Take Peoplewith You

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

ExcellenceL E A D E R S H I P

February 2013

HighEngagement

Leader SuccessFollow Twelve Top Tips

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“LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE IS AN EXCEPTIONAL WAY TO LEARN AND THEN APPLY THE BEST AND LATEST IDEAS IN THE FIELD OF LEADERSHIP.”

—WARREN BENNIS, AUTHOR AND

USC PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT

ExcellenceL E A D E R S H I P

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

KEN SHELTON

Performance by DesignYou get to the topby taking 10 steps. . . . . . . 2

GARY HAMEL

High Engagement?Management has adirty little secret. . . . . . . . 3

JIM COLLINS

Declines and ComebacksThe mighty can falland then rise again . . . . . .4

JOHN KOTTER

Leading ChangeIt all starts with a truesense of urgency. . . . . . . . 6

LINDA TALLEY

Executive CoachingCultivate five characteristicsof executive coaches. . . . . .7

KEVIN CASHMAN

Take a Bold PauseYou are then better pre-pared for performance . . .8

KIM CAMERON

Virtuous PerformanceVirtuous practices deliverdesired results. . . . . . . . . .9

DON SANDEL

Brave LeadersHome of the brave invokesGeorge Washington . . . . 10

JERRY BUSSELL

Abraham LincolnMany leaders ask, whatwould Abe Lincoln do?. . 11

DIANNE DURKIN

Magnetic LeadersThey all take these10 critical steps. . . . . . . . .12

DAVID NOVAK

Take People with YouWe do seven things tocontinually upgradeour performance. . . . . . .13

ADRIANNA KEZARAND JAIME LESTER

Bottom-up LeadersPositional leaders andbottom-up leaders needto work in concert. . . . . .14

E. TED PRINCE

Assessing LeadersAre you measuring yourleadership performance bythe business outcomes. . 15

MARK FREIN

PerformanceAs performance leaders,we are all works in progressin the art of becoming. . . .16

DEEPAK CHOPRA

Soul of LeadershipI focus on seven skillsthat fit the role of aconscious leader. . . . . . . .17

RICHARD BRANSON

Leader SuccessHere are my 12 top tips forimproving performance andgrowing companies. . . . .18

STEVE RICHERSON

Steps to SustainabilityThey range from the topleaders to the bottom lineof the organization . . . . .19

SAAD AL BARRAK

Passion for AdventureI didn’t just tolerateambiguity and paradox, Iproactively created them; itwas chaos by design. . . . . .20

VOL. 30 NO. 2 THE GLOBAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT RESOURCE FEBRUARY 2013

Goat or Goal?

This Rocky Mountain goat,

a surefooted climber and the

largest mammal above the tree line,

is found in spectacular alpine landscapes.

His bold leadership pose suggests that he is

a top performer and master of all he surveys.

IN RECENT MONTHS, I’VE BEENassisting on book about

world-class performance byMichael G. Winston, former chief leadershipstrategist at Lockheed-Martin, McDonnellDouglas, Motorola, Merrill Lynch and thenCountrywide Financial.

When you witness and experience thegood, the great, the bad and the ugly—therise of great organizations and the fall ofpoor ones, as both Michael and I have doneover decades—you learn lessons both inyour head and heart. Perhaps nothing, pro-fessionally, is as gut-wrenching as seeingyour company close its doors, lay offthousands of people, sell off assets,and leave many people with debts.And leaders of failed enterprisesown much of the blame—even ifthey do their best to dodge it, as theItalian captain of the wrecked cruiseship Costa Concordia has done.

Captain Francesco Schettino wasaccused of several crimes as a resultof the grounding. But now, the mas-ter of the ill-fated ship says he’s innocentand that the truth will be told—in his newbook, of course.

By all accounts, Costa Concordia was sail-ing too close to shore when the shipgrounded off the coast of Italy, taking thelives of 32 passengers and crew. Now,Schettino, accused of abandoning his ship,manslaughter and causing the shipwreck,says he is innocent and did all he could doto help—sticking to his story that he trippedand fell into a lifeboat. Salvage operationscontinue at the site.

As eye-witnesses to such business wrecksand salvage operations, Michael and I careeven more about competitiveness, perfor-mance, results, relationships, outcomes, andorganizational sustainability.

IInnssppiirreedd bbyy tthhee OOllyymmppiiccssFor inspiration, Michael looked to the

2012 London Summer Olympic Games. Thebook follows this outline or storyboard:• Conditions: competitive, hostile, uncer-

tain, changing. Such conditions drive theneed to improve Performance.• Start. You must start your performance

improvement here and now, with who youare, what you have.

• Establish a baseline: your current perfor-mance level. Benchmark against your com-petition and world best, but seek to be to bean original, not a copy.• Assess: Am I in the right event, right

place, right race? With diligent, disciplinedpractice, can I/we compete with and possi-bly win against the best? Become the best?Choose a field, an event, a level of excel-lence where you have a real chance of beingcompetitive, perhaps winning an Olympicmedal, placing in the top three, and beingrecognized as world class.

NNooww TTaakkee 1100 SStteeppss ((DDeeccaatthhlloonn))Once you choose your event, start taking

these 10 steps:1. See and sense and assess your

talent, strength, gifts, and competi-tive advantages.

2. Capture a dream, vision, aspi-ration, motive, desire, ambition, ormission statement.

3. Clarify and specify: your goal,aim, target, objective, or expecta-tion (create SMART goals).

4. Create a strategy or design toget from here (where you are now

in your performance) to there (where youhope to be in your performance).

5. Identify what development standards,disciplines, practices, tactics, methods, ormeans will help most.

6. Identify what program, process, princi-ples, or values will best help you achieveyour performance goal.

7. Select and affiliate with a coach, team,model, mentor, school, or organizationknown for excellence in your event.

8. Measure progress, engage in competi-tions, celebrate improvement, recognize andreward growth and gain.

9. Establish a performance creed and cul-ture. Brand your name. Be known forworld-class performance excellence in someevent, race, competition, field, arena, prod-uct, or service.

10. Sustain your gains and be a model ofconsistency in performance excellence.

Remember: Every organization is perfect-ly designed to produce the results it nowgets. If you hope to improve performanceand win consistently in the fields and mar-kets of your choice, you need to design theright program/process to deliver desiredresults. LE

You either have a wreck or a wonder.

by Ken Shelton

Volume 30 Issue 2

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Performance by Design

E . D . I . T . O . R ’ S N . O . T . E

2 F e b r u a r y w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m

Editor since 1984

Costa Concordia

those that don’t—and the correlationbetween enjoyment and profitability islikely to strengthen in the years ahead.

3. Impotence. It could be that man-agers care a lot, but can’t imagine howthey could change things for the better.After all, many jobs are boring. Retailclerks, factory workers, call center staff,administrative assistants—of coursethey are disengaged, how could it beotherwise? Like prison wardens, man-agers would be shocked if their chargesstarted bubbling with joie de vivre.

Today, you don’t have to be the big-gest to be the most profitable, but youhave to be the most highly differentiat-ed. In a world of commoditized knowl-edge, the returns go to companies thatcan produce nonstandard knowledge.Success here is measured by profit peremployee, adjusted for capital. As you

would expect, Apple’s profit per headand ratio of profits to net fixed assetsare much higher than its competitors.

It doesn’t matter much where yourcompany sits in its ecosystem, nor howvertically or horizontally integrated itis. What matters is its relative share ofcustomer perceived value and the costs itincurs to produce that value: the greateryour share of differentiation, thegreater your share of industry profits.

In a world where customers wake updaily asking, “What’s new, different, andamazing?” your success depends uponyour ability to unleash the initiative, imagi-nation, and passion of your people. Thiscan only happen if all those folks areconnected heart and soul to their workand to the mission of the company.

SSiixx LLeevveellss ooff CCaappaabbiilliittiieessIn my hierarchy of human capabilities

at work, there are six levels:Level 1: Obedience. Obedient employ-

ees show up each day and follow all pre-scribed rules/procedures. Obedience is

High Engagement?

HOW WOULD YOU FEELabout a physician

who killed more patientsthan she helped, a police detectivewho committed more murders than hesolved, or a teacher whose studentsgot dumber as the school year pro-gressed? And what if you discoveredthat these perverse outcomes weremore the rule than the exception, thatthey were characteristic of most doc-tors, policemen, and teachers? You’dbe outraged and demand change!

Why, then, are we complacentwhen confronted with data that sug-gests most managers are more likely todouse the flames of employee enthusi-asm than to fan them? Why aren’t weangry that our management systemsare more likely to frustrate extraordi-nary accomplishment than to foster it?Only 1 in 5 employees are truly engagedin their work in the sense that theywould “go the extra mile” for theiremployer. Nearly 4 out of 10 are most-ly or entirely disengaged. This data rep-resents a stinging indictment ofmanagement-as-usual.

Why aren’t we scandalized by thefact that for most managers, employeeengagement isn’t Topic A, or B, or evenC. How do we account for this? I seethree possibilities:

1. Ignorance. Maybe managers don’trealize that most of their employeesare emotionally tuned out at work.Maybe they lack enough emotionalintelligence to recognize the low-gradedisaffection that afflicts most of theirpeople. This seems to me unlikely.Anybody who has ever read a Dilbertstrip knows that cynicism and passivi-ty are endemic in large organizations.

2. Indifference. Managers know thatmany employees are flat-lining at workbut simply don’t care, either because acallous culture has drained them ofempathy, or because they view engage-ment as financially unimportant—anice to have, but not an imperative.Many managers have yet to grasp theconnection between engagement andfinancial success. Companies that scorehighly on engagement have better earn-ings growth and fatter margins than

important, as large-scale enterprisewould be impossible without it.

Level 2: Diligence. Diligent employ-ees work hard, stay till the job is done,and take personal responsibility fordelivering great results. Again, this iscritical. You can’t build a winning orga-nization with slackers.

Level 3: Expertise. Next is intellect,personal competence—employees whohave world-class skills, who are welltrained and eager to learn more.

Trouble is, obedience, diligence, andcompetence are becoming capabilitiesthat you can buy in parts of the worldfor next to nothing (hence, companieshave out-sourced millions of jobs). Butwage arbitrage is not a strategy forlong-term competitive advantage. Ifobedience, diligence and knowledge arethe only things you get from your peo-ple, your company will lose. You haveto move up the capability hierarchy.

Level 4: Initiative. Beyond expertiseis initiative—employees who springinto action when they see a problem oran opportunity, who don’t wait to betold, who aren’t bound by job descrip-tions and are instinctively proactive.

Level 5: Creativity. Creative employ-ees are eager to challenge conventionalwisdom and are always hunting forgreat ideas in other industries.

Level 6: Passion. At the apex is pas-sion—employees who see their work as a calling, as a way to make a posi-tive difference in the world. For theseardent souls, the dividing line betweenvocation and avocation is indistinct atbest. They pour all of themselves intotheir work. While other employees aremerely present, they are engaged.

In today’s creative economy, thethree capabilities at the top of this listcreate the most value. Audacity, imagi-nation, and zeal are the ultimate well-springs of competitive differentiation.And there’s the rub. These higher orderhuman capabilities are gifts; they can’tbe commanded. You can tell someoneto be passionate or creative, but it won’tdo much good. Individuals choose eachday whether or not to bring these giftsto work—and they mostly choose not to.

Throughout history, managers haveseen their primary task as ensuring thatemployees serve the organization’sgoals—obediently, diligently, expertly.Now we need to turn the assumptionof “organization first, human beingssecond” on its head. Instead of asking,how do we get employees to better serve theorganization, we need to ask, how do webuild organizations that deserve the extra-ordinary gifts that employees bring to work?How can managers create a culture that

by Gary Hamel

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e F e b r u a r y 3

PERFORMANCE ENGAGEMENT

M a n a g e m e n t ’ s d i r t y l i t t l e s e c r e t .

inspires exceptional contribution andmerits an outpouring of passion, imagi-nation, and initiative? In our creativeeconomy, how fast can a company gen-erate new insights and build new know-ledge that enhances customer value?To escape the curse of commoditiza-tion, a company has to be a game-chang-er—and that requires employees whoare proactive, inventive, and passion-ate. The capabilities that matter mostare precisely those that are most diffi-cult to manage; hence, we need to shiftour focus from managing to unleashing.

No leader can afford to be indifferentto the challenge of engaging employeesin the work of creating the future.Engagement may have been optionalin the industrial and knowledge econo-my, but it’s the whole game now.

You might say: I’d love to create ahighly engaging workplace, but the folkswho work for me are not creating gorgeousproducts at the cutting edge of technology;they’re answering phones in a call center,cleaning hotel rooms, or bagging groceries.How can you expect people to be engagedin their work if their work isn’t engaging?

You might think that most people hatetheir jobs, yet 86 percent of employees inthe Towers Watson Global WorkforceStudy said they loved or liked their job.So, why not more engagement? NotesJulie Gebauer, who led the study, threethings are critical to engagement: 1) thescope that employees have to learn andadvance (opportunities to grow); 2) thecompany’s reputation and its commit-ment to making a difference in theworld (a mission that warrants extraor-dinary effort); and 3) the behaviors andvalues of the leaders (are they trusted,do people want to follow them?).

