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ExcellenceL E A D E R S H I P

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

NOVEMBER 2010

“Leadership Excellence is an exceptionalway to learn and then apply the best and latest ideas in the field of leadership.”

—WARREN BENNIS, AUTHOR ANDUSC PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT

ExcellenceExcellenceAlwaysAlways

ProfitableProfitableGrowthGrowth

Motivate and Inspire Motivate and Inspire

BeyondClarity

BeyondClarity

Christopher RiceLeadership Consultant

ExcellenceL E A D E R S H I P

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

RAM CHARAN

Profitable GrowthSales has now becomeeveryone’s job. . . . . . . . . . 3

TOM PETERS

Excellence AlwaysAnd yet, are therenatural limits?. . . . . . . . . .5

NOEL TICHYAND CHRIS DEROSE

Cycles of LeadershipTeach and train to createa pipeline of leaders . . . . .6

KEVIN CASHMAN

Purpose PrincipleIt frames all life andcareer experiences. . . . . . .7

KATHLEEN MILLER

Sustainability

Commit in four waysto stay in business. . . . . . .8

CHRISTOPHER RICE

Beyond ClarityInspire others inyour leadership. . . . . . . . . 8

SCOTT MILLIGAN

Think Inside the BoxInspiring people is oneof the key roles for allleaders to play . . . . . . . . . . 9

GRAHAM JONES

Choices and ActsChoose to communicatea compelling vision. . . . .10

LANCE H. K. SECRETAN

Spark, Flame, and TorchYour first duty as a leaderis to be inspiring . . . . . . .11

PATRICIA WHEELER ANDMARSHALL GOLDSMITH

Beyond Best PracticesCreate Next Practices byseeking the Now and New.12

SHEENA IYENGAR

Lead by ChoiceYour choices directly affect your outcomes . . . 13

GEORGE HEDLEY

Shoot at Something!Identify all of yourperformance targets . . . . .14

MICHAEL G. WINSTON

Say No to Yes MenOtherwise, expect theworst possible outcomes. .15

ED BOSWELL, JOCELYN DAVIS ANDHENRY FRECHETTE JR.

Strategic SpeedYou need it to gaincompetitive advantage . . 16

TONY ALESSANDRA

High PerformanceStart practicing thePlatinum Rule. . . . . . . . . .17

STEVE ARNESON

People LeadershipAsk your peoplefive questions. . . . . . . . . .18

AMY BLADENAND STEPHEN JOHN

Strategic AdvantageBecome a changeagent for learning . . . . . .19

CATHY BENKO ANDMOLLY ANDERSON

Lattice Leaders. . . . . . .20

VOL. 27 NO. 11 NOVEMBER 2010

Inspire High Performance

You will model greed, not flat-out speed, unless you as a leader have a

clear target, become inspired, and inspire others to excel, always.

AFTER LAST MONTH’S RANKINGof 2010 Best LD programs

(see page 2 of Oct. LE), I re-ceived several calls and emails from peoplewho wondered why their programs were notranked at all or not ranked higher (or whyother “inferior” LD programs were rankedahead of their pet program). I confess again toa degree of fallibility and subjectivity; however,far too many LD programs offer a very “Lite”menu of development options and feature fewbest practices in program design and delivery.

2200 BBeesstt PPrraaccttiicceess ffoorr 22001100We rate these as 20 Best LD Practices for

2010 in five domains:Process/Program Design: 1) process and

program designed to deliver a certain brand ofleader; 2) alignment of LD with strategy andpriority outcomes; 3) involvement of topmanagement and engagement of top tal-ent; 4) measurements and accountabilityfor results; 5) multiple dimensions, phases,and delivery platforms.

Experience: 6) on-job experience: fieldor rotational assignments/crucible chal-lenges; 7) off-job experience: leader rolein extracurricular and volunteer activities; 8)action learning: on-the-job development withreporting, shared learning, and action items; 9)simulation, pilot, team, off-shore, or small-scale operation.

Content/Curriculum/Competencies: 10) casestudies, stories, culture and community build-ing; 11) different agenda and curriculum fordifferent levels; 12) focus on a few, specific corecompetencies; and 13) smart content: curricu-lum adapted to various levels in strategic context.

Learning/Teaching: 14) mentoring andcoaching, especially at senior levels; 15) teach-ing others, and learning from others; 16) feed-forward with team members.

