Excellence
L E A D E R S H I P
THE MAGAZINE OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, MANAGERIAL EFFECTIVENESS, AND ORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY
Women’s Leadership Development Program
University of Delaware
“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
w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m
Leadership Development for Women
Through the University of Delaware
Myrna L. Bair, Ph.D.
302-831-3323
mbair@udel.edu
Leadership
Development for
Women in Public
Service
Open the Door
to
Your Future!
through
the
www.ipa.udel.edu/wldp
Audrey Helfman, Ph.D.
302-831-1708
ahelfman@udel.edu
The Women’s Leadership Development Program
(WLDP) is a three-phase program for women in
public service that will…
• Guide them through the leadership journey in
becoming more effective leaders, both personally
and within their organizations, and
• Build leadership capacity within our public
service organizations.
An Investment in Women
to Improve the Performance
of Delaware’s
Public Service Organizations
“Thank you for a memorable program that has
helped me grow professionally and personally.
It will prepare me for
my life-long journey for
leadership.”
—a recent participant
Journey of a Lifetime
By opening this door of opportunity, women will
come to understand the great potential of leadership and build their own leadership skills and
self-confidence to significantly contribute to their
organizations.
Institute for Public Administration
College of Human Services, Education & Public Policy
University of Delaware
Excellence
L E A D E R S H I P
THE MAGAZINE OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, MANAGERIAL EFFECTIVENESS, AND ORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY
VOL. 26 NO. 3
W O M E N ’ S L E A D E R S H I P D E V E L O P M E N T - U N I V. O F D E L AWA R E E D I T I O N
MARCH 2009
Discovering Potential
Every sleeping beauty, late bloomer, and dormant talent longs
to be awakened to their potential for leadership excellence.
MYRNA L. BAIR
MARGARET WHEATLEY
Leadership Is a Journey
Vision of the Future
Take it in progressive
steps or phases. . . . . . . . . 3
Change brings some
new dynamics . . . . . . . . . .8
AUDREY HELFMAN
RONALD HEIFETZ AND
DONALD LAURIE
DEBORAH L. RHODE
Adaptive Strategy
Moral Leadership
DIANNA BOOHER
We need rewards for
ethical leaders. . . . . . . . . 16
Communication
STEVE ARNESON
DEDE HENLEY
Lead from the Middle
Unraveling Overwhelm
Achieving Leadership
Start developing your
leadership skills. . . . . . . . .4
KEN BLANCHARD
Situational Leadership
Adjust your style to suit
the development level. . . .5
HOWARD M. GUTTMAN
Accepting Feedback
Take three actions to
lessen discomfort . . . . . . . 6
Adapt behavior to meet
new challenges. . . . . . . . .10
ROSABETH MOSS KANTER
Change Masters vs.
Change Stiflers
Drive change. . . . . . . . . . 11
MICHAEL G. WINSTON
Why Develop Leaders?
This is your only
competitive advantage. . 13
MITCH DITKOFF
JOHN KOTTER
Culture of Innovation
Sense of Urgency
Take eight steps to start
and sustain growth. . . . . .7
Grab attention when you
show the problem . . . . . .14
JAMES M. KOUZES AND
BARRY Z. POSNER
Credibility
Behave in ways that
build your credibility. . . .15
Great followers create
great leaders. . . . . . . . . . .19
MARY-FRANCES WINTERS
CEOs Who Get It
How committed are you
to diversity?. . . . . . . . . . .19
Use 10 strategies. . . . . . . .20
Provide a link between
the CEO’s vision
and line execution. . . . 17
This must be a daily
practice for women. . . . . 21
BARRY CONCHIE
Be Good at Change
Seven Demands
These are essential to
developing leaders. . . . . 18
WARREN BENNIS
The Art of Followership
ARIANE DE BONVOISIN
Find your change
quotient. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
CYNTHIA MCCAULEY
Be a Better Leader
Seek development
assignments. . . . . . . . . . . 23
Volume 26 Issue 3
E . D . I . T . O . R ’ S
N . O . T . E
Leadership Excellence (ISSN 8756-2308) is
published monthly by Executive Excellence
Publishing, LLC (dba Leadership Excellence),
1806 North 1120 West, Provo, UT 84604.
Our Leadership Journey
Editorial Purpose:
Our mission is to promote personal and organizational leadership based on constructive values,
sound ethics, and timeless principles.
Expand your leadership capacities.
by Myrna L. Bair
W
DELaware edition of Leadership Excellence. This edition
was prepared for all those women who are
or have been part of our Women’s Leadership Development Program. It is intended
to provide additional leadership learning
opportunities for the “leadership journey of
a lifetime” that we mention so often.
ELCOME TO THE
Thanks to Our Friends
A very special appreciation to our friends
featured on the cover. We are very grateful
for all they have done to help us
provide this program to women in
Delaware. In the bottom row:
Cindy Fauerbach (Manager
Statewide Training and Organization Development, Office of
Management and Budget, State of
Delaware); Myrna Bair, Director;
Terry Tolliver (Principal Analyst,
Department of Finance, City of
Wilmington); and in the back row Natasha
Edwards (a second year MPA student working in this program); Regina Roark
(Assistant Land Use Administrator,
Department of Land Use, New Castle
County Delaware) and Katie Diamond (a
first year MPA student.
Audrey Helfman who facilitates Phase III
was out of the country when this picture
was taken. Please read Audrey’s article
about this important part of our program.
The cover photo was taken in the Buck
library of the Buena Vista Conference
Center, where we hold our Phase I program. A special thanks to all the staff at
Buena Vista for their help, to Mark Deshon,
IPA’s graphic designer and to Kathy
Atkinson the University photographer.
A r t i cl e s i n T h i s I s s u e
The articles included in this edition are
from Leadership Excellence magazine and
include many of the leaders in the field we
have referenced. They were also chosen to
reflect areas that we cover in the program.
For more information about Leadership
Excellence, please visit www.leaderexcel.com
or to receive the journal as part of your
membership, contact The International
Leadership Association: www.ila-net.org.
2
w w w. L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m
Three-Phased Program
The Women’s Leadership Development
Program, started in 1990, has evolved to a
three-phased leadership training program
for women in public service. Our mission is
“to help women in public service begin
their lifetime leadership journeys by building leadership capacity and skills and
learning, growing, and embracing change
to successfully meet the many challenges of
the 21st Century.”
The program focuses on individual
development and is based on the belief that
individuals can expand their leadership
capacities; they can learn, grow, and change.
Each phase builds upon the other and provides greater depth and opportunity for growth:
• Phase I focuses on the conceptual foundation of leadership,
male and female leaders, 360
Degree Leaders, and the creativity
necessary for leadership to flourish.
• Phase II sheds light on individual personalities, behavior,
and character using the MyersBriggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the
Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI). It
also elaborates on various leadership skills
such as handling change and thinking outside the box.
• Phase III provides time to work on practical leadership development needs in a
small-group setting. The topics covered and
the skill sets practiced help individuals
enhance their leadership abilities.
As Kouzes & Posner remind us: “There
are no freeways to the future, no paved
highways to unknown, unexpected destinations. There is only wilderness. To step out
into the unknown, begin with the exploration of the inner territory. With that as a
base, we can then discover and unleash the
leader within us all.”
We thank the University of Delaware,
the Institute for Public Administration and
the State of Delaware for their continual
support of these training programs.
For more information about our program,
see my article, “Leadership is a Journey”
and visit www.ipa.udel.edu/wldp. Please
join us in your leadership journey. LE
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Contributing Editors:
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The table of contents art is a detail from
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Copyright © 2009 Executive Excellence Publishing.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted without written permission from the
publisher. Quotations must be credited.
Myrna L. Bair, Director
Women’s Leadership Development
University of Delaware
L e a d e r s h i p
E x c e l l e n c e
LEADERSHIP
DEVELOPMENT
Leadership Is a Journey
Take it in progressive phases over a lifetime.
by Myrna L. Bair
I
N OUR WOMEN’S LD
program, our analogy,
Leadership Is a Journey,
conveys to participants that the process
of becoming a leader is not instant or
easy, but it is a journey worth taking.
Think of a journey you’ve taken.
First, you anticipate, then prepare, and
then start walking. You encounter difficulties, but the joy of the adventure
and the wonderful things you experienced during the trip make all the
effort very worthwhile.
These are the same steps our participants encounter. Our task is to be
their guide, help them begin the journey, stay on course when things
become difficult, and provide continual encouragement and nourishment.
In today’s instant gratification society, our participants need to understand there are no magic bullets to
make Ms. Average into Ms. Leader.
There are roads to travel, steps to take,
and obstacles to overcome; there are
fellow learners along that journey;
and every step forward makes us a
better leader. Peter F. Drucker noted:
“Leadership is not magnetic personality—that can just as well be a glib
tongue. It is not making friends and
influencing people—that is flattery.
Leadership is lifting a person’s vision
to higher sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of personality
beyond its normal limitations.”
The message is that leadership is a
journey of a life-time. There is always
more to learn and to develop. As we
learn and develop, we can have enormously positive impacts on ourselves,
co-workers, and organizations. Success
is a journey, not a destination. This journey, noted Carl Jung, “is a lifetime’s
task that is never completed.”
With the image of a journey in mind,
our participants are more receptive to
a long-term process. They are more
patient and willing to learn. Knowing
how this journey will unfold, they can
now relax and enjoy the scenery (the
things they experience, the people they
meet, and the abilities they develop).
Our program structure is based on
L e a d e r s h i p
E x c e l l e n c e
the Conger model of LD and designed
to reinforce the journey concept.
Phase 1 is a one-day experience
wherein we explain that the first step is
to get started. No one else can do it for
you: “We can no longer act as patrons,
waiting expectantly for the right solution. We are each required to go down
to the dock and begin our individual
journeys. We are required to be there,
as active participants. It can’t happen
without us, and nobody can do it for
us,” writes Margaret Wheatley in
Leadership and the New Science.
In Phase 1, we want them to be prepared: to have a conceptual understanding of power, leadership, and
management—how they differ and
how they are similar; know what characteristics are important for effective
leaders; share a leadership scenario
with other participants, and develop
the confidence that they, too, Can Do It.
Although 50 participants may be in
this first step, we structure the program to meet individual needs. Some of
us need a detailed map showing all the hills
and valleys; some are happy with just signs
posted along the way. Given individual
learning styles, we must include
many variations of learning: activities, reflection, readings, and sharing.
At the end of the day, we provide
them with additional reading, selfassessments, a model for developing
action plans, and reference material.
This re-emphasizes that leadership is a
life-long journey; we must all become
life-long learners. At this point, we
properly prepare them, assure them
that we will be their guides, and help
them see the future—the great benefits
that await as they continue the journey.
Phase 2 in their journey is a twoday retreat, wherein we emphasize
self-understanding and skills-building.
Knowing yourself is the first law of
leadership, but the path to understanding is often difficult. How you
lead, follow, and treat all those people
along the way is a function of who
you are.
So the journey must take us across
the “mountains of self-knowledge.”
This can be difficult. The challenge for
trainers is to make this as comfortable
as possible, yet be brutally honest.
Without understanding ourselves and
how we interact with others, we can’t
be effective leaders. Learning who we
are, why we do what we do, and how
we can achieve positive interactions
with others is crucial for leaders.
Here we also begin building skills.
This is like supplying them with the
tools, gear, and guides they will need.
Leaders need to be effective communicators, know how to deal with change,
think outside the box, and understand
the next steps in the leadership journey.
At this point, our participants may
feel a bit weary and lonely. We must
pass out water bottles and granola
bars, shout words of encouragement,
continue to show them the benefits of
this journey, and assure them that they
are not alone. There are fellow travelers
and learners: “Every moment requires
that we stay together. We have the gift
of each other. And that will make us
even more curious, wiser, and courageous,” writes Margaret Wheatley.
Phase 3 consists of eight half-day
sessions (like short weekend trips). They
meet as a group, acquire new skills and
knowledge, and practice leadership. In
their group, they share the trials and
victories. What went right as they exercised their skills, what failed and why?
What can they learn? It becomes obvious to these emerging leaders that
leadership is not a certainty. At times,
they succeed; at times, they fail. What
is important is that they try and learn.
In post-session interviews, we ask
how they think they have grown. For
most, the biggest growth is in their
self-confidence. They are not afraid to
try new things, to learn from their successes and failures. They form bonds
with fellow travelers and seek ways to
keep learning with each other. At their
request, we offer added learning experiences on topics as conflict resolution,
emotional intelligence and communication.
An ancient pictogram for passages in
Chinese is depicted as a time when a
delicate bud opens into a flower. We’ve
seen this flowering of new leaders. LE
Myrna L. Bair, Ph.D., is Director, Women’s Leadership Development Program, University of Delaware: www.ipa.udel.edu/wldp.
ACTION: Start your own leadership journey.
w w w. L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m
3
LEADERSHIP
DEVELOPMENT
Phase III: Achieving Leadership
Taking the time to develop your leadership skills.
ition. I researched intuition from multiple perspectives, reading literature
about intuition from the fields of neuroscience, communication, anthropoloJOURNEY OF A LIFEtime begins with a gy, and cognitive science. The topic is
now a favorite for many of the women.
single step. Achieving
Leadership is designed so that particiThe sessions are designed to allow
pants work in a stepwise progression, individual exploration of the topic
putting one skill into practice before
through reflection, group discussion,
tackling the next, during the year-long and practice exercises. In order to foscourse of eight half-day sessions.
ter an environment where the women
The first session helps participants can explore ideas and safely practice
determine what they need to learn in their leadership skills, the group
develops a strong bond of trust. What
order to be a more successful leader.
To do this, the participants must hon- is said in the room stays in the room.
Each session ends by giving the
estly examine what they want to learn
women time to determine how they
through the program and then set
will practice their leadership skills in
their own leadership development
goals. Although they are working in a the workplace. Each subsequent session starts with a review of their progroup, the women are encouraged to
focus on their development needs.
This individuality enhances the initial tension that is felt when participants are asked to work together to
determine the topics that should be
covered in the upcoming sessions.
This focus on self is quickly turned
into an opportunity to receive an initial negotiating lesson that provides
the participants the opportunity to
practice negotiating and learn group
decision-making strategies.
