Leadership Coaching

At times, leaders and managers can benefit from individual confidential mentoring or coaching sessions with our highly experienced consultants. This can be arranged at a mutually convenient venue for an intensive session that can save time and achieve highly effective results. For more information, please contact graham.watson@positiveleadership.co.uk

Leadership Coaching

M&A Skills Honed as Athletes

Kraft Foods Inc. Chief Executive Officer Irene Rosenfeld and Cadbury Plc CEO Todd Stitzer disagree on the merits of merging their companies. They’ll both need to prove themselves if the deal falls through.

Stitzer has engineered more than 40 transactions since joining Cadbury Plc as a Columbia-trained mergers and acquisitions lawyer. In 2003, the Pennsylvania-raised CEO outbid Nestle SA for chewing-gum maker Adams Inc., making Cadbury the world’s biggest confectioner. The U.K. company held that rank until it was displaced by Mars Inc.’s $22.6 billion purchase of Wm Wrigley Jr. Co. in 2008.
 
Rosenfeld has spent more than 25 years at Kraft, with a two- year interruption in 2004 to run PepsiCo Inc.’s Frito-Lay snack- food unit. Last year, Forbes magazine ranked her No. 6 on its list of the world’s most powerful women, three behind PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi.

Both CEOs have honed their competitive skills as athletes. Rosenfeld, who is also Kraft’s chairman, played four varsity sports in high school and chose Cornell University as her alma mater partly because of the women’s athletic program. Stitzer, who has dual U.S. and U.K. citizenship, paid for law school at Columbia University by playing professional tennis.

M&A Skills Honed as Athletes

A Test of Character

J F Roxburgh, the first headmaster of Stowe School, said he wanted to turn out young men who would be "acceptable at a dance and invaluable in a shipwreck". Perhaps the examples need a little updating, but Roxburgh's goal perfectly captures the ingredients of good character: moral courage, civility and an ability to put the needs of others before your own.

Questions of character are being posed again today, after decades of neglect. This character revival is occurring as politicians and policy-makers in the UK realise that many of their most cherished goals – for social mobility, co-operation, social responsibility – cannot be met through either the machinery of the state or the magic of the market. Character is an old-fashioned term for a set of pressing contemporary problems.

For more, see - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/david-cameron/6965133/David-Cameron-A-test-of-character.html

A Test of Character

Dealing with Tough Days

Even the most dedicated and experienced of leaders will admit that there are more than a few days when they wonder whether it might not be a lot less stressful to hang up their leadership boots in favour of an individual contributor role. There are many days when you will drive home from work wondering whether you truly accomplished anything, and others when you will feel like you just took a few steps in the wrong direction.

Here are some ideas for dealing with these tough days:

1. Every problem or crisis is an opportunity to build your leadership skills along with your confidence and credibility.

2. Problems create teachable opportunities. Don’t waste these opportunities.

3. It’s the challenges that you and your team conquered that you will remember. Make some memories!

4. Remember that you don’t have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. If you’ve done your job and earned respect, your team members are there to help ease the burden. Ask for help.

5. People aren’t programmed to act and respond in ways that always fit your plans. Losing a great employee is painful, but if it has to happen, ensure that the relationship transitions to one of valued and always welcome friend.

6. Be thankful for feedback that says that you can improve. At least someone cares.

7. Leaders earn dividends over the long term. Your payoff comes a decade from now when the people that you are leading today are rising to new heights in their careers. They did the work but perhaps you played a small role along the way. Take pride in their accomplishments.

Dealing with Tough Days

How do You Define “Ethical Leadership”?

The Positive Leadership definition of 'ethical leadership' has three elements:

(1) Perspective- Working hard to see reality clearly

Many of us view reality as things being just the way they are (at face value), while others understand that our view of reality is based on our beliefs, and that our beliefs are based on our past experiences.

(2) Courage - Doing what is required to get the job done

Failure in leadership is not due to the lack of ideas, but due to the decisions we make after we feel the “tight gut.” It is the ability to be uncomfortable and do the right thing anyway.

(3) Integrity- Doing what is required without violating personal integrity

Integrity is simply obedience to the unenforceable. It is doing the right thing when no one is looking and you wouldn’t get caught doing otherwise.

An individual, a company or even a society’s “brand” is defined to a great extent on ethics. On an individual level, we have to have the courage to be virtuous and do the right thing even when we feel like not doing it. We grow our “virtue muscle” each time we get through the thirty seconds of discomfort – that “tight gut.” We have to work hard not to retreat into cynicism as a protection against feeling bad. One of the best ways to enhance this trait is by working with someone who has higher integrity than us – thereby raising our level of integrity by the association.

On an organisational level, the extremes are from total bureaucracy to total anarchy. In total bureaucracy, lines of integrity are never crossed due to the rules in place, yet individuals are miserable and the company cannot adapt quickly. In total anarchy, the absence of boundaries causes the atmosphere to be chaotic and the company to experience unnecessary loss. The goal in the organisation is to be in the middle of these two extremes and experience “obedience to the unenforceable.” What companies need are employees that will do the right thing in alignment with the direction of the company even when no one is watching.

On a societal level, there are more controls on people’s integrity than ever before. These laws while urging compliance can create cynicism. The more individuals show a commitment to being a value-based society, the more everyone moves toward compassion. The more time we spend in shaping other’s integrity, the more our fabric has been strengthened as a society.

How do You Define “Ethical Leadership”?