Results/Outcomes: 17) financial revenue andcustomer/market orientation; 18) participantinvitation/contract or performance agreement;19) integration with TM for sustainable pipelineof leaders; and 20) linkage between stated val-ues and behaviors with measurements.

2200 NNeexxtt PPrraaccttiicceess ffoorr 22002200Here are 20 Next Practices for 2020:1. Participants own their own personal, pro-

fessional, and leadership development.2. Participants select from a rich menu of

development and progression options.3. Line leaders discuss best win-win devel-

opment options: both Now and Next.4. Participants enjoy more horizontal, cre-

ative, external, and extracurricular options.5. Participants are matched with the best-fit

coach or mentor in light of development goals.6. Participants have clear development tar-

gets and business contributions.7. Organization has clear agreement to

ensure ROI on LD investment.8. Participants gain key social and political

competencies (and practice them).9. Participants have exciting development

options in three domains: education, experience,and execution (see new menu of options onwww.LeaderExcel.com).

10. Participants are motivated to progress byboth intrinsic rewards and extrinsic incentives.

11. Participants are inspired to progress toprepare for future roles and responsibilities.

12. Company-sponsored LD benefitsemployer first and foremost.

13. The LD is also highly transferablein that it provides participants withconfidence, experience, core compe-tence, and character development.

14. Participants can create personalLD plans and select priorities thatintersect with company priorities.

15. Participants cultivate the managementand leadership competencies considered mostimportant Now (current) and Next (future).

16. Program content and courses, are lever-aged across line managers, functional man-agers, and C-level leaders to benefit all levelsand meet key strategic objectives.

17. Participants enjoy multi-dimensionaldevelopment paths and learning platformsthat best fit with their learning style.

18. LD Program features a fluid design thatincludes JIT response elements supportingbusiness strategy and goals and greaterreliance on blended learning solutions.

19. LD Program uses 360-degree assessmentand feedback tools that are customized to com-pany and point to unique development initia-tives for high-potential leaders.

20. All LD tools, programs, and processeshave an action-orientation; and experientiallearning and action learning are leveraged toreal business solutions.

The true value of LD is difficult to assess,but as LD is integrated with strategic activities,its value will become more apparent. LE

Many LD programs lack substance.

by Ken Shelton

Volume 27 Issue 11

Leadership Excellence (ISSN 8756-2308) is published monthly by Executive ExcellencePublishing, LLC (dba Leadership Excellence), 1806 North 1120 West, Provo, UT 84604.

Editorial Purpose:Our mission is to promote personal and organi-zational leadership based on constructive values,sound ethics, and timeless principles.

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

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

2 N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

2010BEST

and

2020NEXT

PRACTICES

their clients to love their products andservices. They want to win againstcompetitors, develop their business,improve their earnings, and keep cashflowing. In short, they want to succeedon many dimensions. And they wantsuppliers who can help them achievethose things by acting as partners, notone-time transactors.

Your customers want you to knowhow their business works, so you canhelp them make it work better. You can’tdo that with a traditional sales approach.

My approach to selling releases youfrom the hell of commoditization andlow prices. It differentiates you fromthe competition, paving the way to bet-ter pricing, better margins, and higherrevenue growth built on winning rela-tionships with customers.

TTuurrnn SSeelllliinngg AArroouunnddThe heart of the new approach is an

intense focus on the prosperity of yourcustomers. No longer do you measureyour success first—you measure suc-cess by how well your customers aredoing with your help. You’re notfocused on selling a specific product orservice; you’re focused on how yourcompany can help the customer succeed inall the ways that are important to that cus-tomer. By tapping your resources tohelp customers meet their goals andpriorities, you are adding value.

The ability to create value for customerswill differentiate you, and you’ll be paida fair price for it—one commensuratewith the value customers perceive theyreceive, and the value you provide. Icall this new approach value creationselling (VCS). It is different from howmost companies sell today, in five ways:

1. You devote much time and energy tolearning about customers’ businesses indetail. What are their goals? Whichfinancial measures do they favor? Howdo they create market value? What key

Profitable Growth

EVERYBODY NEEDS TOthink differently

about sales. When youkeep losing sales, despite having greatproducts and services, you need to re-consider what you’re trying to achieveand how you’re doing it, and thenreinvent the way you sell.

