ExcellenceL E A D E R S H I P

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

APRIL 2011

LeadershipLeadershipCollectiveCollective

Unite Diverse GroupsUnite Diverse Groups

InquiryInquiryHumbleHumble

Why Leaders FailWhy Leaders Fail

Henrik Ekelund CEO BTS

“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 ww ww ww .. LL ee aa dd ee rr EE xx cc ee ll .. cc oo mm

ExcellenceL E A D E R S H I P

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

JAMES QUIGLEY AND

STEPHEN LANGTON

Collective LeadershipUnite diverse groups in acommon purpose. . . . . . . 3

EDGAR H. SCHEIN

Humble InquiryFor leaders, helping othersis complicated. . . . . . . . . . .4

MARK NYMAN

Function MisalignmentAlign the purposewith the strategy. . . . . . . . 5

E. TED PRINCE

Money MakersVery few managers orleaders create revenue. . . .5

LARRY SENN

Leader’s Job #1Align strategy and culture. . .6

GARY D. BURNISON

Beyond PerceptionStay connected to whatmatters the most . . . . . . . .7

CHIP R. BELL AND

JOHN R. PATTERSON

Cultivate InnovationIt requires you to exercisebold leadership. . . . . . . . . 8

SHEILA MURRAY BETHEL

Effective LeadershipYou can take three steps toenhance authenticity. . . . 9

DANA C. ACKLEY

Glass WallsBreak through to abrighter future. . . . . . . . .10

MARC MICHAELSON AND

JOHN ANDERSON

Turn Vision into RealityGreat companies becomereal communities. . . . . . .11

STEVE ARNESON

Employee Bill of RightsEvery person deserves tohave certain rights. . . . . .12

HENRIK EKELUND

Practice Makes PerfectPut and keep the companyon the right course. . . . . 13

JONAS AKERMAN

Effective Simulations10 key elements of success-ful simulations. . . . . . . . .13

IRVING BUCHEN

Why Leaders FailAvoid 10 dead-ends. . . . .14

DAVE ULRICH ANDNORM SMALLWOOD

Personal Leader BrandGo beyond having aleader point of view. . . . 16

SANDI EDWARDS

Sudden Leader LossMost organizationsare very ill-prepared . . . .17

JOE FOLKMAN

Employee CommitmentThe grass is not alwaysgreener elsewhere. . . . . .18

IRA CHALEFF

Courageous FollowersWould we stand upfor or to our leaders. . . . .19

BEVERLY KAYE AND

BEVERLY CROWELL

Coaching for EngagementTap into discretionaryenergy and effort. . . . . . .20

VOL. 28 NO. 4 THE GLOBAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT RESOURCE APRIL 2011

Scenic Hazard Most leaders who

are standing in

the tee box enjoy

a telescopic vision

or scenic vista,

yet all they can

see in the fore-

ground is the pox

of sand traps and

ocean waves with

many ways to fail

and few safe

places to drive

business, save

strokes, or make

money.

IN MARCH LEADERSHIP Excel-lence co-sponsored the Prin-

ciple-Centered LeadershipConference at Utah State University Hunts-man School of Management, home of theCovey Center for Leadership.

In 1984, we started publishing LeadershipExcellence under the banner of the Institutefor Principle-Centered Leadership—as ajoint-venture alliance with the Covey Leader-ship Center. That same year, I started writingtwo books with Stephen R. Covey: 7 Habitsof Highly Effective People and Principle-Center-ed Leadership. While 7 Habits sold morecopies (one of the top 20 best-sellingnonfiction books of all-time), theidea of PCL may be more useful as aleadership development paradigm.

In a nutshell, PCL is based on thenotion that Universal Principles ulti-mately govern in life and leadership.As Covey has proven, when peopleseek to develop a value system,they identify the same basic valueswhen four conditions are met: youget enough people interacting; there is aspirit of trust and openness; people areinformed about the problems and issues;and they feel they can communicate freelyand synergistically. And these universal val-ues deal with four dimensions: physical oreconomic; social or relationship; mental, tal-ent, or intelligence; spiritual or meaning.

“If leaders don’t build their value sys-tems on bedrock principles and try to liveby them—acknowledging that they failmuch of the time, but striving to get back inalignment—they’ll have dysfunctional cul-tures,” notes Covey.

“As leaders alienate themselves frommoral conscience based on natural laws andcorrect principles, they are influenced moreby the social conscience of political correct-ness, popularity, and public relations. Inevery great culture or organization, peoplespeak up when they see misalignmentsbetween principle and practice, and try toclose the gap. Leaders may know intuitivelythat they are off track, but lack an informa-tion system that tells them how far off trackthey are. They tend to under-correct with asuperficial LD program, or over-correct bydownsizing—harming the culture.”

So, base your LD on bedrock principles.

CCoommiinngg FFuullll CCiirrcclleeAlso in March I visited the offices of The

Full Circle Group, aiming to deliver on thepromise of effective leadership and businessperformance. Developing effective leader-ship is now a strategic priority, says partnerBill Adams. “Given the high impact thateffective leadership has on performance, itis tempting to treat leadership developmentas an activity separate from running thebusiness. Our unique approach engagesorganizations in leader development withinthe context of business performance. This inte-gration is our governing principle, andwhen this principle is put into practice, ithelps organizations develop leadership as acompetitive advantage.

Again in March, I welcomedhome a son, Chris, who had beenserving two years in Sweden, and(within two days) welcomed twogranddaughters (Kora and Zoey)into the world. This, indeed, iscoming full circle.

I selected the great golf art ofLinda Hartough for the cover thismonth because all of us face a hard,tough situation like the ninth hole at

Pebble Beach. Whether we are new-born orborn again or coming full circle, the cycle oflife and leadership presents challenges. Thevision or vista may be appealing, but in theforeground we see nothing but rough traps.

LLeeaarrnniinngg//LLDD EElliitteeCongratulations to CLO 2011 LearningElite

Organizations: Accenture, Alexian BrothersMedical Center, Allied Barton SecurityServices, Almac Group, Amdocs, AT&T,Banner Health, Bristol-Myers Squibb, CATechnologies, Cerner., Defense AcquisitionUniversity, Deloitte, Department of VeteransAffairs, EMC., Emory University, FarmersInsurance Group, FedEx, Genentech, GeneralMills, Grant Thornton, IBM, InterContinentalHotels Group, J. C. Penney Co., Life TimeFitness, Loblaw Cos., Lowe’s Cos., ManTechIntl., McDonald’s, Nationwide Insurance,NetApp, New York Presbyterian Hospital,NIIT USA, Orkin, Procter & Gamble,Prescription Solutions/ UnitedHealth Group,Qualcomm, RWD Technologies, Scotiabank,Sidley Austin, Spectra Energy, St. Peter’sHealth Care Services, Vanguard, and Vi. LE

I f e e l t h a t I ’ v e c o m e f u l l c i r c l e .

by Ken Shelton

Volume 28 Issue 4

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Contributing Editors:Chip Bell, Warren Bennis, Dianna Booher, Kevin Cashman, Marshall Goldsmith, HowardGuttman, Jim Kouzes, Jim Loehr, Tom Peters,Norm Smallwood

The table of contents art is a detail from 22001100 UU..SS.. OOppeenn CChhaammppiioonnsshhiipp,, TThhee 99tthh HHoollee,, PPeebbbblleeBBeeaacchh GGoollff LLiinnkkss (image cropped) © LindaHartough, and is courtesy of the artist andart print publisher Greenwich Workshop.

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Copyright © 2011 Executive Excellence Publishing.No part of this publication may be reproduced ortransmitted without written permission from the

publisher. Quotations must be credited.

Principle-CenteredE . D . I . T . O . R ’ S N . O . T . E

2 A p r i l 2 0 1 1 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

Editor since 1984

Linda Hartough

How do you track common interpre-tations of rather abstract mental models?How do you concretize collective leader-ship? To make the As One diagnosticrobust, we had to find an answer. Tra-ditional leadership theory wasn’t helpful.The twin poles of command-and-controland hierarchy on the one hand and col-laboration and flat-and-fluid structure onthe other could not tell the whole story.

EEiigghhtt MMooddeellss oorr AArrcchheettyyppeessUsing a self-organizing map (SOM),

we drew out the relationships amongour 60 case studies and compiled a setof eight distinct archetypes:

1. Landlords and tenants. In thiscommand-and-control, top-down model,leaders control access to valuable orscarce resources and dictate the termsfor followers’ participation. The land-lords’ power base grows with the num-

ber of tenants they attract and retain.At best, the relationship is mutuallyreinforcing: tenants commit to the rules;landlords ensure those rules are fair.

2. Community organizer and volun-teers. Leaders bind the activities of fol-lowers together through an inspirationalstory and provide the rationale for thecause. Leaders don’t, however, tell fol-lowers what to do. The decentralizedorganization functions more by philoso-phy than by rigid rules and structures.

3. Conductor and orchestra. Highlytrained members perform, with careand precision, repetitive and scriptedtasks. Protocol-driven, they’re aboutdoing essentially the same things butin new, better, and more efficient ways.The leader motivates the team by thepromise of helping them achieve theirpersonal best. There’s little room forimprovisation—but room for excellence.

4. Producer and creative team. In thisarchetype, the leader has the vision andthe power to bring together a team ofhighly inventive and skilled indepen-dent individuals. Producers guide a

Collective Leadership

COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP—THE ABILITYto unite diverse groups of people

in a common purpose, to achieveteamwork on a grand scale—is thelifeblood of successful organizations.Every project, strategy, meta-goal orvision depends on effective teams, oncollaboration. A leader is nothing withoutfollowers; no manager is an island.

Statements like these have beenmade and reprised in managementbooks for decades. The idea that work-ing together is a good thing, that it getscomplex tasks done—and that it isnecessary for both organizations andsociety—is as old as it’s elementary.

But what does collective leadership looklike? What are the models for effectiveleaders and followers? How can youensure the whole will be greater than thesum of the individual parts? Here, thingsget blurry. Applying the theory of col-lective behavior to modern manage-ment is still a work in progress.

Three years ago, we started a majorproject to bring collective leadership be-yond the platitudes into practice. Wereviewed hundreds of perspectives oncollaboration and collective action drawnfrom several disciplines and made casestudies of 60 examples of collective lead-ership in diverse organizations acrossgeographies. The result was As One, anew service offering to our clients.

Designed to help minimize and man-age the intangible people risks of strategyexecution, As One identifies and measuresthree conditions for collective leadership:1) Shared Identity—people see themselvesas members, not as outsiders; 2) Direction-al Intensity—people feel impelled to dowhat’s needed to achieve the organiza-tion goal; and 3) Common Interpretation—people have common mental models ofhow work will get done.

All three factors are equally impor-tant. To fail to correct deficiencies in anyone is to make the strategic bet less safe.It was, however, in the development ofa measurement tool for the third thatour efforts were most concentrated.

project; their carefully selected teamsmake it happen. Ideas are developedthrough frequent meetings and interac-tions and an open culture of collabora-tion. Long-term success depends onconstant innovation and reinvention.

5. General and soldiers. Soldiers focuson well-defined and scripted tasks, mo-tivated by hierarchical structure andthe prospects of promotion. Extensivetraining is needed for recruits to under-stand the culture and to learn specificskills. The generals’ authority—theirability to command respect—is just asimportant as their mission. Without it,the organization disintegrates.

6. Architect and builders. Leaders needa team of skilled followers to bring theirblueprint to life. Builders are mastercraftsmen and innovators capable offinding new solutions to technical andpractical problems. Interdependent linksin a project management chain, theystrive to achieve milestones mapped todeliberate work cycles. As each link iscompleted, they’re one step nearer torealizing the architect’s grand design.

7. Captain and sports team. Onceplayers, leaders know the rules of thegame. They combine the practical skillsof followers with the ability to motivateand improvise, often adapting to newchallenges in real time. Members of theteam have a strong sense of sharedidentity and see each other as equals.There is minimal hierarchy. Leaders,like followers, get their hands dirty.

8. Senator and citizens. This model isa democracy. The leader’s style is consen-sual: problems are tackled through freeand open debate. The senator leader isthe guiding intelligence who overseesdecision-making, but followers workindependently. In return for their per-sonal freedom, citizens willingly com-mit to the constitution and to respon-sibilities they owe to the collective.

Landlord and Tenants, Conductor andOrchestra, and General and Soldiers arevariations on the command-and-controltheme; the other five archetypes aremore agile and adaptive. None is inher-ently weaker or stronger—but might bein certain situations. An organizationintent on continuous innovation would-n’t operate well as Conductor andOrchestra or General and Soldiers.

The SOM provides a taxonomy forcollective leadership and puts manage-ment in a practical, how-to context. LE

James Quigley is CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, co-chairman of the Deloitte Center for Collective Leadership,and co-author of As One: Individual Action, Collective Power(Portfolio). Stephen Langton is Managing Director of theDeloitte Center for Collective Leadership, Deloitte ToucheTohmatsu Limited. Visit www.deloitte.com/about.

ACTION: Practice collective leadership.

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e A p r i l 2 0 1 1 3

LEADERSHIP ARCHETYPES

G o f r o m p l a t i t u d e t o p r a c t i c e .

by James Quigley and Stephen Langton

uation. The person being asked for helpmust be sensitive to the vulnerability ofthe help seeker and ensure that he orshe does not make matters worse bybelittling the seeker, giving prematureadvice, jumping to conclusions aboutwhat might be helpful, or reinforcingthe one downness of the seeker. And, theseeker must be clear about what he orshe needs, not asking something irrele-vant just to test the potential helper. Thebiggest trap for the seeker is to ask thewrong question; the biggest trap for thegiver is to answer that wrong question.