This first session introduces the
gress on their skill development.
importance of understanding the
process of leadership, practicing leadAt the final session, the women reing, and recognizing that there are
flect on what they’ve learned through
skills and tools they can use to make
the program and provide a formal
decision processes move forward in a evaluation of the experience. I asked
collaborative fashion. In addition,
last year’s participants to share what
throwing the problem of topic selecthe experience meant to them. Here are
tion to the participants, results in the
a few of the comments I received:
natural exploration of additional top• “I walk taller, have more confidence
ics the women discover they need to
and think smarter . . . I now think of
learn about. Problems tend to genermyself as a leader.” Pauline Barcus
ate more ideas for what should be
• “Taking this class had opened my
learned. The women often select topeyes to the importance of taking time
ics that provide a natural progression out for me. The topics were related to
or focus on a theme—visioning, com- our day-to-day functions that benefit
municating the vision, learning to feel me daily. It was one of the best classes
comfortable in conflict situations,
I’ve taken in 20 years as a State
negotiating, working with difficult
employee and would recommend all
people, developing creative solutions women take this class if offered the
to problems, understanding power,
opportunity!” Brenda Annand
unleashing the potential in others, and • “Phase III is like the experience of a
working collaboratively.
gentle massage—it is light and enjoySometimes the topics the women
able at the time, but has a profoundly
request are unique. One year a group centering and integrating effect, which
requested that a session focus on intu- is more fully realized as time goes on.
by Audrey Helfman
A
4
w w w. L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m
It pulled together material from previous phases, and helped to create a
direction for the future. I am grateful
for this experience.” Wynne Hewitt
• “For me, it was uncomfortable yet
empowering—a great way to grow
and develop in manageable steps. I felt
encouraged at every meeting and came
away with helpful personal education.
I highly recommend it for any woman
who is interested in being all she can
be so she can get the most out of her
life. I use my skills daily and continue
to grow and learn.” Nancy Logan
• “I recently used the course curriculum to solve a work-related problem
that we had faced for some time. One
of my direct reports was having difficulty in working with an external partner. This individual was essential to
our work performance and was creating havoc because of her difficult style.
“We had discussed this difficult relationship for months and considered
several options to resolve the situation,
including my direct intervention with
the difficult person on my employee’s
behalf. I then decided to research my
Phase III manual in the section about
Handling Difficult People. I used the
detail to ask my employee a number of
direct questions about this difficult relationship and requested that he come
prepared to our next one on one meeting to discuss his responses.
“The employee answered the set of
questions and came to our meeting
with the conclusion that it was his
reaction to the difficult person. One of
the key questions that offered the turning point was whether he believed that
the person was being difficult on purpose. He quickly reached the conclusion that the person was not doing this
on purpose and that it was actually his
reaction to her difficult behaviors.
“I’m pleased to report that this really helped us to turn a corner with this
key partnership! And my boss was
really impressed with my use of the
Women’s Leadership material to solve
a work related problem that we had
been facing for months!” Laura Miles
The experience of Phases I, II and III
have become a Journey of a Lifetime. By
opening this door of opportunity, our
participants see their great potential
and build their own leadership skills
and self-confidence, enabling them to
contribute significantly to their professional and service organizations.
LE
Audrey Helfman is Associate Professor, Women’s Leadership Development Program and Asssociate Policy Scientist,
University of Delaware. Email ahelfman@udel.edu or
visit www.ipa.udel.edu/wldp.
ACTION: Develop your leadership skills.
L e a d e r s h i p
E x c e l l e n c e
LEADERSHIP
STYLE
motivation on a given task.
To improve your use of this style,
you may ask more questions, praise
performance, or encourage your team
members to solve their own problems.
4. Delegating. Low-supportive/lowAdapt your style to their development level.
directive behavior is Delegating. You
allow people greater autonomy, since
2. Coaching. High-directive/highthey have the competence, commitby Ken Blanchard
supportive behavior is Coaching. In this ment and confidence to do the task.
style, you still provide direction, but
People at this level are competent and
WISH I COULD TELL YOU you also hear the person’s feelings,
motivated to take responsibility. Thus,
there’s a single solu- ideas and suggestions. You increase
a low-profile delegating style—one
tion to managing peo- two-way communications but mainthat provides little direction and supple—or one best leadership style. Re- tain control over decision-making.
port—is likely to be effective. Even
grettably, that’s not the case. There is,
Coaching is for low-to-moderate
though you may still identify the probhowever, a practical, easy-to-underdevelopment level. People who have
lem, you delegate the responsibility for
stand approach—Situational Leadership. some competence but lack commitcarrying out plans to experienced folment to take responsibility need both
Effective leaders adapt their style
lowers. They are permitted to “run the
according to the development level of direction and support. Thus, a coachshow” and decide on how, when, and
ing style—one that provides directive where tasks are to be accomplished.
the people they are managing.
In Situational Leadership, there are behavior (because of their lack of comEmpower competent and confident
petence) but also supportive behavior team members to manage their own
four leadership styles representing
to build confidence and enthusiasm— performance. Collaboratively set goals
different combinations of directive
is most effective. Coaches both direct
and supportive behaviors.
and then delegate day-to-day decision• Directive behavior is defined as the and support their people. This style
making to experienced team members.
extent to which you engage in one-way builds confidence and motivation in
To improve your use of this style,
communication; spell out the person’s people, while keeping responsibility
you may ask your team members to
role; tell the person what to do, where for decision-making with the leader.
tell you what resources they need to
to do it, when to do it, and how to do
excel and then secure those resources.
it; and then oversee performance.
When to Use Each Style
Three words define directive behavior:
structure, control, and supervise.
The right style is primarily a function of the degree of difficulty of the
• Supportive behavior is the extent to
task and the developmental level of
which you engage in two-way comthe person doing the task.
munication, listen, provide support and
Developmental level is the degree
encouragement, facilitate interaction,
of competence and commitment a person
and involve people in decision-making.
Three words define supportive behavhas to perform a task without superviior: praise, listen and facilitate.
sion. Competence is a function of knowTo improve your use of this style,
ledge and skills which can be gained
Four Styles
you may want to ask for input on
from education, training, or experience. Commitment is a combination of
The degree of direction or support goals and plans with competent team
you provide depends on the develop- members and praise progress.
confidence (self-assuredness) and
ment level of the person for the task.
motivation (interest and enthusiasm).
3. Supporting. High-supportive/
There are four development levels:
The factor that triggers a change in
low-directive behavior is Supporting. In
this style, your role is to provide recog- style is performance. Improvements in
Style 1. Directing. High-directive/
nition and to actively listen and facili- performance shift the leadership style.
low-supportive leader behavior is
Effective managers adapt their style to
Directing. You define the roles of peo- tate problem-solving and decisionmatch development levels and meet
making. As competence rises, most
ple and tell them what, how, when,
people question whether they can per- changing demands. Over time individand where to do various tasks. You
uals and teams develop their own patinitiate problem-solving and decision- form the task on their own. Here a
Supporting style is appropriate. People terns of behavior and ways of operating;
making. You announce solutions and
these constitute the norms, customs,
decisions and supervise implementa- need to be heard and encouraged.
traditions, and mores of the culture.
tion. You set goals, develop action
Supporting is for moderate-to-high
You may use one leadership style
plans, provide direction, set time-lines, development level. These people are
for the team, but a different style when
and closely supervise people when
competent but have variable commitdealing one-on-one, since individuals
they are inexperienced or incompetent ment toward the task. You need to
with a task, even if committed.
practice two-way communication and are at different levels of development.
Shifting forward and backward in
Poor results tell you to focus on
active listening and to support peodeveloping your team members’ com- ple’s efforts to use their skills. You lis- style makes Situational Leadership a
dynamic developmental model.
petence, confidence, and motivation.
ten, facilitate, and shift some control
LE
To improve your use of this style,
for day-to-day decision-making and
Ken Blanchard is the author of the One-Minute Manager series
you may want to be more specific
problem-solving to team members.
and CEO of the Ken Blanchard Companies. Call 800-728-6000
or visit www.bigspeak.com.
about what each team member’s job is You provide support and encourageand what a “good job” looks like.
ment when they lack confidence or
ACTION: Practice situational leadership.
Situational Leadership
I
L e a d e r s h i p
E x c e l l e n c e
w w w. L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m
5
COMPETENCY
FEEDBACK
Accepting Feedback
It’s a challenge for all leaders.
natural fear in the system. You have to
disarm people if you want the truth,
and the faster you can get the truth,
the faster you can apply the learning.”
EADERS OFTEN EXPERIn contrast to Allgaier’s informal
ience difficulty in
approach, Joe Amado, past CIO of
doing away with the
Philip Morris USA, formalized the
traditional leader-follower model and
moving to a horizontal approach where feedback process. Every year, he asked
the leader and team members agree to members of his IT team to complete a
“leadership scorecard” on him. “It’s
play by a new set of ground rules.
When we asked Helen McCluskey, like 360-degree feedback, but it’s not
on paper. It’s person to person.” Joe
president of Warnaco’s Intimate
kicked off a half-day meeting, then left
Apparel and Swimwear Group, about
creating a horizontal, high-performance team members to confer and answer
questions in four categories: How well
team, she responded, “My toughest
does Amado allocate resources?
challenge is learning how to deal with
negative feedback. At first, I took it well Provide direction? Build capabilities?
on the outside, but then overanalyzed, Give feedback on performance?
They gave him their honest feeddwelled on it, and catastrophized it.”
back, and Amado carefully considered
In theory, leaders understand the
need for everyone on the team to pos- their input and made adjustments to
sess the leadership skills and authority formerly reserved for the leader
alone. That authority includes the
right and the obligation to call one
another—or their leader—on behaviors that compromise business results.
But this new notion of accountability
is easier understood than practiced.
The leader needs to learn how to
receive feedback, and the team needs
to feel comfortable delivering it.
by Howard M. Guttman
L
Three Actions to Ta k e
Here are three actions you can take
to lessen the discomfort for both sides.
1. Give them the green light. Knowing how difficult it is for people to give
him negative feedback, Larry Allgaier,
CEO of Novartis’s Global OTC business, makes it easy. “If I have an inkling
that something is troubling someone,”
he explains, “I initiate a conversation
that makes it easy for them to give me
the feedback. For example, I called our
GM in France and said, ‘I don’t think
I’m as connected with the European
GMs as I need to be. What do you
think?’” Knowing he had “permission”
to deliver honest feedback, the GM
didn’t hold back. His response: “You’re
right, Larry. I understand that the
developing markets may need you
more this year, but we would like to
see you in our countries more often.”
Allgaier believes that, “Getting
good feedback, honest and timely, is
hard for any executive because of the
6
progress toward high performance.
2. Don’t take it personally. As chief
learning officer for Mars, Jon Shepherd
is part of the global people and organization (HR) team. One post-alignment
session included a review of the team’s
answers to the questions, “How would
you rate your leader’s performance,
and what does he need to do differently to improve it?” Shepherd believes
that the team’s leader showed bravery
in the way he handled the feedback.
“Hearing these things can shake you
up and raise doubts about your abilities,” says Shepherd, “but our leader
never got rattled or became defensive.
He just listened. He didn’t try to explain or excuse himself; he didn’t try
to provide solutions. He just absorbed
it.” The leader then led a follow-up
session in which he first “reflected”
back the team’s concerns; then, they
jointly identified actions they could
take to address the situation.
w w w. L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m
Shepherd’s team leader was textbook perfect: He depersonalized the
group’s comments, treating them as a
“business case” rather than an attack.
Depersonalizing feedback was hard
for Roy Anise, former VP and GM of
Chrysalis Technologies, a division of
Philip Morris USA, and his team. He
says: “Their self-worth always seemed
to be on trial. They didn’t understand
that being questioned didn’t imply
being criticized personally.” Anise
helped the team break out of this
mindset by role-modeling willingness
to take accountability for his performance and depersonalizing feedback.
He told them that, if they saw him not
living up to his commitments and
came to him with that feedback, he
would view it as a gift. He even distributed a number of Starbucks gift
cards to his team and asked them to
give one back to him each time he
transgressed, so they would feel as
though they were giving him a gift.
3. Act on their comments. Being
open to feedback is one thing—acting
on it is an even bigger challenge. When
Roy Anise received candid feedback
from the members of his team, he was
surprised to learn that they judged him
to be far more aggressive than he
believed he was. He received similar
feedback from his boss, which spurred
him to seek coaching.
During his first session with the
coach, Anise explained that he was
unsure of how his team was progressing and where he needed to take it.
The coach commented, “I have no
idea what you’re thinking. I can see why
people who work for you feel the same
sense of not knowing what’s going on
with you and why they’re intimidated.”
Anise bristled at the exchange. But a
day later, he contacted the coach to
thank him for his insight. As Anise
said about his coach, “He exposed me,
and initially I didn’t like it; but I needed to hear it.” Once Anise had seen
himself as others saw him, he could
begin making changes. As he projected
a more open, receptive image, his team
became more comfortable offering
opinions and raising objections.
Feedback need not be a negative experience for the leader who receives it
or the players who give it. When players deliver it in the right spirit—
feedback, not feedattack—and the leader
takes it as constructive criticism and
acts on it, the team ends the winner. LE
Howard M. Guttman is principal of Guttman Development
Strategies and author of Great Business Teams (Wiley). Visit
www.greatbusinessteams.com.
ACTION: Take these actions during feedback.
L e a d e r s h i p
E x c e l l e n c e
CHANGE
INNOVATION
Culture of Innovation
Ta k e e i g h t s t e p s t o s u s t a i n g r o w t h .
unsure what’s needed to prepare the
ground, unable to resist the impulse for
a quick yield, they rush in and waste
effort. The same holds true for manUSTAINABLE INNOVATagers who want a culture of innovaion, the endless
tion. The antidote is first to get clear
effort to find a better
way, can’t be achieved by mechanical- about the scope of the effort by “staking
ly imitating best practices. The catalyz- your territory” or defining the fields in
ing agent for renewable innovation is
which you want to innovate. If you try
the cultivated ground from which best
to innovate everywhere all the time,
you’ll deplete your resources and
practices spring—the confluence of
exhaust your people. Second, you need
purpose, people, and processes (culture).
No aspect of innovation can take root to prepare the ground for planting by
removing obstacles to growth and by
without creating a culture of innovation.
Such a culture is simple to create, but it is enriching the fertility of the soil.
Preparatory efforts don’t feel like fun
not easy because the ground of most
and there’s no immediate reward, but
organizations is hard. The metaphor
that conveys the effort required is creat- without this effort you won’t have the
ground for future success. To prepare
ing a garden. When your company is
clear about the effort required, creating the ground, you might: 1) ask your
a culture (garden) of innovation is sim- leaders to prioritize the top five innoply a matter of taking the time to execute each step in the time-honored way.