Why Integrity and Values Matter in Business

Rosabeth Moss Kanter is a professor at Harvard Business School, where she specialises in strategy, innovation, and leadership for change. Here are her interesting views on the recent troubles of Tiger Woods:

'Golf champion Tiger Woods no longer represents global consulting and technology services firm Accenture, as of December 13. Accenture is the first of Woods' corporate sponsors to pull out of the relationship completely. A day earlier, Gillette announced a suspension of Woods' marketing appearances for an unspecified period.

For anyone missing two weeks of headlines, here's a recap. Golf champion Woods crashed his car near his Florida home after what appeared to be a major league (oops, wrong sport) fight with his wife over alleged infidelities. At first Woods denied any marital misconduct, using the first line of defense of many public figures caught in a sand trap, which was to lie about it. Then other women surfaced with firm evidence of Woods' affairs, for a total of 13, and Woods told the world that he had made mistakes. On December 11, he announced he is taking a mega-mulligan — a leave of absence from golf to repair his marriage.

Though Accenture doesn't sell anything to consumers, it put itself in the public eye with its "Go ahead, be a Tiger" ad campaign. Working for Accenture since 2004, Woods seemed a plausible long-term choice. His consistently stellar athletic achievements and mixed racial heritage symbolize the best of a global economy. Now his departure could mark a seismic shift in corporate branding and marketing approaches.

Some analysts see Accenture's announcement as purely pragmatic, not moral or ethical. Woods' indefinite leave of absence from golf would introduce too many uncertainties into Accenture's ad campaigns, one commentator told AP. Moreover, Woods is rapidly losing cachet. A poll reported by Bloomberg found that Woods has already dropped from 6th to 24th in popularity among consumers.

But I see the values dimension front and center. Accenture has made a strong commitment to values-based corporate citizenship. Its aspirations require disengagement from a tainted celebrity.

During the past decade, ethical misconduct of many kinds has caused the decline of the cult of the celebrity CEO and the fall of many a celebrity politician. Now we are watching thedecline and fall of the just plain celebrity. This is not just about the type of indiscretion — at least, some sports fans would say, Woods didn't take steroids. Instead, the significance of the Woods affair is the challenge it poses to a major marketing convention: use of celebrities to sell products and services instead of featuring the product or service's value for users (and the values that guide its production).

In Accenture's case, I know about its outstanding reputation and work for clients from former or future Accenture employees passing through my classrooms. (I recently gave a lecture to an Accenture group.) But I was puzzled about the little knowledge gleaned about that good work from ads in which Tiger Woods stands alone swinging a golf club. For one thing, Accenture professionals practice in teams, not as individuals, and promote teamwork in the organizations they serve.

Unlike Accenture, Nike makes a product that Woods and other athletes actually use — shoes. Green-values-oriented Nike is sticking with Woods for the moment, appearing to be rehabilitation-minded and comeback-oriented in other instances too. This fall, Apple, Excelon, and other companies dropped their memberships in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in disagreement with what they saw as the Chamber's foot-dragging on climate change policy. Nike kept its membership while resigning from the Chamber board in order to work for change from within, executives said. But the Chamber incident, too, is evidence that companies increasingly see that their values must be reflected consistently in every decision they make, every marketing campaign they run, and every partnership they form.

I have no insider information about what Gillette will do next, just a guess. From my in-depth research on its corporate parent Procter & Gamble (P&G) and conversations with chairman and CEO Bob McDonald, I predict that Tiger Woods will not reappear. P&G takes its values very seriously. McDonald has said publicly that representing the company extends to ethical private conduct off the job, not just compliance during work hours.

P&G brand guardians should be glad P&G invented Mr. Clean. A cartoon spokesperson doesn't have a personal life involving ethical dilemmas. Mr. Clean eliminates messes rather than getting into them. And Mr. Clean speaks to consumers about what his product does for them, rather than how many tournaments he wins. That kind of communication about value and values could be the post-Tiger tiger to catch.'

Why Integrity and Values Matter in Business

New Leadership Styles Emerging from the Economic Crisis

Since September 2008, the leadership and management practices of financial institutions have been widely discredited. This has precipitated new thinking about organisations and leadership within financial-services — and in business in general. The new leadership styles that prevail, and associated changes in management and governance structures, will shape the development of business institutions generally. It isn’t yet clear what norms and values the new industry leaders will champion, but the pressures on them are evident, and the history of managerial culture suggests that we will see some major transitions, and some unexpected ones.

Popular conceptions of what constitutes good business leadership will extensively influence this new style. Between the early 1980s and 2001, the “leader as hero” was a celebrated model. Exemplars like Jack Welch at General Electric Company and Sir John Browne of BP shook up old organisations that were weighed down by processes and committees, and, shining clear light from the top, transformed their performance. But after 2001, the dot-com bust and other factors pushed this individualistic model of leadership off the pedestal. That downturn revealed the flaws, failures, and even disgraceful conduct of some noteworthy individualistic leaders, including those of Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, and Parmalat.

The “leader as hero” model was superseded by enthusiasm for the concept of “leadership teams.” Better performance, the theory ran, came from combining a variety of management talents and styles into a single cohesive and mutually supportive group. Life at the top became more touchy-feely. The team-based model was well suited to a generation of CEOs who were less hierarchical, less schooled in the military, and more collaborative by inclination than those who preceded them.

Now we face another transition. The economic crisis and the entanglement of so many trusted financial-services firms have once again shaken our confidence in the prevailing leadership style. With apologies to Winston Churchill, never in the field of commercial business has so much been damaged for so many by so few. The failure of expectations has been widespread, severe, and rapid. That discredits past leadership practices — but what will replace them?