The traditional sales process datesback 50 years when supplies were tight,suppliers held the cards, orders had tobe booked weeks in advance, and cus-tomers had little room to negotiateprice. Salespeople were basically order-takers. That is rarely true today.

As suppliers increased, salespeopleevolved from order takers to ambas-sadors, plying social skills to learn cus-tomer needs and using productknowledge to present products andservices to match those needs. Theybuilt relationships with purchasingagents, cementing ties with golfgames, skybox seats, theater outings,and special events. Those relationshipsgave salespeople an edge, if they couldalso meet customer requirements.

Now there’s a glut of suppliers, andthanks to the Internet, they are easy tofind. All customers have access to pricesand specs from suppliers globally. Andcustomers, under pressure to delivervalue to their shareholders, are com-pelled to use the new power of trans-parency and overcapacity to drivedown prices, resulting in unprecedent-ed commoditization with devastatingeffects: Customers can play one supplieragainst the other in online auctions that forceprices so low the seller can’t make money.

Under these conditions, long-stand-ing relationships and good products arenot enough. You can have great strate-gies, differentiated technologies, fasterproduct development cycle times, effi-cient operations, and good friends inthe customer’s shop—and still not get thesale, or not at premium prices. Marginsare squeezed, sellers can’t retain custo-mers, and top-line growth evaporates.

But the pressure on customers to per-form is a huge opportunity for supplierswho can help them. Customers mustmeet their financial expectations, butalso succeed in the marketplace. Whilethey want low prices, they also want

factors differentiate their product orservice? Only then do you look forways to help the customer, workingtogether to change the nature of thegame in your customer’s industrybased on value you can help provide.

2. You use new capabilities and toolsto learn how your customers do businessand how you can help them improve.People from different departments mustbe intimately familiar with your custom-er. You compile and share informationabout your customers to determine thebest approach for helping them win.You build new social networks, andensure that information flows in bothdirections with frequent interactionamong people in different functions.

3. You’ll need to know your custom-ers and their customers. Beyond satisfy-ing customer demands, you need toknow what motivates their customers.To tailor your solutions to your cus-tomers’ markets, you must know whotheir customers are, what they want,what their problems and attitudes are,and how they make decisions. Todevise unique offerings for your cus-tomer, you must work backward fromthe needs of the end consumer to theneeds of your customer. This is the cus-tomer value chain.

4. This approach will require longercycle times to produce an order andgenerate revenue. It requires patience,consistency, and high trust with yourcustomers. In this new relationship, thetwo-way information exchange is fardeeper. But once it gets going, the cycletime can be very fast, because youenjoy high trust and high credibility.

5. Leaders must reengineer the recog-nition and reward system to foster be-haviors that make the new sales approacheffective. Hitting quarterly sales targetsis not the only basis for rewarding thesales force. Other members of the salesteam from various functional areasmust be recognized and rewarded pro-portionately for their contributions.

WWhhaatt SSaalleessppeeooppllee NNeeeedd ttoo KKnnoowwSalespeople are no longer solo oper-

ators. They’re team leaders, responsiblefor directing groups of experts fromsuch diverse areas as finance, legal, andmanufacturing. Your support functionsneed to work in earnest with the salesleaders, synchronizing their prioritieswith the needs the sales leader lays out.

Salespeople will need to master anew body of knowledge and tools inorder to earn the respect and coopera-tion of their team members. They’llneed to understand the customer’sbusiness, including their market seg-

by Ram Charan

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 3

PERFORMANCE GROWTH

Sales has now become everyone’s job.

no-growth industry or Customers are buy-ing only on price. Have a growth agendaand communicate urgency about theneed to increase revenues and build thebusiness so that action-oriented peopleknow what needs to be done today.

5. Increase revenue productivity. Thisis a tool for getting “more with less” bycreatively searching for ideas for revenuegrowth without using more resources.It shows how to invest current resour-ces in ways that increase sales by ana-lyzing all that a business does.

6. Develop and implement a growthbudget. Most lines in budgets are cost-related. Few, if any, identify resourcesfor revenue growth. The growth bud-get enables a company to increase rev-enues. It includes all critical actions thatrequire resources to achieve revenue growthgoals. Follow-up includes rewards forsuccess and penalties for poor performance.