For help to be helpful, the leader seek-ing help must reveal the real problem,and those being asked to help mustenable the leader to reveal the realproblem. Hence, a relationship of trustmust either exist or be built.

Humble inquiry is the most reliableway to test or build a relationship oftrust. By humble, I mean that the helpermust ask a question to which he or shedoes not already know the answer. Ifwe are asking just to check our expec-tation or presupposition or assumption

or hypothesis, we won’t learn what theperson seeking help needs or wants. Ifthe seeker is the leader or boss, the sub-ordinate or peer has to ask some hum-ble questions. If the group member orsubordinate comes to the boss for help,the leader or boss must humbly inquirewhat is really being asked.

By inquiry I mean that the first steps inthe helping process must be questions, espe-cially by helpers. Even if the seeker asks aquestion, if helpers do not engage insome humble inquiry, they won’t knowwhether what was asked was the real pro-blem on which help is needed. Inquirydoes not have to be a set of questions.Showing an open attentive demeanor,encouraging the seeker by stayingsilent, or saying tell me more will revealrelevant information. If the seeker feelslistened to, that equilibrates the socialsituation. It builds a momentary helpingrelationship in which both parties canmore easily say what is on their minds.

MMaasstteerr TTwwoo NNeeww SSkkiillllssTwo sets of skills are involved in

developing helpful relationships:

Humble Inquiry

SINCE LEADERS ARE SUP-posed to set direction,

display wisdom, and telltheir followers what to do, we’ve becomeobsessed with leadership competenciesthat emphasize action, direction, andcharisma. That works in a simple worldwhere leaders can figure out what todo. Alas, that is not the world of today.

In a world of complexity, globalism,multiculturalism, dispersion, and socialresponsibility, formal leaders won’t knowenough to be decisive, will dependmore on the knowledge and skill ofcolleagues, will manage networks ofpeople from different cultures, and willfactor in new priorities in decisionmaking. These requirements force usto focus anew on Greenleaf’s conceptof servant leadership and my concept ofthe leader as a giver and receiver of help.

Leaders can’t give direction if theydon’t understand the complex realitiesof the situation, which means: 1) seek-ing help from many others to providethe information needed, 2) creating sit-uations in which others are motivatedto provide such information, and 3)helping others implement the desiredcourses of actions. Leaders need toseek, offer, provide and accept help—and often they are not very good at it.

KKeeyy ttoo SSuucccceessssffuull HHeellppiinnggHelping is complicated, since in most

cultures being a competent adult meansnot needing help. To ask for help puts theperson one-down and puts the potentialhelper temporarily one-up. To ask forhelp makes you vulnerable. To be askedfor help makes you powerful. To offerhelp when it has not been asked for isdisplaying power. The situation is ini-tially unbalanced. Normal social pro-cesses are balanced and equitable. Weknow our roles and the rules of tactinsure that most conversations are equi-table in terms of the social economics. Whenone person speaks, others pay attention!Asking for help or offering it when it isnot asked for disrupts this process. Andfor a leader to ask for help is a double dis-ruption of leader/follower expectations.

So what can go wrong? The personasking for help must trust the potentialhelper not to take advantage of the sit-

1. Learning how to ask the right ques-tions. Different questions have differentimpacts. Do we want respondents: a) tocontinue their story (humble inquiry), orb) to become more diagnostic by askingmany “why” and “what did you do”questions, or c) do we want to confrontthem: “Have you thought about doingthis?” (advice in the form of questions).

Knowing when to ask what type ofquestion and assessing the impact ofdifferent questions requires practice. Asleaders, we tend to use confrontativequestions. We think that being a leadermeans knowing what to do and offeringguidance and advice. In the new world,often formal leaders won’t know theanswer and need to create a helping sit-uation in which they and others solvethe problem together (mutual helping).

2. Learning what role to take in thehelping situation. Do we want: a) to bethe expert and provide information or aservice, b) to be the doctor who willdiagnose the problem and offer a pre-scription, or c) to enable the client tosolve his/her own problem by beingmore of a process consultant.

If the seeker clearly wants informa-tion or a service, we provide it, but wemust be sure that what the seeker asksfor is, in fact, the problem to be solved.Often in building the helping relation-ship, we discover that since the situa-tion is complicated we have to take onmore of a doctor role. If human systemsare involved, we also discover that wecan never learn enough about theclient’s system to offer answers oradvice, but we can become a processconsultant, a role in which we focus onhelping the client to solve his/her ownproblem. In this case, the helper andclient become a team working togetherto diagnose and figure out what to do.

We often assume that the leader mustgive the answer or be the doctor; in themulticultural new world, leadershipwill require more of a process consulta-tion role, since only the team memberswill have the knowledge and capacityto solve the problem. Leadership will in-volve a constant shifting of roles as the taskdemands change. All team members needto ask for and provide help as needed.Leadership becomes a distributed function.From this view, teamwork can then beseen as perpetual mutual helping, requir-ing each team member to engage inhumble inquiry with other members.

Mutual helping is a critical leadershipskill—and humble inquiry is the key tocreating mutual helping relationships. LE

Edgar H. Schein is the author of Helping: How to Offer, Giveand Receive Help (Berret-Koehler). Visit mitsloan.mit.edu.

ACTION: Engage in humble inquiry.

by Edgar H. Schein

4 A p r i l 2 0 1 1 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

CAPABILITY LEARNING

I t ’ s t h e k e y t o h e l p i n g .

to be available whenever someone wantstheir services but also be lean enough thattheir people are being fully utilized. As withtechnology tools, managing utilizationversus availability often feels like a no-win situation. In fact, trying to do bothis a no-win. Functions must be clearabout the primary drivers of businesssuccess to determine where they applyutilization or availability as organizingprinciples. And support organizationsneed a clear method for prioritizingtheir work and who they respond tofirst to keep the business running.

4. Solutions looking for problems. Toomany improvement efforts are solutionslooking for problems. Many functions, inbeing proactive with good intentions,identify a concept that they find com-pelling, get management support, andimplement the concept without under-

standing the relevance orapplication on day-to-daywork. Creating work for oth-ers tends to create the biggestcredibility gap between func-tions and those they serve. So,always identify what businessneed you are meeting. Other-wise, your leaders may seeyour work as an added bur-

den or distraction from real work.5. Accountability confusion. This

occurs when functions police budgets,policies, and procedures that belong tothe line and become accountable forissues that belong to the line. It’salarming how many functions desirethis responsibility. It creates misalign-ment, victims out of those who arebeing policed, and becomes a rationalefor the line not taking responsibilityand accountability for results.

Solutions to misalignment involveunderstanding requirements (what effec-tive support looks like) and determin-ing what responses drive the most value.This includes looking at the work youare doing and understanding how tobest position the work for the good ofthe business. The most lasting solutioncomes from understanding businesspurpose and strategy and aligning allfunctions to the same end result. Mostleaders see the need for alignment butdon’t address what is being aligned.Alignment implies direction or a referencepoint to align everything else with.

Support functions that are alignedto the business have clear prioritiesand those working in the functionclearly see the role their work plays. LE

Mark Nyman is an expert on HR Transformation with ResultsBased Leadership. Call 801-492-6955 or visit www.rbl.net.

ACTION: Align functions with business strategy.

Function Alignment

LEADERSHIP DEVELOP-ment approaches

should include businessacumen within their ambit, and theseapproaches need models with thepower to predict leadership acumen.

Do your executives have what ittakes to create capital? My goal is toassess the business acumen of managersand leaders; predict their impact on thefinancial outcomes; predict the finan-cial impact of teams; predict financialimpact using metrics that appear infinancial statements; and translate theseinto predictions of valuation impact.

My work is a part of the emergingdiscipline of behavioral finance. Thisshows how cognitive biases impactdecision-making. We enable the pre-diction of financial impact by identify-ing how the cognitive biases ofmanagers impact financial outcomes.

Business acumen can be measured—and its impact predicted. One aspect ofour work shows what behaviors charac-terize managers with exceptional capabili-ties for creating capital—the personalitiesof people who excel at making money.

We’ve developed three core psycho-metric assessment instruments:• Financial Outcome Assessment (FOA)

measures the financial signature of man-agers—their propensity to create capital.• Executive Outcome Assessment (EXOA)

measures the behavioral characteristicsthat lead to specific outcomes—how amanager’s behavior impacts financialoutcomes in practice in his situation.• Corporate Financial Outcome Assess-

ment (CFOA) measures the financialmission based on behavioral data. Thisenables us to evaluate alignment andmeasure competitive prowess from abehavioral perspective.

Since many executives have experi-enced these assessments, we can nowlook at the behaviors associated withcapital creation and financial impactand correlate the financial signatures ofmanagers with leadership outcomes.

EExxcceeppttiioonnaall MMoonneeyy--MMaakkeerrss AArree RRaarreeWe focus on the most exceptional

types of propensity for capital creation.Most managers do not create capital—theyconsume it (only 12 percent create capital).

Align with the purpose and strategy.

IN GOOD AND BAD ECON-omies, functions such

as HR, Finance, and ITare in a continual cycle of growing thenshrinking and centralizing only to decen-tralize. They are reengineering, down-sizing, outsourcing, or creating sharedservice organizations. One day they areasked to increase responsiveness, the nextthey’re asked to cut cost and improve effi-ciency. Most change efforts focused onsupport functions have unin-tended negative results. Forexample, when the HR func-tion makes what they feel arepositive changes, line leadersoften have a negative view.While they value the contri-bution of the HR peopleassigned to them, they don’tvalue the contribution of thefunction. Why? The changes HR makes toimprove the function do not help the lineleaders improve business results.

When functions try to improve with-out aligning with the organization asthe primary outcome, they tend to hurtrather than help business performance.

FFiivvee TTyyppeess ooff MMiissaalliiggnnmmeennttFive types of misalignments occur:1. Optimizing the function. Often a

function will implement changes thatmake their work more efficient or easi-er while making it harder for the orga-nization to achieve its goals. Supportfunctions must know who they are con-nected to and how their actions and improve-ments will impact the core business. Whenyou are in a support role, most of therequirements need to flow from thebusiness needs out rather than from thesupport organization to the business.

2. Standardization versus custom-ization. Standardization is a commonsolution in cost-cutting initiatives andstreamlining functions. When properlyapplied, it creates great value and costsavings. But when business driverscall for customization, standardizationresults in rework, shadow organiza-tions, and other drains on people’stime. The belief that work is scalable isnot enough of a reason to standardize.

3. Utilization versus availability.Functional groups are often challenged

by Mark Nyman

Money MakersD o y o u r l e a d e r s h a v e i t ?

by E. Ted Prince

MANAGEMENT ALIGNMENT CAPABILITY FINANCIAL

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e A p r i l 2 0 1 1 5

Four personality types have excep-tional capabilities in creating capital(yet even within these groups, only asmall subset excel in creating capital):• Alchemists are introverted and street-

wise, meaning they distrust logic. Theyinvariably create a new high-valueproduct that creates new market seg-ments. To qualify for this characteristic,the person is usually intensely introvert-ed and streetwise. Usually the compa-ny founded by this person does well,even though the founder is highlyintroverted, because the product is rev-olutionary enough that it attracts moremarket interest and sales support thatthe founder himself can’t attract.• Visionaries are extremely forward

looking and strongly oriented to givingup the present for a far-off future. Ifthey are too altruistic or too individual-istic, they will fail to generate revenue.They can be only mildly altruistic ormildly individualist; however, beingmildly visionary is insufficient—thepsychological impulse to look forwardmust be intense; otherwise, the personwill not show exceptional money-mak-ing and capital creation propensity.• Customer analysts are strongly sales

oriented, rather than product oriented.However, if they are too strongly sales-oriented, they won’t have a highpropensity to create capital. They arealso strongly financially oriented. Thisdoes not mean that they will havefinancial qualifications; in fact, usuallythey will not. Rather their zone of psy-chological comfort is exceptionallystrong in dealings with finances.• Generals are disciplined planners, but

if they are too strongly planning oriented,they are too slow in adapting to market con-ditions and thus lose market opportuni-ties. In addition, these managers can’tbe extremely consensual or command-oriented in their styles. If they becometoo strong in these areas, they lose thepropensity to create capital.

Where a manager or leader falls onthe money propensity scale dependson their behavioral characteristics andtheir intensity. You can use the resultsof these assessments to boost your self-awareness so that you can improveyour financial and valuation impact—and thus align better with the financialmission of the organization and withits valuation goals. Seek training inbusiness acumen. Complete the assess-ments, link your behaviors to businessoutcomes, and create self-awareness asto how this can improve your impact. LE

E. Ted Prince, Ph.D., is CEO of the Perth Leadership Institute.Call 352-333-3768 or visit www.perthleadership.org.

ACTION: Boost your money-making capability.

by Larry Senn

up in several ways. Cultural traits wecommonly see that create barriers tochange include turf issues, trust issuesor people working in silos. These allget in the way when changes requirecollaboration across the enterprise.There is also a need for more agilityand innovation than ever before.

Acquisitions are a part of thegrowth strategy for many companiesand it is well known that the biggestreason for shortfall in acquisitions andmergers is “cultural clash”. So, if thatis the strategy, creating an acquisitionfriendly and aware culture is animperative. Other companies are seek-ing to change their structure, such asmoving from a holding company ordecentralized model to a “one compa-ny” shared business model. In both sit-uations, the cultural traits that needstrengthening are trust and collabora-tion for the greater good.