These are management issues! It ismanagers who empower individualsand create space for them to excel—ornot. It is managers who help to articu-late a compelling and socially relevantvision and make it a rallying cry—ornot. It is managers who demonstratepraise-worthy values—or not. Only 4in 10 employees agree that senior man-agement is “sincerely interested in theirwell-being,” “communicates openlyand honestly,” “communicates the rea-sons for decisions,” “tries to be visibleand accessible,” and “makes decisionsthat are consistent with our values.” Toimprove engagement, we have to admitthat if employees aren’t enthusiasticand impassioned, it’s not because worksucks—it’s because management blows. LE

Gary Hamel is Leadership Excellence #1 ranked thought leader andauthor of What Matters Now (Jossey-Bass). www.garyhamel.com.

ACTION: Engage your people to boost performance.

by Jim Collins Organizational decline is largely self-inflicted, and recovery largely withinour control. So long as you never fallall the way to Stage 5, you can rebuild!

Stage 1: Hubris born of success.Great enterprises can become insulatedby success; accumulated momentumcan carry an enterprise forward for awhile, even if its leaders make poordecisions or lose discipline. Stage 1kicks in when people become arrogant,regarding success as an entitlement,and lose sight of the factors that creat-ed success in the first place. When therhetoric of success (“We’re successfulbecause we do these specific things”)replaces penetrating insight (“We’resuccessful because we understand whywe do these specific things and underwhat conditions they would no longerwork”), decline will likely follow. Luckand chance play a role in many suc-

cessful outcomes. Thosewho fail to acknowledge therole luck plays in their suc-cess—and thus overestimatetheir merit and capabili-ties—succumb to hubris.

The best leaders neverpresume they understandall the factors that broughtthem success. They retain asomewhat irrational fearthat perhaps their success

stems in large part from fortuitous cir-cumstance. Suppose you discount yourown success (“We might have been justreally lucky”) and worry incessantlyabout how to make yourself strongerand better-positioned for the day yourgood luck runs out. What’s the down-side if you’re wrong? Minimal: You’lljust be that much stronger by virtue ofyour disciplined approach. But supposeinstead you succumb to hubris andattribute success to your superior qual-ities, what’s the downside if you’rewrong? You might be surprised andunprepared when you wake up to dis-cover your vulnerabilities too late.

Stage 2: Undisciplined pursuit of more.Hubris leads to the Undisciplined Pursuitof More—more scale, growth, acclaim,more of whatever those in power see assuccess. In Stage 2, companies stray fromthe disciplined creativity that led themto greatness, making undisciplined leapsinto areas where they can’t be great or

HISTORY SHOWS REPEAT-edly that the mighty

can fall. How can youknow if you are on the path of decline?If some of the greatest companies can gofrom iconic to irrelevant, what mightyou learn by studying their demise?

If powerful, well-positioned compa-nies can fall so far, so quickly, any com-pany can. If icon companies that onceserved as paragons of excellence can suc-cumb to the forces of gravity, no one isimmune. If companies once consideredthe champions in their fields can plum-met from great to irrelevant, we shouldall be wary about our success. Everyinstitution is vulnerable. There’s no lawof nature that the most powerful willremain at the top. Anyone can fall, andmost eventually do.

Might it be possible todetect decline early andreverse course—or even bet-ter, practice preventivemedicine? I’ve come to seeinstitutional decline like adisease: harder to detect buteasier to cure in the earlystages; easier to detect butharder to cure in the laterstages. An institution canlook strong on the outside but alreadybe sick on the inside, dangerously onthe cusp of a precipitous fall.

FFiivvee SSttaaggeess ooff DDeecclliinneeWhy do some great companies fall,

and how far can a company fall andstill come back? We identified a set ofonce-great companies that fell and a set ofsuccess contrasts. What happened lead-ing up to the point at which declinebecame visible, and what did the com-pany do once it began to fall?

Our analysis yielded a model ofhow the mighty fall that consists of fivestages that proceed in sequence. Andhere’s the scary part: You do not visiblyfall until Stage 4! Companies can bewell into Stage 3 decline and still lookand feel great, yet be right on the cuspof a huge fall. We’ve found companiesthat recovered—in some cases, comingback even stronger—after having crasheddown into the depths of Stage 4.

Declines and ComebacksT h e m i g h t y c a n f a l l , a n d r i s e a g a i n .

PERFORMANCE COMEBACKS

4 F e b r u a r y w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m

in the first place? Those who grasp forsalvation fall into Stage 4. Commonsaviors include a charismatic visionaryleader, a bold but untested strategy, aradical transformation, dramatic cul-tural revolution, hoped-for blockbusterproduct, a game-changing acquisition, orother silver-bullet solutions. Initialresults from dramatic action mayappear positive, but they do not last.

When we find ourselves in trouble,on the cusp of falling, our survivalinstinct and our fear can prompt lurch-ing—reactive behavior contrary to sur-vival. The very moment when we needto take calm, deliberate action, we riskdoing the exact opposite and bringingabout the very outcomes we most fear.By grasping in fearful, frantic reaction,late Stage 4 companies accelerate theirown demise. Of course, their leaderscan later claim: “But look at everythingwe did. We changed everything. Wetried everything we could think of. Wefired every shot we had, and we stillfell. You can’t blame us for not trying.”They fail to see that they need to getback to a calm, clear-headed, focused

approach. If you want to reversedecline, be rigorous about what not to do.

Stage 5: Capitulation to irrelevanceor death. The longer a company repeat-edly grasps for silver bullets, the morelikely it will spiral downward. In Stage5, accumulated setbacks and expensivefalse starts erode financial strength andindividual spirit to such an extent thatleaders abandon all hope of building agreat future. In some cases, companyleaders just sell out; in other cases theinstitution atrophies into utter insignifi-cance; and in the most extreme casesthe enterprise simply dies outright.

The point of the struggle is not justto survive, but to build an enterprisethat makes such a distinctive impact onthe world it touches (with such superiorperformance) that it would leave a gap-ing hole that could not be easily filledby any other institution if it ceased toexist. To accomplish this requires lead-ers who retain faith that they can find away to prevail in pursuit of a causelarger than mere survival (and larger

growing faster than they can achievewith excellence—or both. When anorganization grows beyond its abilityto fill its key seats with the right peo-ple, it sets itself up for a fall. Althoughcomplacency and resistance to changeremain dangers, overreaching bettercaptures how the mighty fall. It’sundisciplined to make discontinuousleaps into areas in which you have noburning passion; take action inconsis-tent with your core values; investheavily in new arenas where you can’tattain distinctive capability; launchheadlong into activities that do not fitwith your economic or resourceengine; become addicted to scale;neglect your core business while leap-ing after new adventures; use theorganization as a vehicle to increaseyour personal success—more wealth,fame, and power—at the expense of itslong-term success; and compromiseyour values or lose sight of your corepurpose in pursuit of growth.

Stage 3: Denial of risk and peril. InStage 3, internal warning signs beginto mount, yet external results remainstrong enough to explain away disturb-ing data or to suggest that the difficul-ties are temporary, cyclic, or not that bad,and nothing is fundamentally wrong. InStage 3, leaders discount negativedata, amplify positive data, and put apositive spin on ambiguous data.Those in power start to blame externalfactors for setbacks rather than acceptresponsibility. The vigorous, fact-baseddialogue that characterizes high-per-formance teams dwindles or disap-pears altogether. When those in powerbegin to imperil the enterprise by tak-ing outsize risks and acting in a waythat denies the consequences of thoserisks, they are headed for Stage 4.

Bill Gore, founder of W.L. Gore &Associates, articulated the “waterline”principle. Think of being on a ship,and imagine that any decision gonebad will blow a hole in the side. If youblow a hole above the waterline, youcan patch the hole, learn from theexperience, and sail on. But if youblow a hole below the waterline, youcan find yourself on the ocean floor.Great enterprises do make big bets,but they avoid big bets that couldblow holes below the waterline.

Stage 4: Grasping for salvation. Thecumulative peril or risks gone badassert themselves, throwing the enter-prise into a sharp decline visible to all.The critical question is: How does itsleadership respond? By lurching for aquick salvation or by getting back tothe disciplines that brought greatness

than themselves) while also maintain-ing the stoic will needed to take what-ever actions must be taken, howeverexcruciating, for the sake of that cause.

WWeellll--FFoouunnddeedd HHooppeeBy understanding the five stages of

decline, leaders can increase the oddsof reversing decline before it is too late—or even better, avoid decline in the firstplace. Xerox, HP, Nucor, IBM, Merck,Texas Instruments, Pitney Bowes,Nordstrom, Disney, and Boeing eachtook at least one tremendous fall atsome point and recovered. Sometimesthe tumble came early, when they weresmall and vulnerable, and sometimesthe tumble came when they were large,established enterprises. But in everycase, leaders emerged who broke thetrajectory of decline and simplyrefused to give up on the idea of notonly survival but ultimate triumph,despite the most extreme odds.

The signature of the truly great vs.the merely successful is not the absenceof difficulty—it is the ability to comeback from setbacks, even cataclysmiccatastrophes, stronger than before. Weall need beacons of light as we strugglewith inevitable setbacks. For me, thatlight has often come from WinstonChurchill and his mantra: Never givein—never, never, never, never. Be willingto kill failed business ideas, even toshutter big operations you’ve been infor a long time; evolve into a differentportfolio of activities, even to the pointof zero overlap with what you dotoday; embrace loss, endure pain, tem-porarily lose freedoms; form allianceswith former adversaries, and acceptnecessary compromise. But never giveup on the idea of building a great com-pany. Never give up on the principlesthat define your culture. Never give upfaith in your ability to prevail. Never—ever—give up on your core values.

The path out of darkness begins withthose exasperatingly persistent individ-uals who are constitutionally incapableof capitulation. It’s one thing to suffera staggering defeat—as will likely hap-pen to every business and social enter-prise at some point in its history—andentirely another to give up on the val-ues and aspirations that make the pro-tracted struggle worthwhile.

Failure is not so much a physicalstate as a state of mind; success isfalling down—and getting up onemore time—without end. LE

Jim Collins is the best-selling author of Built to Last, Good toGreat, and Great by Choice. Visit www.JimCollins.com.

ACTION: Bounce back from setbacks.

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e F e b r u a r y 5

market or facing bankruptcy. It’s a statewhere people fail to react to signs thataction must be taken, telling them-selves and each other, “Everything isfine.” The worst thing for leaders is tostep into complacency since a sleepy orsteadfast contentment with the statusquo can create disaster. In mature orga-nizations, complacency is likely thenorm; and even in organizations thatare experiencing serious problems,business-as-usual can survive.

You have a culture of complacencywhen: 1) discussions focus inward andnot on markets, emerging technology,or competitors; 2) candor is lacking inconfronting bureaucracy and politicsthat slow things down; 3) people regu-larly blame others for problems insteadof taking responsibility; 4) past failuresare discussed not to learn, but to stall

new initiatives; 5) assignments aroundcritical issues are rarely completed ontime or with quality; 6) cynical jokesundermine important discussions; 7) meetings on key issues end with nodecisions about what must happennow; 8) passive aggression existsaround big issues; and 9) people say,“we must act now”, but then don’t act.• False urgency. People are busy

working, but their actions don’t resultin helping the business succeed in theirprimary goal. This leads to unproduc-tive results, and eventually, burnout.False urgency is a misguided sense ofurgency. It has energized action, but ithas a frantic aspect to it with peopledriven by anxiety and fear. This dys-functional orientation prevents peoplefrom exploiting opportunities andaddressing real issues.

You have a culture of false urgency if:1) hundreds of anxiety-filled, unpro-ductive activities are mistaken for a realsense of urgency; 2) people have trou-ble scheduling meetings on important

Leading Change

THE RATE OF CHANGEis increasing expo-

nentially—in fact, itmay be the defining characteristic ofthe business world for the foreseeablefuture. To successfully react to windowsof opportunity, regardless of the focus—innovation, growth, culture, cost struc-ture, technology—a new methodologyof change leadership is required (70percent of major change efforts failbecause leaders don’t take a holisticapproach to seeing the change through).

My process for leading change startswith creating a sense of urgency: helpingothers see the need for change so theyare convinced of the importance of act-ing immediately and feel a gut-leveldetermination to move and win, now.

The toughest step in leading change—and the most often overlooked—isincreasing the sense of urgency (and sus-taining a sense of urgency over time).

Urgency is vital because change isshifting from episodic to continuous.Episodic change requires urgency inspurts and sprints. It revolves arounda single big issue—such as restructur-ing, new product launch, acquisition,IT integration, or growing revenue. Inorganizations that excel in episodicchange, with a big initiative every fewyears, you can still find a poor capaci-ty to deal with continuous changesince urgency tends to collapse after afew successes. Continuous change is aceaseless flow of change—a marathon.Becoming adept at change must be acompany asset to succeed long term,since there is a constant need for anurgent focus on what is important.

In their rush to make a plan andtake action, most leaders underestimatehow hard it is to drive people out oftheir comfort zones, or overestimate howwell they’ve done so, or lack patienceto develop appropriate urgency.