7. Beef up upstream marketing. Mosttraditional marketing activities are down-stream in that they enhance the accep-tance of a current product or service.Upstream marketing happens at an earli-er stage by developing a clear marketsegmentation map and identifying anddefining which customer segments tofocus on. It analyzes how the end-user

uses the product or serviceand what competitive advan-tage will be required to win thecustomer and at what price.

8. Learn how to do effec-tive cross-selling (value/solu-tions selling). Select asegment of customers, definethe mix of products and ser-vices they need, and creative-ly shape a value proposition

unique to them. Present the propositionto the right decision makers in the lan-guage of the customer and spell out thefinancial, physical, and post-purchasebenefits of the offering.

9. Create a social engine to acceler-ate revenue growth. When your growthagenda is shared by everyone, growthbecomes a focus—and a social engine.People then see growth as everyone’s job,making revenue growth a reality.

10. Convert innovative ideas intorevenue growth. Innovation is a socialprocess that requires collaboration andcommunication to generate ideas, selectsome to be funded for revenue growth,shape them into product prototypes,and launch them. To keep the growthengine running, have a disciplined pro-gram of cost productivity improvement.LE

Ram Charan is the author of Leaders at All Levels (Jossey-Bass). Visit www.ram-charan.com.

ACTION: Achieve profitable growth next year.

ONE CHALLENGE OFleadership is to get

important things donewith the time and resources you have.From Henry Kissinger, I learned theprinciple of completed staff work (CSW).

When given a recommendation fromhis staff, Kissinger would ask: “Is thisthe best you can do?” Often his staffreplied, “No. We could improve it.”After they’d reworked and resubmittedit, Kissinger would again ask: “Is thisyour very best work?” After severaliterations, they’d deliver their final rec-ommendation. Kissinger then replied,“Good, now I’ll read it.” He knew thatwith CSW, they’d contribute more.

To leverage yourself as a leader, takethese five CSW steps:

1. Know what you want. Clarifyexpectations and desired results. Helppeople to understand that they’reexpected to give their best thinking insolving problems, making decisions,and formulating recommendations.

2. Ask questions. Ask staff members,“What is your recommendation? Howwould you solve this problem or im-plement this policy?” Solicit their ideasfor a successful outcome. Give creditand recognition for their contributions.

3. Clarify assumptions. Clarify allassumptions as to the premise of thework, the required format, criteria, andtimelines. Different assumptions causepeople to go off on different tracks, re-sulting in frustration and loss of buy-in.

4. Give people the tools they need.Provide necessary resources, time, andinformation; otherwise, don’t expectCSW. Be accessible as needed to giveinformation and feedback.

5. Provide a setting for success. Set atime for review to give people a chanceto present their work. Respectfully askquestions with positive feedbackbefore recommending next steps.

The CSW principle teaches peopleto do their own thinking and put theirbest work forward. It produces higher-quality results by tapping into peo-ple’s talents and potential. LE

Stephen R. Covey is author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and Principle-Centered Leadership. Visit www.StephenCovey.com.

ACTION: Request completed staff work.

ments and trends, how the businessmakes money now and how it willmake money in the future. Salespeoplewill call upon their teammates toengage with people in the customer’sshop. Teammates will develop theirown connections inside the cus-tomer’s company and contribute theirinsights to help the team develop aview about future trends and game-changing ideas to help the customer.

Salespeople must clearly define thecustomer’s business needs and tap thecreativity and expertise of colleaguesto shape alternative offerings to satis-fy those needs, and test those alterna-tives by engaging with people in thecustomer’s organization. Finally, theymust refine the value proposition andbe prepared to demonstrate, especial-ly to key decision makers, how thecustomer’s business stands to benefit.

VCS doesn’t end once the sale ismade. Interactions among people ofthe customer’s and selling organiza-tion must continue to build the trust-ing relationship necessary to developfuture value propositions. Salespeoplemust ensure that the solution producespromised results, and that the dialoguewith the customer is forward looking,energizing, and creates game-changing ideas.

TThhee PPrroommiissee ooff GGrroowwtthhApply 10 VCS principles

to achieve profitable growth:1. Revenue growth is

everyone’s business, so makeit part of everyone’s dailyroutine. Every contact ofevery employee with a cus-tomer is a chance for revenue growth.The fruits of these efforts energize peo-ple and enhance their confidence.Growth taps into their energy to gen-erate ideas for growth.

