-class” practices in effect at similar companies. Instead, to gain some understanding of how your programs are working and inform future approaches, choose metrics that are meaning-ful to your company. Examples include:

• How feasible are the programs to imple-ment in various (including field) loca-tions? What time, material, and human resources do they require?

• Are they redundant with other programs or services?

• How has your workforce’s overall level of engagement changed year over year, as revealed by survey data?

• What does the 360-degree feedback reveal about the performance of your executives and managers?

• What feedback have you received directly from your executives?

• To what extent are your programs’ com-petency models predictive of real-world successes?

• How does your company’s performance in important areas compare to that of similar companies?

III. Must-Have Talent Management and Development ProgramsYou will not be able to build the bench strength you need to eventually fill leadership ranks by giving one-day training seminars. Instead, the authors recommend that you install a director of talent management who is responsible for creating multi-dimensional programs to develop tomorrow’s executives as well as sharpen and update the skills of your current leaders. Education and training approaches can include:

• Offering employees complete suites of online and classroom training opportunities

• Utilizing mentoring programs that pair employees and managers with people in similar positions

• Identifying potential (internal and exter-nal) talent through accurate assessment programs

• Coaching managers on-site to handle new responsibilities

• Hosting global programs that periodi-cally bring together company leaders from throughout the world to share ideas and concerns, and learn skills

• Instituting objectives for executives that are specifically targeted to improving their leadership style

IV. The Golden Rules for Growing Your Own Leadership CapacityYou, like any product, must evolve — or “reinvent” yourself — to remain competitive. However, to truly succeed, you should endeavor to fully own such a transformation, i.e., reject the “tried and true” for the “new

and mysteriously exciting.” While it need not — cannot — unfold overnight, such a process can involve:

• Challenging yourself to learn new skill sets

• Connecting to new resources and oppor-tunities for individual — and shared — success

• Cultivating a strong self-awareness that understands how others perceive you and your ideas and accomplishments

• Accurately identifying the people who will aid (“friends”) — and impede (“enemies”) — your progress

• Seeking to define your personal “leader-ship brand” that drives collaboration, consensus, and collective ownership

V. Essential Take-AwaysOwing to today’s hostile, unstable global business environment, you cannot be assured that your company’s hot products will still be selling tomorrow. Right now, there are prob-ably entrepreneurs across the world who are working to replicate your business model at half the cost. What does this mean? Your company must continually be able to reinvent itself — and its leaders must know how to initiate and competently lead this process. Accordingly, your leadership programs should help executives:

• Create a lens through which they can view their organization in terms of prof-its, products, service, and employees.

• Develop critical-thinking skills and the ability to “connect the dots” across the various functional components of the organization.

• Generate above-average network and support systems.

• Formulate a business case that “turns heads,” drives momentum, and seeks growth by demanding more.

• Foresee the ripple effect of actions they are taking — and avoiding.

• Maintain a global perspective. ■

© Books24x7, 2010 Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points ExecBlueprints 13

Ideas to Build Upon & Action Points (continued)

ExecBlueprints is a subscription-based offering from Books24x7, a SkillSoft Company. For more information on subscribing, please visit www.books24x7.com.

10 KEY QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION POINTS

1 How do you define “reinvention” at your organization? How can you take steps to reinvent yourself as a leader? How can you take steps to reinvent your employees?

2 How can HR leaders transform their roles to be more facilitative rather than operational? What other departments do you collaborate with in this process? What have you accomplished?

3 What are your best practices for achieving reinvention at your company? What training opportunities are currently offered to your employees? What percent of your workforce participates? Has this amount increased or decreased compared to previous years?

4 What mentoring practices are currently in place at your company? Who is generally responsible for mentoring? How are mentors chosen?

5 What employee development programs do you currently offer? How and why were they chosen? What is HR’s role in administering and evaluating the programs? How have they benefited employees? The company overall? What impact have they had on retention?

6 In the next 12 months, do you plan to make any changes to your leadership strategies? If so, what will these changes entail? What factors are driving these changes?

7 What are your top five “proactive and progressive” strategies for developing yourself and your employees? What makes these the “top five”?

8 What are the most important trends you’ve seen in the past three years regarding HR leadership development? Why have they been significant? How will you prepare your company to respond to these surfacing trends?

9 How do you benchmark the effectiveness of your leadership development strategies? Employee satisfaction? Employee retention? Number of employment applications?

10 How do you determine the ROI for your leadership development efforts? What is measured? How often? Is ROI the most important measurement?

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Documents

ExecBlueprints-Reinventing Leadership Development 1