Congratulations…You Got The Job!

I’ve been working with a leader that has just transitioned from being an individual contributor into his new role as the manager of a sales team. Curtis isn’t that different from any of the rest of us that have made the move from being an individual contributor into the role of leader of others. He was a star performer in his organization and the belief is that what made him successful and added value to the organization as an individual contributor will also make him successful now that he’s leading a team.

The good news for Curtis is that this isn’t an organization that promotes people, gives them a pat on the back, wishes them success and then sits back while the new leader figures out what they need to do to find success in their new role. Sadly, in organizations that do the latter, success in the new leadership role is a rare event indeed. A recent study involving 160 HR professionals representing just under 500,000 employees that around a third of new leaders (29%) fail to live up to expectations in their first two years in the role. The key driver for the failure rate in the minds of the 160 HR professionals? A lack of support on the part of the organization for new leaders.

Making the assumption that what powered exceptional performance in an individual contributor role will positively impact leadership performance is one of the root causes of this failure rate. So let’s take a look at what made Curtis such a success as an individual contributor. In addition to all of the knowledge, skills and abilities he brings to the organization, based on his McQuaig® Word Survey we know that he also brings certain behavioural temperaments to the role.

The reality is that what made him a success in his previous role will create some challenges for him in this new leadership role. To begin with, Curtis is hardwired to want to create results. One of the biggest challenges for a new manager is to resist the urge to step back into an individual contributor role in order to make things happen. He’s competitive, driven and focused on results and will definitely look to create results if his team isn’t producing wins quickly enough for him.

The second challenge for Curtis is that he’s an individual, independent problem solver. I asked him “when people ask you a question, what do you do?” He responded by saying that he would give them an answer. That’s the perfect response for an individual contributor role within the organization. However, when your role is to coach and develop the talent you have available to you it’s the wrong answer. Unless Curtis helps his direct reports to self discover they will never function to their full capacity and the organization will suffer as a result.

The strategy here is a simple one. Unless the situation is critical he should be asking his direct reports more questions. Well it sounds simple in any event. I can tell you from personal experience it is one of the hardest things to do when you are an individual, independent problem solver with a huge sense of urgency. My good friend Tony Scutella refers to these as Mickey Mouse coaching moments. He reminds me constantly that Mickey has two really large ears and one small mouth. As coaches we have to get into the habit of asking the kinds of questions that will facilitate self discovery. Some examples are:

• Tell me what you’ve done so far
• Describe what you think would be the perfect solution
• Share your thoughts on this with me
• Explain how you’d like to proceed
• Help me understand the problem a little better

The second way that we develop the available talent is by delegating both task and responsibility to our direct reports. The good news for Curtis is that for him this is not an issue. The combination of his dominance and independence means that he is quite comfortable with delegation. If anything the challenge is in the follow-up for Curtis and in our discussion he mentioned that he’d been bitten on the backside by his lack of follow-up in the past. When he’s given something over and the other person has accepted it, they own it.

Ask yourself this question…”if a job’s worth doing right, who should do it?” If your answer was you I can guarantee that you will have some struggles with delegation. Being self-aware here is critical to your success as a leader. The people on your team will not develop unless you delegate increasingly complex tasks to them. The strategy is to begin to delegate even small pieces of what you need accomplished so you can develop the trust, faith and confidence you require in every member of the team.

The shift from command and control style leadership to a style of leadership that is based on coaching has been a difficult one for many first time leaders to make. Command and control works well when you’re an individual contributor and the only person you are responsible for is you. It doesn’t work well in a system that requires you to become a coach. Coaching is more about asking and less about telling. For some of us that presents a challenge. If you’d like to see exactly how your behaviours will impact your leadership style just send me a note at bobw@thepulsecheck.com and I will set you up with a link to the McQuaig® Word Survey.

How Do I Improve Capability Through Coaching?

60 Seconds On Leadership – Dave Holt on Coaching

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The 3 R’s of Leadership

I am happy to say that I am of the vintage that remembers the 3 R’s from my days in elementary and secondary school. Developing proficiency in Reading, wRiting, and aRithmetic continues to serve me well, just as my teachers said it would. Although I may have argued the point at the time, there is no question that developing an aptitude in these three key areas set me up for success in life. I’d say that the educational successes that I’ve had that are very strongly correlated to ongoing career success and so I’m very happy that I was in school in an age during which the students were held accountable, passing and failing were available options to my teachers, and those in positions of power realized how important success in these key areas would be later in life.

My good friend Bob Lank from CEO Global Network shared his three pillars of personal success in the 60 Seconds on Leadership video I posted last week and that got me thinking about what drives success from a leadership perspective. In case you didn’t get a chance to view the video, Bob’s three pillars are:

• Successful people know themselves (and more importantly the impact they have on others)
• They have clarity of purpose (not necessarily for all time but certainly for the foreseeable future)
• They are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed (they aren’t in the habit of folding up their tent at the first sign of adversity)

When I think of the great leaders that I’ve had the privilege of being associated with through the years, I realize that their success typically comes down to proficiency in three key areas. Just like my early days in school developing the required knowledge, skills, abilities in these areas will serve any emerging leader well throughout their career. The first road sign on the way to leadership success is results. Without results you won’t be a leader for long. The second critical element for any leader to understand is the value of relationships and what they can do to help you create results. The final piece of the puzzle is the way you react to any given situation as a leader.