To eliminate the Jaws of Culture, weadvise CEOs to focus on the culture tosupport the strategy, beginning at thesenior team because those leaders setthe example for the rest of the organi-zation. One CEO who did this to greatsuccess is Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh. He

regularly points out that hehad to get the culture rightto succeed at creating thebest customer experience.Why? Because it is thebehaviors of employeesthat affect the experiencecustomers have. Hsieh isan example of a CEO whofocused on culture to sup-port his service strategyand by doing so created a

distinctive competitive advantage.In order to make their culture a

launching pad for success, CEOs andtheir teams should define or revisittheir organizations’ cultural defini-tions. Do the value statements coverthe kinds of behaviors the companyneeds to win at this moment in time? Ifnot, they need to be adjusted. If thecultural definitions are fine but thebehaviors don’t match, CEOs need tofirst find ways to ensure the team atthe top is living and modeling thedesired behaviors. This is becauseorganizations become shadows of theirleaders. Special training processes andreinforcement systems can be used tobring the desired culture to all levels inthe organization. LE

Larry Senn, Ph.D., is Chairman of Senn Delaney, shaping cul-tures that enhance spirit and performance. Call 562-426-5400,email lsenn@senndelaney.com or visit www.senndelaney.com.This article is adapted from his interview in The CEO Forum.

ACTION: Align strategy, structure, and culture.

CEOS AND SENIOR TEAMShave a lot—usually

too much—on theirplates, especially today. So, what arethe blue chips, the highest value thingsfor CEOs to focus on? We believe thereare three powerful drivers of perfor-mance that deserve their attention.

1. Purpose and direction—connect-ing people at all levels to the missionand their declared strategy for fulfill-ing that mission.

2. Structure and enabling processes—creating the best organization struc-ture and supporting system to drivethat strategy.

3. An enabling culture—ensuring thebehaviors in the organization are thespecific ones needed to make the struc-ture and strategy work.

While this appears to bea reasonable agenda, sever-al factors make this difficultto do. First, these driversare vital but not timeurgent, and culture is thehardest to shift into align-ment. Most CEOs and theirtop teams can effectivelyadjust their strategies.They’re also good at devis-ing new organizationalstructures. But as Ed Schein, one of thepioneers in culture, said, “An organi-zation’s culture is its response to theway things used to be.”

In other words, the culture lags andcan become the anchor out the back ofthe boat. We call this the Jaws of Culture.We all encounter those jaws at one timeor another when we go to implement achange and it doesn’t go easily.

Culture represents the collective normsand behaviors in the organization. Mostcompanies have solid core values andcultural traits that have made themgreat. They also have historic habitsthat haven’t changed with the times.Those habits can get in the way, espe-cially when strategy or structure/pro-cess changes or when higher levels ofperformance are needed. If not system-atically addressed, these cultural barri-ers act like jaws in the culture that canchew up strategies and initiatives.

In terms of cultural traits, this shows

Leader’s Job OneAlign strategy, structure and culture.

LEADERSHIP ALIGNMENT

6 A p r i l 2 0 1 1 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

opportunities for growth. Others areinnovating to capture consumer inter-est in global markets. And, it’s not justtechnological innovation. I think ofNestlé, which launched its first floatingsupermarket on the Brazilian Amazon,a retail barge that extends its reach tomore than 800,000 customers.

This global view contrasts sharplywith the perception of those who haverelied more on Western economies forgrowth. Those CEOs are more subdued.As they wait for consumers to crank uptheir spending again, the cup is notonly half empty, but leaking steadily.

So who’s right and who’s wrong? Itdepends upon your perception. In thiscase, however, throw away percep-tion—the classical lens of West versusEast or developed versus emerging has

blurred. The world’s axis has tilted andthe compass spins in all directions.

Leadership, however, is timeless andcan’t wait for clarity. It is about makingand seizing opportunity—not by sittinghome consumed by pundits and prog-nosticators, but by leaders listeningand learning from those who mattermost: customers and employees.

Some months ago, on the eve of herretirement as chairwoman of Xerox, Imet with Anne Mulcahy. She recalledher early days as CEO of Xerox whenthe company teetered on the brink ofbankruptcy. As the new CEO in thosedays, Mulcahy was pulled in countlessdirections until she received some sageadvice from Warren Buffett: “There isonly one way you are going to get results,and that’s by keeping your customers loyaland your people engaged and motivated.Get everything else out of the way.”

By focusing on customers and employ-ees—Mulcahy accomplished the near-impossible: saving Xerox.

The mission for leaders today is nodifferent. In a directionless economy in

Beyond Perception

CONSIDER THIS STORY:A group of settlers

in a remote village ofOutpost were preparing for winter.The group’s leader, unschooled in theold ways, guessed that the winterwould be cold and that people shouldgather firewood. One day, he traveledto the nearest town and called theNational Weather Service, which con-firmed his suspicion: the winter wasindeed going to be cold. The leaderordered more firewood to be collected,and checked in with the NWS again aweek later, which amended its fore-cast—not only for a cold winter, but avery cold winter. So the people ofOutpost gathered even more wood.

When the leader checked in withthe NWS a third time, the predictionwas now for a very, very cold winter.Finally, having asked for every branchand twig to be gathered, the leaderasked the NWS how they could be sosure. The answer: “The people of Out-post are gathering a lot of firewood.”

In a directionless economy, it is veryeasy for perceptions to become reality.The levers of growth are not as appar-ent as they were in the days of con-spicuous consumption and fast credit.

Myopically focusing on the declinein Western consumer sentiment, youwill undoubtedly perceive an econo-my that, while officially out of thegreat recession, is barely growing. Ifso, you are probably preparing for along cold winter of anemic growth.

Not every leader, however, seesthings the same way. This past sum-mer, I spent much of my time on theroad in Europe, talking to leaders fromPaul Bulcke, CEO of Nestlé, to formerPrime Minister of Hungary GordonBajnai. My mission was twofold: to bewith employees and clients outside ofthe United States and to engage in dis-cussions with other leaders on whatthey see, hear, and experience.

In every conversation, I was struckby the bifurcation in perceptions. Forthose who lead global enterprises, theproverbial glass is half full and contin-uing to fill. They are investing and hir-ing and expanding because they see

which the signs are faint, leaders mustget close to customers and employees toseparate perception from reality.

Although it sounds simple, it can bedifficult to do. Leaders who have spenttheir careers climbing a pyramid toreach the pinnacle can become insulat-ed and even isolated if they don’t sepa-rate who they are from what they do.They often become engrossed in theinverted pyramid that suddenly appearsabove them—layers of constituencies,including the media, special interestgroups, stockholders, financial analysts,and so on. At the intersection of the twopyramids is the CEO, who must notonly look over the horizon, but relent-lessly execute today, for that deter-mines the starting point for tomorrow.

That means being connected to whatmatters the most. This is what Mulcahycalled “logging the miles,” traveling tomeet with employees and customers inperson. It’s a high-touch style of lead-ership that allows not just communica-tion from the leader, but dialogue withthe people who are the closest to themarketplace. As she observed, “I don’tthink people can get the sense of theleadership dynamic of the companywithout the ability to touch and seeand interact on a personal basis.”

Her comments bring to mind theobservation by Muhtar Kent, CEO ofThe Coca-Cola Company. His first taskin changing the culture into one of con-nection was to visit major and minormarkets and to meet customers. It wasthe same tactic he used when he was incharge of Asia for Coca-Cola. “The firstthing I did was to go to every country(39). Back then, most of our peopledidn’t even know the names of ourbiggest customers,” Kent recalled.

The experiences of Kent and Mulcahyshould serve as a wake-up call for CEOsand other leaders to consider wherethey are spending most of their time. Ifthey dwell at the intersection of thepyramid tips, they will be squeezed. Ifthey overly rely on perceptions, itundoubtedly will be myopic and cer-tainly will be filtered. If that happens,they shouldn’t be surprised if theyspend most of their time hunkeringdown for a long, cold winter.

Those who empower others whileventuring out themselves to listen andlearn will discover astonishing newlevers of growth. For them, there willbe pockets of spring where potentialblooms and opportunity grows. LE

Gary D. Burnison is CEO of KornFerry International andauthor of No Fear of Failure. Visit www.kornferry.com.

ACTION: Focus on customers and employees.

by Gary D. Burnison

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e A p r i l 2 0 1 1 7

LEADERSHIP SERVICE

P e r c e p t i o n b e c o m e s r e a l i t y .

mostly a superstition. It does not existin nature. Avoiding danger is no safer inthe long run than outright exposure. Life iseither a daring adventure or nothing.”

The remove rather than add approachmeans leaders focus on eliminating allthat exists in the work world that fuelsthe opposite of boldness—timidity,hesitance, doubt, and reserve.

Boldness is borne of purpose. Stok-ing the flames of boldness begins witha wide-eyed focus on a dream or pur-pose rather than a squint-eyed look atthe task or job. Caution comes frombeing mired in day-to-day activity. Asthe trees block your forest vista, youare soon left blind to aspirations anddreams. “I came to my last job,” saidone retired leader, “with a great senseof purpose. But, I got so enmeshed in

what I had to do that I soon forgot what Ihad hoped to be. It was not until I wasready to retire that I realized I had got-ten more defensive and less daring.”

Boldness is a choice based on a com-mitment to a future state. It’s not a reac-tion but deliberate action. It is pro-action atits finest—a step toward the light. It isborne of a noble reach beyond themediocre of the moment and the ordi-nariness of the status quo. Daring with-out recklessness requires awareness ofa purpose or vision and a desire tomove in the direction of that future.Bold leaders have a valued dream thatserves as the compass for their courageand an inspiration to associates.

Bold leaders, intent on fosteringinnovation, talk often about mission andvision. They focus on what they want aunit or organization to BE, not just DO.Such leaders communicate the whyswhen making assignments, not just thewhats and whens. They affirm heroes bytelling their stories—especially the details

Cultivate Innovation

IN TODAY’S INNOVATION-DEPRIVED ECON-omy, proactive leaders adopt the

proverb: “Fortune favors the bold butabandons the timid.”

Once we consulted with a financialservices company as their leaders con-sidered launching a change manage-ment effort that would foster a moreinnovative approach to their market-place. Every meeting, phone call andemail was painted the color of timidi-ty. “Why the extreme caution?” weasked them at the end of another do-nothing-but-talk meeting? The COOreplied, “We’ve been in a bunker mind-set so long we’ve forgotten that chutz-pah has been the key to our success.”

A steady diet of cut-backs, layoffs,and budget crunches has introducedan abundance of caution into most lead-ers. The Great Recession trimmed theirwings—turning them into activity-seek-ers instead of results-makers.

Now’s the time for leadership bold-ness. The key to progress and growthis innovation—and innovation is neverspawned in a culture of reticence.“Boldness has genius, power, andmagic in it,” wrote Scottish explorerW.H. Murray. “Until one is committed,there is hesitancy, the chance to drawback, and always ineffectiveness.”

Innovation is counter cultural, againstthe grain, and unconventional. It issometimes cut from unfamiliar cloth.While the specific output of innova-tion might not be that controversial, itsprings from a restless, unsettled placethat today’s leaders must occupy ifthey are to inspire innovation. It is thehabitat of ground-breaking pioneersand norm-breaking entrepreneurs.Inventors and artists of all types residethere as well. And, the company orcountry that leads the innovationspace corners the marketplace.

Leading boldness is not about some-thing leaders add as much as some-thing they remove. Boldness resides inus all. Helen Keller wrote: “Security is

of their accomplishments that representexamples of the vision and purpose.And, they make certain their actions areconsistent with the vision and purpose.

Boldness happens when employeesdo not fear error. Boldness would notbe daring were there not potential forerror. Leaders foster a healthy attitudetoward failure. When Thomas Edisonwas asked about failure associated withhis quest for invention he said: “I neverfailed once. It just happened to be a2,000-step process.” Edison held over1,000 patents. How you deal with errorcan communicate volumes about yourcommitment to fostering innovation.When you meet error with rebuke, yousend a different message than whenyou see error as an opportunity forlearning and problem-solving.

As part of encouraging bold leader-ship, recognize that employees don’t resistchange as much as they resist the predic-tion of pain over which they have no con-trol. Helping employees view change asopportunity not threat requires candidcommunication as well as an atmos-phere of inclusion. The more employ-ees are in the know and find theirfingerprints on change initiatives, themore they will replace fear with fervor.

Without risk, there’s no creativity.However with risk come honest mis-takes. It is easier to gently rein in anoverzealous, go-the-extra-mile employ-ee than to find one with an enthusiasticattitude in the first place. Fostering dar-ing is a manifestation of trust—thegreater the trust, the greater the freedom.But, with freedom comes with respon-sibility. The bold leader’s job is to coachemployees to feel more comfortablewith more and more responsibility.

Examine policies and procedures.Are employees clear on what is a thoushalt not law versus an it would be betterif you didn’t guideline? Are rules of thumband rules of law treated the same? Aremetrics so abusive that employees feelthat leaders are pulling plants out of thedirt to determine if they are growing? Areemployees publicly given the benefit ofthe doubt? Do they get more coachingor more critiquing? How many timesdo employees get praised for excellentefforts that failed to work? Are employ-ees commended for seeking assistancefrom others, including other leaders?