The quickest impact on business leadership in business will probably be felt at the board of directors level. Driven by fear of the risks that have been exposed, board leaders will start by changing their own behaviours. Directors want more visibility into corporate practices and risks, and more data to directly verify more dimensions of corporate performance. They feel their positions are much more on the line, and they are starting to ask for the staff and capabilities to do more checking up, probing more deeply even in areas historically left to management.

Boards will revise formal governance structures, adjust team composition, and reconsider the personality and skills of the people placed in top positions. As always, they will respond to prevailing interpretations of recent history. In seeking a new form of leadership, boards will start with the oldest truths: Those in authority must have foresight, and they must lead by example. They must motivate and inspire on a moral basis, through aspiration as well as rewards and punishments. It is precisely this calm, considered, and ethical leadership, required to lead large numbers of people when the economy is tough, that seems to have been in such short supply recently.

Guided by their boards, many institutions will recommit to public responsibility. Trust and simplicity, cornerstones of the Positive Leadership model, will become major selling points. Enterprises in banking or in business in general industry that can command greater trust or offer closer connections with their customers will enjoy substantial opportunities. There could be a renaissance of institutions with a tradition grounded in cooperatives or member-owned organisations, of which there are many in Europe (including some, like Rabobank Group in the Netherlands, that have weathered the storm in financial services reasonably well). Inevitably, a broader scope of alternatives to the shareholder-centric corporate model will be tested, and some will win favour.

Many companies will also need to find structures and processes, both formal and informal, that challenge thinking and retain productive dissent. The leadership team form will be left intact, but its potential will be tapped in new ways. Teams will be populated with more diverse personalities, whose challenge will be to work together to set some new directions and renew moral leadership while paying closer attention to day-to-day execution.

These leadership team members will have to learn to recognise the power of the unknowable. We have found out the hard way that conceptual financial models, which seemed for a time to provide a new means of rapid growth, can actually obscure the underlying realities of the economic system. We now have some catching up to do as we recognise the failure of these models to comprehend and control the complexity and interdependence of our world. Leaders in financial services might do better if they understood that we human beings are all limited, that our best course is to accept that we are intrinsically prone to get things wrong, that we need to keep our wits about us, and that to succeed in the arcane world of finance, we need most of all to stay grounded in day-to-day reality.

We must promote leaders for whom doubt and uncertainty are simply a part of the human condition, not the enemy of action or a sign of weakness. They must tolerate questioning and doubt within their own organisations, and apply it productively themselves. We must make it an organizational habit to regularly challenge even what seems to be most obviously true, to remain open to different types of data, especially including direct experiential and “feet on the street” observations. One wonders what would have happened if the boards of the banks had visited the neighborhoods whose homes they were financing.

The makeup and management of executive teams may have to change. The evidence is clear that the most productive teams contain diverse people. Teams composed of people from a range of backgrounds, including prosaic ones, outperform teams composed entirely of the so-called best and brightest, for example. The dynamics of team interaction often make it hard to preserve diversity, even though it is diversity that makes the team productive. The bright guys want to hire more bright guys, for example. Moreover, in a typical leadership team, the variety of personality types tends to make the team itself short-lived. People who want to get things done (and there are a lot of them in business) drive out those who want to stop and debate or who value perspective and understanding as much as action. As those latter individuals go, so goes the ability to challenge. And those who shrink from conflict or believe that only harmonious teams can be effective will also disapprove of the kind of open dissent that encourages better leadership and decision making. That is a different definition of productive teamwork than has been applied in the past.

If people recognise this, we should see improvements in the organisation and management of executive teams and boards. In composing teams, boards will tend to favour a diversity of characteristics, and they should guard against the drift toward homogenisation. Further, power and control will be separated more actively and structurally. There may be a segregated, internal governance structure in some organisations — beyond the CEO’s control, but reaching down into the company — whose role will be to audit and hold to account those with primary decision-making authority. Rather than accepting conventional wisdom and existing policies, they will need to look for disconfirming facts and contrary evidence.

This type of governance structure is made even more necessary by the fact that only 25 percent of new CEOs today come from outside the company. Consequently, the outsider’s perspective is not coming from top executives. Many corporate leaders will thus need organisational innovations that provide visibility and challenge to management at quite detailed levels. The financial control function at most companies is an excellent and well-established example; this oversight arrangement can be extended to other corporate functions.

We see this already in a few companies. It has helped some institutions avoid or mitigate the effects of the crisis. Central corporate leadership at the financial-services firm Barclays PLC is entirely devoted to governance, leaving day-to-day and even month-to-month management to the divisions. The centre has a strong risk control function, but also governance roles across many other areas of the business. And despite Barclays’ extensive involvement in the debt market and other troubled markets, it has avoided many of the problems facing other banks.

Of course, there is a risk that such governance models will simply re-create the old bureaucratic staff structures that hobbled companies in the 1960s and 1970s.

What we will need is tightly limited roles and processes, a separate voice and perspective, and a smaller number of resources and processes. This spare, collective, and relatively informal approach will require leaders who are unusually holistic, integrative, and dispassionate in their character and thinking. This is not a time for leaders who will be waylaid by details, nor for those who are convinced they see the future clearly and want their organisations to fall in line. Rather, they must see the general patterns, and see them better than others, while recognising, not suppressing, the risk and uncertainties.

The most successful leaders of these newly transformed organisations will do one more thing distinctively well. They will set the overall purpose and mission of the organisation, not just its strategy. Indeed, they will often concentrate on corporate purpose or mission, leaving strategies to the executive team. We already know that companies with an articulated purpose that goes beyond simply the expediency of “making more money” have fared much better in the downturn. They will also fare better in the recovery. But this will depend on the temperament of leadership.

If we are fortunate, the leaders who emerge this time will be honest, robust, and farsighted enough that their prevailing style will last for some time.