Leaders who have a sense of urgencyare good at taking the pulse of theircompany and determining whether thestate of the organization is one of com-placency, false urgency, or true urgency:• Complacency. Complacency can

occur whether you’re at the top of your

initiatives because they are too busy; 3)critical issues are delegated without theinvolvement of key people; 4) peoplespend long hours developing powerpoints on almost anything; 5) highlyselective facts are used to shoot downdata that suggests there is a big hazardor opportunity; 6) people run frommeeting to meeting exhausting them-selves and rarely focusing on the mostcritical hazards or opportunities.• True urgency. People are focused on

making real progress every day. Urgentbehavior is driven by a belief that thereare great opportunities and hazards. Itinspires a gut-level determination tomove, and win, now. True urgencyfocuses on critical issues, driven by thedeep determination to win, not anxietyabout losing. There are proven waysfor creating true urgency, but often theurge is to skip to the doing before get-ting employees to embrace urgency. Atrue sense of urgency is rare because ithas to be created and recreated.

You have a culture of true urgency if:1) people have a “want-to” attitude andengage in urgent behavior; 2) peoplehave a gut-level determination to move,and win, now; 3) people are alert andproactive, constantly looking for infor-mation relevant to success and sur-vival; 4) when faced with a problem,people search for effective ways to getthe information to the right individual,now; and 5) people come to work eachday ready to cooperate energetically.

True urgency is not the product ofhistorical successes or current failuresbut the result of people who providethe leadership needed to create it. Areal sense of urgency is rare, yet invalu-able in a world that will not stand still.

You can either fail or succeed atestablishing true urgency in your cul-ture. Here are the most common ways:

Guaranteed to fail: Change initia-tives rarely fail because the case forchange is poorly thought out, or notsupported with sufficient facts. A solidbusiness case that has a theoreticallycompelling rationale only appeals to peo-ple’s head—and not their hearts.

Guaranteed to succeed: Leaders whoknow what they are doing will aim forthe heart. They connect to the deepestvalues of their people and inspire themto greatness. They make the businesscase come alive with human experi-ence; they engage the senses, createmessages that are simple and imagina-tive, and call people to aspire. LE

John Kotter is chief innovation officer at Kotter International andthe Konosuke Matsushita Professor of Leadership, Emeritus, atHarvard Business School. Visit www. KotterInternational.com.

ACTION: Create a culture of true urgency.

by John Kotter

6 F e b r u a r y w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m

PERFORMANCE URGENCY

I t a l l s t a r t s w i t h u r g e n c y .

through a lack of self-regulation; if acoach isn’t flexible as the coachingengagement proceeds; if the coach isn’tconscious of time during the coachingsession, the coach comes across as offbalance, unprofessional, and inflexible. Thecoach sets the standard for the coach-ing relationship, and self-managementis a key aspect of it.

3. Cognitive adeptness. The effectivecoach uses whole brain thinking. The leftbrain analyzes; the right brain creates.The left brain deals with numbers,rational thought processes, sequenceswhich the effective coach needs to ana-lyze the situation, determine the appro-priate approach or style, and handleadministrative details. Right brainthinkers focus more on the emotions,relationships, intuition, integrating,and synthesizing highly perceptualissues. The effective coach builds arelationship with the client that leadsto coaching goals that might includeskills or performance coaching. Theability to help the client succeed restson the coach’s ability to create the emo-tional connection with the client by usingmore right brain thinking.

Effective coaches shift back and forthbetween right and left brain thinking,adapting their style to assist the client.If the coach’s style is too task related, therelationship might be jeopardized; ifthe coach’s style is too relationship relat-ed, goals may not be achieved. The goalis to combine the two styles to positive-ly impact the interaction.

4. Interpersonal adeptness. A coachmust be skilled in interpersonal relation-ships. Coaching is a collaborative rela-tionship. The coach must acquire theability to listen differently based on thesituation or person. When a person canreally listen to another at the level thatthe other person needs, relations aredeepened; new understandings are cre-ated; we gain a greater appreciation forwho the other person is and wherethey are at and what they need. Wereally hear what is being said withoutbias; understand what is heard; andbecome aware of our listening styles(reactive, explorative or attentive). Thecoach must ask questions using the

Executive Coaching

WITHOUT LEADERS,executive coach-

es would be without ajob. Leaders are tasked with makingdecisions that lead to success. Theexecutive coach helps the executiveestablish a starting point, articulate theresults to be achieved, and handle orovercome any obstacles along the way.

The effective coach continuouslydevelops personal attributes and fivecompetencies to more effectivelyengage the executive to achieve goals.

1. Leadership approach. A styleapproach enables the coach to approacheach client meeting with the skills toengage the client either in task or rela-tionship behavior. The three-skill approach—technical, human and conceptual—creates a well-rounded executive coachbut most executive coaching scenariosdo not require the technical or profes-sional aspect. Executive coaches mustdevelop a balance between relationshipand task when using the style approachin order to move easily between thetwo as needed during the coachingengagement. The coach must also lookat his or her strengths or weaknesses,in terms of traits and style, and devel-op a plan to create some balancebetween the two or simply focus onstrengths and manage around weak-nesses. This is where the four aspectsof emotional intelligence (EI) becomeimportant: self-awareness, social aware-ness, self-management, social skills. Sincethese aspects can complement a coach-ing relationship, I will review thosethat make the greatest impact.

2. Self-management. This refers to theability of the coach to achieve goalsusing such skills as self-awareness, self-regulation, self-evaluation, flexibility andtime management. The coach with goodself-management can assess clients,actively create and pursue a develop-mental plan, and work the plan withthe client. This is a strength for thecoach in that she or he takes time toreflect and determine if they are creat-ing a balanced coaching encounter ornot. If the coach is unaware of anybiases through lack of self-awareness;if the coach can’t regulate cognitions

exploratory style to help the client createtheir own answers, and then use atten-tive listening during the engagement.

Attentive listening is collaborative—ituses observation, nonverbal and verbalresponses to move closer, emotionally,to the client. A coach can acknowledgethe client through the use of attention,mirroring, pace, and focus. The effec-tive coach listens for what is being saidin between the lines—where the truthor real need lies. A client may say hewants a promotion when in fact, hewants his boss to give him more at-a-boys. A client may say she wants tochange careers when, in fact, she needsto take a stand for her salary and bonus.An effective coach can listen for thisand respond at the level of real need.

5. Social and political skills. Thebest organizations proactively seekinnovative ideas to move forward. Thismay include a change or shift in cul-ture. If so, expect resistance. An execu-tive coach may assist a key executive todevelop attributes to engage in thechange process, showing the executivehow his or her modeling affects otherindividuals. The executive might havebusiness acumen but lack social acumen.Emotional intelligence is a predictor ofeffective leadership. Social skills areneeded to create a new culture. Theexecutive who uses social skills totransform his or her relationship withpeople will attain followers rather thanemployees. When an executive coachhelps the executive focus on socialskills, greater results can be achieved.

Political skills also increase theeffectiveness of the coach. An effectivecoach must understand the internalpolitics and obstacles. When the coachsees a bias against people within theorganization, she or he can be proactivein dealing with it. A challenge mightcome when the coach is engaged bythe CEO (HR directors think coachingengagements should be run throughthem). The coach must involve the CEOand seek internal sponsors before andduring an engagement to minimize dif-ficult encounters. Although the coach-ing revolves around personal attributes,the effective coach understands organi-zational behavior and politics.

Mastering these competencies willposition the executive coach to buildrelationships faster; apply the nuancesof personal attribute development tothe coaching; and remain focused onthe goals of the engagement. LE

Linda Talley, Ph.D., is president, Linda Talley & Associates,offering speaking, training, webinars, and executive coaching.Visit LindaTalley.com. Email linda@lindatalley.com.

ACTION: Develop the competencies of a coach.

by Linda Talley

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e F e b r u a r y 7

PERFORMANCE COACHING

Five competencies are needed.

I see three critical factors for opti-mizing leadership: Growing oneself,growing others, and growing an innova-tive culture. Imagine your talent withthe awareness to self-monitor and self-correct through change. Envision yourkey talent passionate and prepared tomeet strategic needs. What might bepossible when you and your talent cre-ate a culture that is innovative, learn-ing agile, and resilient? Would you havewhat you need to compete? I think so.

TToo GGrrooww oorr NNoott ttoo GGrrooww??Growth is an inside-out and outside-in

process of transformation beginningwith inner Self-Growth and moving toGrowing Others and Growing InnovativeCultures. Most change begins with self-change, and most growth begins withself-growth. “To grow or not to grow”—that is the question. No amount ofgrowing others and growing a cultureof innovation will compensate for lackof self-growth. The capacity for organi-zational growth is directly proportionalto the growth of its leaders. Before wecan grow others with authenticity andpurpose, we need to consider our own

growth with authenticity and purpose.If we do, our development of otherswill be powerful, and the credibility wegain with others will be well earned.When we aspire to become the leaderwe wish to see in our organization, wehave a chance to accelerate the develop-ment of others, and ultimately the culture.

PPoowweerr ooff QQuueessttiioonnss,, LLaanngguuaaggee ooff PPaauusseeWhy is it paradoxical for leaders to

pause, to step back (rather than takeimmediate action) and to question andchallenge themselves? Questioning ourchoices is perceived as second-guess-ing, and in the norms of some cultures,that can be construed as weak. In TheArt of Powerful Questions, authors EricVogt, Juanita Brown, and David Isaacssuggest that we rarely participate inreflective conversations in which we explorecatalytic questions and innovative pos-sibilities before reaching key decisionsfor three reasons: 1) an emphasis on find-ing quick fixes and an attachment toeither/or thinking; 2) the rapid pace of

Take a Bold Pause

SAO PAULO IS BRAZIL’Slargest city and the

eighth largest metropo-lis in the world. With more than 21million people, it has varied and mul-tiple challenges. To make a dent in theovercrowding and give Paulistanos asense of space, Sao Paulo’s leadershipstepped back to ask the question: Whatmight happen if we removed the printadvertising from our city? This questionled to a bold pause that showed up asbold action.

In 2007, the city’s mayor passed theClean City Law, banning advertisingon billboards, the outside of buildings,buses and trains. The controversialand innovative law rids the city of theincessant visual advertising that domi-nated its outdoor space. It transformsthe urban landscape, reduces stress,and turns down the visual pollution,giving its residents and visitors apause from a barrage of visual stimulithat consumed their attention and dis-tracted them from the natural charac-ter of the city and its landscape. It waslike seeing the city for the first time.

The ban, said the mayor, gave SaoPaulo a chance to step back to thinkabout what they want, how they wantto reintroduce advertising in a moreregulated way. This bold pause givesthe city a spacious opening to chooseintentionally what they want their cityto be—and it all began with a boldquestion that challenged the status quo,and led to a bold solution. We create thefuture and optimize leadership potential inthe silence and potency of pause.

What might be possible for you ifyou pause more to ask bold questions?Leaders foster and accelerate growthof revenue, market share, profit, pur-pose, innovation, and contribution.But where does all this growth origi-nate? What is the prime mover? Whatfuels growth in the first place? Toooften, we view growth as an externalprocess, rarely pausing to consider itssource within us, others, and our orga-nizations. We excel at measuringgrowth but do we slow down, stepback and precisely look at where itcomes from and where it is going?

our lives and work; and 3) a belief thatreal work consists of detailed analysis,immediate decisions, and decisiveaction. And yet, they note, “knowledgework consists of asking profound ques-tions and hosting wide-ranging strategicconversations on issues of substance.”

Why question when we have all theanswers, right? What might happen ifinstead of having all the answers, wehad all the best questions to engage inoptimal discovery? What might be pos-sible if we built a bank of compellingquestions and a practice of askingthem, using them to probe, learn, andunleash brilliance? Questioning is per-haps the most powerful pause of all.Questions open the door to dialogueand discovery. They are an invitation tocreativity and breakthrough thinking.Questions can lead to movement andaction and ignite change. Questioningis “the art of seeking new possibilities,”the language of coaching, innovationand dealing with complexity and crises.Questions force a pause and propel usto a new level of thinking. Effective man-agers are trained to have the most accurateanswers, while leaders foster the skill topose the most profound questions.

Pause is a pragmatic, transforma-tional methodology that can be learned;yet this process of questioning, reflect-ing, and synthesizing is rarely taught.Consider that 78 percent of people gettheir best ideas in the shower, whileexercising, or commuting. Most leadersagree that innovation is the new leadership.Yet, most spend less than 5 percent oftheir time in reflective thinking! Mostorganizations say innovation is their topstrategic priority, and yet senior teamsspend only 3 to 5 days per year onstrategy and innovation. What might bepossible if you devoted more time forreflective thinking and strategic plan-ning? What if pausing for questionsand experimentation, pause-through forbreakthrough, became the new normal?

In an uncertain world, pause may bethe most critical leadership competency sinceit prepares us to become more comfort-able with ambiguity, more adaptable inchange, more agile in volatility, andmore clear about complicated issues.

As the practice of pause permeatesthe organization, it can open the doorsof authentic innovation and acceleratesustained growth. What bold questionwill you pause to ask today? And, whatbold innovation might result? LE

Kevin Cashman is Senior Partner, CEO/Executive Development,Korn/Ferry International. He is the best-selling author ofLeadership from the Inside Out and The Pause Principle: StepBack to Lead Forward. Visit www.cashmanleadership.com.