2. Hit many singles and doubles, notjust home runs. While home runsenable a quantum increase in growth,they are unpredictable; singles anddoubles can happen daily to driveprofitable revenue growth and build agrowth mind-set. Then, when chancesfor a home run come along, you’reprepared to take advantage of them.

3. Seek good growth, avoid bad growth.Good growth increases revenues andimproves profits, is sustainable, anddoes not use excessive capital. It’s alsoprimarily organic (internally generated)and based on differentiated productsand services that fill new or unmetneeds, creating value for customers.

4. Dispel myths that inhibit growth.Confront excuses such as: We’re in a

4 N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

Leverage YourselfRequest completed staff work.

PERFORMANCE LEVERAGE

by Stephen R. Covey

ing professionalism in a fleet withinweeks of taking command; this was theimperative precursor to victory.)

I’ve long argued that the only mea-sure of Excellence is “I’ll know it when Isee it.” It’s all about the character of theteam and the team’s practice habits.Yes, there are good days and bad days.There are a dozen times a week when Ijoin our mom-under-fire and pray tosurvive the next hour. Such is life. Yetthe devil is in the details—and so, too,Excellence. Another of my constantdrumbeats is: “Excellence is not anaspiration—Excellence is the next fiveminutes.” All we have is the moment.

Not surprisingly, Helen Keller andMother Teresa put it in far more sub-lime words: “I long to accomplish agreat and noble task, but it is my chief

duty to accomplish humble tasks asthough they were great and noble,”said Helen Keller. “We do no greatthings, only small things with greatlove,” noted Mother Teresa. For methese two profound quotes serve asanalogues to Excellence, Always.

Like you, I’ve had bad days and weeks,months and years. Yet the measure ofworth remains the attitude toward thenext minute to come: Excellence Always. Ifnot Excellence, what? If not Excellence now,when? Excellence is not an aspiration:Excellence is the next five minutes.

Anyone who takes on any leadershipjob, minor or major, assumes a SacredTrust to practice Excellence Always. Iknow that’s extreme language. But Istand by it. For example, as I reflect onthe Gulf oil spill and the violations ofsacred trust, there is more than enoughblame to go around, from BP andHapless Tony Hayward to DeepwaterHorizon to Halliburton to the patheticdis-incentivized federal regulators.

Great leaders regard the profession-

Excellence Always

ONE OF MY SIGNATUREphrases is Excellence,

Always. But what doesit mean? We hear Excellence in leader-ship! Excellence in innovation! Excellencein management! Excellence in excellence!The phrase can readily be reduced tomeaninglessness, or even absurdity.

Fact is, some tasks are not worthpursuing to the point of excellence. Lifefor all of us contains lots of work thatwe must simply get through. Or, as awork-at-home mom said to me, “sur-viving the next hour seems more thanenough challenge.” Amen!

I acknowledge reality—for you andme, and the beleaguered mom. But I’mnot ready to throw in the towel.

Shortly before he died, Hall of FameSan Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walshcoauthored a fine book, The Score TakesCare of Itself. His point: the culture andpreparation, finished before the openingkickoff, determine success or failure.

In 1979, Walsh took over an ailingfranchise as head coach. His first year’srecord was 2-14. Two years later it was14-2, and he beat Cincinnati in theSuper Bowl. What happened? Somefine talent was added—Walsh was amaster of player selection. But mostlythe team’s approach to the business offootball was altered dramatically. Bybusiness of football, I don’t mean profitand loss. I mean the demeanor on thepractice field, the ethos of helping oneanother, even the travel dress code.

Which brings me back to Excellence,Always—and any exceptions thereto.Again, I graciously bow before thework-at-home mom praying for sur-vival in the next 60 minutes. On theother hand, I am with Bill Walsh,whose goal was to establish the 24/7habits of professionalism in his ragtagarmy in 1979. George Patton did thesame thing with his ragtag inheritedarmy in North Africa in WW II; hebegan with the demand for betterhygiene and snappy uniforms in themidst of crippling desert conditions.Soon, he was winning battles (thescore took care of itself). Likewise, it issaid that Admiral Horatio Nelsoncould alter the “small” habits of seago-

al (and personal) development of peo-ple as a Sacred Trust. Sure, the boss’sjob is to get the job done. But boss-hoodprimarily entails an abiding responsi-bility for the people under your charge.

Hence, Leadership is a Sacred Trust(as is the practice of law, medicine, andany profession, including engineering).Certified engineers, like certified doc-tors and lawyers, take oaths to live upto the their rights and responsibilities.