New Leadership Styles Emerging from the Economic Crisis

Building Your Own Business

Building a business involves a lot of strategic planning, financial planning, and goal setting if you are going to be successful. What a lot of aspiring entrepreneurs do not realise is that it is also important to maintain certain mental attributes and leadership skills that will help to motivate planning strategies and goals.

There are certain attributes that entrepreneurs possess that determine how successful they will be as a business owner. These are success principles that entrepreneurs live by which ensure that they will overcome obstacles and achieve success.

Take Control of Your Life

Making the decision to transition into entrepreneurship means that you have decided to take control of your life. This means that you must maintain a mental attitude of being in control instead of blaming everything on other factors. Not taking control and placing the blame elsewhere does not get you where you want to go as an entrepreneur and holds you back from moving forward with your business.

Persistence

Successful entrepreneurs realise that persistence is one of the attributes that will ensure your success. If you maintain a winning attitude, the obstacles that are bound to crop up will only be seen as temporary setbacks and part of the journey to reaching your goals.

Planning With an End Goal in Mind

Part of good leadership skills is the ability to plan with an end goal in mind. Successful entrepreneurs know how to look at the big picture and then set measurable goals that will ensure that they reach the end goal. Without the ability to set goals, you are navigating the high seas without a compass and ensuring that your business will fail.

Involvement

Successful entrepreneurs are strong leaders because they are willing to take the bull by the horns and get involved with their success. While others are waiting for what they want to come to them, entrepreneurs are going out and getting it.

Fear

Instead of allowing fear to paralyse their actions, successful entrepreneurs recognise fear as a natural part of the process and forge ahead anyway. If you let fear overcome you, the chances of achieving success with your business will be reduced.

Risk Tolerance

Successful entrepreneurs and leaders already know that failure is part of achieving their goals and are willing to take the calculated risks anyway. If you take calculated risks wisely you will help your business to forge ahead as well as learn from your failures.

Self-Confidence

Successful entrepreneurs get to where they are going because they maintain a positive mental attitude and believe in their abilities to achieve their goals.

Hard Work

Successful entrepreneurs are willing to work hard and do not give up as soon as something is difficult. Instead they realise that to get to their dreams they also have to endure the hardships and obstacles that are a natural part of the journey.

These are a few of the attributes that are important to becoming successful with your own business. Without these attributes it does not matter how well you have planned your business. It will not succeed if the person behind the planning is not motivated and goal-oriented.

If you do not have all of these attributes you can always work on developing them by surrounding yourself with people that have an entrepreneurial mindset. If you have already decided to take the leap, you have already taken an important step toward becoming a successful entrepreneur.

Building Your Own Business

Leadership Traits

In 2006, the Minneapolis Police Department undertook some research looking at Leadership Traits in their officers. This data was analysed and rated by frequency of mention by other officers. The top 15 positive and negative mentioned are listed below.


Top Positive Leadership Traits

1.Fair – No favouritism, evaluations (appraisals & reviews)

2.Knowledge – Of job, smart, on policy & procedure, what’s expected of them

3.Honesty

4.Communication – Open, Effective, Know when to speak, Good interpersonal skills

5.Decisions – Make one, quick, good, tough, does right thing,

6.Involve Troops (people), standing behind decisions, shares it

7.Consistency

8.Experience – street minimum 5-10 years, earned their way

9.Support – growth, officers, personal & professional develop

10.Trust – Believe in officers, is trustworthy themselves

11.Integrity

12.Common Sense

13.Flexibility

14.Respect – Treats officers (teams/ people) with, earns it themselves

15.Approachability


Top Negative Leadership Traits

1.Micro Manage – Does

2.Favouritism – Friendship first, plays them

3.Selfish – Self centred, self serving, self promoting

4.Indecisive – Second guessing

5.Inconsistent – Shift priorities

6.Knowledge – Pretend to know everything, never wrong, not of job, know-it-all

7.Decisions – Not making any, emotional, inability to make any

8.Vindictive

9.Communication – Poor, non communicator, dishonest

10.Hypocritical – “Do as I say, not as I do”

11.Close Minded – Not open to suggestions, won’t change mind

12.Dishonest

13.Discipline – Selective, more concerned with, group vs. individual, double standards, name calling, not recognition, heavy handed

14.Inexperience

15.Responsibility – Not taking, shirks it

Taking the time to ask our people what traits they like and dislike in their leaders can be a valuable first step in any leadership development programme.

Leadership Traits

Leadership Challenges Facing the Military

Facing a rising number of suicides in its ranks, the U.S. Army recently published new guidance for improving the mental health of soldiers and for preventing or responding to suicide attempts.

"The key to the prevention of suicide is positive leadership and deep concern by supervisors of military personnel and [Army] civilian employees who are at increased risk of suicide," the new publication explained.

Factors contributing to suicide are said to include loneliness ("an emotional state in which a person experiences powerful feelings of emptiness and spiritual isolation"), worthlessness ("an emotional state in which an individual lacks any feelings of being valued by others"), hopelessness ("a strong sense of futility, due to the belief that the future holds no escape from current negative circumstances"), helplessness, and guilt ("a strong sense of shame associated with actions they believe are wrong").
The Army directed its commanders to carry out a series of efforts to promote soldiers' health, to reduce the stigma associated with addressing mental health issues, and to "manage at-risk soldiers, to include processing for separation as appropriate in a timely manner."

The New York Times recently described the rise of military suicide as a "near epidemic," and reported that 133 active-duty U.S. Army soldiers committed suicide this year through the end of October, making it likely that last year's record of 140 will be surpassed. ("Families of Military Suicides Seek White House Condolences" by James Dao, November 26.)