ACTION: Pause to reflect then go and grow.

by Kevin Cashman

8 F e b r u a r y w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m

PERFORMANCE PAUSE

It helps boost performance.

Virtuousness extends beyond citizen-ship, social responsibility, or ethics.

3. Amplifying effect: Virtuousnesscreates and fosters sustainable positiveenergy. As an inherent attribute of peo-ple, virtuousness elevates. Observingvirtuousness in organizations createsupward spirals of positive dynamics.This amplifying quality is the heliotrop-ic effect at work—the attraction of allliving systems toward positive energyand away from negative energy. Observ-ing virtuousness creates a self-reinforc-ing cycle toward more virtuousness.

VViirrttuuoouussnneessss iinn OOrrggaanniizzaattiioonnssFew leaders invest in practices or

processes that do not produce higherreturns to shareholders, profitability,productivity, and customer satisfac-

tion. Without visible payoff, leaderstend to ignore virtuousness and consid-er it of little relevance to key stake-holders. But what if we could showdirect associations between virtuous-ness and desired outcomes? Studies haveexplored these relationships, and thekey results are summarized below:

Virtuousness after downsizing: Aseries of studies examined indicators ofvirtuousness and performance outcomes:• Eight independent business units of

a corporation in the transportationindustry had recently downsized, andthe negative effects were likely to ensuredeteriorating performance. Virtuousnessscores for each unit were measured bysurvey items measuring compassion,integrity, forgiveness, trust, and opti-mism. Even after downsizing, unitswith higher virtuousness scores hadmuch higher productivity, profitability,productivity, quality, customer reten-tion, and lower employee turnover.• In 16 industries that had cut staff,

the same measures of virtuousnesswere attained. Profitability (net income

Virtuous Performance

VIRTUOUSNESS REPRE-sents the best of

the human condition,or the highest aspirations we hold forourselves. In organizations, we cansee virtuousness in collective displaysof moral excellence. Positive factors—virtuousness in particular—provide animportant arena for leaders to enhanceorganizational performance, since vir-tuous organizations outshine others.

What is virtuousness? First, let’sdifferentiate virtues and virtuousness:The term virtues refers to individualattributes that represent moral excel-lence and inherent goodness—traitsindicative of humanity’s best qualities.Examples include displays of forgive-ness, humility, wisdom, and compas-sion. Virtuousness refers to aggregatesof virtues acting in combination, andmanifests itself as behaviors, process-es, and routines in organizations. Justas individuals may possess more thanone virtue, organizations can also dis-play and enable more than one virtue.

Virtuousness has three core attributes:1. Eudaemonic assumption: Virtuous-

ness is synonymous with the eudae-monic assumption—that an inclinationexists in all people toward goodness forits intrinsic value. Much evidence sug-gests that our inclination toward virtu-ousness is inherent. Virtuousness differsfrom ethics in that it pursues the ulti-mate best—eudaemonism—rather thanmerely avoiding the negative.

2. Inherent value: Virtuousness is nota means to obtain another end, but anend in itself. In fact, virtuousness inpursuit of another more attractive out-come ceases to be virtuousness. For in-stance, if kindness toward employees isfostered solely to obtain a payback oran advantage, it ceases to be kindnessand becomes manipulation. Virtuousactions create advantages for others inaddition to—or exclusive of—recogni-tion, benefit, or advantage to the actor.Whereas some activities included inthe corporate social responsibility andcorporate citizenship domains may rep-resent virtuousness, these activities areoften motivated by instrumental bene-fit or exchange relationships.

relative to total sales), quality, innova-tion, employee turnover, and customerretention were measured as outcomes.Firms scoring higher in virtuousnesswere much more profitable, and—whencompared to competitors, industryaverages, stated goals, and past perfor-mance—achieved much higher perfor-mance on the other outcome measures.• After 9/11/2001, a study conducted

in the U.S. airline industry investigat-ed the relationships between virtuousdownsizing strategies and financial returnand examined how different firmshandled financial setbacks. Virtuousnesswas defined as preserving human dig-nity, investing in human capital, andproviding an environment in whichemployee wellbeing was a priority.Eight of 10 U.S. airline companiesdownsized, but some did so in waysthat were more virtuous than others.The study found that virtuousness andfinancial return are positively related.

Virtuousness and causality: Does acausal relationship exist between virtu-ousness and performance? More recentstudies looked at the impact of imple-menting virtuous practices over time:• In 40 business units of a financial

services company, the CEO tried toincorporate virtuous practices into itsculture to guide the strategic direction.One year later, strong relationshipswere found between virtuous practicesand six measures of financial perfor-mance. The following year, similarassociations were found between vir-tuousness scores, employee turnover,and organizational climate scores.• In 29 nursing units in a healthcare

system, a multi-year study investigatedthe effects of virtuousness on indicatorsof performance. It revealed: 1) Unitsexposed to virtuousness training greatlyimproved their virtuous practice scores;and 2) Units improving the most in vir-tuousness also improved the most in out-come measures (double-digit improvements).

Virtuousness is associated with, andmay produce, desired performance inprofitability, productivity, quality, cus-tomer satisfaction, climate, and employ-ee retention. The value of virtuousnessdoes not require that it be associatedwith other outcomes. But when facedwith stockholder demands for measur-able results, or trying to lead an organi-zation in trying times, leaders may findvalue in virtuous practices. LE

Kim Cameron is associate dean for Executive Education at theRoss School of Business, the William Russell Kelly Professor ofManagement and Organizations, and a co-founder of the Centerfor Positive Organizational Scholarship at the University ofMichigan. Email cameronk@umich.edu.

ACTION: Strive for virtuous performance.

by Kim Cameron

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e F e b r u a r y 9

PERFORMANCE VIRTUE

I t i s a v e r y p r o d u c t i v e p a r t n e r s h i p .

and mercenary enemy. These quickand decisive victories served notice tothe world, but most importantly, hisown men. Thousands of volunteerssoon joined the dwindling ranks ofAmerican troops, and once defeatistcountrymen discovered they had anintrepid leader who could adapt hisstrategy as required. ACTION: Thegreatest leaders continue to learn and arehumble enough to draw wisdom fromerrors in judgment. Search out teachablemoments, especially for yourself.

2. Model right behavior. Washingtonclearly knew the value of managing per-ception. When the Second ContinentalCongress met in Philadelphia in thesummer of 1775, he was the only leaderin military uniform. His 6’ 3” frameespecially stood out when he made his

rare but influential opinions known.He was the obvious choice to lead therevolt as commander in chief. He saidaloud but humbly that “I do not think Iam equal to the command I am hon-ored with”, then refused the monthlysalary offered to him. Sharing the sacri-fice of his men and his young country,Washington only went home twiceduring the eight-year struggle. Whenhis troops defeated the enemy the dayafter Christmas 1776 in Trenton, Wash-ington came face to face with their van-quished foe, Hessian Colonel JohannRall, who lay on the ground mortallywounded. This was his chance to beratethe dying Colonel for the atrocities hismen committed on surrenderingAmerican soldiers in previous battles.Instead, Washington offered medicalhelp and assured his adversary that hismen would get fair treatment. He heldthe moral high ground, which was wit-nessed by friend and foe alike.ACTION: Thoreau said that your actionsspeak so loudly I cannot hear what you say.

Brave Leaders

IN THE “LAND OF THEfree and home of the

brave,” we rarely talkof bravery as a mark of leadership, andyet history is replete with examples ofbrave figures who emerged from bat-tle as changed men, more heroic andrevered than when they entered.

Following a turning-point battle inNew Jersey, one soldier said of GeorgeWashington, “I shall never forget what Ifelt at Princeton on his account, when Isaw him brave all the dangers of thefield and his important life hanging asit were by a single hair with a thousanddeaths flying around him. Believe me,I thought not of myself.”

Washington’s selfless courage anddecisiveness was an inspiration totired and bewildered troops at a timethey most needed it. Despite the dan-gers, he led from the front and changedthe course of history.

Difficult times serve as a sort of cru-cible, forging leaders through fire. Whomight have attained stature were it notfor the circumstances they foundthemselves in—a strange serendipityof sorts. As we are all painfully aware,we find ourselves in one of those his-toric times and are collectively longingfor a leader to emerge or re-emergewho leads us in the right direction, outof the mire. Perhaps those who leadsome group or endeavor could learnthree lessons from Washington’s exam-ple from 240 years ago.

1. Learn from your mistakes. In 1776,Washington’s troops were defeated inLong Island, White Plains, and espe-cially, New York. Standing face to facewith the vanguard of the King’s troopswas not turning out to be sound strat-egy and his troops were already neartheir end, defeated and demoralized.Washington was, however, adroit atstrategic retreat, always enabling theAmerican army to fight another day,which he did during Christmas 1776.Rather than do battle against a prepared,well-equipped adversary, Washingtonrallied sick and tired troops and, usingthe element of surprise, capturedTrenton and Princeton from a brutal

Your employees or constituents are watch-ing you to decide on how they should actand respond. Teach by doing.

3. Lead from the front. In preparationfor his military leadership role in theRevolution, Washington sharpened histeeth in various battles in the Frenchand Indian War. One particular battlewas uniquely fierce but quick, whichWashington left as the victor. In themiddle of the firefight that ensued, helater wrote, “I heard the bullets whistle,and there is something charming in thesound.” Soon, Washington began toacquire some fame with his militaryexploits, especially following his braveryat a battle on the way to capturing FortDuquesne from the French. In route tothe fort, Washington and other troopsled by Major General Edward Braddockwere ambushed by a group of Indianand French troops. Braddock and mostof his troops were slaughtered in thesurprise attack but Washington, cooland intrepid, took the lead, rallied thesurviving troops to counter the attack,and eventually led hundreds to safety.In the center of the fury, Washingtonsurvived, despite four shots throughhis uniform and two horses shot outfrom under him. Once Washingtonbecame president, he continued hiscourageous ways. In an effort to quell aminor revolt called Shays Rebellion,and deep into his second term, Wash-ington gathered 13,000 militia and ledthe forces himself. True to his leader-ship calling, this was the only time inhistory that a sitting American presi-dent has personally led a military oper-ation. ACTION: Courage inspires. Since itis the job of a leader to inspire others, takebold action, despite the risks.

Circumstances dictate your opportu-nity to stand out and make a difference.Washington, like many other leaders,rose to greatness at least in part on thewave of iconic moments in history. Butmany people, in business, in life, or ingovernment, have not been made greatby those moments, but made irrelevant.Not because of some cosmic occurrenceoutside their sphere of influence butbecause they did not respond equal tothe moment. Just as critical, aspiringleaders cannot wait for events that maynever arrive. There does not need to bea battle where you survive four shotsthrough your uniform but . . . assured-ly, there will be moments where brav-ery or courage is required nonetheless;rise to the occasion courageously. LE

Don Sandel is Assoc. Dir. Talent Development, Astellas PharmaU.S. Call 312-696-9719 or email dsandel@wowway.com.

ACTION: Behave bravely in your leadership.

by Don Sandel

1 0 F e b r u a r y w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m

PERFORMANCE WASHINGTON

T h i n k o f G e o rg e Wa s h i n g t o n .

tion. No matter how repugnant Lincolnfound slavery, his first purpose was topreserve the Union, and he never wavered—that purpose guided his decisionsand actions and he galvanized his fol-lowers around his purpose.

2. Respect. Lincoln showed respectfor people. As president, he spent muchtime visiting battlefields to support thetroops. He would take his public bathsweekly by meeting with people wholined the halls of the White House. Heshowed respect to his rivals, and forWilliam Seward by going to his officeto meet with him and by finding areasof mutual interest. Seward said of Lincoln,“He is the best of us.”

At Toyota they show respect for peo-ple. By being respectful, they engagethe hearts and intellects of their people.The leaders are coaches who actively

support their employees. They go totheir work areas to engage with themand support them in solving problems.

3. Probity. This word means trans-parently honest. A person of probity issomeone who holds to the highest princi-ples and ideals. It speaks to a person’sintegrity, and is the basis for buildingtrust and inspiring people to follow.Lincoln earned the nickname HonestAbe. His critics attacked him but couldnot provide credible evidence to showhe was dishonest. Lincoln was transpar-ently honest and a principle-centered leader.

4. Influence. Influence means guid-ing people to finding the right answerson their own, so the right path becomestheirs. When individuals arrive at theirown answer to a situation, it is theirs—and it causes them to take ownershipfor their decisions and actions. Lincolnused stories and letters to influencepeople. In letters to his generals, he didnot command them. He provided sug-gestions and comments to help themdetermine the right course of action.

Abraham Lincoln

STEVEN SPIELBERG’Sacclaimed movie,

Lincoln, has placed abright spotlight on our 16th President,as we celebrate his 204th birthday thismonth. The movie focuses on Lincoln’sleadership as he works to get the 13th

amendment passed by Congress. Hisexceptional leadership traits and skillsare timeless and universal, and he’s anexcellent leadership role model.

When I worked as VP of Operationsfor Medtronic Surgical Technologies, Iused Lincoln as a role model as weimplemented lean thinking to improveoperations and support growth.