RReessppoonnssiibbllee FFrreeeeddoommPeople need guidelines, not unlimited

license. The leader who says, “Just godo whatever you think is best,” isdemonstrating abdication, not encour-aging boldness. But guidelines needelbow room for people to adapt to the

8 A p r i l 2 0 1 1 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

CHANGE INNOVATION

by Chip R. Bell and John R. Patterson

I t a l l r e q u i r e s b o l d l e a d e r s h i p .

more aware and sensitive to how theirpart fits into the whole. You also havepeople who can step in and help, in avariety of areas, when needed. Deeptraining is one of the best uses of yourtimes while business is slow. Also, asthe economy turns around you willhave a competitive edge and reap thebenefits of having highly trained staff.• Leadership Lesson: The sense of

shared responsibility is the end product oftraining in tough times.

3. Be a hope giver. Here is whereyour ability to use aspirational languagecomes to the forefront. Your words caninspire or discourage, hurt or help, di-vide or connect, cause fear or give hope.

Once again, gather your teamstogether and reassure them that it maynot be easy, but pulling together is theonly way to survive in these toughtimes. Have a discussion about whyyour enterprise exists and have thegroup clarify your statement of pur-pose. Ask each person to share ideasabout how you benefit your cus-tomers. Ask them to define what theybelieve brings you all together in ashared sense of purpose.

American Express lost 11 employeeson 9/11. On 9/12 KennethChennault, CEO, knew thathe would need to commu-nicate a strong dose of hopein the face of such an over-whelming tragedy. Ninedays later he brought theentire New York City staffto Madison Square Gardenfor a team meeting. He toldthem that it would takecourage and hard work, but

he was confident that they would allpull through together. His calmdemeanor, quiet grace, and words ofhope, gave his followers the confi-dence they needed to carry on.• Leadership Lesson: Feelings of opti-

mism and expectation are greatly enhancedby your ability to help followers step outsideof themselves and serve a higher purpose.

Yes, times are tough. It takes excep-tional leadership to move your teamforward. If you help everyone keep abetter perspective on which to focuspriorities, train them to support oneanother, and use aspirational languageto uplift and give hope, you are usingthree of the most powerful 21st centuryleadership skills. LE

Sheila Murray Bethel, Ph.D., is CEO Bethel Leadership Institute,speaker, author of A New Breed Of Leader, 8 Qualities ThatMatter Most in the Real World, and Global Leadership, Changeand Customer Service Expert. Visit www.bethelinstitute.com,email Sheila@bethelinstitute.com, or call 925-935-5258.

ACTION: Adopt these three priorities.

IT IS NEVER EASY TO LEAD,and in these turbulent

times it is harder thanever before. The big question is, whatcan you do today to be a more effectiveleader? How can you help your peoplethrough these tough economic times?

Here are three actions you can take torelieve employee stress, increase pro-ductivity, and enhance your leadershipauthenticity.

1. Focus on A priorities. We are allbombarded daily by bad news thataffects our self-confidence, attitudeand work product. One of your mostimportant leadership skills is to helppeople stay focused on the tasks thatare the anchor of your business. Theseare the basics and almost always bringthe highest results. Help your teamemphasize best practicesand the most valuableprocesses and procedures intheir job description.

A recent client asked meto help improve companymorale. The first thing wedid was gather the variousteams together. Each teamhad a leader that guidedthem through a short exer-cise in which each personlisted the most productive and impor-tant things they do in their job. Theythen evaluated the least effective activ-ities and quickly saw where to puttheir energies and effort. As theycleared away less important tasks, andfocused on basics they felt moreassured and much of their stress wasrelieved as they got to work on their“A” list of jobs.• Leadership Lesson: Help your people

focus on A priorities, all else can wait forbetter times. Get back to the basics andresults will follow.

2. Train Train Train. As they say insports, “go deep on the bench”. Whichtranslates into: train, retrain and cross-train your followers so that they havea broader depth of appreciation for allparts of your business. You will bebuilding a strong team of players whounderstand not only their jobs butthose of their fellow workers.

The benefit is that everyone becomes

Effective LeadershipThree strategies for tough times.

by Sheila Murray Bethel

LEADERSHIP STRATEGIESsituation. Risk taking is not a blank checkto be foolhardy and reckless. Sensible risktaking comes from knowing how tobalance great performance with responsi-ble stewardship. It is “owner-thinking.” Ifemployees are to make front-line deci-sions like owners, they need the benefitof owner-type information.

“A lot of us think that success isabout the boldness of the gamble,”says Harvard Business School profes-sor Nancy Koehn. “Success is aboutunderstanding what’s bold about the bold-ness, about knowing how to keep therisk from coming back to bite you, andabout knowing what your organizationwill get from taking such a big step.”

Boldness does not mean the absence offear. People who are daredevils thinkthey are invincible. Their arrogancecauses them to miss seeing the signalsand cues needed as guidance to suc-cess. Sometimes hotdogs get lucky; intime, they crash and burn. Innovation-focused leaders help associates respect fearand channel it. They provide outlets forpeople to talk about their apprehen-sions and deliver support and encour-agement when people have doubts.

Examine your reward and recogni-tion practices. Which is more valued:creativity or compliance? Being resourcefulor being always right? Who gets praisedor promoted—and for what? Former 3MCEO Lew Lehr said: “If you place toomany fences around people they caneasily become pastures of sheep. Howmany patents are assigned to sheep?”

Surround your unit with bold people.Seek the council of others who exhibitdaring. Invite card-carrying mavericksto your meetings. Read biographies ofpioneers who overcame personal limi-tations to achieve greatness. Visit orga-nizations famous for breakthroughthinking—R&D facilities, art studios,and culinary institutes. While yourapproach needs to be relevant to yourunit, others can offer insightful suggestions.

As an old expression notes: Only deadfish swim with the current. Smart fish swimin all directions, but the pull of the cur-rent does not influence their choice.Innovation never comes from follow-ing the herd. Bold leaders bent on culti-vating innovation live the vision, drivefear out, and encourage employees tothink and feel like owners. The byprod-uct is the assurance of business creativ-ity that brings the best and brightest tothe marketplace leading to valuedprogress and consistent growth. LE

Chip R. Bell and John R. Patterson are customer loyalty consultantsand authors of Wired and Dangerous: How Customers Have Chang-ed and What to Do About It. Visit www.wiredanddangerous.com.

ACTION: Exercise bold leadership in innovation.

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e A p r i l 2 0 1 1 9

blinded him to the need to develop hisstaff. Once he identified his assump-tion, he could see that to handle hiscurrent demands he needed to devel-op the talent that reported to him. Carlasked a promising direct to take oversome of his duties. And it paid off! Theman stepped up to the plate withenthusiasm and effectiveness, delightedwith the trust that Carl placed in him.

Second, Carl assumed his cheerful-ness would win the day. Since cheerful-ness had brought him so much success,he worried when he wasn’t cheerful.When he was upset with underperform-ers, for example, he tried to deny hisfeelings. This strategy created problems.When a direct report was under-per-forming, Carl needed to notice his feel-ings of displeasure so that he couldtake appropriate developmental action,hopefully while the situation was stillsalvageable. When lost in his cheerful-ness, Carl let poor performance go toolong. His job also required him to dealwith tough personalities. Sometimes

his cheerfulness diffused the situation;at other times, Carl needed to be toughhimself. Showing resolve, perhaps witha splash of annoyance, would be moreuseful. But Carl hated to feel annoyed,since feeling annoyed created a senseof failure. Breaking through this glasswall involved learning to recognize thatannoyance—even anger—could promoteneeded outcomes, such as not letting abully intimidate him or others.

What about you? What are your glasswalls? You can let them control your behav-ior, or you can take control, changingassumptions that were once valid, butno longer serve you well. Identifyingassumptions that create glass walls isn’teasy (they’re invisible—outside aware-ness); nor is it for the faint of heart.

Talking with an executive coach orother trusted advisor is one approach.Your organization might provide lead-ership skill development (including anexecutive coach) to enable you to learnabout your glass walls. Once you learnabout them, you are empowered tomake a choice about how to handlethem. Then you can begin building

Glass Walls

CARL IS A HIGH-POTEN-tial leader. He is

smart, good looking, andhas a cheerful personality that drawspeople to him. He is well regarded atwork. Some think he has it all together.

I know better. I’ve spent 40 yearsworking with highly successful people.I hear about their successes, and aboutwhere they get stuck. And they all getstuck at some point. What gets in theirway? Paradoxically, it’s often the onething that’s made them so successful.

Here’s how it works: Behaviors thathelp you get what you want get repeated.With enough success and repetition,these behaviors become habits. Whena behavior becomes habitual, it fallsout of your awareness. You do it auto-matically, without thinking whetheryou should or not. You assume it is theright thing to do. For example, youmight assume that in order to becomesuccessful, you need to work hard.

Assumptions bring order out ofchaos, enabling you to narrow thecountless choices available to youevery time you act, without forcingyou to examine each possibility everytime. They bring predictability andefficiency. Questioning assumptionsevery time you make a choice abouthow to act would defeat their purpose.

But as circumstances change, theassumptions you hold may no longerbe valid. Yet, your outdated assump-tions continue to guide your behav-ior—off course, functionally barringyou from getting where you want togo. Unseen yet powerful, they have lit-erally become glass walls.

CCaarrll’’ss GGllaassss WWaallllssAlthough he seemed to have every-

thing going for him, Carl was actuallystruggling. He worked overtime to suc-ceed, but felt that he wasn’t measuring up.

In our work together, we discov-ered two glass walls:

First, Carl assumed that the solutionto any problem was to work harder.Over a series of promotions, he hadaccumulated increasing responsibili-ties that exceeded what any one per-son could do. His drive to work hard

skills that you didn’t need when yourelied on old strengths—like hard workand cheerfulness—alone. Breakingdown your glass walls gives you accessto more of your performance potential.

TTrryy SSeellff--CCooaacchhiinnggIf you don’t have a coach, try this:First, ask yourself some questions:

What do I admire most in others? Who aremy heroes? When have I been proudest ofmyself? The answers will tell you some-thing about your espoused beliefs andvalues. These are the thoughts youhave that you would like to believeguide your behavior. (“I’m a no-non-sense guy. I tell it like it is. You alwaysknow where you stand with me.”)

Next, consider your behavior over thepast week. Take a hard look at discrep-ancies between your stated beliefs andyour behavior. For example, maybeyou value courage, but avoid necessaryconflict. Maybe you compliment some-one you should be taking to task.

Note the times that you don’t behavein alignment with your stated values.These times signal the presence of hid-den assumptions (glass walls) that arechanneling your behavior in unintend-ed directions, blocking you from reach-ing the results you’re seeking. Thesehidden assumptions, not your stated values,are guiding your behavior. (Maybe youreally think that people aren’t strongenough to take what you have to say.Ask yourself what might be makingyou believe that. Or you may worrythat someone might not like you if youtold them what you think, and believebeing liked at all times is crucial to success.)

Ask what might be compelling youto act as you do when a behavior con-flicts with your espoused values. Thisquestion can bring your hidden assump-tions to light. These are your glass walls.

Give yourself permission to beimperfect. Taking a close look at your-self isn’t easy. Accepting your imperfec-tions will free you up to work on them.

Your past success doesn’t guaranteeyour future success. As you progress, youwill confront new situations that requirechanged responses. The hardest part ofchange is identifying limiting assump-tions, or glass walls. Once you achievethat, learning new skills and responsesbecomes much more manageable. Asyou do so, you’ll break through to abrighter future, perhaps with a key tothe executive wash room. LE

Dana C. Ackley, Ph.D., is CEO of EQ Leader, an executivecoaching and leader development firm, and author of EQLeader and BreakGlassWall Programs. Emaildana.ackley@eqleader.net, or visit http://www.eqleader.net.

ACTION: Challenge your assumptions.

by Dana C. Ackley

1 0 A p r i l 2 0 1 1 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

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work can be—ought to be—activity thatexpresses your values, gives meaningto your life, and brings you satisfaction.

You, Inc. is headed by your topmanagement team—Physical Health andEnergy, Emotional Intelligence, Values andBeliefs areas—that make up your “nat-ural resources.” If this team isn’t oper-ating effectively, you suffer from lackof drive, motivation, productivity, andenergy. Five departments report to You,Inc.: Learning, Family, Social, Career,and Financial. If any de-partment is underperform-ing, you won’t operatesmoothly or optimally. Tomanage the multipledemands, you need aPersonal Life Plan, or TotalLife Leadership Plan thataddresses every aspect ofyour life. The wheel of life ismade up of an inner huband an outer ring. In thehub are Physical (Body), Psychological(Mind) and Values (Spirit). These areyour natural resources. How well youmaintain these resources determineswhat you achieve.

Here are four keys to L1, the Four P’sof self-leadership: Purpose: Know whatis important to you and where you aregoing. Performance: Understandinghow you are performing in all depart-ments of work and life. Planning: Mapout a direction to improve, maintain,and lead all areas of work and life.Problem Solving: Use your resourcesand skills to make needed changes.

Think about what you value most,how satisfied you are, and how you areperforming. This enables you to for-mulate an L1 Leadership POV (Pointof View)—a Vision, Mission, and Plan.

L2 Leading with others: Cultivatingand sustaining collaborative advantage.Your position in L2 reflects the founda-tion of L1 and frees you to work withindividuals and teams from a positionof mutual self-interest. When you man-age well in the L1 portion of your life,you can forge productive relationshipsin all aspects. When you approach aninteraction from a position of creatingpossibilities, you give permission forothers to follow. Collaboration becomesthe way you live in relation to others.