In its new publication, the Army said it is not always possible to detect or predict suicidal intent, and that eliminating suicide altogether was not a realistic objective. "Some suicides may be expected even in units with the best leadership climate and most efficient crisis intervention and suicide prevention programs. Therefore, it is important to redefine the goal of suicide prevention as being suicide risk reduction [which] consists of reasonable steps taken to lower the probability that an individual will engage in acts of self-destructive behavior."
 
See "Health Promotion, Risk Reduction, and Suicide Prevention," Department of the Army Pamphlet 600-24, November 24, 2009.

Leadership Challenges Facing the Military

Driving Positive Leadership

Bob Kidder is the newly appointed chairman of Chrysler.

Here are his thoughts on what drives positive leadership:

Think big picture

“You need to think big picture. Ask yourself: what is the greater organisational objective? A good leader needs to have the ability to think like a generalist, to broaden the lens beyond the current scope.”

Hire top talent

Kidder sees people at the core of any organisation’s success. “Starting with my days at McKinsey, it is tremendously powerful to work in a high density of smart people, it is absolutely infectious and drives peak performance.”

Cultivate team spirit

“People in an organisation need to feel like they are part of something special. Similar to my experience at McKinsey where, once joined, people embrace a lifetime fraternal bond, it is key for an organisation’s success to nurture these connections.” Starting with the board, Kidder led his group of new directors through a 3-day intense orientation program. Interestingly, for the first day, the board did nothing but drive every model that Chrysler makes, with engineers in the passenger seats who would explain the details.

Focus on opportunities

Human energy plays a central role in a positive change agenda. Focusing on strengths, optimism and opportunities, Kidder confirms: “Sergio Marchionne’s (the ceo of Fiat and Chrysler) mantra is: ‘everything is up for change’. I personally support his notion that nobody is supposed to be locked in, lifting artificial constraints put on people.”

Effectively listen

He applauds Sergio Marchionne’s ability to deeply listen to concerns and ideas that subordinates and stakeholders share with him. In line with this, as chairman, Kidder regularly sets out to speak with decision-makers in the firm to see what changes need to be made and checks whether there are any strategic disconnects or red flags: “I am an additional pair of ears, here to support Sergio in his role.”

Clearly communicate

Kidder emphasises the importance of having open communication between an organisation’s leadership and its employees and stakeholders: “We need to let our people know what our vision is, where our priorities are and what we strive to achieve.”

Empower people and hold them accountable

When Kidder became CEO of Borden, then a very bureaucratic and highly diversified structure, one of his first decisions was to decentralise the firm. Kidder gave individual CEOs decision-making power, encouraged them to take risks, to succeed and also to fail. Also new to the firm, these business leaders were held accountable for their results, which drove a cultural change and ultimately had a positive effect on bottom line.

Engage leaders who possess ‘the guts to make a decision’

A proponent of participative leadership, Kidder is strongly opposed to the concept of shared governance, a model under which all constituents need not only be heard but also have to agree on next steps before action can be taken: “This, to me, is really the absence of leadership. Such an approach lacks clarity and it slows down decision-making unnecessarily.”

So why does a 64 year old executive who has accomplished everything prefer helping Detroit to kicking back in the vineyards of southern California? Because – for him – the rewards of positive leadership make it a journey worth pursuing.

Driving Positive Leadership

Avoiding the Unforced Error

We all make them. Ethics breaches and scandals and performance-related turnover are increasingly found in today’s headlines. As in tennis, the unforced error is made by someone with the ability to keep the ball in play but who makes a mistake, resulting in the loss of a point. To improve your game you need to develop the habits that will help you keep the ball in play. It is your performance over time—a steady game—that will get you where you want to go. That’s what The Unforced Error: Why Some Managers Get Promoted While Others Get Eliminated by Jeffrey Krames aims to help you do.

The most dangerous errors—and the one discussed in this book—are “the ones we don’t recognise, so we can’t fix them before the damage is done.” Krames divides unforced errors into two groups: the unforced operating error (the ones we all make in the course of doing our job; a bad call) and the unforced nonoperating error (errors not directly related to the conducting of business, but can shatter a career nonetheless - errors of character). Krames writes, “There are seldom excuses for unforced nonoperating errors. You have to have the awareness, self-control, and maturity to avoid them.” The focus of this book is the former kind, the unforced operating error.

There is a key to avoiding unforced errors. Not surprisingly, the key is humility. “That’s because humility—one of the most underrated of all leadership qualities—is essential to developing the strength and consistency to avoid unforced errors.” It’s the kind of humility that comes from having the self-confidence to admit mistakes, blind spots and then move on to correct the mistake. Rarely would you be told that you were fired due to a lack of humility, but it is the trigger for so many unforced errors. Krames successfully helps you to recognise an unforced error when you see it. In each chapter that covers a specific unforced error, he offers sensible and pragmatic advice on how to avoid these “career killers.” His advice includes:

• Never say the ball was out by a mile. Face reality at all times.
• Nothing is as important as people decisions. Get the right people.
• When you do make a people mistake, fix it as quickly as possible.
• Don’t overlook the wild card. Develop the next generation of leaders.
• Keep your game inbounds. Living and leading by the rules.
• Step up to the net. Take ownership of your part of the court.
• Watch the whole court. Find out who the real line judge is in your game and make sure they know how you’re doing.

Krames is very readable as always. The tennis metaphor works well to demonstrate the importance of these ideas. If you take the time to study the advice Kramer has gathered together, you could save yourself from committing these errors. In the words of Billie Jean King, “Self-awareness is probably the most important thing towards being a champion.” 