In their book Lean Thinking, JamesWomack and Dan Jones describe theconcepts, methods, and systems thatenabled Toyota to achieve world-classperformance and gain a competitiveadvantage in the auto industry. Leanthinking focuses on delivering ever morevalue, as defined by the customer, by con-tinuously improving processes to elim-inate waste and by engaging peopledaily to improve their work and workexperience to benefit customers.

Lean Thinking requires leaders toserve their people, develop them totake on full responsibility for theirwork, and deliver value to customers.

Within a few years, our largest plantreceived two of the top national con-tinuous improvement awards. We hadmade good progress, but had much todo in terms of leadership development.

In 2005, I traveled to Japan to studyToyota and Honda and their leaders.Toyota leaders demonstrated humility,aligned their organization from top tobottom around key objectives, coachedby asking effective questions, builtconsensus, showed respect for people,fostered continuous learning, andaddressed problems openly. Theyreminded me of Abraham Lincoln interms of character traits and skill sets.

Lincoln serves as an example of 10traits of Lean Leaders.

1. Purpose. Being purposeful meansfinding both the emotional and marketdefinition of the group’s highest pur-pose, putting it in human terms, andturning everyone to face in that direc-

5. Continuous learning. This forcesus out of comfortable routines, neverallowing us to rest on laurels. To stoplearning is to halt growth. The learneris always looking for new approaches.Lincoln often studied late into thenight. He would read volumes on mili-tary strategy and pore over reports tofulfill his role as commander and chief.

6. Persistence. When faced withchallenges, persistence enables us tocontinue. Thomas Edison, who usedLincoln as a role model, failed 10,000times in one year but then used thelessons learned to achieve breakthroughsuccesses. Lincoln failed at two busi-nesses, and lost in his bid for eightstate and national political positions.His persistence enabled him to win thepresidency and the Civil War to pre-serve the union and free the slaves.

7. Holistic thinking. To think holisti-cally is to think broadly about the appli-cations of action or inaction. Lincolnhad to consider the border states in hisdecisions and actions to prevent themfrom seceding. He also had to take anoverview of the economic, governmen-tal, and military strategies and deter-mine the implications when makingdecisions. He had to see the complexinterconnections and ramifications.

8. Problem solving. The scientificmethod is a systematic approach todetermine the root cause of a problemand implement measures to makeimprovements. Lincoln always wantedto see problems firsthand. He was con-cerned that individuals would interjecttheir opinions and emotions and bebiased. He had the skill to understandthe facts and look at problems objectively.

9. Results. Lean thinkers are results-driven, but they focus on the process notthe outcome, knowing that the processproduces the results. They set goalsand then create and improve processes.Lincoln showed his results-driven naturein the way he urged his generals toprosecute the war and win victory.

10. Courage. A courageous leaderthinks less about personal consequences,more about what would happen if hefails to make the change. Lincolnstayed with his courageous convictionsand did not relent, despite growingpressure to settle with the south andend the war. Sherman’s and Sheridan’svictories turned the tide and enabledLincoln and the Union to win the war.

For over 150 years, leaders have askedthemselves, What would Lincoln do? LE

Jerry Bussell is President of Bussell Lean Associates, ExecutiveAdvisor to Underwriters Laboratories Knowledge Services, andauthor of Anatomy of a Lean Leader. Jerry@BussellLean.com.

ACTION: Cultivate the traits of lean leaders.

by Jerry Bussell

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e F e b r u a r y 1 1

PERFORMANCE LINCOLN

E x e m p l a r o f L e a n L e a d e r s h i p .

your culture. Make them part of thesolutions, by giving them a role andthe responsibility for implementingsolutions to major business issues.

6. Create a work environment thatfosters creativity and innovation. Gobeyond simply improving the physicalenvironment. Focus on how peoplefeel. Evaluate the energy when you walkthe floors. How connected to theirteams do virtual or remote workersfeel? Make changes to ensure that thework environment fuels your objec-tives and helps to achieve your goals.

7. Appreciate and reward youremployees. Develop and deploy aschedule that regularly and meaning-fully rewards employees to create aculture of appreciation. Assess andimprove the way you reward peopleso that you are sensitive and respon-sive to the differences in age, educa-tion, maturity, and demographics.

8. Focus on things that inspire yourpeople. Identify what inspires you andyour employees. Do they need moreeducation and training, more creativetime and cross-training opportunities,wellness programs to promote less

stress and better health, or even a sab-batical? Develop and improve the keyprograms that your people need tostay engaged and loyal.

9. Improve the most importantthings first. Identify your major shortcomings head-on. Identify what boostsyour progress and what holds youback. Are you a poor listener, a techno-phobe, or do you yell and rave? Admitit. Then take action to get help, fixyour problem, and improve your ownperformance, skills and abilities.

10. Visualize the future. Identifywhere you see yourself in 10 or 20 years.Define the characteristics of the leaderyou want to be and what the futurelooks like for you. Describe how you’llbalance your personal and work lifeand how you’ll build loyalty and trust.

Great leaders lead magnetically byfully engaging and empowering people,transforming them into innovative think-ers and major contributors. Appreciatingeffort and rewarding results generateloyalty and impact profitability.

Magnetic Leaders

WHAT DO THE LEAD-ers of top com-

panies do to create andnurture an inviting workplace that isfilled with fully engaged and enthusi-astic employees? The best leadersengage employees, set the example byshowing how to play well with others,and inspire people by demonstratingthat every action they take is relevantto them and to their constituents.

The best leaders know how to lis-ten, make a promise and deliver onthat promise, and make the necessaryinvestment to engage their employees.They motivate, inspire and energizepeople by connecting the vision, val-ues, purpose and business goals of theorganization to individual values andneeds. Here are 10 actions you cantake to improve your leadership.

1. Develop your vision. Make sureyou have a vision with the purposeand values to make it real. State whereyou are going clearly. State your pur-pose simply. Express your values—thethings that you use to guide everyaction people take at work—directly.

2. Identify your leader type. Know-ing who you and what type of leaderyou are helps you and others identifywhere, when and how to best behaveand act to focus their time and energyto achieve the goals and objectivesyou set out for them.

3. Track your leadership develop-ment progress. Keep a leadership logto document what you do and whathappens. Review what happens regu-larly. Reflect on what you are learningand how you are changing.

4. Recruit and retain the right peo-ple. Identify what makes individualssuccessful in your culture, and recruitfor those skills. The culture will keepthem loyal and happy, and exceed allexpectations. Improve your interviewand listening skills so you can hearwhat your people are saying. Takeimmediate action when you identifysomething that needs to be improved.

5. Engage, empower and enrich youremployees. Invite them to become partof your vision. Empower them to be aforce of change and be enriched by

The best leaders go beyond cultivat-ing their skills—they create a culture ofleadership by inspiring others to lead.

Let’s explore the vision, purpose andvalues of great leaders.• They use leadership like an engine of

innovation that runs on change, truth,communication and vision. Great lead-ers make a difference in the lives oftheir people, organizations, and theprocesses that cultivate the business.• They want workers to bring their

brains to work. The fastest way tolower organizational IQ is to create aculture of followers. Employees whofollow the rules and never think out-side their job descriptions don’t con-tribute to organizational success.• They appreciate and acknowledge

their employees. People want and needmore than money to be motivated.What people want is a basic emotionalhuman need—to feel appreciated.• They create loyalty. Leadership is

not an ego game but rather it is pur-pose driven. Frances Hesselbein, CEOof the Leader to Leader Institute, laud-ed for her role as CEO of Girl Scouts ofAmerica, says: Great leaders put theirpurpose first—never their own egos.• They know that leadership impacts

the bottom line. Leadership requiresadapting to changing forces in themarketplace, managing generationaldifferences and embracing socialresponsibility and philanthropy. Insummary it creates a healthy environ-ment that is a powerful force thatimpacts productivity and profitability.• They own an authentic personal

brand. In the age of social media, per-sonal brands grow and spread onTwitter, Facebook and the Blogosphere.Every leader needs to preserve theirhonesty, integrity and personal image.• They hold themselves accountable.

Many use the Get REAL approach toleadership: Recruitment to not onlyattract the right people but ways toretain them; Engaging, empoweringand enriching employees by providingthe right environment for success;Appreciating people with not justmoney but recognizing their effortsthat go above and beyond their jobdescription; Leadership leads to loyal-ty. Leadership is first about purpose.When leaders attract the right peopleand engage, empower and appreciatethem, they foster loyalty, productivity,and profitability. LE

Dianne Durkin heads Loyalty Factor, a consulting and trainingcompany, and is author with Carey Earle of The Power ofMagnetic Leadership (CreateSpace). Visit www.LoyaltyFactor.com,call 603-334-340, or email dmdurkin@loyaltyfactor.com.

ACTION: Take these 10 actions to top performance.

by Dianne Durkin

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PERFORMANCE ACTIONS

Take these 10 critical steps.

Wal-Mart, often had Saturday meetings,where he would gather people to sharewith them everything he knew aboutthe business. He once wrote: “The morethey know, the more they’ll understand.The more they understand, the morethey’ll care. Once they care, there’s nostopping them. If you don’t trust yourassociates to know what’s going on, they’llknow you really don’t consider them part-ners.” To learn more about who peopleare and what they think, ask, “Whatwould you do if you had my job?”

4. Ask questions to promote insight:To find out more about who people areand what they think, ask questions.Get inside people’s heads. Don’t askquestions of just the people you workwith every day. Spend some time withthose who report to your direct reports.Extend this idea even to customers or

clients or anyone who might havesomething to do with the goals that youwant to achieve.

5. Take responsive action: Once youfind out what people think, you needto show that you take them into account.You may be the star of the team, butyou need to take as many of yourteammates as you can with you—helpthem be great too. When you set yoursights on improving not only your per-formance, but the performance ofeveryone around you, you unleash thepower of all that collective talent. Ifyou’re one person getting big thingsdone, that’s good, but it will only takeyou so far. If you can help a team ororganization of people reach big goals,then there’s no telling what you canaccomplish together. It’s up to you as aleader to make that happen.

6. Develop people as leaders. Whenour company spun off from PepsiCo in1997, I decided to share my vision ofleadership with my people at Yum!Brands—how to take people along to get

Take People with You

IBELIEVE THAT LEADER-ship is a privilege

and that all peoplehave an inherent desire to make a pos-itive difference through their work. Bycreating a culture where every personfeels that they have a chance to con-tribute, you create a situation wherepeople can do great things. To buildsuch a culture, you start with trust.

Reaching out to people and build-ing relationships of trust might seemlike a natural idea, but how do you do it?

Here are seven things you can do toshow people that you believe in themand care about them.

1. Know that people want to con-tribute: Realize that 99.9 percent ofpeople come to work wanting to dogood and try hard. So you have to goto work every day thinking aboutyour people that way and appreciatingthem for it. If you don’t trust people,why should they trust you? It startswith what we’ve defined as our coreformula for success—building peoplecapability. When you get the peoplecapability right, you satisfy more cus-tomers and make more money. Manycompanies start out on the wrong endby thinking first about the money.

2. Demonstrate that everyonecounts: Create a culture where everyperson feels valued. For example, ourteam in India has made corporate socialresponsibility a priority. One initiative isto have at least one KFC in every majorcity run by team members who arehearing and speech impaired. I visitedone such store in Bangalore. I wasamazed to see how the kitchen workedwith lights replacing buzzers and bellsthat tell staff when food is ready. Atthe counter, customers can point tospecial menus to communicate theirorders. The restaurant even providestable tents that teach people basic signlanguage. This ability to see the poten-tial in every person and provide aplace where that potential can be uti-lized has been a huge success factor.

3. The more they know, the morethey care: To show people you trust intheir abilities, share with them whatyou know. Sam Walton, founder of

results. Over the last 15 years, I’vereached out to our 40,000 restaurantmanagers worldwide. At Yum!, webelieve in our associates and all they cando. We have a four-pronged approachto nurture their growth: 1) Your devel-opment is top of mind. You’re on a pathto success. We give you the tools tocontinue to learn, grow, and develop asa person every day. Each mid-year, youwork with your coach to craft a planthat will optimize your personal devel-opment. You begin with our Walk theTalk 360° Survey, using the How We Leadand How We Win Together criteria alongwith the perspectives of coaches, peers,customers and direct reports. This helpsstrengthen your performance. Withthat feedback, you can create a soliddevelopment plan focused on learningfrom experience that ensures you reachyour full Yum! potential. 2. Lead theway. At Yum, everyone is a leader. OurLD curriculum is grounded in the keyskills and attributes of How We Lead,which focuses on coaching yourselfand others to remove obstacles to suc-cess and achieve breakthrough results.Through a combination of e-learning,virtual classrooms, supervisor supportand developmental tools, every associ-ate learns how to apply the right toolsand processes to soon make marks oftheir own. 3. Mentoring. Everyone cangrow professionally and coach othersthrough their career. Mentoring rela-tionships allow a safe and supportiveenvironment to share ideas, try newskills, take risks, improve leadershipabilities and turn values and strategiesinto Breakthrough Results. 4. Yum! Univer-sity (YU). We developed YU to helpassociates understand the key conceptsneeded for success in any experience.We provide the approaches and toolsneeded to lead and manage effectively.YU’s focus is centered around threekey areas: Leadership Excellence. Each ofour associates strive for breakthroughresults in their piece of Yum!, as well ascoach and develop themselves andtheir teams. The courses, offered alongwith supporting tools, help build capa-bility across all levels. Culture Excellence.Driving a recognition-based, globalculture that focuses on growth andbreakthrough performance is essentialfor our continual success. YU’s coursesand tools help ensure we live our HowWe Win Together principles and main-tain an Achieving Breakthrough Resultsmindset everyday. Functional Excellence.To become “the defining global compa-ny that feeds the world” requires asharp focus on excellence across all func-tions. YU’s courses support our RGM#1

by David Novak

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e F e b r u a r y 1 3

PERFORMANCE PEOPLE

Everyone wants to make a d i ff e rence .

philosophy and help us Run GreatRestaurants by teaching critical skillsand processes, providing supportingtools, and reinforcing mindsets thatspan the business functional areas.