In my ardor for engineering, I findmyself beset with outrage at numerousengineers employed by BP, et al. BPseems to have gotten it wrong on adozen engineering dimensions, in thename of cost control, or whatever. Idon’t care about the cost control issues,real as they are. I care that Ralph andMary Engineer abrogated professionalresponsibilities. Yes, Ralph and Maryhave bills to pay. And their bossesdoubtless put merciless pressure onthem. Hence my empathy is high. ButI’m appalled. They’ve cost us lives andeconomic and environmental damageof epic proportion because they lackedthe integrity to blow their professionalwhistles and stand up for the disciplineto which they have sworn allegiance.

In the United States, we are knownas an individualistic nation. But alongwith our peerless rights of individual-ism come a profound set of responsibili-ties. If you encourage me to do my thing,you also make it clear that the practiceis, unequivocally, a sacred responsibility.

LLeeaaddeerr’’ss JJoobb 11:: SSeerrvviiccee EExxcceelllleenncceeLeaders are helpers, servants, and

teachers. In effect, they have only oneobjective: pursuing improved perfor-mance by fostering long-term personal(and team) engagement, learning, andcontinuous development.

Leaders must be deeply immersedin the professional practice of helping.Like listening, helping can be mastered—through hard work. Helping is 10Xharder than you think: Listen/Engage.Thank/Appreciate. Apologize/Nurture.

Leaders and organizations exist toserve. Service is a sacred word. To be ofservice is the highest aspiration possi-ble. To have been of service is the highesttribute. Have you been of service today?

Every opportunity to be of servicethat you miss is lost. Seek to be InsanelyGreat in the practice of service excellence—to both internal and external customers.In fact, internal customers are moreimportant than external customerswhen it comes to execution. LE

Tom Peters is the best-selling author of The Little BIG Things.Email tom@tompeters.com or visit www.tompeters.com.

ACTION: Practice service excellence, always.

by Tom Peters

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 5

PERFORMANCE SERVICE

A r e t h e r e n a t u r a l l i m i t s — o r n o t ?

and execute the strategy.Most leaders push one-way mes-

sages down. Employees feel free toignore these, secure that managementwill soon turn its attention elsewhere.

Here’s how you can build alignment.Step 1: Build a senior-team TPOV. In

virtuous teaching cycles, teachers are opento new perspectives, and learners takeresponsibility for debating their pointsof view with the teacher, knowing thatbreaking down hierarchical and func-tional walls that compartmentalizeknowledge leads to bottom-line results.

Great leaders don’t care where goodideas come from. They don’t let theiregos prevent them from learning fromany source. The ability to teach beginswith a TPOV—a set of ideas, values,and ways of energizing people that canbe articulated and put into action. Thatcomes from making tough decisions, and

exercising edge. The TPOV provides abasis for dialogue and debate, ensuringthat people are aligned and that the bestideas are acted upon. It comes from thetop, but everyone has input. A TPOV isopen for dialogue and revision, yet allissues are not negotiable. Leaders explaintheir thinking, listen to questions and con-cerns, then pick a course and stick to it.

Creating the right conditions for topteams to come together requires theeffective use of power to generate theemotional energy that produces behaviorchanges. Although some leaders fear thatclarity of direction may entail a politicalloss for them, only the direct order ofthe leader will get the team to focus onthe TPOV. This paradoxical use of power—issuing orders so people will volun-tarily open up and hold a dialogue—isa prerequisite to building a teachingcycle, but it must be handled carefully.If leaders are too autocratic, team mem-

Cycles of Leadership

WHEN CONFRONTED WITH BAD NEWS,some leaders ignore it or label

the messengers as resisters. Few arecommitted to teaching their troops,and listening to and being taught bythem. Today, every leader and manag-er must get everyone to contribute tothe collective knowledge pool, and getpeople to act faster and more effective-ly by creating teaching organizationsthat develop leaders at all levels.

Over 30 years, we studied how thebest leaders pass down their heritageof leadership by injecting teaching andlearning into the core DNA. They builda continuous generation of knowledge inwhich everyone teaches and learns.