I was speaking with Lee Ellis (author of Leading with Honor: Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton) in New York last week and he made the point that self-aware leaders know whether they are more results or relationship focused. Neither is necessarily better than the other but as a leader you better understand which way you lean so that you are aware of the blind spots that you may be carrying with you. As a leader, how you react to situations has a huge impact on relationships, organizational culture, engagement, innovation, and ultimately ongoing results.

There is no question that the first precept of leadership is that you must generate results. I worked with a business owner for the past 4 years that was all about results…at any cost. The turmoil this unwavering focus created in his organization was visible to everyone except him. As leaders we would all be well served to remember that without great people we won’t have great results.

Knowing your own behaviours, and those of your team, in this critical area will allow you to develop a strategy as to how to best approach your own situation. One thing is for certain, this is not a one size fits all scenario. There are lots of tools out there to help a leader take stock of who on the team brings what to the table when it comes to behaviour. I happen to use the McQuaig Talent Assessment System to help my clients better understand team dynamics, optimize efficiencies, and develop the available talent.

“Leadership is influence. Nothing more, nothing less.”
John Maxwell

Your skills and abilities with respect to relationships impact every element of what you do as a leader. Understanding how socially driven or analytical you are as a leader, what your approach is to making decisions, risk taking , your communication style, how you delegate tasks and authority, and whether you are naturally inclined to act as the coach are just some of the keys to knowing what modifications you have to make when dealing with the different people who are a part of your working life. Of course, that infers that you must also understand their preferences as well. No doubt some of the people on your team like to take charge and do things their way, some may require you to very clearly set your expectations for them, others like it when you challenge them and do well thinking on their feet, while some of their counterparts may prefer some time to think things through before responding. As with results, this isn’t a case of “one size fits all”.

The final element is your reaction to the given situation as a leader. The best I’ve seen through the years look like ducks on a pond. Everything above the waterline looks calm, cool and collected. Down beneath the waterline their legs may be going a mile a minute but there is nothing in their outward demeanor to suggest that they are in panic mode. Your team is looking to you for clear guidance and direction in times of stress. Understanding whether this particular situation is a coaching opportunity or the time for you to make decisions is one of the things that separates the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to leadership capabilities.

For most leaders results are generated with, and through people. In order to have ongoing, repeatable success a leader has to align his or her team with the strategic plan to generate the results the organization is expecting, know themselves and the impact they have on others and react in ways that don’t exacerbate the situation. Results, relationships, and reaction…the 3 R’s of leadership!

Imagine a Woman

A poem by Patricia Lynn Reilly in honour of International Women’s Day

Imagine a woman who believes it is right and good she is a woman. A woman who honors her experience and tells her stories. Who refuses to carry the sins of others within her body and life.

Imagine a woman who trusts and respects herself. A woman who listens to her needs and desires. Who meets them with tenderness and grace.

Imagine a woman who acknowledges the past’s influence on the present. A woman who has walked through her past. Who has healed into the present.

Imagine a woman who authors her own life. A woman who exerts, initiates, and moves on her own behalf. Who refuses to surrender except to her truest self and wisest voice.

Imagine a woman who names her own gods. A woman who imagines the divine in her image and likeness. Who designs a personal spirituality to inform her daily life.

Imagine a woman in love with her own body. A woman who believes her body is enough, just as it is. Who celebrates its rhythms and cycles as an exquisite resource.

Imagine a woman who honors the body of the Goddess in her changing body. A woman who celebrates the accumulation of her years and her wisdom. Who refuses to use her life-energy disguising the changes in her body and life.

Imagine a woman who values the women in her life. A woman who sits in circles of women. Who is reminded of the truth about herself when she forgets.

Bob Lank – 3 Pillars of Personal Sucess

60 Seconds On Leadership – Bob Lank on Success

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Please click on the image above to play the video.

3 Things I Learned From the SOB in the C-Suite

I read a great article on the weekend by Nicholas Bray entitled The Psychopath in the C-Suite. The article referred to a personality called SOB, for Seductive Operational Bully. The article asserted that unburdened by the pangs of conscience that moderate most people’s interactions with others, such people qualify for the label of “psychopath lite”. Outwardly normal, apparently successful and charming, their inner lack of empathy, shame, guilt, or remorse, has serious interpersonal repercussions, and can destroy organizations. “Ironically,” the author observes, “many of the qualities that indicate mental problems in other contexts may appear appropriate in senior executive positions.” That is particularly the case, he says, in “organisations that appreciate impression management, corporate gamesmanship, risk taking, coolness under pressure, domination, competitiveness, and assertiveness.” SOBs have no sense of conscience or of loyalty to their colleagues or their organisation. They often do long-term damage to both through their deceitful, abusive, and sometimes fraudulent behaviour. Because of the way they operate, however, they are often “hidden in plain sight”.