7. Recognize achievement. Recognitionis a powerful motivator. I lead peoplelike a marketer (I have a marketingbackground). I put my head inside theheads of people I lead and seek tounderstand their perceptions, habits,and beliefs. When I know how peopleare thinking, I develop initiatives andapproaches that will shock the system, sothat I can draw attention to what isimportant. For instance, since I knowthat recognition has universal value—everybody likes to be recognized—Imake that a high value in our company.

When I was President of KFC, Igave away rubber chicken to shock thesystem. When I was in Pizza Hut, Igave away cheeseheads. I also give awaytalking teeth. All our leaders recognizethe value of recognition. Niren Chaud-hary, President, Yum! Brands, India hassnake charmer awards that he gives awayfor mesmerizing performance. The presi-dent of Taco Bell gives an award in asauce packet. The manager who runs ourdevelopment function gives awayEskimo awards—he shows an Eskimotaking a spear and breaking the ice forbreakthrough performance.

Since I take a very innovativeapproach toward recognition and usethat to differentiate the culture andhave fun, it basically shocks the system.

Recognition is a powerful way toreinforce the behavior you want. Werecognize and celebrate the achieve-ments of others, and we also recognizepeople who are behaving in ways thatare inconsistent with our values. Werack and stack performance. So, if wehave 150 stores in India, every store isranked in terms of its ability to driveoperational excellence. If you’re in thetop tier, you can recognize people. Infact, the top 15 percent restaurant GMsin India can go for an MBA. If theyperform, we give them additional edu-cation. We also recognize the two high-est performing restaurant GMs in Indiaby giving them cars. That’s a powerfulthing to do (all GMs aspire to win). Atthe same time, if you’re at the bottom,and stay there, despite having a sup-portive culture and growth opportuni-ties, you will be invited to work some-where else. That’s how we upgradeperformance. LE

David C. Novak is Chairman and CEO of Yum! Brands andauthor of Taking People With You: The Only Way to Make BigThings Happen. Visit www.Yum.com.

ACTION: Upgrade performance in your company.

them—and ways organizations cansupport bottom-up change. This studycreated a new picture of leadershipwhere anyone can use their agency tomake changes and leadership roles arelocated across the hierarchy. By high-lighting these roles, we help peopleexpand who they see as potential leaders.

We document key tactics leaders useto create change, typical barriers theyface, how they overcome them, howthey maintain resiliency, and how theynavigate power when others opposetheir ideas. Here are five of their tactics:• Use data to tell a story: Collect and

use data to tell the story of your changeinitiative, raise consciousness, mobilizeaction, and garner support.• Join and use networks. Grassroots

leaders use networks to further theirchanges; some use institutional bodiesor committees. The goal of using formaland informal networks (including socialmedia) is to move from active influenceto action. Participation gives visibilityto the grassroots change initiative, asgrassroots leaders can use committeesand the governance structure as venuesfor speaking on the initiative and influ-

encing people to take action.• Garner resources and sup-

port. Grassroots leaders seekseed funding for change ini-tiatives through grants, sup-porters, or fund raising.• Seek convergence—the

fragile communication be-tween the bottom up and topdown. They approach posi-tional leaders to push change

efforts beyond a local unit (diffusion).• Seek support in the form of mentor-

ing, removing obstacles, connectingand linking people in networks, andcreative brainstorming.

SShhaarreedd MMooddeellss ooff LLeeaaddeerrsshhiippPositional leaders and bottom-up

leaders need to find ways to work inconcert toward more shared models ofleadership. Grassroots leaders are notpassive followers. They exercise courageand take risks to make bottom-upchanges. Shared leadership is challeng-ing, yet we see tremendous untappedleadership that needs support—andmany unacknowledged heroes who needpraise and thanks. Today, success oftendepends on promoting shared responsi-bility for leadership and encouragingleadership at every level to tap the tal-ents of all for meaningful change. LE

Adrianna Kezar and Jaime Lester are authors of EnhancingCampus Capacity for Leadership (Stanford Press). Visitwww.sup.org.

ACTION: Adopt a shared leadership model.

BOTTOM-UP LEADERS OFTEN MAKE KEYcontributions and changes that go

largely unnoticed and unsupported.Greater understanding of such leadersmay promote more support for bottom-up changes that improve performance.

We often read of multi-level leadershipand the role of individual responsibility inchange, and yet we read little about theobstacles that both positional and non-positional leaders encounter in creatingchange. We need guidance for changeagents who lack formal authority or forindividuals who are low in the hierarchybut have an idea, innovation,or passion for creatingchange. We often forget thatbottom-up leaders need touse different strategies to cre-ate change. Those in authori-ty can direct resources, createa strategic plan, developincentives, and mandate achange. Those in the middleand bottom cannot.

The notions of distributed or sharedleadership begin to address the agency ofothers in the hierarchy by recognizingfollowers as part of the leadershipprocess. Yet, these leadership modelsare still based on the premise that lead-ership is tied to those in authority.Change is viewed as coming from anddirected by formal leaders.

Individuals at other levels in a hier-archy have ideas that emerge from thebottom up and are not connected to thestrategies and plans of those in posi-tions of authority. Many change agentsinitiate innovations—they are not justresponding to others directives in ashared or distributed leadership process.

We often work with leaders whoreturn to graduate school because of apassion to lead causes. Since such lead-ers rarely complete our programs informal leadership roles or positions ofauthority, they need models and strate-gies for creating change from the bottom up.

We conducted a three-year study ofbottom-up leaders to better understand

Bottom-up LeadersThey often drive performance.

PERFORMANCE BOTTOM-UP

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by Adrianna Kezar and Jaime Lester

measure success. However, the BSCcan only show the indicators you needto score well on to be deemed effective—it does not show you what behaviorsyou need to act on to improve on theseindicators. The BSC has outcome mea-sures but lacks a behavioral basis forimprovement.

This gap is addressed by the behav-ioral disciplines of behavioral econom-ics and behavioral finance. Thesedisciplines show how behaviors needto change to improve quantitative mea-sures of leadership from a financialand valuation perspective. However,these disciplines possess no formalmodel that directly linksbehaviors with financialoutcomes when confront-ed with the cases of spe-cific individuals, teams orcompanies.

Our model and assess-ments measure the behav-iors at the specific indi-vidual, team and compa-ny levels—linking thesebehaviors and their finan-cial outcomes in a precisequantitative manner thattranslates directly to financial terms onan income statement.

WWhhaatt DDooeess tthhee SSttoocckk BBuuyyeerr WWaanntt??The BSC model has another flaw—it

does not rank the quantitative indica-tors that it employs. So the model canshow that a company is doing well inproduct development, R&D, qualityand training, but it does not show anyrank of importance of these measures.

If a company is doing well on all itsmeasures except for profitability and val-uation, the model tells you that thecompany is doing well. Yet this is irrel-evant if its profitability and valuationfalls so much relative to its competitorsthat it either goes out of business orstays in business consuming so muchcapital that it can’t invest in the futureor even survive short-term.

This flaw in the BSC approach is alsoresolved with the behavioral financeapproach which stresses the need tomaximize valuation if a company iscompeting with other companies. Infact, our model shows the behaviors atthe individual, team and company lev-els that need to be changed or modi-fied for the company to be morecompetitive, to generate more capitaland to increase its valuation relative toits competitors.

IInntteelllliiggeenntt AAbboouutt LLeeaaddeerrsshhiippThe ratings approach to leadership

Assessing Leaders

TRADITIONAL LEADER-ship assessments

are based on the notionthat certain leadership traits or quali-ties (like conscientiousness, patience,thinking style, empathy, interpersonalskills) confer upon the individual theability to achieve high performance inleadership positions, relatively inde-pendent of the purpose or goal of theposition. We assume that if peoplepossess these qualities in high mea-sure, they’ll be good or great leaders.

Typically leaders are rated on theireffectiveness in their judgment of peo-ple and their ability to inspire people,collaborate, and communicate well.These criteria are usually based on theperception of the raters of the compe-tencies and personality of the leaders,not on the objective outcomes of theirleadership in measures like profitabilityand valuation relative to competitors.

In recent years, I’ve pioneered thebehavioral outcome approach (BOA). Itposits that we can only define goodleaders based on the outcomes of theirleadership. If the purpose of the posi-tion is quality, then the correct measureis few defects and high customer satis-faction. If it is financial, then the metricis profitability or valuation. We can’tsay that a person is a good leader if theoutcome is not what the organizationwanted—no matter how highly he israted by his people or how well-likedor popular he might be. With the out-come approach, ratings of leaders bycolleagues are not useful or relevantsince they don’t measure the outcomesbeing pursued. Leadership qualities aremuch less important than outcomes. Inthe ratings-based approach, qualitiesare a sufficient condition of effectiveleadership. In the BOA, success inquantitative outcome indicators is acondition for effective leadership.

WWhhoo RRaatteess tthhee DDaattaa LLaatteerr??Outcome indicators are not new.

The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) approachhas been used to measure their successin achieving goals. The BSC modeluses a battery of indicators acrossfinancial, quality and human issues to

effectiveness is different to the BOA.One stresses qualities, the other stressesoutcomes. If you subscribe to the ratingsapproach, the leader involved musthave the qualities of a leader relativelyindependent of the situation. If yousubscribe to the BOA, the situationmatters. The BOA is based on directand formal linkages between functions(sales, quality) and environment (stageof evolution of the company, the mar-ket, and the type of market) and thespecific behavioral attributes of a leader.

This is like the debate about themeaning of intelligence. The oldapproach was that human intelligence

is a general quality (G)that is more effective thehigher its value, no matterwhat the other behavioralattributes of the individ-ual, situation or environ-ment. The new approachsuggests that while theremight be a general intelli-gence, it is very limited interms of its real-worldeffectiveness. In this newtheory of intelligence,there are many other

types of intelligence that are not mea-sured by G—such as musical, kinesthetic,and aesthetic intelligence. These lead tohigh performance and effectiveness insituations where these types of intelli-gence are important, even where theindividual lacks high G.

This theory of intelligence statesthat, whereas G might be important inan academic or scientific job, in the realworld, these forms of intelligence aremore powerful in predicting leadershipeffectiveness and performance. Whenwe look at outcome, we need to look atthe types of intelligence possessed by theindividual that achieve specific outcomes.

Many forms of effective and high-per-forming leadership behaviors are linkedwith different outcomes. I subscribe tothe BOA—if you are looking for leaderswho will deliver the best outcomes.You can improve your LD and selec-tion programs based on this approachsupported by innovative online behavioralassessments linked directly to financialand valuation outcomes. If you use assess-ments based on a qualities approach, addBOAs to improve your ability to pre-dict who will be the best leaders foryour purposes. If you are using Bal-anced Scorecard approaches, add BOAsto improve performance. LE

E. Ted Prince, Ph.D., is CEO of Perth Leadership Institute andauthor of Business Personality and Leadership Success. Visit www.perthleadership.org or call 352-333-3768.

ACTION: Assess your leaders on outcomes.

by E. Ted Prince

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e F e b r u a r y 1 5

PERFORMANCE OUTCOMES

All for one or one for al l?

key component of my work with lead-ers. I believe that most literature onleadership misleads developing lead-ers because it over-emphasizes essentialcharacteristics of great leadership.

Even a concept such as authenticitybecomes vacuous when pursued for-mulaically. What we need instead is anaesthetics of leadership performance thatasks: What do you want your perfor-mance of leadership to look like, tosound like, and to inspire in others?Since we spend so much time andenergy worrying about what it takes tobe a great leader, many leaders strug-gle with anxiety. Am I a great leader?If I am not, what sort of person do Ineed to be in order to become one?How must I change myself? Can I payyou to turn me into a great leader?

Too much emphasis on the outcomesand outputs of leadership developmentcan lead into traps. There are timeswhen great leaders struggle or fail to begreat. There are times when generallypoor leaders will inspire others or pro-vide game-changing vision. We holdon to conceptions of ourselves as static,concrete and use sticky adjectives like

soft, authoritative, creative, visionary.However, as sociologist Erving Goff-man points out, we perform ourselvesdaily in a myriad of contexts.

What if we cared less about the quest-ion “am I good leader”? and asked: Wasanyone inspired, motivated, or receiveclarity from my leadership today? Whatif we asked, what leadership performancesdo we need here and now?

Countless leadership articles, books,and speakers present their views onwhat it takes to be a leader, generating alist of essential characteristics. Amongmany problems with any such list ishow easily the arguments are defeatedby exception. If you posit that having apleasing personality is essential, I cancite countless examples of difficult peo-ple who were great leaders. As PeterDrucker noted, the only characteristicin common with leaders is that theyhave followers. Moreover, the notion ofwhat makes a leader changes over time.