To create a sustainable culture of
innovation, take these eight steps:
1. Whet the appetite: Stimulate your
people’s innate hunger to innovate. If you
are serious about being a gardener of
innovation, you will need hunger—a
real appetite for results. Without a
commitment to the harvest, gardening
remains only a hobby and does not
yield desired results. If your people
have little appetite for innovation, you vation needs; 2) quantify the cost/benneed to whet it; otherwise, they sit idly efits of innovating in these fields; 3) ask
by, waiting for R&D or senior leaders
managers what they can do to establish
to lead the charge. And while they
a culture of innovation; and 4) research
may talk about growth, talk won’t put idea management software options.
food on the table. Fortunately, inside
What will you do this month to prepare the
ground for innovation?
everyone is the impulse to create. Your
3. Find the seeds: Locate powerful,
task is to awaken this impulse and
help people own the effort to innovate. new ideas. You can have ample space
To whet the appetite, you might: 1)
and fertile soil, but unless you have
invite people already inspired to innohealthy seeds to plant, you won’t reap
vate to join your core team; 2) commu- a harvest. If you want a garden of
innovation, you need many kinds of
nicate and celebrate all innovation
successes; 3) lead senior team innova- seed. The more varied the seeds, the
greater your chances for an interesting
tion strategy and alignment sessions;
yield. Ideas are the seeds. All innovation
or 4) create a business case for why
innovation is so crucial and present it. begins with ideas. Where will your comWhat will you do this month to whet your pany get its new ideas? Is there a process?
Is it working? Can you count on your
people’s appetite to innovate?
people to deliver quality, game-chang2. Stake and prepare the ground:
Clarify the scope of the effort and increase ing ideas? Or is there something else
you need to do to tap their brilliance?
readiness. Amateur gardeners, fueled
by visions of the harvest, tend to plant To find the seeds, you might: 1) ask
your people for three well-developed
before they are ready. Unclear about
ideas per week; 2) re-state your biggest
how large a garden they can sustain,
by Mitch Ditkoff
S
L e a d e r s h i p
E x c e l l e n c e
challenges in the form of questions
that begin, “How can we?” 3) identify
10 scheduled meetings and dedicate at
least 25 percent of these meetings to
idea generation; or 4) invite selected
customers to a brainstorming session.
Where is the biggest untapped source
of new ideas? What can you do this
month to tap this fountain of brilliance?
4. Fence the garden: Protect aspiring
innovators from naysayers and idea killers.
Uninvited predators and other varmints
will show up at all hours to devour
your tender, young seedlings or downsize your dreams—unless you fence your
garden. Promising new growth ideas—
the tasty indicators of breakthrough
innovation—will be devoured by ravenous naysayers, unless you find a way to
protect the in-house innovators who
originate and develop these promising
new ideas. Your role is to fence your
garden and protect your people from
the acidic scrutiny, doubt, and premature evaluation of left-brained, metricdriven, inhibitors of innovation. To
fence your garden, you might: 1) eliminate unnecessary metrics and bureaucratic protocols; 2) serve your biggest
naysayers with an aspiring innovator’s
restraining order; 3) request naysayers
to seek you out with their concerns
about projects and pilot programs; or 4)
provide safe havens for aspiring innovators to collaborate on new projects
away from the scrutiny and micromanagement of in-house skeptics. In
what ways can you protect your direct
reports from the chronic naysaying behavior of the senior team or Board?
5. Plant the seeds: Improve the process
for new ideas being pitched and taking root.
While some seeds carried by the wind
may land on fertile soil, most gardens
require that seeds be planted systematically. If you are sincerely trying to create a culture of innovation, you need
to refine you seed-planting process,
establishing a more effective way for
the carriers of seeds to increase the odds
of those seeds taking root. Yes, aspiring
innovators need to become more adept
at pitching (planting) their ideas. But
also managers need to become more
receptive to the possibility that something new is worthy of taking root.
Having healthy seeds is a good start,
but those seeds need to be planted in a
way that dramatically increases the
odds of them growing into seedlings.
To better plant seeds, you might: 1)
identify best “idea pitching” practices;
2) identify skillful communicators and
ask them to mentor others; 3) ask people
what they need to make the idea-pitching process more inviting, humane, and
w w w. L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m
7
effective; or 4) train your people in the
art and science of making skillful presentations. What will you do this month to
improve your idea-pitching process?
6. Tend new growth: Find healthy ways
to nurture new possibilities. Conceiving
ideas is easy; bringing them to fruition is
hard. Along the way, they get neglected,
mishandled, and trampled. What starts
as a brilliant possibility often shrivels on
the vine. With the right sustained effort,
gardeners of innovation dramatically
increase the odds of exciting new ideas
making it to market. To tend new growth,
you might: 1) create “virtual garages”
where people work on promising ventures; 2) give feedback to aspiring innovators; 3) make “innovation slush funds”
available to project champions; or 4)
establish “innovation spaces” to encourage creative thinking, collaboration, and
cross-functional brainstorming. What will
you do to foster the growth of a new project?
7. Thin and transplant: Evaluate, simplify, and decide what to focus on and
what to defer. Savvy gardeners thin out
new growth to make room for the
healthiest plants and even transplant
the healthiest of the thinned-out plants
to roomier locations. You need a clear
strategy for how you will evaluate,
select, and fund new initiatives—and
identify promising new growth to be
transplanted for future development.
You might: 1) communicate the criteria
for evaluating new ideas; 2) identify
the resources available to support new
growth; or 3) establish “greenhouse
environments” that will enable you to
nurture the growth of new ideas and
pilot programs. What promising ideas or
initiatives killed last year should have been
transplanted into an “idea greenhouse?”
8. Celebrate the harvest: Acknowledge
the bounty and express appreciation for the
gardeners. Have a holiday, ritual, or ceremony to express gratitude for the
harvest. The harvest feeds the body, but
the acknowledgment of the harvest feeds
the soul, strengthening everyone’s
resolve to begin the growth process again
next season. To sustain a culture of innovation, you need to celebrate the harvest
and acknowledge people for their efforts
to innovate. You might form a team of
people to schedule, plan, and facilitate
an event to celebrate your innovation
harvest. How will you organize a “celebrate-the-innovation-harvest” event?
Follow these eight steps for creating
a sustainable culture of innovation. LE
Mitch Ditkoff is president of Idea Champions and author of
Banking on Innovation, Free the Genie and Awake at the
Wheel. Visit www.ideachampions.com.
ACTION: Create a culture of innovation.
8
CHANGE
DYNAMICS
Vision of the Future
This is as good as it gets.
by Margaret Wheatley
M
ANY PEOPLE ONCE
honed their skills
at predicting or anticipating the future. But now these skills
can be a liability. They may lull us
into a false sense of security about a
predictable future and keep people
from staying alert to what’s happening in the present.
Even so, planning experts are
charged with regaining stability. Management may clamor for new planning tools and processes, and push
hard on planners to find new modes
of prediction. Staff members often suffer severe
burn-out as they work
zealously on stabilizing an
inherently temperamental
world. A wise planning
executive said: “ I tell people we won’t get any
more clarity. This is as
good as it gets.”
Since we are all interconnected, the problems
of a few affect all of us.
The actions of a few corrupt executives may bring down an entire company, even though thousands of
people work there with integrity. No
company, industry, or nation is
immune to these system effects.
One executive once told me: “Now
it seems that we can’t influence outcomes. We are at the top but feel that
things are being done to us.” Another
executive said simply: “The old
strategies don’t work any more.”
When so much is beyond our control, when senior leaders reveal their
own feelings of powerlessness, how
can we survive the turbulence?
New Dynamics
In uncertainty, new dynamics
appear and old ones intensify. Let’s
note how these new dynamics affect
employees, leaders, and core functions.
Employee behaviors. Uncertainty
leads to increased fear. As fear rises,
we tend to focus on personal security
and safety. We withdraw, becoming
more self-serving, reactive, and
w w w. L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m
defensive. We focus on things we can
control. It becomes more difficult to
work together and to focus on the big
picture. Stress deprives us of our ability to see patterns. We can’t see our
work as part of a larger system. We
become forgetful and experience
sleeplessness, restlessness, anger, and
tears. Each of these has negative consequences on work. As people experience their growing incapacity to get
work done well, they often blame
themselves for failing to produce.
Pressure on leaders. Out of fear,
many people turn to leaders with
unreasonable demands. We want
someone to rescue us, to save us, to
provide answers, to give
us firm ground or strong
life rafts. We push for a
strong leader to get us
out of this mess, even if
it means surrendering
individual freedom to
gain security. But not
even the strongest of
leaders can deliver on
the promise of stability
and security.
Still, we charge our
leaders to provide solutions. When
they don’t deliver, we sacrifice them
to atone for the sins of the system.
Leaders must resist assuming the role
of savior, even as people beg for it
and grow more fearful and fragile.
When people are directly affected by
external events, the leader must provide emotional support while maintaining productivity. When leaders
are personally affected by challenges,
they find it difficult to inspire confidence and credibility.
Core functions. Not long ago, companies engaged in five-year strategic
planning. Those days seem very distant. Many of the primary functions—
HR, planning, forecasting, budgeting,
staffing, development—only worked
because we could bring the future
into focus; the future felt within our
control. Now it’s difficult to do a reliable budget for the year. One solution
is to submit alternative scenarios.
Seven New Capabilities
We can prepare for the future
L e a d e r s h i p
E x c e l l e n c e
without knowing what it will be by
attending to the quality of our relationships, to how well we know and
trust one another. We can engage in
emergency preparedness drills. By
working together on simulations, we
develop cohesive, cooperative, trusting relationships.
To counter the negative dynamics
stimulated by stress and uncertainty,
we must give full attention to the
quality of our relationships. Nothing
else works, no new tools or technical
applications, no redesigned chart.
The solution is each other. If we can
rely on one another, we can cope
with almost anything. Without each
other, we retreat into fear.
There is one core principle for
developing these relationships. People
must be engaged in meaningful work
together if they are to transcend individual concerns and develop new
capacities. Here are seven ways to
put this principle into practice.
1. Nourish a clear identity. As confusion and fear swirl about, people
find stability and security in purpose,
not in plans. Clear identity describes
who we are, the enduring values we
work from, the shared aspirations of
who we want to be. In chaos, identity
gives us a place to stand. When the
situation grows confusing, our values
provide the means to make clear and
good decisions. A clear sense of identity enables us to respond intelligently
in the moment. Times of crisis always
display the coherence or incoherence.
Are we pulling together or going in
different directions? Are people’s
actions and choices congruent with
the stated values, or are they basing
their decisions on different values? If
they are using different values, are
these the real rules of the game?
2. Focus people on the bigger
picture. People who are stressed
can’t recognize patterns, or see the
bigger picture. As people become
overloaded and overwhelmed with
their tasks, they have no time or
interest to look beyond the demands
of the moment. So, leaders must
sponsor processes that bring people
together so that they can learn of
one another’s perspectives and challenges. Otherwise, people will spiral
inward, lose all sense of meaning
for their work, and feel increasingly
isolated and alone. The way you
bring people together need not be
formal. People need less formality
and more conviviality. They need
time to decompress, relax, and listen
to one another.
L e a d e r s h i p
E x c e l l e n c e
3. Demand honest, forthright communication. In a disaster, information
enables people to respond intelligently. We are hungry for information so
that we can respond well to urgent
needs. We take in information, make
fast judgment calls, try something,
quickly reject it if it doesn’t work,
and then try something else. We
exchange information. We deal far
better with uncertainty and stress
when we know what’s going on,
even if the information is incomplete.
Freely circulating information helps
create trust, and it turns us into rapid
learners. The greater the crisis, the
more we need to know.
4. Prepare for the unknown.
Preparation allows people to move
into the unknown with greater skill
and capacity. While traditional planning processes no longer work, it is
dangerous to abandon thinking about
the future. We need to explore new
methods that project us into alternative futures. As people engage in scenario building or disaster simulations, they feel more capable to deal
with uncertainty. As they become
big-picture thinkers, individual and
collective intelligence increases.
Trusting relationships enable us to call
on one another when chaos strikes.
5. Keep meaning at the forefront.
Meaning is the most powerful motivator. People gain energy and resolve
when they understand how their
work contributes to something
beyond themselves. When we are
frightened, we may first focus on our
own survival, but we’re capable of
more generous and altruistic responses if we discover a greater purpose to
our troubles. Why is my work worth
doing? Who will be helped if I
respond well? Am I contributing to
some greater good? People don’t step
forward in order to support greed or
egotists or to benefit faceless entities
such as shareholders.
6. Use rituals and symbols. We are
becoming aware of the deep human
need for shared symbolic expression
when we experience something tragic—and the need for celebration when
we experience something wonderful.
The use of ritual and symbols is common in all cultures. As our lives
become more stressful, we are rediscovering this basic human behavior.
Symbols and rituals appear spontaneously. No one department has to
create them, but the organization
needs to notice them when they
appear, and honor them by offering
support and resources.
7. Pay attention to individuals.
There is no substitute for direct, personal contact and conversations. Even
though managers are more stressed
and have less time, they need to pick
up the phone and connect with people they want to retain. Key people—
experienced workers, innovators, new
hires, and younger workers—all need
to know that their leader is thinking
about them. When people feel cared
for, their stress is reduced and they
contribute more. People share their
knowledge only when they feel cared
for and when they care for the organization. It is not new technology that
makes for knowledge exchanges, but
quality human relationships.
None of these suggested behaviors
is new advice. We know the importance of relationships. So why are
we not investing in creating healthy,
trusting relationships? Many organizations, as a matter of policy,
distance themselves from their employees. They wrongly assume that
flexibility and efficiency are achieved
by letting people go when times get
hard. True, organizations need to
shrink and grow as times demand,
but it is possible to achieve flexibility
without sacrificing loyal, dedicated,
and smart workers.
During unpredictable change, I feel
confident to make only one prediction
about the future: Any organization
that distances itself from its employees
and refuses to cultivate meaningful
relationships with them, is destined to
fail. Those who succeed will evoke
our greatest human capacities—our
need to be in good relationships, and
our desire to contribute to something
beyond ourselves. These qualities are
only available where people feel
trusted and welcome, and where people know that their work matters. LE
Margaret Wheatley writes, teaches, and speaks about new
practices and ideas for organizing in chaotic times. She is
president of The Berkana Institute, consultant, and
professor of management. Visit www.margaretwheatley.com,
www.berkana.org or 801-377-2996.