In the words of my good friend Bob Lank, there are two kinds of people in this world, those that get “it” and those that don’t. I’ve worked with some great leaders through the years and they always seemed to get “it”. The other thing I noticed along the way was that I worked with those great leaders but I always felt like I was working for many of the others that didn’t possess those same leadership capabilities. Their authority and power always seemed to come down to position and that’s about the least effective form a power a leader can possess.

I spent the last 4 ½ years in the company of one of the most dysfunctional leaders I crossed paths with during my career. A former colleague suggested on his departure from the organization that he’d learned a lot from the guy. Unfortunately, most of it was what not to do. These are the lessons that I learned from this SOB and the other dysfunctional leaders I’ve worked with.

Trust is Paramount

Maxwell, Drucker, Buckingham and Coffman, Lencioni, Collins, and a host of others have been telling us for years that the foundational element for solid, effective leadership is trust. While it sounds straight forward, simple and intuitive, I continue to be amazed by the number of leaders that almost seem to go out of their way to break the trust covenant. My experience has been that this often presents as a “do as I say, not as I do” mentality. The problem with that of course is that once your direct reports determine that you have multiple sets of rules you’re sunk. From a values perspective, being able to look someone in the eye and then do what you said you were going to do will engender a tremendous amount of trust.

Lencioni takes the concept of trust deeper and refers to the fact that vulnerability based trust is difficult because in the course of career advancement and education, most successful people learn to be competitive with their peers, and protective of their reputations. The vulnerabilities he refers to include weaknesses, skill deficiencies, interpersonal short comings, mistakes, and requests for help. When teams lack trust they burn energy managing behaviours and interactions within the group and are reluctant to ask for or offer help. Unfortunately, this type of trust isn’t built overnight, but using a few simple tools you can accelerate the process.

One solution is an exercise that is designed to improve team effectiveness. Much like an individual strengths finders exercise, it requires the members of the team to identify the one contribution that each of their co-workers make to the success of the team as well as one area that they must improve on or eliminate for the good of the team. Everyone reports their responses focusing on one person at a time. While the concept involves risk it can fast-track the development of an environment that is based on trust.

There are a number of great personality, and behaviour based profiles available to you. I happen to use the McQuaig system of talent assessment with my clients. My experience has been that this is a great way to help break down barriers by allowing the individual team members to better understand, connect and empathize with one another. Getting the team to focus on behaviour and realize that there is no right or wrong, good or bad inherent in a person’s behaviour takes the dialogue to a completely different level. Understanding the practical, scientific behavioural descriptions of the others on the team brings clarity to the diversity in how the team thinks, speaks, makes decisions, delegates, takes risk, collaborates and interacts with one another.

You don’t have to be the Smartest Person in the Room

Liz Wiseman’s book Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter suggests that “we’ve all had experience with two dramatically different types of leaders. The first type drains intelligence, energy, and capability from the people around them and always needs to be the smartest person in the room. These are the idea killers, the energy sappers, the diminishers of talent and commitment. On the other side of the spectrum are leaders who use their intelligence to amplify the smarts and capabilities of the people around them. When these leaders walk into a room, light bulbs go off over people’s heads; ideas flow and problems get solved. These are the leaders who inspire employees to stretch themselves to deliver results that surpass expectations. These are the Multipliers. And the world needs more of them, especially now when leaders are expected to do more with less.”

As a leader, one of the most important things you can do is to ask questions rather than dispense answers. Lord knows that it’s not easy for some of us to do but with practice you do get better. Try this at your next meeting. The next time one of your direct reports asks you a question defer it to the group. In your next one-on-one meeting deflect the question back to your direct report. The only way that you will ever get them to find solutions on their own is to encourage that behaviour. The longer you keep dispensing all of the answers the longer they will keep coming to you.

Communication is the Most Powerful Influencing Tool

John Maxwell was quoted as saying “leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less”. Your ability to communicate has to extend beyond the push of ideas to your audience. You have to be able to pull information from the people in your organization and the best way to do that is to get better at asking questions.

Everybody is selling something at one time or another. It might be an idea or it might be a product but one thing is for sure the best sales people in the world understand that if they want to sell they have to create a linkage to the prospect/customer/colleague. In order to do that you have to understand what their current situation is to determine if what you are selling fills a need they have. Push communication in selling is often referred to as “showing up and throwing up”. It’s only when your product, service or idea aligns with the client need that they actually buy from you.

Remember that people don’t like to be sold, they like to buy and adjust your influencing style to include lots of questions. Try some of these on for size:
• Help me understand…
• Tell me about…
• Share with me…
• Describe…
• Explain…

Another friend (Tony Scutella) refers to this as Mickey Mouse marketing…in the most favourable of terms of course. Mickey has two big ears and one mouth and the lesson is to ask questions and then listen more than you talk.

How do you build trust as a leader? I don’t know!

60 Seconds On Leadership – Tony Scutella on Trust

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