So-called characteristics of great lead-ers only reflect current social values.

Performance

CURRENT MODELS FORleadership and lead-

ership development (LD)focus too much on essential characteristicsof great leaders. In our quest for authen-tic leadership, we can lose sight of theroles performance, improvisation, andplayfulness have on leader performance.

Recently, I witnessed a beautifulperformance of leadership. I was in aroom in Manhattan’s Garment District.The windows were open, and soundsof the street provided a chorus of noiseto the work being done—the develop-ment of leadership presence in an execu-tive (my client Max). My colleagueRuss Hamilton was leading Max in aseries of exercises in connection withaudience, voice, and self-reflection.

At one point, Max composed apiece on his experience of facing andreconciling the death of a parent andthe birth of a first child in the sameyear. It was moving beyond words. Inhis authentic performance, Max’sleadership shone through brilliantly.He was simultaneously himself, with-out pretense or artificiality (despiteusing many techniques of actors). Yethe was also not himself. He was bigger,more compelling, dramatic and moving.

Max realized that he could experi-ment with, and perform different lead-ership communications, withoutsacrificing authenticity. By playing withmethods to connect with an audienceand by playing a head taller and out-side his comfort zone, Max learned tostep away from his leadership perfor-mances and critique them aesthetically.He also learned how to talk aboutthem in the language of performance andto ask the audience about their experi-ence of his leadership performance. Hestopped worrying about how good hewas to address what worked in hisperformance. His realization grantedhim freedom to play with his leader-ship. With childlike energy and zest,Max discovered pleasure, energy, andpassion in performing leadership. He alsoworked harder on his development.

This ironic tension between self andperformance, between who we are andwho we are trying to be for others, is a

None of them will ever determine whois a great leader, nor will their absenceexclude someone from being consid-ered a great leader by followers.

AAeesstthheettiiccss ooff LLeeaaddeerrsshhiipp PPeerrffoorrmmaanncceeWe need a new way of appreciating

leadership and critiquing the behaviorof leaders that does not require us toequate a leader’s performance with theirpersonhood. We need ways to talk aboutleadership decisiveness and not be asinterested in whether or not it is thesame thing as being a decisive person.

Russian psychologist Lev Vygotksysaw the development of capacity asdriven by performing and playing atcapacity just outside one’s reach. Histheory is one of becoming, as opposedto being: when we play a “head taller,”we open ourselves to growth.

I’ve played with such a way ofdeveloping leaders. Games and simula-tions encourage serious play. I’ve seenleaders step confidently into a rolewithin an in-depth strategic simulationthat is a head taller than they are at pre-sent, and demonstrates their capacity tolead in a way that was not previouslyrecognized. I’ve also seen leaders struggle and realize they need help.

Our language of helping leadersdebrief simulation or serious play expe-riences recognizes the aesthetics: “Whatdid we think of his performance?” with thedouble entendre of how did he do andwhat sort of performance did he create.

Our manner of discussing leader-ship—informed by a focus not on theessence of good leadership but on its dis-play, characteristics in action, and per-formances—changes dramatically whenwe adopt a theory of becoming greatleaders. We are always works in progress.There is no such thing as a great leader.There are great leadership performancesthat are recognized by those listening,watching and feeling the impact of aleader at work. And there are leaderswho are working on becoming great.

We appreciate and critique leadershipperformances—from speeches to feed-back sessions to strategic decisions—asinstances of leadership performance, notthe totality of the person. Thus we helpour developing leaders reflect on theirbehavior and choices without fallinginto vicious cycles of am I good enough?

We are often deadly serious in ourefforts to develop leaders. Like all devel-opmental experiences, LD can andshould be challenging and playful. LE

Mark Frein, Ph.D., is CEO of The Refinery LeadershipPartners. Email mark@refineryleadership.com.

ACTION: Make your LD approach more playful.

by Mark Frein

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PERFORMANCE MODELS

What do you want it to look like?

tions of himself and inspire his team toask for themselves.

D = Doing. A leader is action-oriented.In whatever he does he must serve asa role model, held responsible for thepromises he has made. This requirespersistence and the ability to view anysituation with flexibility and humor.

E = Empowerment. Soul power comesfrom self-awareness, which is respon-sive to feedback but independent ofthe good or bad opinion of others.Empowerment isn’t selfish. It raises thestatus of leader and follower together.

R = Responsibility. This meansshowing initiative, taking mature risksrather than reckless ones, walking thetalk, having integrity, and living up toyour inner values. Seen from the levelof the soul, a leader’s greatest respon-sibility is to lead the group on the pathof higher consciousness.

S = Synchronicity. This is a mysteri-ous element from the unconscious thatall great leaders harness. It’s the abilityto create good luck and find invisiblesupport that carries a leader beyondpredicted outcomes to a higher plane.In spiritual terms, synchronicity is the

ultimate ability to connect any needwith an answer from the soul.

LLooookk aanndd LLiisstteennIn the past, when leaders were more

authoritarian, the people who wereexpected to listen and obey were thefollowers. Leaders had a monopoly ongiving orders, laying down plans, andmaking all crucial decisions. To someextent, this imbalance is built into thesystem. But leadership has shifted dra-matically, since leaders and followerscreate each other. Followers have needsthat leaders fulfill. Look and listencomes first in the list of skills needed,since only by looking and listening canleaders keep with an ever-shifting situ-ation. Great leaders are visionaries, butno vision is created in a vacuum. Itemerges from the situation at hand—one that requires a leader to offerguidance. The leader assesses the situ-ation by looking and listening deeply.A conscious leader looks and listensoutside to the situation and inside.

Soul of Leadership

IN EVERY SITUATION,someone is called on

to lead. Taking up thecall involves a choice; yet for manyleaders, even those who are veryexperienced, little consciousness isapplied. If you ask CEOs how theygot where they are today (as I havedone dozens of times), the top answeris always “I was lucky.” Looking back,they recognize that they wound up inthe right place at the right time.

Many courses in leadership usecase studies. The performance of suc-cessful leaders is analyzed, with com-parisons to less successful leaders.These courses produce a set of skills,but the tendency is for these skills tobe technical and managerial—peopleskills are far harder to teach and passon. Yet they are the key to persuadingother people to follow you.

I take a different tack, arguing thatleadership is all about consciousness. Ithas to be, since the responses that agreat leader inspires (loyalty, respect,emulation, love) are life-changing. Suchresponses aren’t evoked by well-trainedmanagers. Skills can be developed inconsciousness. A successful leaderisn’t a psychological manipulator,power grabber, bully, or public rela-tions hack. Success, as it is practicedconsciously, brings a better life, innerand outer, to leaders and followers.

I focus on seven skills that fit a con-scious leader, organized into theacronym LEADERS. Here is a thumb-nail sketch of these seven skills.

L = Look and listen. Do this withyour senses, being an unbiased observerwho has not judged anything inadvance. Do this with your heart,obeying your truest feelings. Finally,do this with your soul, respondingwith vision and deep purpose.

E = Emotional bonding. Leadingfrom the soul means going beyondmelodrama and crisis mode, gettingrid of emotional toxicity to under-stand the needs of your followers.

A = Awareness. This means beingaware of the following questions thatunderlie every challenge: Who am I?What do I want? What does the situationdemand? A leader must ask these ques-

Four steps are involved: Impartialobservation—Look and listen with yoursenses; Analysis—Look and listen withyour mind; Feeling—Look and listenwith your heart; and Incubation—Lookand listen with your soul. As a leader,develop awareness on all four levels.

Imagine three people, partners in astart-up company, seated on a couch inan outer office. The office belongs to aventure capitalist who has agreed togive them half an hour to present aproposal. Success or failure dependsupon this meeting; their future mightride on it. Who among the three willemerge as the leader of the group?• The first person feels so nervous his

palms are sweaty. He tries to makecasual conversation but realizes thathe’s babbling, so he grows quiet. Hecloses his eyes, repeating the speech heis going to make. He got very littlesleep the night before, because hespent hours perfecting every word ofhis speech. He keeps thinking onething: “Now or never. It’s do or die.”• The second person looks calmer,

even confident. He believes in theiridea; he’s certain their new businesswill succeed once they find a backer.Tall and clear-eyed, he’s used to beinglooked up to. In his mind, he wondersif he can talk the venture capitalist intogoing out for a round of golf. One-on-one is his best mode of persuasion.• The third person is scanning the

room with curiosity. She notices therich Oriental rug, the fresh flowers onthe desk, and the casual attire but clearfocus of the employees. She feels expec-tant but not stressed. Whatever hap-pens, she’s open to the outcome. Onceshe sets eyes on the venture capitalist,she’ll know who she’s dealing with.She is open to her surroundings andpicks up clues to build a scenario. Shecan envision herself in the scenario,and as it unfolds, she will adapt. If shedoesn’t fit in, she won’t make the mis-take of taking the venture capitalist’smoney—the compatibility isn’t there.

As you can see, the potential leader isthe one who can look and listen from thedeepest level. Leadership requires asound basis inside yourself. If you canarrive at the point where looking andlistening comes from your entire being,you are likely to be the leader in anysituation, because you have set thegroundwork even before you had thefirst follower. LE

Deepak Chopra, MD, is author of 21 New York Times bestsellersand co-author with Rudolph Tanzi of Super Brain (Harmony). He serves as Adjunct Professor at Kellogg (Northwestern) andColumbia Business Schools. Visit www.deepakchopra.com.

ACTION: Develop these seven skills.

by Deepak Chopra

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e F e b r u a r y 1 7

LEADERSHIP SOUL

Live a conscious l i festyle .

something radically different to standout in business. But nobody ever saiddifferent has to be complex. There aremany simple solutions to problems outthere, just waiting to be solved by thenext big thing in business. Focus oninnovation, but don’t try to reinventthe wheel. A simple change for thebetter is far more effective than fivecomplicated changes for the worse.Complexity is your enemy. Any foolcan make something complicated. It ishard to make something simple.

5. Take pride in your work. My favoritenight of the year is the Virgin Stars ofthe Year Awards, when we celebratethose people who go the extra mile forus in the Virgin world. With so manydifferent companies, nationalities andpersonalities represented, it is interest-ing to see what qualities they have incommon. One is pride intheir work, and in the com-pany they represent. Yourpeople are your biggestbrand advocates, and help-ing them take pride in theirwork will shine through inhow they treat your cus-tomers.

6. Have fun, success willfollow. If you aren’t havingfun, you’re doing it wrong. If you feellike your work is a chore, it’s time totry something else. If you’re having agood time, there’s a far greater chancea positive, innovative culture will benurtured and your business will flour-ish. A smile and a joke can go a longway, so be quick to see the lighter sideof life. Not taking yourself too serious-ly and having a sense of humor arekey. For example, our windmill saltand pepper shakers were often stolenfrom our planes, but instead ofpulling them from flights, we wroteon them “pinched from Virgin Atlantic.”They became our best marketingdevice. Enjoy life to the fullest. I’mconstantly seeking new excitingendeavors, adventures and experi-ences. I try to live life to its fullest, andturn everything into a game wherehaving fun is on top of the agenda. Imix work with pleasure and creatingan easy-going and fun-loving culture.

7. Rip it up and start again. If youare an entrepreneur and your first ven-ture isn’t a success, welcome to the club!Every leader experiences a few failuresalong the way—the important thing ishow you learn from them. Don’t getdisheartened by setbacks. Instead, dustyourself off, work out what went wrong,find the positives, analyze where youcan improve, rip it up, and start again.

Leader Success

LIKE MANY BUSINESSES,Virgin Group began

in a basement. As aleader, how can you start and grow asuccessful business? Here are 12 tips.

1. Dream big and start an adventure.I’ve always dreamt big. I believe thatyou should set yourself big challengesand targets—and then catch up andmake them become reality. There is nopoint in starting a business unless youcan shake up the industry, shake upthe status quo. Virgin is never aboutwhat’s the cheapest or fastest way todo it—it’s about what’s the mostamazing way to do it.

Get out in the real word and say,“let’s do it” and give it a go. Youlearn so much from being in the jun-gle and building a business. The bestway of learning about anything is bydoing. Being an adventurer or entre-preneur is not that dissimilar—if youare an entrepreneur you try to createthings that have yet to be created, topush boundaries forward. If you arean adventurer, you are trying to breakworld records or do things that havenot been achieved.

2. Follow your passions. Most en-trepreneurs aren’t thinking, “I want tocreate a big business.” They are think-ing, as I was thinking, “I want to starta cause” (I started a magazine foryoung people to campaign against thewar in Vietnam). The business aspectis just to pay the bills. I don’t startmost ventures to make money—I startthem because I couldn’t achieve some-thing unless I create them.

3. Listen more than you talk. Youhave two ears and one mouth—usingthem in proportion is a good idea! Tobe a good leader, you have to be a greatlistener. Brilliant ideas can springfrom the most unlikely places, soalways keep your ears open for someshrewd advice. This can mean follow-ing online comments as closely asboard meeting notes, or asking thefrontline staff for their opinions asoften as the CEOs. Get out there, lis-ten to people, draw people out andlearn from them.