Avoiding the Unforced Error

Leadership Lessons for the New Year

Always focus on the mission.

To be a great leader, you have to be intensely focused on the core mission of your organisation: know it, understand it, and live it. Make sure everyone in your organisation can answer these questions: Who are we? What do we do? Whom do we serve? At the end of the day, the mission is the true North Star that guides every action you take.

Leadership Lessons for the New Year

Leadership Lessons for the New Year

Act with integrity.

The actions of great leaders are consistent with their words. Saying the right thing doesn’t mean much. Doing the right thing means everything when you want people to follow you passionately.

Leadership Lessons for the New Year

Treating People with Respect

In this New York Times interview, Gordon M. Bethune, the former chief executive of Continental Airlines, says that “being good at your job is predicated pretty much on how the people working for you feel.” :

'Q. What are the most important leadership lessons you’ve learned?

A. I was a mechanic in the Navy. And mechanics in the Navy are like mechanics in airlines. You may have more stripes than I do, but you don’t know how to fix the airplane. You want me to fix it? You know how much faster I could fix the airplane when I wanted to, than when I didn’t want to? So I’ve always felt that if you treat me with respect, I’ll do more for you.
As I went up the ladder in the Navy, I never forgot what it’s like to be down the ladder, and that being good at your job is predicated pretty much on how the people working for you feel.

Here’s my theory: Let’s say we’re all midlevel managers, and one V.P. slot is going to open up. I’ve got 10 guys working for me, and for the last five years, every time I got any recognition, I said, “Bring them on the stage with me.” Who do you think is going to get the job? I’m going to get the job.

Q. How did you put together the team back in the early 1990s to turn around Continental Airlines?

A. I hired the best people. The sickest patients need the best doctors, so you can’t skimp on this stuff. I took the 20 top guys and I said: “I’ll create a bonus plan so that if we hit these numbers, I get paid and you get paid. And either all of us are going to get paid, or nobody’s getting paid.” And I never missed.'

For the full interview, see - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/business/03corner.html?ref=business

Treating People with Respect

Discovering Your Strengths

What are the best ways for people to discover their strengths?

It’s ironic that your strengths can be so easy to overlook, because they’re clamoring for your attention in the most basic way: Using them makes you feel strong. All you have to do is teach yourself to pay attention. Try to be conscious of yourself and how you feel as you’re completing your day-to-day tasks. Most of the time, we’re so focused on getting our work done that we don’t really have time to notice how we feel about it. At the end of the day, we go home and tell our loved ones that it was a good day or a bad day, but we haven’t made the effort to notice why the day feels good or bad as it happens.

When you make the conscious effort to notice yourself at work (or at play, for that matter), you will find that you experience what are called “strong-moments” throughout your day—times when you feel invigorated, inquisitive, successful. Those moments are the best clues as to what your strengths are.

There’s also a simple acronym to help you recognise the signs of strength: SIGN.

•S - Success: Do you feel a sense of accomplishment about finishing a task?
•I - Instinct: Do you instinctively look forward to this task?
•G - Growth: Are your synapses firing? Are you mentally focused?
•N - Needs: Does this task fulfill one of your needs?

If you notice yourself feeling any of those feelings while doing a task, chances are that activity is one of your strengths.

Discovering Your Strengths

Who Would You Rather Follow?

Admired for her beauty, Jennie Jerome (Winston Churchill's mother) glided through the loftiest social circles. Once, on consecutive nights, she dined with Britain's premier politicians: Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and his chief rival, William Gladstone. When questioned about her impressions of the two men, Ms. Jerome made the following observation:

"When I left the dining room after sitting next to Gladstone, I thought he was the cleverest man in England. But when I sat next to Disraeli I left feeling that I was the cleverest woman."

Perhaps you know leaders like Gladstone—confident individuals who exude wit, intelligence, and charisma. Whenever you're around them, you cannot help but notice their charm…because they make every effort to parade their brilliance in front of you. However, you would most likely prefer to follow someone like Disraeli, a leader who would rather draw out the best in you than strut his or her personal greatness.

In relationships, be impressed with others instead of trying to make an impression. Throttle back on the urge to make your presence felt, and instead look for ways to esteem those around you. By expressing genuine interest in the people in your life, you'll win friends and gain favour.

Who Would You Rather Follow?

Characteristics of Greatness

Sixteen Consistent Characteristics of Greatness, courtesy of Don Yaeger (http://www.donyaeger.com/):

How great athletes think:


1. It’s personal

They hate to lose more than they love to win. People that aspire to greatness know that defeat just isn’t an option.

2. Rubbing elbows

They understand the value of association. We become the people that surround us. Those of us who are aspiring to greatness, it is our job to rub elbows with the right people and to learn what makes them successful and what keeps them going. In turn, it is up to them to help us better ourselves. And if you can’t change the people around you, then choose different people to be around. Think about it.

3. Believe

They have faith in a higher power. It is proven that a strong spiritual commitment, and a strong belief in faith is linked to a positive outcome. In our current economic state, always remember the power of a positive mind-set and the importance of belief in beating the impossible.

4. Contagious enthusiasm

They are positive thinkers… They are enthusiastic… and that enthusiasm rubs off. When you’re trying to work through your challenge-professional or personal – do so with the belief that the best is yet to come. Stay positive.

How they prepare:

5. Hope for the best but…

They prepare for all possibilities before they step on the field. Even if you are an eternal optimist, you also need to be a realist. So contingency-plan.

6. What off-season?

They are always working towards the next game… The goal is what’s ahead, and there’s always something ahead. if you visualise where you want to be and work backwards from there, you can always be moving the ball forward.