GGoott YYoouurr BBaacckkffiieelldd iinn MMoottiioonnYou can’t go anywhere until you’ve

trained a successor to take your place.Have you trained candidates to step into yourjob? How good are they? Do they havea clear, teachable point of view (TPOV)that’s been tested in the marketplace?Do they drive higher performance? Dothey develop other leaders? How wellare they doing? Do candidates sharetheir knowledge, learn from others,and create systems that institutionalizeinteractive teaching and learning?

Great leaders architect events atwhich the group develops its TPOV. Asa leader, you need to have a point ofview, but sharing it first or overpower-ing the dialogue narrows discussion.Your role is to inject energy to keep theprocess open, working with the groupto come up with a shared vision.

When there are boundary issues thatyou don’t want to discuss, you mustmake your point of view known. GE CEO,Jeff Immelt notes: “I get lots of advice,but I don’t delegate the decision. I ask,What do you think? Then, I decide.”

Leaders of teaching organizationsdrive dialogue on the TPOV, gain align-ment through the ranks and get peopleto act in alignment to serve customers

bers may never engage; if they wait forconsensus, they’ll be on hold forever.

Step 2: Develop leader/teachers.Leaders of teaching organizations starta teaching cascade that reaches every-one. The CEO and his or her teamteach the next level of leaders, charg-ing them with defining a strategy,vision, and values; teaching those totheir own teams; and running projectsthat directly contributed to accom-plishing the vision. The new leaders inturn cascade the teaching to the nextlevel, taking teams of 10 to 30 mem-bers through the TPOV in interactivesessions that bring everyone on board.

Step 3: Build teaching into the orga-nizational DNA. Create a teachingcycle for high-potential leaders. Chargethese future leaders with strategic pro-jects, on which they work with coachesfrom senior management, and helpcreate the leadership point of view.Having leaders teach does more thanunify decentralized factions and createa cohesive set of values and strategies.It encourages leaders to step out of tra-ditional command-and-control roles andtap dormant brainpower and energy.

Assess yourself in 10 areas to testhow well you’re building future leaders:

1. Senior leadership: Our leaders arepassionately committed to teaching.

2. Teaching infrastructure: There aremechanisms and programs designed todrive teaching through our company.

3. Operating systems: These are morefocused on creating teaching cycles thanon meeting internal bureaucratic needs.

4. Leadership TPOV: I have a clearteachable point of view that I activelyuse to teach and learn from others.

5. Engaging storyline: My TPOV iscrafted into a compelling, motivating sto-ryline that I use to engage stakeholders.

6. Priorities: I define my leadershiprole as teaching, and spend 30 percentof my time teaching/developing others.

7. Power: I handle the paradox of powerwell, requiring people to teach and par-ticipate in events to develop our TPOV.

8. Local virtuous teaching cycles: Asa team, our department engages itspeople in teaching cycles that force usto change our thinking and behavior.

9. Teaching environment: We fosterinformality and help our people buildself-confidence so they can teach us.

10. Citizenship: We’re involved inthe wider community that engages ourmembers in teaching and learningthrough corporate citizenship activities. LENoel Tichy is director of the Global Leadership Partnership atthe University of Michigan/Ross Business School, and authorof The Cycle of Leadership (HarperBusiness). Chris DeRose isan associate of the Global Leadership Partnership.

ACTION: Teach and train to build a pipeline.

6 N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

PERFORMANCE TEACHING

Great leaders teach their teams how to win.

by Noel Tichy and Chris DeRose

heart of leadership. When things lookbleak, purpose quickens the pulse toprovide a meaningful vision.

After 9-11 and the Gulf Crisis, manypeople lost their bearings. Those whoremained grounded were clear abouttheir purpose and contribution. Sincethe Wall Street Meltdown and cascadingrevelations of corruption and greed, manyleaders struggle to connect their strate-gy and purpose to a clear vision. Amidbetrayal, people are laboring to trust.The opportunity of leadership is to stepinto the turbulence, define a clear visionand align it with clear purpose, whileproviding constant communication andauthentic actions with customers, employ-ees, shareholders, and other constituents.

Bob Eichinger and Michael Lombardo,co-founders of Lominger International,report that “Sound and inspiring mis-

sions and visions motivate and guidepeople on how to allot their time andhow to make choices.” In Good to Great,Jim Collins explains that the preserva-tion of “core ideology,” a combinationof Core Values and Core Purpose, ischaracteristic of enduring companiesthat go “from good to great to built tolast.” Collins explains that there are notnecessarily any “right” or “wrong” val-ues, but there is the need to have themand to align with them. Core Purpose, a“reason for being beyond making money,”is the partner of Core Values. “Enduringgreat companies preserve their corevalues and purpose while their busi-ness strategies and operating practicesendlessly adapt to a changing world.”