4. Keep it simple. You have to do

8. Make lists. I’ve always made lists—lists of people to call, of ideas, ofcompanies to set up, of people whocan make things happen. I also havelists of topics to blog about, lists oftweets to send, and lists of plans. Eachday I work through these lists. By tick-ing off each task, my ideas take shapeand plans move forward. To stick toyour resolutions, I suggest makingthem into lists. Write down every ideayou have, no matter how big or small.Always carry a notebook—list small,manageable tasks to complete everyday. Mark off completed tasks. Makeyour goals measurable so you know ifyour plans are working. Set a few faroff, outlandish goals. What do youwant to achieve by 2020? Include per-sonal goals. Share them with others.Celebrate your successes—then make

new lists of new goals. Icarry a notepad to captureideas for new projects,gather feedback from cus-tomers and employees, andwrite goals, thoughts andexperiences. This helpsclarify my thoughts andprovides me with guid-ance. Lessons are oftenlearned through mistakes

and experience, but I also take time toread and learn, to create new ideas,plan projects, and think about creativesolutions to problems.

9. Brand yourself and your business.Conventional wisdom is to stick withone business you know. If you look atthe top 30 brands in the world, almostall of them specialize in one area. Virginis different—it’s become a way-of-lifebrand. It reflects my personality—Ididn’t go to university. I try to learneverything there is to do with life.

10. Find exceptional people to runthe business—and delegate wisely.Since a business is a group of people,hire exceptional people and delegate.The moment you have more than onebusiness, you have to delegate. Findsomebody better than yourself so youcan think of the bigger picture and doentrepreneurial stuff. When you dele-gate, don’t second-guess people andjump on top of them all the time. Givethem the freedom to make mistakes.Run your company like a family, andalways look for the best in other peo-ple. I love people, I love spending timewith people, learning from people.

Over 45 years, I’ve learned muchfrom making mistakes. If you are for-tunate enough to succeed in life, shareideas with other people. Life is short,and you’ll likely come in contact with

by Richard Branson

1 8 F e b r u a r y w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m

PERFORMANCE GROWTH

H e r e a r e m y 1 2 t o p t i p s .

This allows integrated sustainability tobe an aligned priority at every level.You’ll get buy-in from everyone sinceit’s on the map. Employees want toknow that sustainability is important to the company and that they’ll berewarded for spending time on it.

4. Take, make and waste. Focus onareas of take, make and waste. Create alist of opportunities for each area.Waste is inefficiency. As you can cutinefficiency, you grow the bottom lineand reduce impact on the planet. Ask:Can transportation costs be reduced bygetting smaller vehicles or eliminatingthem completely? Can we cut wasteremoval costs by recycling? Can wechoose an option for shipping thatuses less packaging? Is it possible toinnovate a new product within ourcore competencies but has less impacton resources? Can we source rawmaterials closer to our factories to cutcosts? When everyone focuses on theTake, Make and Waste areas, good ideasfor profits and the planet flow out.

5. Measure immediately. Measurethe areas of focus. If possible, integrateautomated measurements of all inputsand outputs. Even competent man-

agers and front line employ-ees can get it wrong. It’s easyto over- or underestimatehow much energy, how manyraw materials used, howmuch water is wasted or howmuch trash is being hauledaway if there’s no data.Collect the data now.

Step 6. Set goals. Now thatyou have data, set your goals for sus-tainability. Make them specific, measur-able and ensure they’re of strategicbottom line value to your company.

Step 7. Execute. Now go for yourgoals. Make small steps towards thisgoal every day. Keep asking, “How canI make this just a tiny bit better?”

Step 8. Share progress honestly withstakeholders. People will appreciateyour attempts to be more sustainable.Be honest about results. They want toknow you’re on the right path and willsupport you for that.

Step 9. Conduct an annual review.Have the team review improvementsmade over the year. Ideas that workedin one area may spur improvements inother areas. Sustainability. It’s good forpeople, planet, and profit. LE

Steve Richerson is a speaker and consultant on sustainabilityand member of the U.S. Green Building Council, NationalRecycling Coalition and the North American EnvironmentalEducation Association. Visit www.greenbizspeaker.com, call256-710-7216 or email steve.richerson@gmail.com.

ACTION: Take these steps to sustainability.

BIG COMPANIES LIKEGE, IBM, Wal-Mart,

and many smaller com-panies like Tenant, Centiva, and Stony-field Yogurt have embraced the targetof market profitability through ecologi-cal sustainability—the way we chooseto use natural resources. If we use themin a way that doesn’t harm future gen-erations’ ability to use them, that use isconsidered sustainable for generations.

Innovative companies opt for sustain-ability for three business reasons: 1) tocut overhead costs for everything theytake, make, and waste (these savingsgo to the bottom line); 2) to build asuccessful enterprise they can be proudof, leading to better employee produc-tivity, retention and attraction, whichgoes to the bottom line; and 3) to builda reputation for being a goodcorporate citizen, resulting inloyal consumers and fans whocan determine questions ofzoning, taxes and communitysupport.

TTaakkee TThheessee NNiinnee SStteeppssTo gain sustainability, take

these nine steps:1. Get buy-in from the top. You’ll

need to make a pitch, presentation orproposal to convince upper manage-ment that sustainability is good for thebottom line. Simply making the “feelgood” argument that going green isthe “right thing to do” won’t cut it.You need to make the business argu-ment for it. Make the case in dollars.

2. Engage everyone on the team.Build a group of managers from alldepartments who focus on saving thecompany money by saving resourcesand preventing pollution. Even mem-bers of the team who are environmen-tally agnostic (global warming skeptics,people who think recycling is a wasteof time) can see that waste equals ineffi-ciency and inefficiency costs money andwasted money means fewer raises and pro-motions. Align your goals with thesetwo principles: 1) Is it renewable? and2) Does it create pollution?

3. Get it on the company map. Getan official sustainability statement fromyour team on the Corporate Strategy Map.

Steps to Sustainabilityfrom top leaders to the bottom line.

by Steve Richerson

PERFORMANCE SUSTAINABILITYthe same people again and again. Ifyou treat people well, they’ll comeback; if you treat them badly, theywon’t. I’m a passionate networker. Ienjoy meeting new people, discussingnew opportunities, and buildingmutually rewarding relationships. Isurround myself with great people—including coaches and mentors whoact as sounding-boards—helping toguide my decisions. I also surroundmyself with reliable colleagues andco-workers who have similar goals,values and interests—and with sup-portive family and friends whobelieve in me, my mission and vision.

11. Step outside your comfort zone.Constantly step outside your comfortzone into new industries to face uniquechallenges that test your discipline,expertise and resolve. Face problemshead-on. When problems arise, tacklethem immediately and aggressively,making sure that small problems don’tbecome big headaches. Be open tochanging your perspectives, view-points and approach if you feel that itwill help you attain your goals in amore effective and efficient manner.

Always be on the lookout for newopportunities and ideas that will en-able you to gain an advantage overyour competitors. Challenge yourself.Constantly ask solution-focused ques-tions to clarify your thinking and over-come the challenges that confront you.Since I see everything as an opportuni-ty to strengthen and grow the Virginbrand, I take calculated risks in busi-ness and life.

12. Renew yourself. Understandwhere the boundaries lie, and don’tover-extend your personal and pro-fessional capabilities and capacity tomove intelligently through times ofemotional turmoil. Take time to catnapand daydream. To re-energize mybody and mind, I take catnaps duringthe day. I also daydream about mypassions, which invigorates my cre-ative mind and strengthens the flow ofnew ideas. Mixing work with pleasurelifts my spirits and strengthens mymotivation to work for extendedhours, day and night.

MMaakkee EEvveerryy SSeeccoonndd CCoouunnttKnowing that every moment is an

opportunity to do things better, toimprove a process or to take the nextstep toward a bigger objective, I makeevery second count. LE

Richard Branson is founder and chairman of Virgin Group.Visit www.virgincom.

ACTION: Create a performance culture.

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e F e b r u a r y 1 9

“Why does al Barrak spend 80 percentof his day talking to people aboutissues and 20 percent on planning andstrategy?” The answer is that the bestplans and strategies are extracted fromthe hearts and minds of your people,or inculcated in their hearts and minds.

An overemphasis on the hard sidecan at best achieve a linear increase inperformance. But a focus on the soft,non-linear side can lead to an exponen-tial rise in performance. Zain’s non-lin-ear rise from 2003 to 2010 could neverhave been achieved by fol-lowing conventional, task-oriented management.

No company can workwithout a hard side, with-out structures and plans.When we acquired severalmobiles licenses in ourearly growth years, orwere deciding to outsourceour supply-chain, we hadmany plans and structures.There’s always a tensionbetween being transactional and beingtransformational. Transactional leadersmake the organization better at gettingthings done; transformational leaderstake the organization from one stage toa new one. Some leaders are transfor-mational, revolutionary, and creative;others are transactional—good at put-ting processes, systems, and mind-setsin place. The challenge is doing both atthe same time. The constant is the vision,as delineated in a strategy. Once youchange your vision, you change youridentity and become a new creature.Since strategy is the execution of thevision, even the strategy is temporary.

My philosophy isn’t based on toler-ating ambiguity and paradox, but onproactively creating them. Of course, Imade many decisions on instinct. Butthe management systems within Zainwent from the budget to setting specif-ic objectives down to teams of three orfour. The balance was unusual—per-haps 60 percent on culture and 40 per-cent on quantified business targets.

Optimal control is no control. If staffalign their mission in life with the mis-sion of the organization, and appreciatethe complexities around this mission,that’s the highest discipline. They think,

Passion for Adventure

AS CEO OF THE ZAINGroup from 2002

to 2010, I led therebranding effort from MTC to Zain—a brand that became distinguished, thesweetheart of the telecommunicationsindustry. In seven years, we transform-ed a moribund ex-state-owned telecomsoperator with a base of 500,000 cus-tomers in into the international giantZain, a company that reached 72 mil-lion customers across 23 countries inthe Middle East and Africa, introduc-ing the first boundary-less roaming.

The Zain culture was described aschaos by design. Within the apparentchaos was space for creativity, but bydesign the culture reflected the valuesof the company and meant that targetswere met. Chaos by design is deliberate-ly paradoxical: hard/soft, transforma-tional/transactional, internal/external.

Hard management makes plans,sets up structures, and monitors per-formance. The hard side is based onconsistency. The soft is the people-friendly management based on emo-tions. I made many appointmentsconsidered unusual. These workedseven times out of ten. When they did-n’t work, I admitted it and removedthe people. The net outcome, though,was seven people who would not oth-erwise have become leaders.

My approach was based on curiosity.My aim was to celebrate differences. Inmanaging people, you manage emo-tions and passions. You try to optimizetheir passionate state so that they deliv-er their best. Most managers and lead-ers mistakenly try to linearize thebehavioral side by proceduralizing it.

In recent years, management hasshifted from task structure to beingdivided 50:50 between task structureand people consideration. For me, taskstructure is 20 percent or less; considera-tion is 80 percent. At Zain I spent farmore of my energy on consideration.

When I arrived at MTC, many peo-ple joked that I was running a socialclub. Something similar happenedeven as Zain took off, because peopleoften thought I was wasting my time:

“How will I conquer the world today?”The leader should align the external

coalition (board and shareholders) withthe internal coalition behind the mis-sion, and ensure the external coalitiondoes not negatively pressure the inter-nal coalition or hinder its progress.

Zain developed an extensive com-munications operation, at corporatelevel and in individual countries. Whenwe moved to outsource in Saudi Arabiayou could hear the sound of plansbeing torn up—music to my ears, asthe continuums are always moving.

Leaders who mistakenly try tobecome more professional by takingeverything linear, simply decide theywant best practice. They look for bestpractice and copy it. I say that best prac-tice equals beast practice. What makesyou win is uniqueness. This establishes adynamic relationship between transfor-

mation and turbulence.Turbulence, not stability, isthe steady state in busi-ness. Maturity is a journey,not a destination. A maturebusiness is a stagnant,dying business. The struc-ture must shift to suit thereality of the time.

Depending on the matu-rity of the follower and thenature of the task, managersshould decide how much

consideration and how much task/struc-ture to use (see Hersey/Blanchard’sSituational Leadership model).

My leadership style is based on cur-iosity about people. I often said, “Showme what you can do.” I want to be surprised by what people can achieve.Targets and goals had to change, expandand develop: otherwise they constrainwhat we might achieve.

Yes, it’s time-consuming to internal-ize values, and to manage people’s pas-sions, motivation, loyalty and dreams.That’s why most managers and leadersfocus too much on the task side.

Transformation comes from releasingthe potential of people. From day one,MTC and then Zain were always in theprocess of transformation. Zain wasenthused with the idea that the universewas our homeland and humanity ourtribe. Our vision was translated into astrategy—a five-year plan with smallergoals in between. We changed ourarchitecture all the time, took decisionson the fly, and tried to be super-flexible.That’s what I mean by chaos by design.LE

Saad al Barrak is author of A Passion for Adventure: Turning Zain into a Telecom Giant (Bloomsbury) and founder of ILA, an advisory firm. Visit www.saadalbarrak.com.

ACTION: Become a transformational leader.

by Saad Al Barrak

2 0 F e b r u a r y w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m

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