Today’s networks of relationships

Turn Vision into Reality

WE INVITE YOU TO ENVISION YOURorganization as a best place to work,

with a highly engaged and productiveworkforce. Envision leaders and man-agers aligning to the vision, mission,and values. Envision leaders, managers,employees, partners, and customersbuilding collaborative advantage. En-vision all employees engaged and moti-vated to reach their potential. Envisiona place where people lead themselveswell, build high performance teams,and create the very best place to work.

Now, use the L3 Leadership Model toturn vision into reality. The model exploresthree integrated attributes that deter-mine how you lead and who will follow:

L1 Leading Self: Total life leader-ship, personal mastery, and work/lifeintegration (You Inc.). L1 is groundedin your personal values and reflectsyour authenticity, integrity and bal-ance. It is how you conduct your life—the harmonious blending of all facetsof your life: body, mind and spirit,family, social, career, and financial. Itbegins with an internal sense of self-confidence, emotional intelligence,and balance that cultivates an authen-tic leadership presence. This quiet con-fidence effortlessly engages followerswho will support you by offeringtrust, passion, calculated risk, emo-tional intelligence, and other support-ive attributes that provide highperformance and productivity. It ismore about who you are than yourposition, training, or personality traits.

Personal leadership is a state of being—it is who you are, what you believe,and how you behave. It’s the sum totalof your attitudes and beliefs, actions,and values. The greater your self-mas-tery, the greater your success. Leader-ship doesn’t depend on pay or position,but on character, integrity, authenticity,and belief in yourself. Life and workare interrelated—you not only work tolive but, given the right conditions andopportunities, will live to work. Your

mandate a new level of cooperationand collaboration. People are beingasked to achieve results in cultureswhere the hierarchical structure nolonger applies—by influencing others,often across boundaries with no directline control of resources. The drum-beat of do more with less is now compli-cated by the need to form alliances.

Any kind of achievement requires thecrossing of boundaries, often bringing im-probable partners together for an exchangeof knowledge, skills and resources acrossdisciplines, cultures, and units. Examineyour current experience with collabo-ration. Think about how things aregoing, what you could do to improve,and actions that have the best chancesfor creating impact and improvement.

Seven different partnerships requiremaintenance. Three insideyour firm: Direct Reports,Co-workers and Otherleaders and managers. Andfour outside: Customers,Suppliers, Competitors andConsultants. The challengeof leadership is growth,and building partnershipsis the key. Sharing costs,risks and credit for success-es rather than competing

internally is the formula for success.Of these seven Partnerships, choose

one from inside and one from outsideand characterize where the relationshipis today, where you would like it to beand what specific actions you couldtake to move it in the desired direction.

L3 Leading Others: Creating the BestPlace to Work culture of high engage-ment, retention, performance and pro-ductivity. L3 becomes the culture of thework team, department, division orcompany. L3 Leadership Power is notposition power or influence power, butrather Regenerative Power. Engaging,mobilizing, and motivating others torealize their own L3 Leadership Powerfuels the leadership engine. This powercreates a culture of self-responsibility,trust, and risk-taking based on peoplewho lead themselves well. These peo-ple make stronger leaders, who createstronger teams, and together buildhigh-performance organizations.

Great managers are key to the selec-tion and retention of talented andengaged employees. Their ability toselect for, clarify expectations around,deploy with an eye for peak perfor-mance, and develop staff to emphasizenatural talents leads to an engagedstaff that produces bottom-line results.

In a best place to work, how peopleare treated adds to competitive advan-

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e A p r i l 2 0 1 1 1 1

LEADERSHIP VISION

U s e t h e L 3 ‘ S t a t e o f B e i n g ’ a p p r o a c h .

by Marc Michaelson and John Anderson

tages. Such workplaces receive morequalified applications, experience alower turnover, reduce health carecosts, enjoy higher customer satisfac-tion and loyalty, foster greater innova-tion, creativity and risk-taking,outperform competition, and havehigher sustained profits.

When you invest in your people,you invest in your success. We see apositive relationship between training,motivating, and empowering employ-ees and gains in productivity, employeesatisfaction and financial performance.

Leaders can create a Best Place toWork Culture by first creating a cultureof trust. In the L3 model, trust is com-posed of three dimensions: Credibility,Respect, and Fairness. Credibility meansmanagers regularly communicate withemployees about direction and plans—and solicit their ideas. It involves coor-dinating people and resources. It’s theintegrity management brings: words arefollowed by appropriate actions. Respectinvolves providing employees with theequipment, resources, and training theyneed, and appreciating good work andextra effort. It includes making partnersof employees, fostering a spirit of col-laboration. Fairness suggests sharingeconomic success and recognition equi-tably. Decisions on hiring and promo-tions are made impartially, and theworkplace seeks to free itself of dis-crimination, with clear processes forappealing and adjudicating disputes.

As companies become great, the work-place becomes a community. Employeestake pride in their job, their team, andcompany. People take pleasure in theirwork—and in the people they workwith—in a deep, lasting way.

LLeeaaddeerrsshhiipp LLeeggaaccyy——LL11,, 22 aanndd 33Whatever your position, if you

influence change in the lives of thosearound you, you are engaged in an actof leadership. And you are creating aleadership legacy—the sum total of thedifference you make in people’s lives.

When you honor the tenants of L1 andL2, you create L3 Leadership Capacity, thebasic elements being: Integrity—thequality or condition of being whole orundivided, complete; Authenticity—beingauthentic, trustworthy, genuine; Balance—a harmonious or satisfying arrange-ment or proportion of parts or elements.

By acting with integrity and authentici-ty and modeling total life integration, youset the tone for peak performance. LEMarc Michaelson and John Anderson are principals of GlowanConsulting Group. Marc is a consultant, trainer, executive coach,and author. John has served as a GM, CEO, and is author ofRunning the Corporate Rapids. Visit www.glowan.com.

ACTION: Create a leadership legacy.

by Steve Arneson

the strategy process and involve people.3. Timely and useful performance

feedback. Everyone deserves feedback.Employees have a right to know howthey’re doing, and how they can getbetter. Leaders need to conduct perfor-mance reviews in a way that’s honest,fair and robust. This alone would causea lot of leaders to step up their game!

4. Opportunity to contribute ideasand innovation. All employees havethe right to offer suggestions and ideas.Leaders must create a safe environmentwhere employees feel comfortable chal-lenging the status quo. Leaders mustsolicit ideas and listen to them.

5. Frequent, honest communication.Leaders must tell employees what theyknow, when they know it. Communicationmust be clear, frequent, and candid.Leaders who can’t or won’t communi-cate honestly won’t be tolerated.

6. Empowerment—everyone deservesto be empowered. Leaders should sethigh (but fair) expectations and give em-ployees the resources and time to dogreat things. Employees must be allow-ed to do it their way as much as possible;an empowered team is an engaged team.

7. Recognition for great performance.All employees like to berecognized for hard work.Leaders must praise peoplewhen they do great thingsand recognize team accom-plishments (people respondwell to positive reinforcement).

8. Career development.People want to learn, growand move their careers for-ward. Leaders must helppeople stretch, grow and

move up, even if it means exportingtalent across the company. Leaderscan’t hoard talent or keep people inthe same role for years.

9. A mature, professional workplace.Everyone wants to work in a first-classfirm where everything is done with strongvalues and a high degree of excellence.Leaders must value diversity, lead byexample, and do the right thing.

10. Respect as an individual. Noharassment or stupid rules. Employeesdeserve to be treated respectfully, andvalued for their talents. Leaders willsay “thank you” (a lot), and work hardto bring out the best in everyone.

All leaders are obliged to advancethe art of the craft. Ensuring these 10rights is a good place to start. LE

Steve Arneson, Ph.D., is a leadership coach and speaker,President, Arneson Leadership Consulting, and author ofBootstrap Leadership. Visit www.arnesonleadership.com;steve@arnesonleadership.com.

ACTION: Set your own bill of rights.

EVERY LEADER IS UNIQUE.Leaders bring differ-

ent experiences to theirroles, motivate differently, and have theirown style. There is no one way to lead.In fact, one challenge of working fordifferent leaders is adapting to theirmannerisms or approaches.

It’s good that leaders are unique. Butunique is one thing; ineffective is anoth-er. We all know managers who are use-less, if not counter-productive, as leaders.They don’t inspire or develop their peo-ple; worse, they alienate and de-motivategood employees. No one deserves a badmanager, yet they are everywhere. Butwhat if we could change that?

What we need is a set of leadershipstandards—and a mandate that all lead-ers must follow them. What if there werea set of universal rules, prin-ciples or behaviors for lead-ing others? What if leaderswere held accountable tothem? What if employeeshad universal expectations fortheir leaders? Having a setof universal rights andaccountabilities might makefor some interesting behav-ior change, help us identifybad managers, and havestandard consequences for bad behavior:ignore one employee right, and you’rereprimanded; break two, and you loseyour bonus; break three, you’re fired.That would get leaders’ attention!

EEmmppllooyyeeee BBiillll ooff RRiigghhttssHere are 10 rights that every employ-

ee should expect from their leaders:1. Clear and compelling vision. Every

employee deserves a sense of purpose anda chance to “sign up” for somethingmeaningful and inspiring. Leaders needto paint a clear picture of why the teamexists. Those who can’t explain the pur-pose shouldn’t be leading the group.

2. Opportunity to participate in set-ting strategy. Every employee gets asay in how the vision will be realized.Strategy equals how, and leaders mustfigure out how to solicit and listen to inputabout the strategy. After all, employeesdoing the work have a sense of how itcan best be done. Leaders need to open

Employee Bill of RightsIt’s every leader’s responsibility.

LEADERSHIP RIGHTS

1 2 A p r i l 2 0 1 1 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

as leaders; what strong execution lookslike; and how to build skills and moti-vate others moving forward.

CCaassee IInn PPooiinntt:: SSooddeexxooA $20 billion on-site services and

employee motivation solutions compa-ny with more than 380,000 employees,Sodexo serves 50 million people daily.When Michel Landel took over as CEOin 2005, Sodexo was primarily knownfor food services, despite being thethird largest outsourcing companywith expertise in such disparate areasas medical equipment maintenance,defense, senior care, and education.Landel introduced a strategy to betterreflect current demand from Sodexocustomers and capture market oppor-tunities. He engaged top Sodexo lead-ers in the strategy, pushing thembeyond their food-services comfortzone to envision themselves as part ofa valued service provider for all non-core client services.

In March 2009, the SodexoManagement Institute was tasked withengaging 940 managers and VPs in the

new strategy. They launchedthe CLIMB (Change, Leadership,IMplementation, Behaviors) pro-gram. CLIMB incorporatesonline learning, face-to-facesessions, and a customized,competitive simulation devel-oped with BTS. The goal: Get940 managers living and experi-encing the new strategy.

After being organized into groups of100, CLIMB participants complete afour-month online/virtual preparationprocess and then participate in VirtuoSo,the heart of the program, featuring avirtual as well as a three-day onsitesimulation. Teams are formed to serveas the Senior Leadership Team, thenguide the three-year simulated lifecycleof an enterprise based on Sodexo.

Managers are convinced of its effec-tiveness, and employees are hooked.Simulations provide rapid alignment,build confidence in the strategy’s suc-cess, and help CEOs drive betterresults faster.

“TheVirtuoSo simulation, provides asafe environment for risk taking,enables participants to see real-timeimpacts of their decisions, and offers acompetitive environment that gets ourpeople involved and committed,” saidElisabeth Carpentier, VP of HR. A newwave of participants is already sched-uled to attend the CLIMB program. LE

Henrik Ekelund is CEO of BTS. Visit www.bts.com.

ACTION: Improve execution through simulation.

Practice Makes Perfect

SUPPOSE YOU ARE BUCK-ling in for a flight in

a new Boeing 777. Thepilot announces: “Our flight time todaywill be six hours at an altitude of 33,000feet. By the way, this is the first timeI’ve ever flown a 777. Wish me luck.”

Before setting foot in the real world,pilots, military personnel, and disasterresponse teams use intense simulationsto learn how to respond to challenges.Given the risks and costs, why wouldwe place leaders and teams in situationswithout enabling them to try things out?

A custom simulation of an enterprise,unit or process, using real-world com-petitive dynamics, places leaders in acontext where they step out of theirnormal roles and gain exposure to thebig picture. Participants make decisionsin a risk-free environment, enabling themto experience critical interdependencies,best practices for execution, and leversto optimize performance indicators.

Increasingly leaders turn to simula-tions to build strategic alignment andexecution capability when faced with:implementing a new strategy and keyperformance objectives; acceleratingstrategy execution and innovation;improving business acumen and finan-cial decision making; transformingsales teams into business results accel-erators; developing leaders who arefocused on front-line execution; imple-menting a culture change aligned tostrategy; integrating merged companies;and modeling complex value chainsfor collaborative cost elimination.

Once placed in a simulation, usersare soon grappling with issues anddecisions that they must make now. Ayear gets compressed into a day orless. Competition among teams spursengagement, invention and discovery.

The more customized the simulation,the more experience participants canbring back to the job. With customiza-tion, you can accelerate specific results,especially when you leverage 10 keyelements of effective simulation: 1)highly realistic with points of realismtargeted to drive experiential learning;2) dynamically competitive with deci-sions and results impacted by peers’decisions in an intense, yet fun, envi-

UNVEILING A NEWstrategy? Everyone

knows the drill—cuethe town hall meeting. Create a bigsplash at the annual conference. Sendout emails, webcasts, brochures, evenlogoed shirts with the strategy boileddown to a pithy statement.