ACTION: Focus people on the big picture.
w w w. L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m
9
CHANGE
STRATEGY
Adaptive Strategy
Mobilize employees to adapt new behaviors.
way to those solutions.
Second, adaptive change is distressing for people going through it. They
need to take on new roles, new relationships, new values, new behaviors,
and new approaches to work. Many
employees are ambivalent about the
by Ronald Heifetz and Donald Laurie
efforts and sacrifices required of them.
They often look to the senior executive
EADERS TODAY FACE ADAPTIVE CHALto take problems off their
lenges. Changes in societies, marshoulders. But those expeckets, customers, competition, and
technology around the globe are forc- tations have to be
ing them to clarify their values, devel- unlearned. Rather than fulfilling the expectation that
op new strategies, and learn new
ways of operating. Often the toughest they will provide answers,
leaders have to ask tough
task for leaders is mobilizing people
questions. Rather than proto do adaptive work.
tecting people from outside
Adaptive work is required when
our deeply held beliefs are challenged, threats, leaders should
when the values that made us success- allow them to feel the pinch
of reality to stimulate them
ful become less relevant, and when
legitimate yet competing perspectives to adapt. Instead of orienting people to
their current roles, leaders must disoriemerge. We see adaptive challenges
every day at every level—when com- ent them so that new relationships can
panies restructure or reengineer, devel- develop. Instead of quelling conflict,
leaders have to draw the issues out.
op or implement strategy, or merge
Instead of maintaining norms, leaders
businesses. We see adaptive challenges when marketing has difficulty have to challenge “the way we do
working with operations, when cross- business” and help others distinguish
immutable values from historical pracfunctional teams don’t work well, or
when senior executives complain that tices that must go.
they can’t execute effectively.
Adaptive problems are often systemic S i x G u i d i n g P r i n c i p l e s
problems with no ready answers.
Drawing on our experience with
Mobilizing an organization to
managers from around the world, we
adapt its behaviors to thrive in new
offer six principles for leading adapbusiness environment is critical.
tive work:
Without such change, any company
1. Get on the balcony. Business leadtoday would falter. Getting people to
ers have to view patterns as if they
do adaptive work is the mark of lead- were on a balcony. It does them no
ership. Yet for most senior executives, good to be swept up in the field of
providing leadership is difficult.
action. Leaders have to identify strugWhy? We see two reasons. First, to
gles over values and power, patterns
make change happen, executives have of work avoidance, and the many
to break a long-standing behavior pat- other reactions to change.
tern of their own: providing leader2. Identify the adaptive challenge.
ship in the form of solutions. Many
When businesses cannot learn quickly
executives reach their positions of
to adapt to new challenges, they are
authority by virtue of their compelikely to face their own form of extinctence in taking responsibility and
tion. Leaders need to understand
solving problems. But when a compa- themselves, their people, and the
ny faces an adaptive challenge, the
potential sources of conflict.
focus of responsibility for problem
3. Regulate distress. Adaptive work
solving resides not in the executive
generates distress. Before putting peosuite but in the collective intelligence
ple to work on challenges for which
of employees at all levels, who need
there are no ready solutions, a leader
to use one another as resources, often must realize that people can learn only
across boundaries, and learn their
so much so fast, and maintain a pro-
L
10
w w w. L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m
ductive level of tension and motivate
people without disabling them.
Although leadership demands a
deep understanding of the pain of
change—the fears and sacrifices associated with major readjustment—it also
requires the ability to hold steady and
maintain the tension.
A leader has to have the emotional
capacity to tolerate uncertainty, frustration and pain. He has to raise tough
questions without getting too anxious
himself. Employees, colleagues, and
customers will carefully observe verbal
and nonverbal cues to a leader’s ability
to hold steady and tackle tasks ahead.
4. Maintain disciplined attention.
Different people with the
same organization bring
different experiences,
assumptions, values,
beliefs and habits to their
work. This diversity is
valuable because innovation and learning are the
products of differences. No
one learns anything without being open to contrasting points of view.
As Jan Carlzon, CEO of
Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS),
told us, “The work of the leader is to
get conflict out into the open and use it
as a source of creativity.”
Because work avoidance is rampant
in organizations, a leader has to counteract distractions that prevent people
from dealing with adaptive issues.
People need leadership to help them
maintain their focus on tough questions. Disciplined attention is the currency of leadership.
5. Give work back to the people.
Everyone has special access to information that comes from his or her particular vantage point. Everyone may
see different needs and opportunities.
People who sense early changes in the
marketplace are often at the periphery,
but the organization will thrive if it can
bring that information to bear on tactical and strategic decisions. When people do not act on their special
knowledge, businesses fail to adapt.
All too often, people expect senior
management to meet market challenges for which they themselves are
responsible. Indeed, the greater and the
more persistent distresses that accompany adaptive work, the worse such
dependence becomes. People tend to
become passive, and senior managers
who pride themselves on being problem solvers take decisive action. That
behavior restores equilibrium in the
short term, but ultimately leads to comL e a d e r s h i p
E x c e l l e n c e
placency and habits of work avoidance
that shield people from responsibility,
pain and the need to change.
6. Protect voices of leadership.
Giving a voice to all people is the
foundation of a firm that is willing to
experiment and learn. But, in fact,
whistle-blowers, creative deviants, and
other such original voices routinely get
smashed and silenced.
People speaking beyond their
authority usually feel self-conscious
and sometimes have to generate “too
much” passion to get themselves
geared up for speaking out. Of course,
that often makes it harder for them to
communicate effectively. They pick the
wrong time and place, and often
bypass proper channels of communication and lines of authority. But,
buried inside a poorly packaged interjection may lie an important lesson. To
toss it out is to lose valuable information and discourage a potential leader.
Leadership as Learning
Many efforts to transform organizations through mergers and acquisitions,
restructuring, reengineering, and strategy falter because managers fail to grasp
the requirements of adaptive work.
They treat adaptive challenges like
technical problems that can be solved
by tough-minded senior executives.
The prevailing notion that leadership consists of having a vision and
aligning people with that vision is
bankrupt because it continues to treat
adaptive situations as if they were
technical: The authority figure is supposed to divine where the company is
going, and people are supposed to follow. Leadership is reduced to a combination of grand knowing and
salesmanship.
Such a perspective reveals a basic
misconception about the way businesses succeed in addressing adaptive
challenges. Adaptive situations are
hard to define and resolve precisely
because they demand the work and
responsibility of all members. They are
not amenable to solutions provided by
leaders; adaptive solutions require
members to take responsibility for the
problems that face them.
Leadership has to take place every
day. It cannot be the responsibility of
the few, a rare event, or a once-in-alifetime opportunity.
LE
Ronald A. Heifetz is the director of the Leadership Education
Project at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government in
Cambridge, MA. Donald L. Laurie is managing director of
Laurie International Ltd. in Boston. This article is adopted
from an article appearing in Utah Business, July 1997.
ACTION: Adapt to new challenges.
L e a d e r s h i p
E x c e l l e n c e
CHANGE
LEADERSHIP
Change Masters vs. Change Stiflers
Masters will exercise leadership and manage the change process.
the people at the top must be continually reviewing other policies, strategies, structures, and systems in the
EFORE EXECUTIVES CAN organizations to make sure they’re all
compatible with the new direction.
make significant
long-term changes in
Communication. There must be good
their organizations, they must often
communication in all directions to
change the company culture. But before assure that people learn from what’s
they can change the company culture, happening locally and that the policy
they must become change masters.
decisions made at the top quickly reach
the people who are taking action locally.
Tips for Change Masters
Compensation. And there must be
new signals, symbols, and rewards that
Here are some of the requirements
tell people, “We’re serious and we’re
for mastering change.
going to prove it by signaling it in a difShared vision. Before improving
quality or changing the culture or busi- ferent way, such as who gets promoted
or which new plant gets the business.”
ness direction, people at every level
must understand and buy into the
Four Leadership Competencies
vision—the vision of what the change
will mean to the company and to them.
This kind of management of a total
Consider, for example, the Stanley
change effort takes leadership. There
Works, a 150-year-old tool manufactur- are at least four important leadership
er. Stanley has long been
competencies that we must
known for high quality and
encourage in the people
high profitability. Now it’s
who run our enterprises to
meeting the Pacific Rim
make sure they’re doing
challenge in many basic
these things.
product lines. At Stanley
First, like all change
Tools, every worker on the
masters, they must be
shop floor can tell you why
tuned into the environment
they’re moving in the direcand connected with sources
tion in which they’re movof data and problems, so
ing. They understand the
that they know what and
rationale and what it means
when to change.
to them. The vision is real for them
Second, they must be able to use a
and they buy into it. It’s not just anoth- style of thinking that I call kaleidoer set of marching orders from the top. scopic thinking. This is the ability to
challenge traditional beliefs, assumpManagement structure. You don’t
tions, and practices, to see whether
simply announce, “We want to
change.” Rather, you clearly define the things should be done differently
today. Change masters think the way a
changes, identify the people responsikaleidoscope works. A kaleidoscope is
ble for them, and put a management
just a device for seeing patterns. When
structure in place.
Education and action tools. Having you look through it, you see a certain
pattern. But if you twist it, shake it, or
a management structure in place, you
change direction, the same fragments
now educate the people responsible
for change and provide them with the form an entirely different pattern. It’s
not reality that’s fixed, but often our
tools they need to get the job done.
views of reality. Change masters can
Experimentation and innovation.
shake up and shuffle the pieces of the
Executives need to encourage local
business—the array of departments,
innovations and experiments, rather
than impose a discipline on everyone. the systems, the human resources—in
many different ways. They can chalLet local units decide for themselves
lenge their own beliefs and assumpwhat it means to operate with high
tions to move toward something new.
quality and high performance, for
Third, change masters have a clear
example, and to innovate in ways that
vision and communicate it. They activemight serve as models for the rest of
ly believe in it and are committed to it.
the organization.
Fourth, change master leaders build
Support systems. At the same time,
by Rosabeth Moss Kanter
B
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11
coalitions. They know how to create
partnerships across areas, between
suppliers and the company, with customers as joint ventures, and with the
union. They reach out to embrace
many parties because they realize that
every change must be sold; otherwise,
people will likely resist it.
can’t be solved at any one level. It
comes from the barriers that exist
between areas—not from a lack of
teamwork or a failure of the processes.
You can establish excellent participative processes and statistical quality
controls and still fail because the
whole organization is too divisive.
The Integrated Environment
E q u a l Ti m e f o r C h a n g e S t i f l e r s
Overall, the kind of environment
that drives change master companies
can be called integrated. The culture
and structure are integrative. Jobs are
broad so territories overlap. People
tend to be linked together in crossfunctional teams, oriented toward the
same end product. Communication
flows freely and knits people together.
Groups can form and reform with
access to any part of the organization
if that’s what’s needed to solve a
problem. These organizations are flexible, but they’re also connected by a
shared vision that’s set at the top.
The opposite environment, which
destroys the ability to be competitive,
is what I call segmentalism. Such systems chop the world into tiny pieces.
The philosophy is, “Stay on your
piece; learn that job and nothing else;
take no responsibility for anything
else.” Department doesn’t talk to
department; level doesn’t talk to level.
Endemic to segmented environments is a systemic roadblock to innovation, change, and problem solving.
This could be called the elevator mentality. Elevators go up and down in
narrow vertical channels. That’s the
mentality you find in some companies. Instead of just saying to the guy
in the next office, “Let’s get together,
form a team and solve this problem,”
you go through channels.
Departments act as fortresses rather
than collaborators. Internal competition has nearly killed our auto industry. Even within automakers, you find
divisive competition. Buick once
thought Cadillac was the enemy, not
one in the same family knit together
by common purpose and a need to
collaborate. GM’s new structure suggests the company is no longer divided along product lines.
Unfortunately, even in this day of
searching for excellence and questing
for quality, too many companies still
operate the old way. In fact, I find that
the biggest limitation many executives
have in implementing their ideas and
reaching their goals comes from organizational structures and practices
that segment people. It comes from
the inter-departmental issues that
In the interest of equal time, I have
written a corporate philosophy for the
company that prefers mediocrity and
stagnation. This is my guide to stifling
innovation for those who do not want
to be change masters.
• Be suspicious of any new idea from
below—because it’s new and because
it’s from below. If the idea
were any good, the people
at the top would have
thought of it already.
• Insist that people who
need your approval to act
go through many other levels of the hierarchy first—it
doesn’t matter in which direction. The point is to slow
them down, because you
don’t want radical changes.
A variant is to have departments challenge and criticize each other’s proposals and then just pick the winner,
thereby guaranteeing they’ll never collaborate on anything again.
• If you don’t want innovation, high
performance and quality, withhold
praise, express criticism freely, and
instill job insecurity. Believe that these
things keep people on their toes. How
else would they know that you have
standards? Subscribe to the macho
school of management. It said that
people do their best work when terrified. If you don’t have strong standards, they just won’t perform.
• Change policies in secret and reorganize unexpectedly and often. If you
don’t want people taking initiative to
solve problems, then you must keep
them in suspended animation, never
knowing when another directive from
corporate is going to cut things to ribbons again. Some of our old-style
manufacturing plants found that the
best way to close the facility was to
announce it on the radio that morning
as people were driving to work. That
way, they didn’t lose productivity and
they avoided anxiety that might slow
things down.
• Be control conscious. Count everything that can be counted as often as
possible. If you don’t want people to
take initiative and solve problems,
you want to have more measurements
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than you need. You want to measure
so much that all behavior will go only
to the measures. To stamp out initiative, make sure there is no spare
change that people could ever invest in
a special project that’s not in a budget
somewhere. Make sure that so much
time is taken up just meeting the measures that nobody would be able to
think about investing in the future or
solving a problem.
• The attitude at the top should be,
“We already know everything important there is to know about this business.
We’ve been in business a long time,
and we’ve been successful, so we’ll just
keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
A good place to start in changing
the culture is to reverse
the old rules. Increase
receptivity to and forums
for new ideas. Many companies are already doing
this through quality
processes. What about
other processes? How
many people are reached?