7. Visualise victory

They see victory before the game begins. Positive visualisation is a proven ingredient of a successful outcome.

8. Inner fire

They use adversity as fuel.One thing in life is certain… none of us gets through without adversity. What matters is that we find the strength to work through it. When we are knocked down, it may take hours, days, weeks, or months, but we need to get back up.

How they work:

9. Ice in their veins

They are risk-takers and don’t fear making a mistake. Failure is one of our greatest teachers.

“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career,” NBA legend Michael Jordan, who was known for his late-game heroics in addition to six national titles, once said. “I’ve lost almost 300 games – 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed.”

10. When all else fails

They know how – and when – to adjust their game plan. Flexibility and adaptability is essential to survival.

11. Ultimate teammate

They will assume whatever role is necessary for the team to win. Individual accomplishments are important, but the sum is always greater in value than the individual parts. How much do you step up to help those around you? When others around you thrive, you thrive as well.

12. Not just about the cash

They don’t play just for the money. It’s never about the money. And if it is, it’s about the wrong thing. The money will come if you follow your passion… if you become a part of something bigger than yourself.

How they live:

13. Do unto others

They know character is defined by how they treat those who cannot help them. One of the greatest sources of satisfaction is helping others, from a truly altruistic standpoint. We all have something to give… our time, our experiences, our compassion.

14. When no one is watching

They are comfortable in the mirror… they live their life with integrity. “What matters is not what you do when everyone is watching. What matters is what you do when no one is watching.” Your ultimate accountability has to be to yourself.

15. When everyone is watching

They embrace the idea of being a role model. As leaders, we have an obligation to promote positive leadership, and demonstrate the positive influence we can have on others. Our actions shape those coming behind us.

16. Records are made to be broken

They know their legacy isn’t what they did on the field. They are well-rounded. A legacy isn’t what you took from this world. A legacy is what you leave behind.

Characteristics of Greatness

Moving from 'Survive to Thrive' in 2010

Here in December many organisations are closing out a challenging year.

While the stock market has bounced back off its low for the year, economic and organisational growth is still hard to come by. Speaking with business leaders across a wide spectrum of industries one major question seems to resonate broadly: Now that we’ve survived in this tough environment, how do we return our focus to thriving?

Leaders and mangers have learned a lifetime worth of lessons about how to do more with less; leaders and organisational members have learned how to maintain competitive and financial positioning during adversity.

Setting goals on survival was necessary, but it will not suffice going forward from here. Business leaders who don’t begin to focus on how to thrive in the new economic reality simply won’t. Worse, survival strategies get shakier the longer the need to engage in them.

So as you complete your annual organisational goal-setting practice, how should you recalibrate your focus? How do you create a way up and onward, and motivate your team or organisation to get there? Here is a short list of practices that will help you set goals that align with a new, more positive and thriving-focused organisation.

Frame your goals positively.

Your team or organisation will focus on what you put in front of them. Create goal statements which include positive phrases rather than negative ones. For example, if an organisation had 100 new sales contracts last year, and this year will be tougher, your team may work harder to close 95 new sales contracts than to keep sales within 5-10 percent of last year’s production.

Always create a goal structure which emphasises what you do want, rather than limiting what you don’t.

Maintain a present and future outlook.

As a rule of thumb, comparison goals are difficult to use to motivate team members when faced with such an environment. Goals which relate to a percentage of growth or decline over a previous year keep the team focused on what happened last year, rather than what will happen this year.

Create goal statements that orient your team on the present and what is to come in the future.

Goals need to be specific and measurable.

Broadly defined goals tend to become abstract in the execution. Think about what the outcome of each goal will achieve and how specifically progress can be measured during the year. Whenever your team reaches a milestone metric, recognise and celebrate the progress.

Over-communicate goals and progress.

Once you have a goal statement that is positive, present and future oriented, specific and measurable, you have a great leadership opportunity. Remember the statement that teams and organisations focus on what is in front of them. Keep your goals in front of your organisational members.

If the goal is presented in this positive manner, over communicating it is a good thing. It emphasises where you are going - not where you have been.

Leaders who excel in this type of goal setting don’t end their work when the goal statement is written. These statements become the language of leadership in the coming year. Help your team understand how their individual roles relate to the organisational goals. Help them see how the tasks that they are assigned support the team in realising those goals.

Create an organisational focus on thriving in 2010 rather than surviving. Doing so will require some new thinking, innovation, and committed persistence. Having learned how to do more with less, use these creative building blocks to continue to enhance your team’s efficiency.

Positively framed goals and clear, consistent communication of these efforts will help you to lead your workgroup or organisation toward improvement and success in the coming year.

You have survived. Now take the opportunity to thrive. Engaging in a positive, purposeful leadership style will assist you in motivating your team and creating a resilient and focused organisation this coming year.

Moving from 'Survive to Thrive' in 2010

Leadership Resolutions for 2010

As we approach the end of the year, we all think about New Year’s resolutions. Here is a 12 point checklist on leadership:

Motivating yourself:

1.Keep a positive outlook. When you experience challenges, you’ll find optimism works wonders.

2.Believe in yourself. Guess what – there’s no-one else in the world like you!

3.Set yourself meaningful and achievable goals – keep measuring your success.

4.Develop and follow an action plan.

5.Find ways to enjoy what you’re doing.

6.Keep your enthusiasm levels high. Celebrate your successes / achievements.

7.Be kind to yourself. Self-criticism will lead you nowhere.

8.Move on from your mistakes. Learn from them and grow.

9.Avoid negative people. Know when to cut lose and move away. Surround yourself with successful, positive people.

10.Never stop learning.