There’s a better, faster way to achievegenuine employee alignment and effectiveexecution of that strategy. Savvy lead-ers are now focusing on strategy execu-tion as well as strategy development,knowing that practice is the key.

While having the right strategy inplace is mission-critical, poor execu-tion can sink a company and a CEO’scareer. In the end, execution is every-thing, and CEOs have lesstime than ever to get it right.

Senior leaders have identi-fied strategic alignment andspeed of execution as the mostpressing challenges. CEOs arerarely fired because they lacka strategy, but because they failto effectively engage people in itsexecution. This starts withbuilding agreement among the leader-ship team members—getting everyoneon the same page. As Jack Welch said,“Getting every employee’s mind intothe game is a huge part of what theCEO’s job is all about.”

Those top managers often internal-ize the strategy in different ways,which influences the implementation.The differences can lead to inconsis-tent execution, lackadaisical imple-mentation, conflict, and turf wars.Without alignment at the top, a strate-gy can splinter into a million pieces.

How can leaders motivate peoplefor success when strategic change isoften synonymous with fear, uncertain-ty, and doubt? “Why should I adoptthe new strategy?” is a question thatevery CEO must answer crisply andconvincingly. Senior executives andfrontline managers need to understandsix points: why the new strategy isnecessary; the impacts of the newstrategy and how they apply to dailywork; changes required for the organi-zation and the leader’s department ordivision; how they may have to shift

by Henrik Ekelund

Effective SimulationsWho, what, when, where and why.

by Jonas Akerman

CAPABILITY PRACTICE CAPABILITY SIMULATION

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e A p r i l 2 0 1 1 1 3

Getting the company on course.

ronment; 3) illustrative, not prescriptiveor deterministic; focused on new waysof thinking; 4) catalyzes discussion of crit-ical issues with learning coming fromdiscussion within teams and amongindividuals; 5) business-relevant feedback,to relate the simulation experience tokey strategic priorities; 6) delivered withexcellence, including group discussion,humor, coaching and competition thatmake the experience interactive, intri-guing, emotional, fun, and satisfying; 7)user driven: progress is controlled byparticipants and accommodates manylearning and work styles; 8) designed fora specific target audience, level and busi-ness need; 9) outcome focused, so changesin mindset lead to concrete actions; and10) builds community: networks are cre-ated and extended through chat rooms,threaded discussions, and issue-focusede-mail groups.

Simulations are even more powerfulin combination. Comprehensive simula-tion and experiential learning programs com-bine live and online experiences. Thedeepest alignment, mindset shift, andcapability-building occurs over timethrough a series of well-designed activ-ities. Maximize impact by involvingleadership and linking engagement andskill building to organizational goals.

Well-designed simulations acceleratethe time to value of initiatives. A newstrategy can be delivered to a globalworkforce and execution capability canbe developed quickly, consistently, andcost-effectively. Back on the job, partici-pants own the new strategy and sharetheir enthusiasm and commitment.

Use simulations to align vision, exe-cute strategy, and accelerate to results.In July 2008, when Paul Maritz becameCEO of VMware, he realized that toignite growth, VMware needed to leadthe industry through the anticipated IT transformation. Maritz and TodNielsen, Co-President, ApplicationsPlatform, VMware, worked with BTSon a custom simulation that provided ahigh-impact, experiential program forbuilding alignment and execution capability.

Simulations drive strategic align-ment, business acumen, leadership devel-opment and sales force transformation.An experiential learning program cementsstrategic alignment and builds execu-tion capability. Results can be measuredin company alignment, team effective-ness, revenue growth, and share price.

You don’t need to fly blind. You cansit back and relax, knowing your pilothoned his flight skills in simulation. LE

Jonas Akerman is President of BTS. Visit www.bts.com.

ACTION: Use simulations to drive desired results.

by Irving Buchen

ways not to need people at all—notjust now but never. When such a grimwork environment is managed in bru-tal fashion by lousy bosses, we regressto the workhouse world of CharlesDickens who called them “bullies ofhumility.” To this day, we have notheeded one of Deming’s laws: drivefear from the workplace.

3. Speaking only English. A bi-lin-gual culture, resisted for decades inAmerica, was only reluctantly accept-ed recently when we discovered thatmany of our customers and voters areHispanic. Because of our insistence onspeaking and writing English, weinadvertently strip from language itsfunction of being a culture carrier andlost access to multi-cultural sources atwork. How to rescue linguistic varietyas part of our embrace of diversity hasremained an obstacle to creating amulti-cultural workplace. We need toreclaim the mosaic that is distinctlyAmerican, support English as a worldlanguage, and recover and value allthe languages of workers as our globalgrass roots. CEOs have to lead thecharge by learning a new languageand by providing language instruction.

4. Clinging to tried-and-true best practices. Oftenwhat gets us out of the boxbecomes the new box.Whatever value best prac-tices offer as a model, itsemulation is offset by hav-ing them often serve pre-maturely and inadvertentlyas a ceiling of how far wecan go. At best it is a tem-porary state of perfection.

But it needs tracking. Each best prac-tice should be given a date when itfirst was elevated to fame as well as itsdepartmental or divisional source.That would serve to benchmark excel-lence, to measure how long we havebeen coasting, and to ask those sourceswhat they have done for us lately. TheCEO has to use best practices as pres-sure points not to meet but to exceed.

5. Remaining vanilla. Many univer-sity classrooms are known by elabo-rate signage—bearing the name of acorporation who has endowed orbought that room as a way of aacknowledging the alumni they’vehired for years. Often, the contribu-tions are extended to endowed chairs.Tenure is now doubled, as such profes-sors are also tenured in that chair fortheir academic life. Such a cozy mutualadmiration society dramatizes theextent to which organizations hirefrom the same universities, often from

MANAGING FAILUREhas become a

required leadership tal-ent. Instead of focusing on how we aredoing, we now ask what can go wrong.In place of standard progress reports,we recalibrate our metrics to detectslippage. Instead of focusing on whatour competition is up to, we want toknow what is coming out of left field.In place of hiring only AmericanMBAs, we seek graduates who speakMandarin, Hindi, or Portuguese.

In the process, two disturbing pat-terns surface. The first profiles thestructural lapses of companies andwhat has not worked well. The secondidentifies leaders whose executivedecisions have led us down the gardenpath. Although ideally interfacing bothwould be mutually defin-ing, the issue of leadershipsteals the spotlight.

What then are the 10most dead-end directionsof failed leaders?

1. Limiting the range ofcompetition to the near andthe known. CEOs favor andmonitor a world theyknow. Familiar ground istheir comfort zone. Theyseldom look overseas or acknowledgewild cards. They inhabit a mentalMaginot line. They have not assignedanyone to track patents or monitor thenew hires of competitors. In theirsearch for the new and experimental,they read the same journals, attend thesame conferences. Few are members ofthe World Future Society or Copen-hagen Future Studies Group. The ivorytower has few windows at the top andnever a 360-degree view.

2. Allowing fear, insecurity and boss-ism to rule the culture. With productiv-ity in the driver’s seat and downsizingits accelerator, company loyalty hasvirtually disappeared. Trying to moti-vate and appeal to such maternal orpaternal commitments falls on deafears. People work hard because theyhave to. They do not want be victimsof the faceless, unfeeling statistics ofproductivity. Unemployment remainshigh because managers have found

Why Leaders FailAvoid these 10 dead-ends .

LEADERSHIP FAILURE

1 4 A p r i l 2 0 1 1 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

paternalistic image of father knowsbest—of a caring parent or benevolentoverseer. But such overlords had clayfeet, their charismatic golden wingswere made of tin or wax, they werefound to have their hands in the cook-ie jar, they betrayed trust and loftycauses, they alienated and lost follow-ers—in short they made mistakes, theywere not infallible, and they tarnishedcharisma perhaps forever as an infalli-ble sign of authentic leadership.Disillusioned followers, however,saved the day. In effect, they devel-oped a new leadership code andguidelines as conditions of followship,such as a new insistence on knowingwhat CEOs know. Bad or dumb deci-sions led to challenging the executivemonopoly on information, followed bya critique of the entire decision-mak-ing process. Transparencyand access were called for.Equal access to informationmarked the end of uncriti-cal charismatic leadershipand accelerated efforts toget rid of such hangoverrulers from the past.

9. Not experimenting withdifferent leadership models.The egos of CEOs and thehero worship they encour-age lead them to conclude that they areequal to all tasks. But no leader is 360or that good; to believe so is the ulti-mate blind spot of hubris. One obviouscorrective is rotational leadership of CEOsand their teams. Such rotation wouldserve not only as a systematic ongoinginternal chain of command, but also asa succession plan in the event of theCEO’s departure. The general shift inleadership models is directional—fromvertical to horizontal, from a Pharaohholding all the cards to power sharing,from a monopoly at the top to differ-entiated, distributed and dispersedleadership. There is not one but manyleaders, all aligned to goals, all firstamong equals, all carrying the compa-ny flag. The principle of experimentalleadership models is enabling the com-pany to make as many decisions as itcan. The correctives of checks and bal-ances are built into the process.

10. Failing to communicate, embrace,and manage the new world order. AllAmerican leaders face a hard sell. Onthe one hand, their basic task is to sur-vive—to be productive and profitablein a more competitive global market.On the other hand, they’re asked to bestatesmen and alert their employeesand customers to the condition of aprecarious planet which, like their

the CEO’s alma mater. If leaders valuediversifying their teams and perspec-tives, they can’t keep returning to thesame old watering trough. The MBA,for all its accreditation standardiza-tion, is not the same from one univer-sity to another. So diversifying hiringbroadly enables companies to offermany flavors—not just vanilla.

6. Planning only for familiar andfavorable futures. Bad planning getsleaders in greater trouble than notplanning at all. CEOs need not onebut two executive teams: the conven-tional group of VPs; and the strategicplanning group. The timelines of eachare different but overlap. The first isshort term: one year with focus onquarterly reports for stockholders. Thesecond is mid to long term: minimallyfive years. The former deals with mis-sion, the latter with vision. These twoforecasts need to be aligned, requiringvigilant coordination by the CEO. Sinceplanning has become so slippery, re-quiring so much guess work, all plan-ning has become contingency planning—a world of best guesses and estimates.Intuition has ascended as forecastinghas become more art than science andthe CEO has been reinvested with thegreater fallibility of being a visionary.

7. Not teaming everything. Teamperformance is one area of unquali-fied success, often compensating forlapses at the top. Leaders, companiesand individuals may fail, but teamsrarely do. Somehow they overcome ormute diversity conflicts; and identifyand eliminate unproductive slippagebetween divisions. Teams increasecompany use of various talent assess-ment tools and create a rare environ-ment for workers to apply those talentsin ways that reinforce the differencesof others. Teams are also a leadershipincubator, often training leaders betterthan the official LD program, as theo-ry is made to function in reality andleadership roles are rotated.

8. The CEO as Savior. Charismaimparts an aura of being naturallyendowed—being born to the task androle—hailed as a calling. It is reservedfor leaders because it inspires loyalsupport, sanctions a cause of salva-tion, and is selfless. Followers certifythe power of those leaders to com-mand, that their causes or missionsare noble and unique; leaders returnthe favor by conferring upon loyalsupporters a shared halo of charisma.In the past, such halos were reservedfor pioneers of business and giants ofindustry who brought about miracles.That was followed by adopting a

own company, struggles to remainviable. In many cases, CEOs offer sus-tainability as a token contribution. Butto others it has become a more inte-grated goal. Leadership now requiresraising the ante of competition, adjust-ing to a global economy and acceptinga world in which they are no longertop dog and their standing is notassured or respected. But the secondtask is harder. It requires a newmode—collaboration—and the accep-tance of being a member of an interna-tional collective that confesses they areboth responsible for the problem, ofteninnocently, but now charged with thesolution. The first executive step is toexpand and factor into the parametersof individual companies the plight ofthe planet earth; to raise moral con-sciousness and explain what that means

to the future of all thosewho inhabit the earth; andto inculcate a new workethic of coopetition.

If these 10 failures wereused to evaluate currentleaders, few would survive.Evaluate your leadersagainst this list anddescribe how CEOs couldbe pried away from play-ing it safe; requiring

always a level playing field; not firingall the lousy bosses; shaping a multi-lingual acceptable Tower of Babel;questioning its infallible problem-solv-ing tool kits and best practices; hiringlook-alikes and me-tooers; practicingsafe forecasting; knee-jerking withtechnology; humoring the egos ofhubris and narcissism; failing to exper-iment with rotational leadership,hybrid amalgams, and cyborgs of thesingularity; and failing to call for anew moral ecological commitment.

Cleaning house may not appear tobe so drastic. The worry is allowing themomentum of failure to continue and toshape the next crop of dead-enders.What is needed is not just a wake-upcall across the board but also an histor-ical jolt from the future that their daysof leading business as usual are num-bered. We have to get off the merry-go-round, stop going up a downescalator, and develop successionplans for professionals to take over.Their debt to current CEOs would bebasically negative. Their legacy wouldbe enshrining their dead-ends into theTen Commandments of Failure. LE

Irving Buchen is a faculty member of Capella University. Visit www.Capella.edu.

ACTION: Evaluate your leaders on the 10 points.

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e A p r i l 2 0 1 1 1 5

place of Starbucks, the easyness ofStaples, the low price of Walmart arebrand identities that communicate tocustomers and investors. Brand powercomes from the outside/in.