What about ideas for
things that can’t be done
right the first time because
they’ve never been done before? That
is one of the slight contradictions in
“Do it right the first time.” You have to
have done it once before to know what
right is. Make sure those kinds of quality standards aren’t a barrier to experimentation and to trying new things.
Faster approval and less red tape are
required. Do things really have to go
through so many levels of signatures?
Increase praise, recognition for
achievements, and open communication—especially advance warning of
changes in plans.
Maintain an attitude that you’re always learning and can learn from any
source. This helps convert change from
being a threat to being an opportunity.
Change is always a threat when it’s
done to me or imposed on me, like it
or not. But it’s an opportunity if it’s
done by me. It’s my chance to contribute and be recognized.
That’s the simple key to all of this:
make it an opportunity for people and
reward them for it. Throughout every
rank of American organizations, we must
think about problem solving as entrepreneurs do. They think of every problem as an opportunity to do it better.
This is the kind of attitude we need. LE
Rosabeth Moss Kanter is the Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor
at Harvard Business School and author of America The
Principled (Crown Business/Randomhouse) and The Change
Masters. Visit www.randomhouse.com.
ACTION: Become a change master.
L e a d e r s h i p
E x c e l l e n c e
LEADERSHIP
DEVELOPMENT
skills of their teams. They’re supporters, resource-providers, obstacleremovers, facilitators, and teambuilders. The mark of an excellent
leader is the performance of the team!
4. Keep the fires burning. When
Small pebbles can have big ripples.
growth stops, people lose motivation
and energy. Individuals identified as
pays huge dividends. Clearly, compa- marginal performers need to receive
by Michael G. Winston
nies that continue to invest in their tal- special management attention. Performance is a function of goal clarity, supent are better positioned to take
advantage of recovering markets. They portive structure, adequate resources,
IGH PERFORMANCE
required skills, performance-enhancing
leaders are distin- invest time and money planning for
feedback, motivation, and relationships
the future—selecting, training, and
guished by a set of
with supervisors. Instead of eliminating
retaining the next generation of leadcore beliefs and actions. They believe
ers. By staying committed to high per- plateaued managers, ask: How can we
that a business rises and falls on the
formance succession and LD practices, keep them motivated? Continuing
strength of its leaders at all levels.
TGE, Pepsi, Motorola, Goldman Sachs, opportunity keeps people working with
They identify, attract, and retain the
high effort and enthusiasm.
and HP have strengthened their posimost talented, diverse group of high
performers. They understand the core tion in attracting and retaining top tal5. Culture counts, especially during
ent, making them talent magnets.
competencies and skills required to
tough times. Business flows in cycles,
meet challenging goals and surround
and the best leaders are constantly
2. Build leadership excellence, even
themselves with highly capable staff.
in challenging times. High-performing searching for market opportunities
These leaders encourage developand threats and take quick, creative
organizations recruit top talent and
ment by rewarding excellence, serving place them on focused, driven teams.
action, allocating resources (time, talas role models, and encouraging per- They let their skills, drive, intelligence, ent and capital) to pursue opportunisonal and professional growth. They
ties. De-cisions are made quickly, and
and creativity come to the fore. They
push decision-making down and
vision is translated into action. During
train them and focus their energy on
develop people’s confidence in their
rewarding challenges. They give them constant change, the ability to learn
ability to lead, manage, and impact
faster is a source of competitive advanoutcomes. They allocate authority and
tage.
resources to enable people to make
6. Paying attention to human capidecisions and act independently withtal pays off on the bottom line. We see
in their area of responsibility.
a strong correlation between compaThey believe in the strength, capacnies listed as “Best Places to Work”
ity and potential for growth and conand superior business performance.
tribution of their people, and by
Firms with well-designed succession
translating their commitment to conplanning and LD programs for the top
sistent, purposeful action, even under
three levels of management enjoy a
fire, they pass the test of true leaderclear advantage. When you invest in
ship. They view the cost of LD as an
your people, you invest in your sucinvestment. The impact of their decicess: productivity, employee satisfacsion to develop their human capital is the place, space, knowledge, and
tion, and financial performance rise.
enormous. It is like when a small peb- chance to excel. They build a leaderTRW offers quality LD programs;
ble makes a big ripple on a still lake.
HP has phenomenal on-line learning.
ship team across boundaries of funcFor years, we’ve talked about the
tion, geography, and business with a
7. Stand up for your beliefs. The War
for Talent will be won by organizations
War for Talent. We revised vision state- clear, common vision and strategy.
The LD programs at UBS, GE, and that believe in the strength, capacity,
ments to emphasize acquiring, developing, and retaining talent, promising Dell use a combination of presenters,
potential for growth and contribution
learning technologies, and post-proto create a high-performance culture.
of their people, and have the courage
Yet, in challenging times, such promis- gram project work to reinforce strate- and commitment to keep their promisgic initiatives. When leaders train and es through thick and thin and do the
es are rarely kept, as people are often
work together, they gain common
treated as liabilities. When leaders
right thing for their employees,
vocabulary, shared skill-building, and brands, company and society, even
restructure, reduce discretionary
spending, defer product development, stronger reinforcement and teams.
when professional and social risks or
out-source manufacturing, pursue vol3. Bring in the best people and bring economic pressures confront them.
untary retirements and resort to layout the best in people. There is nothing This principle anchors their beliefs and
offs, the War for Talent gets lost.
behaviors.
wrong with your people that can’t be
The only sustainable source of comfixed by what is right with your peoSeven Lessons to Be Learned
petitive advantage is the capacity of
ple. Leading companies identify and
build on strengths. They find and nur- your people to learn, grow, and outHere are seven lessons:
perform the competition.
ture champions, create compelling
1. Success over time hinges on the
LE
goals and direction, build skills, and
quality of leadership. Organizations
Michael G. Winston is strategist of transformation. He has
spread enthusiasm. They encourage,
that invest in leadership outperform
top-level experience in five Fortune 100 Companies. Visit
excite, teach, listen and facilitate. They www.michaelgwinston.com.
the field. Paying attention to human
capital, especially during tough times, tap, orchestrate and use the talents and ACTION: Excel in your leadership development.
Why Develop Leaders?
H
L e a d e r s h i p
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13
LEADERSHIP
URGENCY
Sense of Urgency
Incite inspired action.
by John Kotter
ago, few people had ever heard of eBay.
Today, millions of people recognize the
company that CEO Meg Whitman and
her team, with a powerful vision and
strategy, created—an unparalleled global ecommerce engine and a leading
company that has reshaped online commerce and payments around the world.
Make It Happen
Y
4. Communicate for understanding
and buy-in. Make sure as many people
from a broader
range of people—
as possible understand and accept the
action that is informed, committed,
vision and the strategy. Change
and inspired—to lead change. The
imposed is not change effected. A critirate of change won’t slow down. And cal mass of people must understand the
competition will speed up. You will be vision and strategy to bring about sucpresented with more terrible hazards
cessful transformations. Leaders can use
and wonderful opportunities.
new and innovative ways to get across
My book Our Iceberg Is Melting is a the messages about the urgent need for
story that outlines eight change steps: change, the new direction and how to
get there. Emails and screen savers and
Set the Stage
text messaging can supplement posters
and newsletters. Companies like British
1. Create a sense of urgency. Help
others see the need to change and to act Petroleum use broad-based communicaimmediately. The pull of the status quo
is so strong as to derail transformation
efforts if urgency is not clear. People at
all levels need to be convinced of the
need for change, or the transformation
efforts imposed can be slowed or sabotaged. How many companies make it
clear to their stakeholders the possible
consequences of a change in the market and prepare for it? Many don’t,
and some are no longer with us. Today,
we see companies resting on their laurels for too long and then struggling to
catch up to changes in the marketplace. tions to help customers as well as
2. Pull together the guiding team. En- employees understand how the changsure there is a powerful group guiding ing picture of energy in the world today
the change—one with leadership skills, affects its vision and strategy.
bias for action, credibility, communica5. Empower others to act. Remove as
tions ability, authority, analytical skills. many barriers as possible so that those
This crucial step is often disregarded by who want to make the vision a reality
even knowledgeable leaders. The right can do so. When leaders do this effecteam—not just top players, not just un- tively, they can achieve astonishing
empowered middle managers, not just results. For example, in an industry
technologically qualified team memcrushed by the weight of rigid strucbers—is still a must for effective
tures, systems and culture, where comchange. So, gather such a team, and
panies have been figuratively crashing
work with them closely to plan for and and burning over the past decade,
deal with any disaster that might strike. Southwest Airlines has broken through
those barriers to maintain its success
Decide What to Do
based largely on its expectation that all
employees act in a leadership capacity
3. Develop the change vision and
strategy. Clarify how the future will be to cut costs and improve service.
different from the past, and how you
6. Produce short-term wins. Create
can make that future a reality. Change
some visible, clear successes as soon as
leaders often neglect this step or imple- possible. To avoid burnout, remember
ment it badly. There can be a clear and to stop and celebrate your progress.
urgent need for change but no vision
When you do, you receive renewed
and strategy. Only a few organizations energy for the efforts ahead.
have made outstanding strides articu7. Don’t let up. Press harder and
lating a vision and creating the right
faster after the first successes. Be relentstrategy to make it happen. Eight years less with instituting change after change
OU NEED MORE ACTION
14
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until the vision becomes a reality. In
the past decade, we have seen some
companies flame up with great initial
momentum and then crash, unable to
sustain the innovation needed for continued success. Others have risen from
their knees and managed great leaps.
Because changes now happen so fast,
“don’t let up” is even more important.
Make It Stick
8. Create a new culture. Hold on to
the new ways of behaving, and make
sure they succeed, until they become a
part of the culture. The knowledge of
ways to make the transformation happen should be embedded deeply in the
organization. Many more people need
to have this knowledge and skill-set.
These eight steps for leading change
hold up well. The question is, how
well do you implement them, starting
with creating a sense of urgency?
Suppose, for example, that you are a
mid-manager. You see a problem with
a new strategy, IT system, struggling
growth initiative, aging product line,
or a difficult merger integration. But
the problem is either not seen by others or isn’t being addressed. It’s as if
you are living on an iceberg that’s
melting—you see the dangerous erosion, but your fellow penguins, especially those on the Leadership Council,
are saying, “Problem? What problem?”
So what do you do? Tell your boss,
immediately. Start talking it up. Try to
get an appointment with the CEO.
Prepare an in-depth presentation. Do
nothing—leading change is not your
job, and they don’t pay you enough for
the aggravation. One of these options
is what most people choose to do.
If you have seen these options fail,
you may say to yourself: “What can I
do?”, “I don’t have the power”, “it’s
not my job”, “this could be hazardous,
and I have an obligation to keep bread
in the mouths of my family.”
There is a better option to getting an
important change started: You do act,
but not by relying on telling bosses, big
bosses, or anyone, not by offering what
will look like opinion, or by dumping
data on anyone. You show others the
problem, in the most attention-grabbing
way possible, with only one goal: to create a sense of urgency around the issue.
The formula: show them, don’t just tell
them, and create a sense of urgency,
don’t just point to a problem.
LE
John Kotter, an expert on leadership at the Harvard Business
School, is the author of Leading Change and Our Iceberg Is
Melting. Visit www.ouricebergismelting.com.
ACTION: Create a sense of urgency.
L e a d e r s h i p
E x c e l l e n c e
LEADERSHIP
CREDIBILITY
tive about the future. Beyond having a
dream, a leader must communicate the
vision in ways that encourage people to
sign on for the duration, excite them
What followers expect.
about the cause, and make the context
meaningful. Whatever the circumstances, when leaders breathe life into
our dreams and aspirations, we’re more
willing to enlist in the movement.
Competent. To enlist in a cause, people must believe that the leader is
competent to guide them. They must
see the leader as having relevant expeby James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner
rience and sound judgment. If people
EADERSHIP IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN doubt the person’s abilities, they’re
those who aspire to lead and those unlikely to join in the crusade.
who choose to follow. Strategies, tacLeadership competence refers to the
tics, skills, and practices are empty
leader’s track record and ability to get
without understanding the aspirations things done. Such competence inspires
that connect leaders and constituents. confidence that the leader will guide
For 25 years we’ve asked people to the organization in the
tell us what they look for in a person
direction it needs to go.
that they would be willing to follow.
We first asked: “What values, personal C r e d i b i l i t y I s K e y
traits, or characteristics do you look for
Three of these four key
and admire in a leader?” Respondents characteristics of what peoidentified different values, traits, and
ple want most in their leadcharacteristics. Content analysis
ers make up “source credireduced these items to a list of 20
bility.” In assessing the
(each grouped with several synonyms believability of sources of
for clarification and completeness).
communication—whether
From this list, we developed a sur- newscasters, salespeople,
vey Characteristics of Admired Leaders,
physicians, priests, managers, military
and sent it to 75,000 people worldwide. officers, politicians, or civic leaders—
We distribute a one-page checklist, ask researchers typically evaluate them on
respondents to select the seven quali- three criteria: their perceived trustworthities that they “most look for and
ness, their expertise, and their dynamism.
admire in a leader, someone whose
Those who are rated more highly on
direction they would willingly follow.” these dimensions are considered to be
Our findings have been consistent. more credible sources of information.
These three characteristics are simiClearly, there are a few character tests
someone must pass before others will- lar to the essential leader qualities of
honest, competent, and inspiring.
ingly grant the designation leader.
More than anything, people want to
Four traits receive the most votes:
Honest. Honesty is selected 90 per- follow leaders who are credible.
cent of the time, emerging as the single Credibility is the foundation of leadership.
most important factor. If people are
We also must believe that leaders
going to willingly follow someone—
know where we’re headed and have a
vision for the future (forward-looking).
whether into battle or into the boardroom—they first want to know that
Leaders must do more than be reliable
the person is worthy of their trust.
reporters of the news. Leaders make the
Forward-looking. About 70 percent news and make sense of the news. We
of respondents select the ability to look expect our leaders to have a point of
ahead, having a sense of direction and view about the future. We expect them
to articulate exciting possibilities.
a concern for the future. Whether we
Although compelling visions are
call that ability a vision, dream, callnecessary for leadership, if the leader
ing, goal or agenda, leaders must
is not credible, the message rests on a
know where they’re going if they
weak and precarious foundation.
expect others to willingly join them.
Leaders must be vigilant in guarding
They have to have a point-of-view
about the envisioned future, and they their credibility. Their ability to take
strong stands, to challenge the status
need to connect that point of view to
the hopes and dreams of constituents. quo, and to point us in new directions
Inspiring. People expect their leaders depends upon being highly credible.