11.Know that you will succeed!

12.Set yourself new challenges.


Motivating others / motivating your team:

1.Let your positive outlook be infectious. Spread it around.

2.Tell and show your team you believe in them.

3.Work to set meaningful, measurable and achievable goals.

4.Develop an action plan with them and help them stick to it.

5.Keep it fun for them.

6.Acknowledge and recognise their achievements, privately and publicly.

7.Never criticise. Instead, commend their achievements, make recommendations and lead by example.

8.Don’t worry about their mistakes. They need to make them. Your role is to help them learn by doing.

9.Overcome any negativity with action plans, tips, training and new ideas.

10.Show them, by example, how to duplicate themselves.

11.Keep dreams alive by constantly reinforcing the big picture.

12.Encourage them to keep setting challenges for themselves.

Leadership Resolutions for 2010

Focus on Leadership in 2010

2009 has definitely been a tough year. We suggest that 2010 is the year you focus on leadership.

Solid business results that stand the test of time do so for one reason and one reason only: consistently excellent leadership. Products and services change with the demands of the market. Individual leaders come and go. The key is to create an organisational culture that ensures great leadership today and tomorrow.

We recommend that you institute proven across-the-board behaviours that don’t depend on particular individuals. These five leadership tactics will help you see significant changes by the end of 2010:

1. Move low performers. Despite the layoff ax so many companies have wielded during the past year, low performers still work inside many organisations and they are causing big problems. Turning a blind eye to these individuals in your organisation squelches profitability. Why? Because middle performers get pulled down to the low-performer level, while high performers either a) disengage or b) leave.

2. Accentuate the positive. The next time you’re having lunch in a restaurant, listen in on the conversations at nearby tables. Chances are, you’ll hear people griping about their workloads, difficult clients, annoying colleagues, or the ridiculousness of corporate policy. Everyone does it, but if they realised how harmful it is to their company, perhaps they’d think twice. The solution is to hone the fine art of managing up.

3. Make a real connection with employees. Think of a doctor making her daily rounds to check on patients. Well, 'rounding' helps you communicate openly with your employees, allowing you to regularly find out what is going well and what isn’t going well for them at the company. But remember it’s not just empty “face time”—it’s rounding for outcomes, which means the process has a serious purpose.

4. Say thanks. In fact, put it in writing.  Send thank you notes to employees who do an excellent job. But that doesn’t mean just sending the occasional note when someone goes far above the call of duty. It means literally mandating a specific number of thank you notes for leaders to send to the people they supervise. People love receiving thank you notes. They cherish them.

5. Don’t just recruit great employees. Re-recruit them. If you plan to hire in 2010—and as the recovery (hopefully) picks up steam, many will—here’s a relatively easy step you can take that will pay off in a big way. We all know employee turnover is expensive. But did you know that more than 25% of employees who leave positions do so in the first 90 days of employment? To retain a new team member, the leader needs to build a relationship. Scheduling two one-on-one meetings, the first at 30 days and the second at 90 days, has an enormous impact on retention that directly turns into savings for your organisation.

Once you start implementing these tactics, results quickly follow. Your employees will see that you care about them, which boosts morale, improves performance, leads to happier customers and higher profits. Creating satisfied employees is of critical importance, especially right now.

Focus on Leadership in 2010

From the Court to the Boardroom

When asked for his advice on business, Coach John Wooden guides entrepreneurs to the top of the pyramid, where "patience" and "faith" flank the top block -"competitive greatness." Wooden explains, "As an entrepreneur or small business owner, you must have patience, and you must believe. But, you must also have skills, and you have to realise you're going to have to work at whatever it is you're hoping to attain."

Judging from his relationships with former players, perhaps the greatest business lesson to be learned from Wooden is how leaders should treat the people around them. "Make those under your supervision understand that you really care for them, not just for what they're doing in the corporation but that you really care for them," Wooden says. "I think anyone in a supervisor position has to do that." For him, that meant letting his players know they weren't playing for him, but with him as they worked toward a common goal. "My success was largely dependent on the type of youngsters I had under my supervision," he adds.

The mark of a great leader is someone who's successful over time, and that's just what Coach Wooden has proven to be.

From the Court to the Boardroom

Coaching: How the Best Leaders Teach

Its not easy to teach people how to think, yet this skill is a must for effective leadership. It requires patience and foresight...and time. Yet if we don't teach others how to think on their own, we waste time in the long run because our team will be forever dependent upon our knowledge base for answers. 

A leader who doesn't teach stunts his own personal growth and destines himself to the "same old, same old". This type of leader "teaches" people how to be forever followers.

Often, the best leaders teach people to think by following a coaching model, whether they realise it or not. Coaching and leadership go hand in hand. Interestingly enough, coaching is a learning model.

The primary competencies of professional coaching, grouped into the four main categories of listening, creating awareness, planning and managing progress mirror the skills necessary for leaders to get things done through people.  Let's take a look at how each core area enhances a leader's ability to teach.

1. Listening  - Through the gift of listening, leaders demonstrate humility and respect.  Additionally, new ideas often emerge when people process out loud.
   
2. Creating Awareness - Great questions create learning because they encourage thinking. The process of answering a question creates more learning than a "lecture".
   
3. Planning and Goal Setting - A good action plan teaches us to stretch beyond what we might ordinarily think possible.
   
4. Managing progress and accountability - Done well, accountability teaches us to celebrate our success and to reflect and course correct if necessary.

When we teach others to think through a coaching model, we free ourselves up to blaze new trails and we build trust in those we lead in the process. As leaders, teaching the way a coach teaches is a win-win for everyone concerned!

Coaching: How the Best Leaders Teach