A leadership POV is internally focused—it’s about who I am as a leader. A per-sonal leader brand is outside/in andfocuses on how my leadership impactsothers. When a crisis hits, a leader witha personal POV focuses inside to getgrounded on values, strengths, andstyle. This leader has authenticity andemotional intelligence to handle thecrisis. But the leader with a personalleader brand perspective asks how thecrisis will affect others—employees, cus-tomers, investors, and communities?This leader’s job is to ensure that theresponse to the crisis serves these stake-

holders. The outside focus determineswhat is the right thing to do; the insideperspective is about having the charac-ter and energy to do the right thing theright way. Both inside and outside per-spectives matter, but the sequencemust be first outside, then inside.

By focusing outside first, leaders ensurethat their POV will benefit someone else.Sometimes leaders may have a POVfounded on their strengths, but unlessthey strengthen others, they won’t beas valuable or as sustainable. In themovie, “The Bucket List” we learn thatthe Egyptians believed that the gate-keepers of heaven ask new arrivals twoquestions about their lives: Did youfind joy? Did you bring joy to others?The first question is about building onyour strengths to find joy—it is aboutthe self, not others. The second questionshifts the focus to helping others findjoy. In leadership, this means turning aPOV into a brand that serves others.

We recently asked leaders to writetheir personal POV. Most statements

Personal Leader Brand

ONE WAY WE HELP GOOD LEADERS GETbetter is by inviting them to pre-

pare a statement that reflects their per-sonal point of view (POV) on leadership,considering such issues as what lead-ers believe, how they aspire to behave,and who they are and want to become.

We’ve enabled individuals to reflecton their leadership in several ways:we’ve shown film clips of inspiringleaders who articulate their dreams,and then invite the individual to crafta personal vision; we’ve asked themto do a time log and probe the extentto which their actions reflect theirintentions; we’ve given them feedbackassessments that identify their predis-positions and style, then helped themcreate a personal position statementand a career development plan; andwe’ve coached them to be moreauthentic and true to whom they wantto become. These efforts have beenrewarding for leaders as they definewho they are, what matters most tothem, and where they are going—resulting in leadership visions, mis-sions, aspirations, and POVs.

Lately, we’ve recognized that theseefforts complete only half of a success-ful leadership journey. Self-aware lead-ers may have personal insight andintensity, but unless it is directed in theright ways, it won’t have sustainableimpact. A leadership POV needs tobecome a personal leader brand (PLB).

BBuuiillddiinngg aa LLeeaaddeerr BBrraannddA PLB has four characteristics:1. Brand focuses outside first, then on

the inside. Most leadership developmentstarts by looking inside. Most POVs be-gin with “I” statements: I believe, I aspireto, I want, I hope, I will . . . These state-ments have passion, inspiration, andpurpose. But they’re incomplete. Abrand metaphor focuses on the outside, notinside. Brand value shows up in themind of the customer. The pizzazz ofApple, the experience of Disney, the

were consistent with our criteria. But,one stood out as reflective of a PLB:

As a leader, I’m here to serve others andserve a meaningful purpose. I am inspiredby the risks we take to deliver greatertransparency and value to our customers,to shift the accepted ethical boundaries ofthe financial services industry. I believethere is always a better way to do business,and superior returns will come with ourcustomers’ interests at heart. I hope to berecognized as a leader with courage, whoputs the interests of her team and the orga-nization before her own. I strive to makethe decisions that are right.

Note that she focuses less on herselfand more on the service she provides.Her identity is not from the inside/outbut from the outside/in.

Leaders may acquire strengths likeauthenticity, judgment, emotional intel-ligence, credibility; however, until theyapply their strengths in ways that createvalue for others, they won’t develop a PLB.

2. Brand is carried through narrativeand story. A leadership POV offersinsights and perspectives on what theleader needs to know and do. A PLBoffers a story that captures not onlywhat is known and done, but also the emo-tion and feeling behind it. Brand has anemotional pull that signals what mat-ters. We wear branded clothing to senda message about who we are. We drivea branded car to communicate ouridentity. A brand has a personal andpublic narrative and story.

Leaders who shift from a POV to abrand do more than discuss what theyshould know and do to what they feel andvalue and ultimately who they are. TheirPLB offers a narrative about their identity.

In helping companies craft a brandthat reflects its culture, we often ask,What are the top three things your compa-ny wants to be known for by your best cus-tomers in the future? The responses shiftstrategy, mission, and vision statementsinto firm brand and culture. Likewise,we ask leaders, What are the top threethings you as a leader want to be knownfor? This question isn’t just about whatthe leader knows and does, but theidentity the leader hopes to create. Thisidentity forms the leadership story thatshapes a personal brand narrative.

3. Brand elicits trust that customerspay for. A hotel we frequent changedits ownership to a different and morerespected lodging brand. When wereturned after the name change, wepaid a 25 percent premium for basical-ly the same room, services, and loca-tion. Branded food in malls, airports,and stadiums nets an increase of 20 to25 percent revenue per square foot.

1 6 A p r i l 2 0 1 1 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

LEADERSHIP BRAND

by Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood

G o b e y o n d h a v i n g a l e a d e r s h i p P O V.

not committed to developing and pro-moting from within the ranks—or whenplanning is geared only to executives.

Managing succession requires mobi-lizing all employees to reach goals.Employees need to have a clear under-standing of the direction, strategy, andhow their roles contribute to success.Today’s younger generation expectopportunities to learn, grow, and con-tribute; they need to understand whereand how their talents fit. SM providesthe platform to ensure people are focusedon targets that enhance performance.

Planning for a smooth managementsuccession is vital: And yet getting topleaders to focus on SM is a challenge:even great leaders may not want toconsider a worst-case scenario, andfinding, growing and retaining leadersin waiting isn’t easy. For the past twoyears, managers have focused on costcutting and survival. Now it’s time forinvestment in sustainability and com-petitive advantage, based on the effec-tive use of talent—having the bestpeople in pivotal leadership roles, pre-

pared to step in. Manyexecutives are reconsideringretirement, having seentheir savings drop duringthe recession. So, it’s chal-lenging to know whichleaders are planning toretire in the near term.

To create a sound succes-sion plan, take nine steps:1) create and articulate cur-rent and future SM strategy;

2) ensure that the senior managementteam champions, communicates, spon-sors and actively participates in theprogram; 3) ensure that all employeessee regular, performance-based exam-ples of promotion from within the firmto show that the SM plan is real andthat the strategy does work; 4) informemployees of their vital role; 5) assessthe talent pool objectively against boththe needs of the business today and theneeds projected for the future; 6) ensurethat development plans reflect requiredcompetencies and align with clearlystated values; 7) continually validateyour belief in your people and developthem for success; and 8) make develop-ment integral to the culture—an ongo-ing journey with measures andexpectations; and 9) target all develop-ment efforts toward the business requi-sites and strategy.

Take these steps and an effective suc-cession management program will follow. LE

Sandi Edwards is SVP of AMA/Corporate Learning Solutions.Email sedwards@amanet.org.

ACTION: Prepare for the sudden loss of a leader.

THE MUCH PUBLICIZEDdeparture of Apple

CEO Steve Jobs demon-strates that while such news can sendcharges through the stock market,Apple was prepared for such a change.As Jobs goes out on medical leave, COOTim Cook steps in to handle operations.

When we surveyed more than 1,000senior managers, we found that onlyone in five organizations is prepared to dealwith the sudden loss of key leaders (14 per-cent are well prepared, 61 percent aresomewhat prepared). More than half ofrespondents said their companiesimplement succession management atthe senior executive level, fewer than 40percent include mid-level man-agers and skilled professionals insuccession planning. Only 11percent include first-linesupervisors, and just 12 per-cent of SM programs areintegrated with TM pro-grams such as performancemanagement and employeedevelopment.

The findings point to alooming management succes-sion crisis. Few firms are ready to man-age a top-level succession in anemergency, meaning most companies aretaking huge risks by failing to address theirbench. With every senior departure, theexternal brand perception is jeopardized—with a negative impact on stock val-ues. Immediate and inherent financialcosts accrue to the business as a resultof sudden or unplanned employee exits.

Most firms fail to plan for successionat management layers below the toprank. When unplanned changes occur,internal chaos results—a lack of conti-nuity with product innovation, incon-sistent customer service, customer de-fections, and the lengthy ramp up beforea new hire becomes effective and con-tributes positively. Morale and engage-ment take a hit, and the malaise impactscreativity, productivity, and performance.

Scarcely half believe their company’sbench strength is adequate, and merely10 percent think it’s robust. The mostcommon merely adequate successionplanning is when senior managers payonly lip service to the program and are

Sudden Leader LossMost firms are left unprepared.

by Sandi Edwards

PEOPLE LOSSBranded clothes, pens, shoes, and carssell for more. Brand also creates intan-gible market value as investors havemore confidence in future prospects.

Leaders who focus on their brandelicit greater productivity from employ-ees, more confidence from customers,and increased security for investors.Employees who work for leaders witha strong PLB know more clearly whatis expected from them and how tomeet the leader’s expectations. Oneleader was known for his passion forinnovation and creativity; his employ-ees were willing to take risk, offer newideas, and challenge the status quo torespond to their leader’s brand.

Another leader, known to her cus-tomers for her dedication to service,spends much of her time directly withcustomers, reads and responds to cus-tomer concerns, and shops as a hiddenshopper to have a customer experience.

Brand implies a partnership betweenthe firm and its customers. Leaderswho coach, collaborate, and communi-cate are partners with those they lead.They co-create an agenda for the futureand co-deliver on the shared agenda.

4. Brand is sustainable. Brands haveimpact beyond any time period, prod-uct, or ad campaign. Lasting brandsendure because they are patterns, notevents. These brands do not emergemerely by rhetoric or design, but byconsistent actions over time that com-municate and embed a brand promise.Brand recall comes when the brandendures over time and place.

Too many leadership POVs are morerhetoric than resolve, more aspirationthan action, and more hopeful than real.Brand promises without results are notsustained. Leadership wish lists needto be replaced with leadership vows.When we ask leaders to prepare theirPLB, they commit to what they have to doto sustain their brand in the eyes of thosethey serve. A brand focus builds leader-ship sustainability. Noble ideas are link-ed to daily behaviors (simple actions influ-ence long-term results). Personal passion iscoupled with interpersonal awareness anda commitment to constant learning.Personal values create value for others,and endure over time.

We challenge those who developleaders, and those who want to be bet-ter leaders, to move beyond a leader-ship POV to build their PLB. We makeleadership sustainable when we focusoutside/in, create stories based on cre-ating value for others, and build trust. LE

Dave Ulrich (dou@umich.edu) Norm Smallwood (nsmallwood@rbl.net) are partners in Results-Based Leadership Group.

ACTION: Create a Personal Leadership Brand.

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e A p r i l 2 0 1 1 1 7

2. Make sure your company is a leaderin protecting the environment, socialresponsibility and making a positivedifference. People want to be proud oftheir employer. No one wants to workfor a ruthless polluter with no conscience.Since the business of many companiesis in not saving the whales or cleaningup the environment, organizationsneed to look for opportunities wherethey can give back. Even small effortscan have a big positive impact.

3. Empower employees to do more.Employees want to contribute; theywant to do more, not less. People wantto be treated like responsibleadults who can make gooddecisions. When organiza-tions push responsibilitydown, the result is produc-tivity that flows up.

4. Be a great, inspiringboss. Poor leaders make lifemiserable, create dissatisfac-tion, reduce productivity,and increase turnover. Butpeople want more than a good boss;they want a great boss, and organizationsneed to help leaders step up. Poorleaders produce uncommitted/unsatisfiedemployees; great leaders create moresatisfied/highly committed employees.The behavior that separates leaderswith highly satisfied/committed employ-ees is the ability to inspire and motivateothers. The knee-jerk reaction of manyleaders when they encounter difficultyis to drive harder for results. The lead-ers who increase the number of highlycommitted employees push but theyalso pull, they inspire and motivate.

5. Create an efficient organization.People hate to wait, can’t stand lines, anddelays drive them crazy. Everyone feelsthat way. Inefficient organizations notonly destroy their profitability, theycrush satisfaction and commitment.

6. Give employees a clear set of pri-orities. Many employees feel that theyare batted back and forth from one pri-ority to another without knowing whythey are asked to shift in a differentdirection. The whip-lash effect of con-stantly changing priorities erodes satis-faction and commitment.

7. Openly listen to employee concernsand frustrations. Many managers don’twant to hear about the frustrations of

Employee Commitment

IN REVIEWING OUR 2010employee commit-

ment data, we noticeda small but interesting shift—a smallincrease in the percent (.7) of uncom-mitted/unsatisfied employees. This wasnot unexpected. Last year was diffi-cult. The struggling economy createdjob losses, translating into biggerworkloads with fewer rewards. Andwhile in good years dissatisfied employ-ees could quit and go to work foranother company, the poor job markethas forced dissatisfied employees to“quit and stay,” resulting in a higherpercentage of unsatisfied workforce.

The most surprising shift, however,was a 4.2 percent increase in the percentof highly committed employees. Why, ina tough year, would this increase occur?We studied this closely in a client thatincreased their employee satisfaction/commitment by 13 percentile pointsduring the recession. In years when thejob market was robust, many employ-ees were quick to leave this company.The grass always seemed greener some-where else. Then times got tough, jobopportunities dried up, and employ-ees started to notice how green thegrass was where they were standing.