Because these findings about the
to be enthusiastic, energetic, and posi-
Credibility
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characteristics of admired leaders are
so pervasive and consistent, we created as our First Law of Leadership: If you
don’t believe in the messenger, you
won’t believe the message.
What Is Credibility Behaviorally?
Credibility is the basis of leadership.
But what is credibility behaviorally?
How do you know it when you see it?
Here are six common phrases people
use to describe how they know credibility when they see it: “They practice
what they preach.” “They walk the
talk.” “Their actions are consistent with
their words.” “They put their money
where their mouth is.” “They follow
through on their promises.” “They do
what they say they will do.”
When people decide whether a
leader is believable, they
first listen to the words,
then they watch the
actions. They listen to the
talk, and then they watch
the walk. They listen to
the promises of resources
to support change initiatives, and then they wait
to see if the money and
materials follow. They
hear the pledge to deliver,
and then they look for evidence that
the commitments are met. A judgment
of “credible” is handed down when
words and deeds are consonant.
This realization leads to a prescription for leaders on how to build credibility. This is our Second Law of Leadership: Do what you say you will do.
This definition of credibility corresponds with the two actions every
leader must take to build and sustain
personal credibility. To be credible in
action, leaders must first be clear about
their beliefs; they must know what
they stand for. That’s the “say” part.
Then they must put what they say into
practice: they must act on their beliefs
and “do.” This consistent living out of
values is a behavioral way of demonstrating honesty and trustworthiness.
Credibility makes a difference in the
attitudes and actions of employees,
customers, and other vital business
partners. Leaders must take it personally. Loyalty, commitment, energy and
productivity depend on it.
LE
James M. Kouzes is the Dean’s Executive Professor of
Leadership, and Barry Z. Posner is the Dean, Leavey School of
Business, Santa Clara University. This article is adapted from
their book The Leadership Challenge, 4th edition (Jossey-Bass)
and used with permission. Email Jim at jim@kouzesposner.com
and Barry at bposner@scu.edu.
ACTION: Learn ways to behave credibility.
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15
ETHICS
MORALITY
ethical codes and compliance structures are viewed as window dressing—public relations gestures or
formalities to satisfy federal guidelines.
Efforts to institutionalize ethics can
succeed only if they are integral to the
I n s p i r e e t h i c a l b e h a v i o r.
culture and taken seriously by leaders. A
commitment to moral leadership
requires the integration of ethical confinancial payoffs are obvious: employ- cerns into all activities. That means facby Deborah L. Rhode
ee satisfaction improves customer sat- toring moral considerations into
day-to-day functions, including planisfaction and retention; enhances
ning, resource allocations, hiring, promoIVEN THE CENTRALI- workplace trust, cooperation, and
innovation; and saves substantial costs tion, compensation, performance
TY of ethics to the
practice of leadership, it resulting from misconduct and surveil- evaluations, auditing, communications,
public relations, and philanthropy.
lance designed to prevent it.
is striking how little research has
Responsibilities to stakeholders need to
People perform better when they
focused on key questions: How do
figure in strategic decision-making, and
believe that their workplace is treating
leaders form, sustain, and transmit
assessments of performance need to
moral commitments? Under what con- them with dignity and respect and
reflect values in addition to profits.
ensuring basic rights and equitable
ditions are those processes most effecreward structures. Workers also
tive? What is the impact of ethics
respond to cues from peers and leaders. E t h i c a l C o m m i t m e n t
officers, codes, training programs, and
Virtue begets virtue, and observing
similar initiatives? How do practices
The leader’s own ethical commitment
moral behavior by others promotes
vary across context and culture? What
is critical in several respects. First, leadsimilar conduct. Employers
can we do to foster moral leadership?
ers set a moral tone and a
reap the rewards in higher
One difficulty plaguing analysis of
moral example by their
morale, recruitment, and
moral leadership is the lack of consenown behavior. Employees
retention. Employee loyalty
sus on what exactly it means. Leadertake cues about appropriate
ship requires a relationship, not simply and morale are higher in
behavior from their leaders.
a title; leaders must inspire, not simply businesses that are involved
Whether workers believe
in their communities, and
compel or direct their followers.
that leaders care about
corporate giving correlates
Leadership is inescapably valueprinciples as much as profladen. All leadership has moral dimen- with public image and
its influences their conduct.
financial performance.
sions. The essence of effective
Consistency between
A reputation for ethical
leadership is ethical leadership, which
words and actions is
requires morality in means, as well as conduct by leaders and
important in conveying a
ends. Whether such leadership is cost- organizations also has financial value.
moral message. Decisions that mesh
effective in the short term, is uncertain. Such a reputation can attract customers, poorly with professed values send a
employees, and investors, and build
“Ethics pays” is the mantra of most
powerful signal. No mission statement
relationships with government regula- can counter the impact of seeing leaders
leadership literature. But when and
how much depends on various factors. tors. Most individuals believe that com- withhold crucial information, play
panies should set high ethical standards favorites with promotion, stifle dissent,
E t h i c a l C u l t u r e a n d F i n a n c i a l Va l u e
and contribute to social goals.
implement corrosive reward structures,
or pursue their own self-interest.
Most studies that attempt to assess
Foundations of Ethical Leadership
One overlooked opportunity for
the value of values find positive relamoral leadership is for those in top positionships between ethical behaviors
Moral leadership involves ethical
and financial results. For example,
conduct on the part of leaders, as well tions to keep their own compensation
companies with stated commitments
as the capacity to inspire such conduct within reasonable bounds. Another is to
to ethical behavior have a higher mean in followers and create ethical cultures. create more safe spaces for reports of
misconduct and moral disagreements.
financial performance. Employees
Most organizations have ethical
Doing so prevents the far greater costs
who view their organization as supcodes and compliance programs. In
porting fair and ethical conduct and its principle, their rationale is clear. Codes of external whistle-blowing.
Not only do we need more rewards
leadership as caring about ethical
of conduct can clarify rules and expecissues observe less unethical behavior tations, establish standards, and project for leadership that is ethically and
socially responsible, but we also need
and perform better; they are more
a responsible public image. If widely
fewer rewards for leadership that is not.
willing to share information and
accepted and enforced, codified rules
knowledge and to go the extra mile in can also reinforce ethical commitments, We need to alter compensation structures that unduly favor short-term profmeeting job requirements.
deter ethical misconduct, promote
it maximization, and define success to
Employees also show more concern trust, reduce the risks of liability, and
include ethical and social responsibility
for the customer when employers
prevent free riders (those who benefit
show more concern for them. Workers from others’ adherence to moral norms as well as financial profitability.
LE
who feel justly treated respond in
without observing them personally).
Deborah L. Rhode is the Ernest W. McFarland Professor of Law
kind; they are less likely to engage in
In practice, however, the value of
and director of the Stanford Center on Ethics. This article is
adapted from her book Moral Leadership (Jossey-Bass) and used
petty dishonesty such as pilfering,
codes is subject to debate. Skeptics
fudging on hours and expenses, or
often fault current documents as either with permission. Email rhode@stanford.edu.
misusing business opportunities. The too vague or too specific. Also, isolated ACTION: Engage in moral leadership.
Moral Leadership
G
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L e a d e r s h i p
E x c e l l e n c e
LEADERSHIP
INFLUENCE
Lead from the Middle
Influence up, down, and across.
know that people want to learn, grow,
develop their knowledge, and understand the organization. You also know
that sharing information makes them
HE REAL CHALLENGE
more engaged and helps spark innovaof leading people
tion. Beyond promoting the corporate
falls to middle manuniversity and encouraging individual
agers. Today, it’s the leaders in the
self-development, take the team on a
middle who must communicate and
new learning journey—one that gives
execute strategy, solve problems, crethem insight into how their work
ate efficiencies, and manage perforimpacts the rest of the organization.
mance. This is where the leadership
At your next team meeting, invite a
rubber meets the road, providing the
leader from another department to share
link between the CEO’s vision and
execution. Fortunately, most lessons of their groups’ structure, goals, and challenges. Leave time for Q&A, and ensure
leadership provide a blueprint for
you. You’ve learned to clarify expecta- the leader outlines how your department can help make them more successtions, empower employees, and proful. Create a “shadow program” with
vide feedback; however, to broaden
another department, assigning employyour influence and impact, you need
ees to spend a day with a peer learning
to adopt four macro practices:
about that team’s work (perhaps this can
1. Do your homework. If you’ve
come up through the ranks, you know
about your team and how it impacts
the company. You know your group’s
purpose and key metrics. But do you
know much about other departments?
If you’re in Finance, do you know what
happens in Operations or IT, and how
these groups contribute to the company’s success? As a leader, you need to
see how the pieces fit together so that
you can identify opportunities for
process improvement, innovation, and
be a rewards-based program for top perrevenue growth. And, you need to
formers). Take advantage of internal cusensure that your department is parttomer immersion programs, so your
nering effectively with other areas.
team knows what it’s like to interact
How can you best learn about other
with customers. Invite key employees to
groups? Attend other departments’
observe your cross-functional meetings
communication sessions. Read their
to see how you interact with your peers.
postings on the intranet site. Sign up
for an executive speaker event where Engage the team in brainstorming key
service metrics, and assemble a balanced
the group’s leader is presenting. Ask
your manager for other departments’ scorecard of how well they’re partnering
with other departments. You can show
annual strategy presentation or
progress reports. Or find a peer in that your team how they fit into the larger
picture in many ways. Structure what
department and set up a few “crosswill work best for your group. Your
education” sessions. Invite a peer to
lunch and explain your goal of learn- goal is to get your people looking left
ing more about his or her department; and right—building a commitment to
most fellow managers will share their greater partnerships. When employees
group’s goals. In short, network later- better understand how their work
makes a difference, they’ll raise their
ally with a purpose. You’re not just
game and create a stronger company.
establishing relationships and influencing other departments, you’re
3. Make a vertical connection. Also
building insight into how the compa- connect the team by creating a strong
ny works to gain a holistic view!
vertical link to your department’s purpose and goals. As a leader, you are
2. Expand the team’s horizontal
responsible for communicating the
view. From your vantage point, you
by Steve Arneson
T
L e a d e r s h i p
E x c e l l e n c e
department’s mission and objectives,
and connecting those with the company’s strategy. Aligning the team vertically takes discipline and perseverance.
Information needs to be communicated many times in multiple ways to
be fully absorbed. You’ll need to overcommunicate in creative ways to keep
your team connected to the mission.
Hold regular update meetings with the
team to share the strategy, and brief the
team on the latest metrics or results.
Invite senior leaders to your team meetings to talk about the department’s
goals, and encourage employees to ask
questions. Assign employees to make
presentations to their colleagues about
their group’s goals and progress. Use
your intranet portal to post the strategy,
goals and objectives, and update them.
Quiz direct reports regularly about the
key components of the mission and
strategy. Establish “skip-level” meetings
for your people to have conversations
with your manager about the strategy.
Invite the CEO to your meetings to
share how the company is performing.
Keep the mission, goals and strategy top of mind for your team. Ensure
that your employees know why
they’re coming to work each day, and
how their work is helping to achieve
department and company goals.
4. Represent your best talent. Beyond
connecting the team to the mission
(upward alignment) and exposing the
team to other departments (lateral
learning), you must focus down, on
the team (serving others). You already
know several best practices for motivating and inspiring the troops, and
you’re likely good at coaching and
developing your best players. Now let
your top performers shine on their
own to influence how the rest of the
organization views your top talent.
Take your best people to meetings
with your managers or senior leaders,
and let them make the presentations.
Send them to cross-functional meetings. Make sure they’re getting exposure to other leaders by pairing them
with mentors. Represent them at talent
review meetings or in conversations
with the CEO. Let them lead key portions of your meetings with the full
team, or lead committees. Recommend
them for new assignments. Be known
as a net exporter of talent.
By excelling at the four practices, you
maximize your leadership impact.
LE
Steve Arneson is President of Arneson Leadership Consulting,
specializing in leadership development and talent management.
Call 571-334-9605, email: steve@arnesonleadership.com or
visit www.arnesonleadership.com.
ACTION: Excel at these four practices.
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17
LEADERSHIP
DEVELOPMENT
each leader’s needs and differences to
be addressed. Inspired by their positive
experiences with mentors, the leaders
become intentional mentors themselves. They selectively pick a few
What separates great leaders?
highly talented individuals and invest
greatly in their growth and development over time. They see the success of
They
clarify
how
their
own
values—
these mentees as a reflection of their
by Barry Conchie
particularly a concern for people—
own success. These leaders practice a
relate to their work. They also
form of succession planning that cultiHO WANTS TO FOL- communicate a sense of personal
vates the next generation of leaders.
integrity and a commitment to act
low someone
5. Building a constituency: Are leadwho is going nowhere? based on their values. As a result,
ers expected to grow networks beyond
employees know where they stand
Or someone who’s unreliable or untheir immediate work relationships?
with these leaders. Their values—con- Does the organization promote the
trustworthy? Organizations wrestle
with these questions and others as they sistent and unchanging—operate like a growth of networks by measuring their
confront the elusive challenge of defin- buoy anchored in the ocean, holding
business impact? Leaders create raping and developing effective leadership. firm against the elements while indiport at many levels across their organiMost people are certain that leader- cating the way.
zation and beyond. They know the
ship is about direction, about giving
benefits of building a wide constituency.
3. Challenging experience: How
people a sense of purpose that inspires much latitude are leaders afforded in
One leader said, “My work forces me
and motivates them to commit and
decision making? Are leaders given
to have a relationship with certain peoachieve. Leadership is also about a
major responsibilities with wide-rang- ple. I just think about those I don’t yet
relationship between people—leaders ing delegation? By galvanizing people work with and figure out who might
and followers—that is built on firm
with a clear vision and strong values,
be useful to know. I find that relationground; enduring values build trust.
the leaders challenge their teams to
ships built this way bring dividends.”
What’s the best way to develop tal- achieve goals. Most leaders have had
These leaders understand networks
ented leaders to achieve sustained
significant challenging experiences at
and the importance of networking.
high performance? Having studied
6. Making sense of experience: Are
leadership talent for more than 40
leaders able to meet with peers to
years, Gallup set out to discover the
share understanding and learning of
demands that leaders must meet to
new issues? Is there a clear leadership
succeed—and to uncover the developfocus on “lean” communication? In all
mental framework that would
their relationships, effective leaders
enhance leadership performance.
enlighten others by making sense of
experience. They also learn from their
Shaping Leadership Development
mistakes and successes, and—as they
seek a range of experts—they ask quesOur research confirms the importions and listen. These leaders deal
tance of seven demands essential to
with complexity and help others make
the development of all great leaders:
sense of it by keeping things simple
1. Visioning: Who contributes to,
controls, or communicates the big pic- key points in their careers while having and making information accessible.
They help people understand what’s
ture? Are leaders encouraged to paint the freedom to determine how they
pictures of the future? When do lead- would achieve outcomes. Confronting going on so they can achieve success.
ers talk about and shape the future?
challenges accelerates their learning
7. Knowing self: Is every leader clear
It’s no surprise that visioning is one
curve, stretches their capacity for high about his or her strengths and weakperformance, and broadens their hori- nesses? Effective leaders have an acute
demand. Great leaders have a talent
zons about what is possible.
sense of their own strengths and weakfor seeing and creating the future.
nesses. They know who they are—and
They use highly visual language that
4. Mentoring: Is mentoring valued?
paints pictures of the future for those Are leaders expected to accelerate
who they are not. They don’t try to be
they lead. They seem to attain bigger
highly talented people to their optiall things to all people. Their personaligoals because they create a collective
mum levels of performance? Great
ties and behaviors are indistinguishable
mindset that propels people to help
leaders aren’t just hard-charging and
between work and home. They are genthem make their vision a reality.
highly driven. They understand the
uine. It is this absence of pretense that
helps them connect to others so well.
2. Maximizing values: How do cor- importance of personal relationships.
Indeed, the leaders we studied consisFor leadership potential to be conporate values align with individual
tently had a close relationship either
verted into sustained, high organizavalues? Are leaders encouraged to
with their manager or someone in the
tional performance, the development
lead with their values? Are leaders
best position to advise them. This is
experiences for talented high potentials
asked to describe the values that are
must be framed around the seven key
important to them? These leaders also often someone who serves as their
recognize that through visioning, they mentor. These mentoring relationships demands of leadership.
LE
showcase their values and core beliefs. are not the product of formal compaBarry Conchie is Principal Leadership Consultant with Gallup.
ny-wide mentoring programs—not
By highlighting what is important
This piece originally appeared in the Gallup Management
Journal (gmj.gallup.com) and is reprinted with permission.
that these aren’t helpful. These inforabout work, great leaders make clear
mal mentoring relationships enable
what is important to them in life.
ACTION: Grow you leadership capacity.
Seven Demands
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L e a d e r s h i p
E x c e l l e n c e
LEADERSHIP
FOLLOWERS
when the Great Man’s actions go awry
is increasingly regarded as unacceptGreat leaders need great followThe Art of Followership able.
ers who can amplify their strengths
Great followers create great leaders. but also correct or modulate their
inevitable human flaws.
The importance of dynamic followership
applies to the full leadership
by Warren Bennis
spectrum—from brilliant leaders who
need fabulous support and execution,
N MANY WAYS, GREAT
to decent leaders who draw on the talfollowership is hard- ents of their followers, to weak leaders
er than leadership. It
who urgently need the strength of
has more dangers and fewer rewards, their followers to accomplish imporand it must routinely be exercised
tant missions, to toxic leaders who
with much more subtlety. But great
need to be disempowered by moral
followership has never been more
followers. Conscience-based followerimportant. Yes, we must continue to
ship could make a huge difference in
decipher between toxic or bad leaders defeating terrorist groups to defusing
and forward-thinking and strong
the power of schoolyard bullies.
leaders; yet studies of an often forgotThe relationship between dynamic
ten group—followers—has
leaders and followers is a
largely been ignored.
highway to success. Less
Our culture honors leadthan dynamic performance
ers, but what about good folby either party to the relalowers? What role have
tionship leads to mediocrity
engaged followers played
or worse. There is some
beyond the view of outsiders
truth in the belief that great
that have helped highly sucleaders inspire followers. It
cessful CEOs make the right
is no less true that mediocre
calls at the right time? How
or poor leaders demoralize
can followers contribute to
followers. But followers’
effective leadership? The leader-folcommitment and actions are not neceslower dynamic is complex, as follow- sarily dependent on the leader.
ers often play multiple roles in their
Dedication to the organization or misrelationship to leaders. Positive folsion and self-empowerment are equallowers often help set the standards
ly powerful. With these qualities,
and formulate the culture and policies followers can make the organization
of the group.
run well and the leader look great.
The topic of followership is popMany organizations today are trainping up everywhere. The new concern ing people how to be great followers.
with followership stems largely from
For example, Brent Uken, of Ernst &
the recent tsunami of leaders going
Young, has a clear strategy to introduce
wrong. This happens when leaders
dynamic followership so it can take
ignore the feedback they get from fol- hold in the culture. Microsoft identifies
lowers or when followers fail to give
one critical employee skill as “comfort
the feedback leaders need. From
around authority” and has a curricuEnron, to 911, to the Catholic Church
lum to help employees engage leaders
pedophile scandals, to the non-existent with candor and intellectual vigor.
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq,
Most organizations require a degree
followers didn’t grab the attention of
of hierarchy, even if they have rich netleaders in time to avoid disaster.
works. In hierarchies, “leader” and
Clearly, we need to remedy this.
“follower” are roles, not personality
The topic of followership is too
types. Each role must be played well.
often subsumed under the umbrella of The same individual usually plays
leadership. Why? American culture, in both roles at different times or in differparticular, with roots in our national
ent contexts. You spend millions to
myth of rugged individualism, has
improve your leadership. Why not also
had a long love affair with the “Great train for exemplary followership?
LE
Man” concept of leadership. Scholars
have chipped away at this with more Warren Bennis is a Distinguished Professor at the USC and
author of Leaders and On Becoming A Leader. This article is
sophisticated models of what really
adapted from his introduction to The Art of Followership
(JosseyBass/Wiley)
edited by Ronald E. Riggio, Ira Chaleff, and
makes leadership work. Still, business
Lipman-Blumen and part of the Warren Bennis Leadership
and political cultures cling tenaciously Jean
Series. Call 1-800-225-5945. mmeneses@wiley.com.
to the “Great Man” theory. Now, the
price organizations and countries pay ACTION: Develop great followership.
I
L e a d e r s h i p
E x c e l l e n c e
PEOPLE
DIVERSITY
CEOs Who Get It
They all commit to diversity.
by Mary-Frances Winters
C
EOS AND CHIEF
diversity officers
(CDOs) wrestle with
myriad issues every day. Ted Childs,
CDO for IBM, recently said that
CDOs are really Global Secretaries of
State. As such, their work touches on
just about every aspect of the business. Today’s issues are complex, and
there are often many opinions about
the solutions.
I provide perspectives to help you
break through to the next level in
your diversity and inclusion efforts.
What Do the Best CEOs Get?
In our study, we interviewed 20
top CEOs. These leaders amass almost
$1 trillion in revenue and employ
more than 3 million people. They are
some of the most powerful people in
the world, shaping our future with
breakthrough technologies, innovative
retailng strategies and state-of-the-art
investment models. They lead global
American businesses: Procter &
Gamble, Eastman Kodak, Major League
Baseball, Wal-Mart, Sears, Time
Warner. Surprisingly, many have been
in their positions less than five years
and yet are hailed by industry analysts
as superior leaders who make a difference in their spheres of influence.
These 20 titans of industry told us
their stories with candor and passion.
Every diversity professional knows
that leadership commitment is vital
for diversity to succeed. But what is
not clear is what commitment looks
like. Without exception, each of these
20 leaders recognizes diversity as a
key driver of business success, and
they have intentionally evolved into
outstanding stewards of diversity.
Ten Things to Get
The purpose for this project was
to address concerns among diversity
practitioners who cry: “My leaders
don’t get it.” This is what our 20
CEOs “get”:
1. Leaders are stewards of diversity. The “stewardship” principle
describes how these CEOs lead.
Stewards take care of something or
someone. They do not delegate, rele-
w w w. L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m
19
gate, or abdicate their stewardship
role, deeming it an honor to be of service. Operating at a higher level than
accountability, stewardship is an
expression of humility, compassion,
and appreciation.
2. Diversity is not separate from
the business. Diversity is integral to
the business and is mainstreamed
throughout policies and practices. Ed
Zander, CEO of Motorola, put it best:
“Business and diversity are one in
the same. Business means diversity,
and diversity means business.” At
every meeting, he addresses three
topics: ethics, quality, and diversity.
3. Diversity is a significant driver
of business success. For some, optimizing and leveraging diversity among
employees and customers is the key
driver. Take AG Lafley who is using
diversity to drive innovation at
Proctor & Gamble.
4. To really “get it,” you must
have diversity immersion experiences.
And then use the power of your own
personal understanding as teaching
and learning tools.
5. Diversity principles are hard
to grasp—and practices are even
harder to do.
6. You have to work at diversity
everyday. It takes a lifetime to master.
7. Leaders have to be on the front
lines daily. They become champions,
internally and externally, for diversity.
8. The principles of diversity must
be affirmed and reaffirmed regularly.
Since everybody learns in myriad
ways and at a different pace, you
need to affirm these principles in different forms and venues. Tim Solso of
Cummins says that he talks about
diversity constantly, almost until he is
tired of hearing himself talk about it.
9. Leaders, at all levels, must “get
it.” And if they don’t, they must be
removed from leadership.
10. They acknowledge that they
don’t know what they don’t know.
And they seek help from up, down or
sideways, or secure outside help.
Several of the leaders have retained
external advisory councils, while others rely on friends and mentoring or
coaching relationships to advance
their knowledge.
The CEOs who get it lead global
enterprises while offering their
essence as prodigious stewards of
diversity.
LE
Mary-Frances Winters is CEO of The Winters Group. This
article is adapted from her Chief Diversity Officers Briefing.
Visit www.diversitybestpractices.com/ceos.
ACTION: Become a steward of diversity.
20
COMPETENCY
COMMUNICATION
enforce and ignore, by the behavior
you reward and penalize, and by the
quality of the products and services
you advertise and actually deliver.
5. Be Credible. Consider the look,
Your most important asset.
language, likeability factor, character,
and competence. People often judge
your credibility by your appearance
by Dianna Booher
(dress, grooming, movement, gestures,
facial expression, posture, walk). When
OOR COMMUNICATION! you speak, they judge your ability to
think on your feet and express yourself.
We hear this comPeople tend to trust people they like.
plaint often. The problem? Information is not communication.
6. Be Concerned. Concern connects
Posting announcements, holding telepeople. In whatever situation—from
conferences, or scheduling meetings is product recall to layoffs to employee
not substantive communication. These
illness to accident victims to stressed
10 strategies will help you deliver a
colleagues—there’s great power in
message that informs and encourages
communicating your concern. When
others while gaining buy-in:
logic causes a lapse in the relationship,
emotion closes the gap.
1. Be Correct. Tell it like it is. From
the C-suite to the mailroom, truth7. Be Connected. Leaders who show
telling is key to productivity. If you
they care about people as individumissed your numbers, say so. If you
als—not as employees, suppliers, or
made a mistake, admit it. Be known as customers—make a connection. Those
a person who speaks the truth. There
who don’t fail to communicate, and
are easy answers. And then there are
lose employees and customers.
truthful, more difficult answers. Your
8. Be Current. Speed is the new meapower as a communicator often desure of quality. No one wants to wait
pends on your choice between the two. days to hear the latest big news. Speed
is essential in bringing scat2. Be Complete. Don’t
tered work groups up-toget so busy analyzing, solvdate on new projects,
ing problems, questioning,
diffusing rumors, and
coordinating, deciding, and
maintaining morale.
delegating that you fail to
communicate what’s going
9. Be Competent. Ensure
on to those on the sidelines.
your communication
To make good decisions
demonstrates competence.
and take appropriate
People hear what you say
action, people need comor see what you write about
plete information. Great
your work. Often they
leaders give people the
judge your competence by
why’s, what’s, and how’s.
what you communicate—your reputation with customers or colleagues
3. Be Clear. Be specific. Separate
often rests on a single interaction.
facts from opinions. Verify assumptions. Vague generalities create confu10. Be Circular. Ask, “Who else needs
sion. Speak and write in simple, plain to know?” when there’s a change of
language. Muddling information cre- plans or when new ideas surface. Pubates a sense of phoniness, insincerity,
licizing your point, encouraging feedor intimidation. Purposeful evasion— back, facilitating conversations across
where harmony is valued above hon- functions are just a few ways to be ciresty—destroys trust, erodes morale,
cular in your communication.
and lowers productivity. In such culCommunication is the most critical
tures, everyone gets along, goes along component of great customer service,
the biggest challenge leaders experi—and sinks together. Face-saving is a
ence in times of change and upheaval,
poor substitute for problem solving.
the most frequent reason top talent
4. Be Consistent. A manager hears,
joins a new team, and the most fre“The company is not doing well.
Freeze wages.” Then she sees construc- quent complaint employees cite as
their reason for leaving.
tion crews remodeling the executive
How well you communicate dicdining room. Customers, colleagues,
and employees experience disenchant- tates how well you do as a leader. LE
ment when they see inconsistencies in
Dianna Booher is author of The Voice of Authority (McGrawthe workplace. You can’t not communi- Hill). She is CEO of Booher Consultants, a communications
cate—by words, action, or silence. You training firm. Visit www.booher.com or call 800-342-6621.
communicate by the policies you
ACTION: Apply these 10 strategies.
Communication
w w w. L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m
P
L e a d e r s h i p
E x c e l l e n c e
LEADERSHIP
WOMEN
power of mental mastery, or having
power and choice over your thoughts
and emotions. You won’t become a
real leader by digging through the flotsam and jetsam of your mind. You
Here’s help for harried women leaders.
can’t think your way to authenticity
and creativity. Mastering your mind
means that you choose what you place
Take Four Ti p s
your attention on. It means deciding
by Dede Henley
when and where your attention goes,
Here are four tips:
in spite of the demanding and arbi1. Do not pack your bags and join
trary commands of your mind.
the national guilt trip. Carol Evans,
HAT IS IT COSTING
CEO of Working Mother magazine says, Meditation helps you to regain choice
high-achieving
women to get to and
“The National Guilt Trip is what hap- about which thoughts you follow, and
makes you aware of how often your
stay on the top? We hear of women
pens when you take 24 million workwalking away from high-powered
ing mothers and put them into offices thoughts cause tension in the body
positions to go home to their families. and communities that cling to the con- and limit free flow of the breath. The
Consider Karen Hughes, counselor to cept that men should work and moms mind is a great ally when used with
George W. Bush. In the midst of a cam- should stay home.” This cultural con- focus, but many of us let it go wherever it will. To access your intuition, the
paign, she left the White House and
tradiction plagues us. We want to
moved back to her family in Texas.
work; in some cases we need to work; voice of your truest self, you must
What is over-extension costing us? and many of us love to work. And we develop practices to quiet the mind.