A big part of the greener grass werethe improvements this company madethat led to the positive shift in engage-ment. When the recession ends, theywant to be positioned to take advan-tage of the recovery. They stuck to theirvalues and found ways to help theiremployees see the advantage of working forthem. The recession has created a greatopportunity for many organizations tohelp their employees realize the valueof staying with their current employer.

Here are the top 10 items that, whenimproved, have the greatest impact oncreating a positive shift in employeeengagement and satisfaction.

1. Improve collaboration and coop-eration between departments. This canbe a big hurdle. Groups hoard resources,compete for talent and duplicate infor-mation which makes everyone’s jobharder. One CEO said, “All of our prof-its are in the cracks between the vari-ous businesses or functions.”

their employees. Opening the channels,listening and then responding to thosethings we can change will have a posi-tive impact. While some concernsmight be categorized as whining, mostwill have an impact on the productivityand profitability of the organization.

8. Improve communications. The mostcommon recommendation for improve-ment on our employee opinion surveysis to improve communication. Too oftenleaders avoid holding open discussionswith employees. Getting regular andfrequent updates is easy for an organi-zation to do, but often goes overlooked.Few leaders communicate too much,but often rationalize they have sent themessage once and once is enough. All ofus need to hear messages many timesto understand their importance.

9. Have the right number of people todo the critical work. Most organizationsin the recession have downsized; hence,

the scope of many jobsincreased. People don’tmind carrying a bigger loadto help out in tough times,but some work loads are soheavy that they crush employeesatisfaction, engagement andproductivity. Organizationsneed to get the rightamount of manpower onthe critical work assign-

ments. When people feel overburdened,their productivity and results sufferalong with their engagement. Leadersneed to have the courage to push hardfor needed resources.

10. Grow and develop employees. Formany companies, the first thing to becut in a tough economy is training anddevelopment. They rationalize this bytelling employees they are being devel-oped on the job. Having the same experi-ence, over and over again, is not develop-mental. Employees are valuable assetsand investing in their development canpay back substantially.

With low turnover and reasonableproductivity, many leaders don’t seethe need to improve the engagementand commitment. As the job marketreturns, turnover will follow (30 per-cent are thinking about quitting). Wemay be looking at the perfect storm. Pent-up frustrations, inability to fulfill careeraspirations, boredom and feeling stuckmay send your best people, your topperformers, out the door. So pay atten-tion to these 10 items that impact em-ployee engagement and satisfaction. LE

Joe Folkman is President of Zenger-Folkman. Visitwww.Zenger-Folkman.com.

ACTION: Engage in these 10 practices.

by Joe Folkman

1 8 A p r i l 2 0 1 1 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

PEOPLE LOYALTY

T h e g r a s s i s n o t a l w a y s g r e e n e r .

Behavior tends to change in the faceof authority. Those lower in the hierar-chy often self-censor or comply withorders, even those they feel are opera-tionally or morally questionable. In theMilgram experiments, subjects com-plied with orders to inflict pain on oth-ers despite their discomfort—and theonly trappings of authority were a labcoat and clip board! How much more domedals, robes, titles, and corner officesaffect behavior? Should we furtherreinforce the social distance and powerdifferential with the habit of standingeach time the office holder enters?

Ultimately, the outward display ofetiquette is not the problem—it’s whatoccurs inwardly, in how the leader withthese trappings of authority,and those near him or her,interact with each other.How can we honor the mer-its of standing when theleader enters the room with-out exacerbating the tendencyof hierarchy to distort relation-ships and communication?

Courageous followersstand up to and for theirleaders. We need to stand up for ourleaders—they need and usuallydeserve our support. If in our culture weliterally stand up for the leader, we canuse this act as a silent reminder of ourdual duty to also stand up to our leaders.

Leaders need candor, and candor re-quires courage. We can use the conven-tion of standing when the leader entersto remind ourselves that we need tostand in both postures if we are to servethe leader and organization well.Especially when either the culture orstyle of the leader requires formal actsof deference, we need to remember theequal importance of respectful divergence.

When we are in the authority role, wecan consider to what degree it serves usto relax these conventions. We can evenimbue the custom of standing for aleader with a dual meaning that retainsrespect for authority without produc-ing the hyper-deference that is the downfallof leaders. We stand up for the leader and,when necessary, to the leader, in serviceof our purpose and values.

If you are frustrated in trying toinfluence senior leaders whose styleimpedes growth, productivity or

Courageous Followers

WHEN SENIOR MILI-tary officers enter

a room, subordinatesstand. So do members of the press andcabinet officers when the Presidententers. We stand when the presidingjudge enters the courtroom. Other cul-tures follow this norm. Is it healthy?

When we bestow formal authorityon an office, we need that office—pres-ident, governor, general, judge, CEOor chairman—to function and to leaddifficult initiatives. Positions confercertain powers, and shrewd office-holders acquire additional power. Butultimately the power of the officealways rests on the agreement of thoseover whom it exerts authority.

Consider tribal leadership. Perhapsat its dawn, leadership went to thestrongest individual or fiercest warrior.Soon social skills, strategic skills, andcommunication skills were important.When the tribe elevated a more multi-faceted leader, some members wouldstill be stronger, and others could formfactions and counter or undermine theleader, keeping the tribe in turmoiland weakening its capacity to thrive.

To manage these forces, symbols,narratives, and customs emerged thatprotected the tribe from continuousconflict, enabling leaders to exercisewhat power the form of governancebestowed. Today, the president, judge,general or CEO enjoys similar pre-dictability of support, provided they donot egregiously violate the trust placed inthem. Standing up when they enter is away of reinforcing the order of things.

Most leaders like this custom, as thegroup continually reaffirms the powerbestowed on the position. It is furtherreinforced by conventions such asaddressing the head figure by title,rank, or salutation. The deference thatis shown helps get things done. But, isit healthy for the group or the office holder,given the human tendency to abuse power?

I find that it depends on variables,such as the divergence of opinion tol-erated or encouraged, or the processesin place for decision making that invitediverse voices to be heard. But thepractice is fraught with potential danger.

morale—what can you do? If you dareto question the leader, you are quicklyearmarked as someone who needs togo; hence, silence (intimidation) reigns.

Those who work closely with theleader, (senior followers) need to assumeresponsibility for keeping their rela-tionship honest, authentic and coura-geous. Yet, we don’t honor courageousfollowers. We talk pejoratively of fol-lowers being weak. And we don’t trainpeople how to be strong followers whoare not only capable of brilliantly sup-porting their leaders, but can also effec-tively stand up to them when necessary.

Optimum performance requires thatboth leaders and followers place theorganization’s welfare at least on parwith protecting their personal interests.Where authoritarian relationships pre-vail, team members tend to conform,rather than risk the conversations thatare needed to address leadership’s con-tributions to mediocrity. Smart leaderscreate cultures where honest communi-cation is the norm and rewarded. But,

human nature conspiresagainst this, and few speaktruth to power. If they doso, and get rebuffed, theydon’t do it again.

If you are in a followerrole with a leader who isabusing power, why riskyour job by standing up tohim? It is a better way tolive. Win or lose, you carry

yourself with integrity and self-respect. And,if you aspire to leadership positionsyourself, you’d better learn to takerisks. People who can’t risk, can’t lead.

Ask yourself: Am I holding back mycontribution. Am I willing to take risks?Do I need to take more initiative? Dothe perceived risks require courage toact? If so, what sources of courage can Idraw on? Have I earned the leader’strust? What power do I have in this sit-uation? Do I have the skills to effective-ly confront the leader?

If you tolerate the leader’s counter-productive or dysfunctional behavior,you pay a steep price—and you place theleader at risk. So, in the leader’s self-interest, learn how to help the leaderbe more receptive to making changes.

When we’re receptive to both receiv-ing and initiating honest and respectfulfeedback, and having difficult but nec-essary conversations, we can break un-productive followship patterns. We canthen stand up for our leader with pride. LE

Ira Chaleff is president of Executive Coaching and ConsultingAssociates and author of The Courageous Follower. Visitwww.courageousfollower.com.

ACTION: Stand up for and to your leaders.

by Ira Chaleff

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e A p r i l 2 0 1 1 1 9

LEADERSHIP COURAGE

S h o u l d w e s t a n d u p t o o r f o r l e a d e r s ?

ers leaders to tap into their employee’sdiscretionary effort and bring that ener-gy to work. When coaching is directedat these issues, it helps leaders findmeaningful ways to engage their talentbeyond the everyday distractions.

Skilled engagement coaches under-stand the unique employee engagement andretention challenges of each leader. Surveysprovide a great place to begin analysissince leaders can learn about theengagement needs of their team; how-ever, true value comes from frequentconversations. Surveys set the tone, butconversations set the direction.

Leaders have a big impactin retaining and engagingpeople. Employees want thisrelationship. They feel en-gaged by their work andcared for by their leaderswhen they have open, hon-est, two-way conversationsabout their ideas, careers,motivations, and challenges.They need leaders who listen (more thanonce a year) to their perspectives, offertheir own points of view, and provideencouragement, guidance and opportu-nities. When individuals feel understoodand valued by their leader, they commitmore of their energy and enthusiasm.

Engagement builds or diminishes inevery interaction between leaders andemployees. Purposeful engagement is theability to focus on employee talent in everyinteraction with employees. You don’t nec-essarily have to do more to engage youremployees, but you need to commit tospecific actions that meet the engagementneeds of each employee.

Once a leader accepts this responsi-bility, the engagement coach can serveas a resource to generate ideas and pro-vide questions that can be asked so thatleaders learn more about what mattersto their employees. The coach alsoworks with the leader to explore thedifference between engagement and per-formance. Leaders and employees tendto talk about performance—but whatengages us is different and personal.Engagement conversations get to thetrue motivations of each employee.

If an employee wants more optionsto learn and grow, try this:• Conduct a career conversation to learn

more about their unique skills, inter-

Coaching for Engagement

ests, and values. Offer your perspective,discuss trends and options, and co-design a career action plan.• Link people to others who can help

them achieve their professional goals.• Take time to mentor your employees.

Share your success stories and failures.Teach organizational realities and letemployees mentor you too.

If an employee doesn’t feel valued,build loyalty by trying the following:• Recognize employees for a job well

done. Offer praise that is specific, pur-poseful, and tailored to each person.• Notice your employees. As you walk

the halls, say hello to them by name.• Get honest feedback. Get a clear picture

of how you look to others. Do you haveany high-risk behaviors that may begetting in the way of your efforts?

If your employees want to work in aplace they love, try these ideas:

• Have fun at work. Dosomething new or different,or create a culture whereit’s okay to laugh and smile.• Show enthusiasm for what

you do (it will enthuse oth-ers). Disengaged leaderswon’t engage their people.• Align your values with

your work. You will thenfind it meaningful, pur-

poseful and important.Much of coaching for engagement re-

volves around common sense approachesto good leadership. One approach, thestay interview (before the dreaded exitinterview), asks “what can I do to keepyou?” providing data managers need.

Beyond providing insight to leaders,the coaching partnership can motivateleaders need to do what they knowshould be done. Leaders with engage-ment coaches often remark that thecoaching reminds them to put thesecommon-sense strategies into practice.

Success happens when leaders assumethe role of engagement coaches. Whileleaders can be catalysts for engagementand retention, employees must step upto identify what actions they can take tofind more satisfaction at work.

The coaching relationship goes beyondwhat a coach can do to grow the leaderto what the coach can do to grow theorganization. Done well, coaching forengagement and retention creates lead-ers who think of their talent first andemployees who commit to bringing thebest of their capabilities to work. LE

Beverly Kaye is CEO of Career Systems International andauthor of Up Is Not The Only Way; Beverly Crowell is SeniorConsultant with CSI and Principal Consultant of CrowellConsulting. Visit www.crowellconsultants.com.

ACTION: Start coaching for engagement.

2 0 A p r i l 2 0 1 1 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

PEOPLE ENGAGEMENT

Tap into your employees’ discretionary energy and efforts.

by Beverly Kaye and Beverly Crowell

COMPANIES SPEND MILLIONS ASKINGemployees how they feel about

work. Are you satisfied? Does your bosscommunicate with you daily? Do you sup-port the company mission and values?

Sadly, many companies compile thedata, report back, and check engagementoff the to do list without changing howemployee’s feel about their work, theirboss, or the company. Engagement andretention require a sustained one-on-one effort by everyone who managespeople to get at the heart of what reallymatters to employees.

Organizations spend big money onsurveys, and then build processes andprocedures to sustain employee engage-ment. These plans create new programs,policies and some short-term victories,but rarely change leader’s behaviors.

For example, one company heardfrom employees that lack of career devel-opment opportunities is a key dissatisfier.A team was assembled to address theproblem, and an employee career resourcecenter was created. Great news, exceptfor the employee who asked his boss ifhe could go to the center and heard,“You don’t have time for that. You needto get the work done at your desk.”

For such leaders, engagement andretention are defined as the annual sat-isfaction survey and the tedious actionplan that has to be created as a result.All the best plans will fall short if theyaren’t supported. That’s where coachingfor engagement and retention can create asustained and measurable difference.

Disengaged workers, those who quitbut stay, cost organizations billions ofdollars annually in lost productivity, turn-over, and reduced quality and safety.The task of re-engaging them falls onthe leadership team. While many lead-ers know the importance of engagingtheir talent, the “how” and “all thatsoft, fuzzy stuff” are often left up to theHR team. After all, isn’t that their job?

Coaching leaders on engagement andretention reduces the risk and empow-

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