Often the answer is our health, peace love our families. We women become
4. Set clear boundaries. Boundaries
of mind, and even the privilege of
paralyzed by this contradiction.
are made by your choices about what
contributing to our children’s lives.
Abandon the guilt trip. Focus on
works for you and what won’t work.
I’m stunned at the low level of self- what you do at home and work that
Clarifying boundaries begins by knowcare, the extreme self-doubt, guilt, and seems to be working, instead of focus- ing yourself and then communicating
lack of self-confidence that plagues
ing on what you do that doesn’t seem to others what is and isn’t acceptable to
many successful women leaders. In
to be working so well. Remind youryou, given your needs and values. The
my coaching, I meet women who are
early challenge consists in identifying
out of balance and overwhelmed due
what isn’t working for you in your life.
to demanding work and home schedOtherwise, how will you know what
ules. They race from project to project,
you want and don’t want? Pay attendeadline to deadline, never arriving at
tion to your feelings. When you’re
a place where they can breathe a sigh
angry, upset, or frustrated, something is
of completion. Their e-mail inbox
not working for you. A line has been
multiplies by the second, while a
crossed. A need has been ignored. The
steady stream of voicemail collects on
next time you get angry, identify what
their office and cell phone lines.
set you off. Was it something someone
All of this activity means that their
said to you or about you? Was it an
minds are on overload. Even in spare
unmet need or expectation, a broken
moments, they can’t rest. Anxiety and self that you are a good mom, leader,
promise? Record your findings. It may
fear become constant companions.
friend, sister, mentor, and ally.
help to ask, “What do I want most
And the collateral damage is not
2. Learn to be ‘selfish.’ Now, the last now?” Then ask for it. You may need a
just to themselves. Last year, we facili- thing most women would want to be
more flexible work schedule while
tated a workshop for 24 women exec- called is selfish. In fact, we often say yes your children are young and have
utives at a major corporation. One
many activities during the day. You
when we mean no, and do things we
woman, Kate, shared her story. She is resent, to avoid appearing selfish.
may need to work with the school sysa mid-thirties, senior manager, martem to create a new schedule. You may
Being everywhere at once, ready to
ried with a two-year-old daughter.
need to ask for more help at home with
answer needs, defend our brood, or
Kate goes to work at 6:30 a.m. and
soothe conflicts at a moment’s notice is cooking and cleaning. You may need
returns home at 8 p.m. She rarely sees the gift of the feminine—the fierce and time alone, to rest, rejuvenate, read,
her daughter. She told us tearfully
and reflect. Ask for it. Set clear boundpowerful mother archetype—and we
that at night, she sits by her daughare masters at it. Yet just because we’re aries and be powerful in demanding
ter’s bed and holds her hand. This
good at it, doesn’t mean we should do that your boundaries be honored.
story broke my heart. Is this the prize it until we drop! It may be time to conUnraveling overwhelm must
for our dedication to leadership? Must sider how to give to ourselves. Caring become a daily practice for women
we give up one to have the other?
leaders. When we are calm, clear and
for yourself is not selfish. It’s critical.
I don’t believe it’s an either-or choice. You must get serious about self-care if grounded, we are much better posiI know that many women, like Kate,
tioned to make the kind of choices and
you intend to expand your best offerbelieve they must put in long hours,
ing to the world. You can’t think clear- take the kind of actions that will make
“face time,” to maintain credibility and ly, make solid decisions, or stay in
a difference for us all.
LE
to be viewed as strong team players.
touch with the power of your convicDede Henley is CEO of The Dede Henley Group, a leadership
How can women stem this tide?
tions if you’re worn out and exhausted. development company and author of The Secret of Sovereignty.
Visit www.Dedehenley.com, or email dede@dedehenley.com.
How can we reclaim what is most
3. Quiet your mind. The more I
important to us?
work with leaders, the more I see the
ACTION: Reclaim what is important to you.
Unraveling Overwhelm
W
L e a d e r s h i p
E x c e l l e n c e
w w w. L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m
21
CHANGE
FOUNDATION
A Life of Change
Be Good at Change
Find your change quotient!
by Ariane de Bonvoisin
E
ACH YEAR IN THE
U.S., 55 million
people will lose their
jobs, 45 million will go on a diet, and
two million will get divorced. These
are all life changes.
Change surrounds us on a grand
scale, but also in unique personal ways
with our families, friends, careers,
finances, health, and spiritual outlook.
Change is omnipresent and indiscriminating. All human beings,
regardless of their age, economic
standing, religious affiliation, or educational background are either secretly
hoping to make a change, facing an
unexpected change, or helping someone else through a change. Think of
all of the changes you may have been
through: divorce, illness, losing a
loved one, becoming a parent, moving, changing jobs, graduating, and so
on. The core of your being is wrapped
up in change.
Since change is the only thing you
can expect, getting good at it should
be the number-one life skill to cultivate! The Dalai Lama said that it is
essential for kids to learn how to navigate change. But for those who missed
out on a change education—that’s
most of the population—the learning
has just begun. When asked how they
feel about change, most people will
say that they hate going through it.
They will say that change is hard and
that they feel alone when going
through transitions. Most people find
that change makes them feel confused
and overwhelmed.
Our initial reaction to change is
negative because we haven’t learned
the best way to initiate it or to handle
the unexpected changes that can
turn our lives upside down. The world
hates change, yet it is the only thing that
has brought about progress, wrote
Charles Kettering.
While we can’t avoid change, we
can become better at navigating transitions. People who are good at
change (change optimists) know that
their beliefs, feelings, thoughts, and
actions directly affect how easy or
hard a change can be.
22
I learned about change while
building First30Days, a company
dedicated to helping people through
change, and through my own life
experience. I grew up in six countries
speaking four languages. I balanced
different cultures, religions, foods, and
schools. I’ve had seven jobs in many
industries—from high-powered corporate positions in NYC to volunteer
work in the non-profit sector in Africa.
I’ve been in dozens of relationships.
I’ve been fat and thin, happy and sad.
I’ve had lots of money
and no money. The
changes kept coming—
change is inevitable.
Everyone is going
through his or her own
version of change; some
are better at handling it
than others. Whether trying to lose weight, find a
job, deal with the loss of a
loved one, quit smoking,
or end an unhealthy relationship, change optimists have a
unique outlook on life and the transitions it produces.
Questions and Principles
To understand how change affects
you, answer these questions: Are you
good at change? Would someone who
knows you well say so? Are you better
at making or facing changes? What’s
the best change you’ve made? What is
the hardest change you’ve faced?
What change do you want to make?
Why hasn’t it happened yet? What’s in
the way? How much change are you
now experiencing in your life? On a
scale of 1 to 10, how willing are you to
welcome change into your life?
Now that you understand how
change is part of you and where you
are on the change scale, you can apply
nine basic principles. To get through
tough transitions, change optimists:
1. Have positive beliefs. They are
optimistic, believe that life is on their
side, and reach for good thoughts. They
believe that they can initiate and follow through with changes in their own
lives. Change is good and possible.
2. Believe that change always brings
something positive into their lives.
When faced with change, they know
the change guarantee: “From this situation, something good will come.”
3. Activate their change muscle,
making them resilient. We all have this
muscle; we are smarter, more intuitive,
and more resilient than we’ve been
w w w. L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m
told. Our change muscle is strengthened each time we go through a
change. Draft a change resume listing
all of the changes—good and bad—
that you’ve experienced. You’ll be
amazed at how much change you’ve
already navigated.
4. Refuse to allow change demons—
challenging emotions that arise during
change—to stop their forward momentum. Fear, doubt, impatience, blame,
guilt and shame are the main demons
that come up during change, but change
optimists don’t allow these emotions to
slow their progress, choosing instead
to focus on faith, surrender,
honor, forgiveness, and
other positive emotions.
5. Understand that they
will experience less pain
and hardship if they accept
the reality of their situation. Resisting change is
not the answer. Change
optimists let go of the idea
of how life should be and
accept where they are now.
Acceptance gives you
relief and allows you to move forward.
6. Control what they say, think, and
feel while going through change. They
understand that empowering questions like “How might this change be
good for me?” and positive thoughts
and language (instead of why-me victim vocabulary) helps them move
through change.
7. Look within. Change optimists
know that part of them never changes.
It is calm, centered, and knows what to
do. This place can be accessed through
silence, meditation, talking a walk,
spending time in nature, or through
religious practice. During change, you
need to reconnect with this part of yourself, to wake up, to be more conscious.
8. Turn to a change support team.
They know they are never alone—
there is always someone who can help.
Moving through change is easier when
you seek the help and support of others.
9. Take action. People who are good
at change don’t remain stagnant. They
take care of themselves physically, they
make decisions, and they have a plan.
When you look at these nine principles, which ones challenge you? Which
do you need to work on to become the
type of person who can handle
change—who is open to the unexpected and eager take on changes that
need to be made?
LE
Ariane de Bonvoisin is the founder of first30days.com, a website that helps people transition through dozens of changes, and
author of The First 30 Days. Visit www.first30days.com.
ACTION: Navigate your life transitions.
L e a d e r s h i p
E x c e l l e n c e
LEADERSHIP
DEVELOPMENT
Be a Better Leader
Yo u d o n ’ t n e e d t o c h a n g e j o b s .
by Cynthia McCauley challenge framework identifies several
experience influencing without authority by creating a networking group.
• Seek temporary assignments—tasks
or responsibilities bound by time, such
as a project, task force, one-time event,
or short-term activity. For example, to
add scope-and-scale challenge to your
job, you could take on a colleague’s
responsibilities while he’s out for leave
or join a team managing a project. Or
you could hone your coaching skills
by shifting some responsibilities off
your plate: delegate one of your
responsibilities to a direct report and
help that person master the new task.
• Go outside the workplace. You
might take on leadership responsibilities outside of your employment—in
community, non-profit, religious,
social, professional organizations, and
families. These settings often have the
same challenges. For example, to experience the challenge of working across
cultures, you could host a student from
a different country or volunteer on a
service project in a foreign country.
key challenges—features of assignments that stimulate learning:
• Unfamiliar responsibilities—handling
OU MAY BE GREAT AT
your job and even responsibilities that are new or different
enjoy it. But is your job from previous ones you’ve handled
• New directions—starting somehelping you develop as a leader? If
not, you might need a change, but not thing new or making strategic changes
• Inherited problems—fixing probnecessarily a new job. In looking for
new challenges, you may think first of lems created by someone else or existing before you accepted the assignment
a new job—one that gives you more
• Employee issues—dealing with
responsibility and authority. But a
people who lack adequate experience,
major job shift may not be possible,
are incompetent, or resistant to change
practical, or attractive to you now.
• High stakes—managing work with
The good news is that it is possible
tight deadlines, pressure, visibility, and
to shape your current job and nonresponsibility for critical decisions
work pursuits to grow as a leader.
• Scope and scale—managing work
This development-in-place approach
doesn’t require a change in jobs, but it that is broad in scope or large in size
Four Guidelines
• External pressure—managing the
does require: working with your boss
and others to add responsibilities to
Observe four guidelines when seekyour job, engaging in temporary tasks
ing developmental assignments:
or roles, or seeking leadership opporGuideline 1: Share your ideas with
tunities outside the workplace.
coworkers and invite their suggestions
—don’t rely on yourself to generate
Why Seek Leadership Development?
ideas for developmental assignments.
I see three reasons why you should
Guideline 2: Narrow your list of
seek a variety of developmental
ideas and discuss them with your boss.
assignments during your career:
Which ones have the most promise,
practicality, or learning potential?
1. Effective leaders continue to
Which ones would be very beneficial
develop their repertoire of skills. To be
to your group or to the organization?
effective in leadership roles, you have
to master new skills in additional areGuideline 3: Have a short-term and
nas. Instead of always relying on a
long-term approach to developmental
limited set of natural capabilities, you interface with external groups, such as assignments. You might undertake
customers, vendors, or partners
need to become more well-rounded.
some assignments quickly, while oth• Work across cultures—working
ers might take longer to transpire.
2. Most learning and development
occurs through practical work and life with people from different cultures or
Guideline 4: Craft a plan to maxiwith institutions in other countries
experiences. We learn best when our
mize the learning from a developmental
• Workgroup diversity—working
daily responsibilities and challenges
assignment. Your plan should address
require it. We need the opportunity to with people of both genders and difeight questions: What skills, behaviors
ferent racial and ethnic backgrounds
engage in experiences, draw lessons
or actions do I need? How will I get
Start looking for such challenges
and insights from those experiences,
feedback on how well I am applying
that broaden your experience and tar- these skills, behaviors, or actions?
and apply our new knowledge and
get a particular competency.
skills to future experiences.
What past experiences can I draw on?
What knowledge will help with this
3. The more types of experience, the
assignment? From whom should I
better you develop a repertoire of skills. F i n d a n d A d d A s s i g n m e n t s
seek advice? What about this assignIf you focus only on doing the work
How can you find and add develment makes me anxious? Who would
that you already excel at, you’re less
opmental assignments to your job?
be a good coach or role model for me?
likely to broaden your leadership
• Reshape your job by adding new
Who will support and reenergize me?
capacity. If you step into new situations responsibilities. These might be
Shape your work and life experiand face challenges that call for untested acquired from someone else’s workabilities, you grow and successfully
load, or they may be tasks that need to ences to help you expand your leadership knowledge and skills.
take on leadership responsibility.
get done and currently are not. For
LE
example, you could add “fix it” responCynthia McCauley is a senior faculty member of the Center for
Challenge Stimulates Learning
sibilities to your job by taking on the
Creative Leadership (CCL), a top-ranked, global provider of
responsibility of managing dissatisfied leadership education and research.
Challenge is a key element of a
customers or difficult suppliers. Or
developmental assignment. Our job
ACTION: Develop leadership in place.
Y
L e a d e r s h i p
E x c e l l e n c e
w w w. L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m
23
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