However, to stay connected to theirrock-solid values and purpose, leadersmust comprehend and articulate, on amoment’s notice, their Core Purpose. Aleader with purpose gives people a rea-son to connect to something bigger thanthemselves; a leader without purpose

Purpose Principle

THE SECRET OF SUCCESSis constancy of pur-

pose, noted BenjaminDisraeli. Purpose has the potential toelevate people and organizations fromcrisis to contribution. While crisis tendsto restrict our vision into the immedi-ate, purpose expands possibilities intoa meaning-filled future. Crisis is thestuff of management; purpose is the stuffof leadership. How often do we focuson solving an urgent problem and losetouch with higher-order values andlonger-term perspectives that couldcreate more enduring contribution?

What determines or defines a crisisin your firm? A financial crash, a lossof a key person or crucial customer orkey investor, a Board out-of-step withthe CEO and marketplace? All can sendchills through a CEO. What leadershipcharacteristic most bridges us fromambiguity to clarity, from fear to hope,from despair to meaning? Purpose isthe bridge of authentic leadership.

Purpose is also the transformationalforce of value-creating significancethat is only satisfied with contributionand service. Using our leadership tal-ents to serve something bigger thanourselves is the fuel for individual andcollective purpose. Purpose is not agoal to be set; it is not something wecreate; it is not a slogan or a great ideawe promote. It is something that ishoned in the losses and privileges ofour business and lives. It is the thingwe know for sure and for which it isworth dedicating our lives. The cre-ative, boundary-breaking powerhouse,Apple, has purpose pulsing throughits performance: you can feel it whenyou are there, see it in their productsand hear it in Steven Job’s passion.

CCooddiiffyy PPuurrppoossee iinn aa CCrreeddooYour Credo should guide how your

business relates to all of its constituen-cies. As history attests, your Credobecomes even more relevant and pur-poseful during crises. Purpose inspiresus to do something of enduring signif-icance. Purpose elevates us, remindsus what is really at risk. The intellect inthe mind of leadership, purpose is the

may have positional power but lackpeople with the desire to go the extramile. Core Purpose is the deep impulsewe all have to make a difference. Whenwe align with our purpose, our voice isstrong, our energy is optimal, our giftsare shared, and our service passionate.

Core Purpose frames all our life andcareer experiences into a meaningfulwhole. When we understand purpose,all the challenging experiences of ourlives serve to forge identity, character,and meaning. Although life may bechallenging, every experience becomesour teacher, and every challenge achance to learn and live more purpose-fully. When we lack purpose, circum-stances dominate our awareness andovershadow our reason for being. Lifetends to lose connection with its truenature. Teilhard de Chardin wrote,“We are not human beings having aspiritual experience. We are spiritualbeings having a human experience.”Purpose is the impulse of life seekingexpression; awareness of it allows us tosee our lives more clearly and leadmore powerfully from the inside-out.

Core Purpose may be the most practi-cal lever for impactful leadership, andan effective life, because purpose istransformational. It converts average-performing teams into highly spirited,effective ones. It transforms employees,team members and customers intopartners; managers into leaders; andleaders of organizations into leaders of life.

During a crisis, purpose comes tothe pragmatic forefront to bring us to anew way of living, leading, and con-tributing. As leaders, we often try tomiraculously (and usually hopelessly)avoid crises with plans detailed fromA-Z. A leader of purpose does not fearcrisis, but accelerates into it so he/shecan drive meaningful change. Managersaspire to manage change; leaders of pur-pose step forward to accelerate change.

Embracing the purposeful change ofour lives is the key to creating moredynamic, life enriching futures. In hisbook, Beyond the White House, JimmyCarter writes: “My best years are thoseI’m enjoying now.” I am struck by hissense of purpose-in-the-present versusliving-in-the-past, and his personalidentification with human contributionversus elevated position. The Carters areexamples of value-driven people, wholive their lives authentically and deeplyconnected to their purpose—regardlessof title, position, or recognition. LE

Kevin Cashman is Senior Partner, Korn/Ferry InternationalCEO and Board Services, and bestselling author of Leadershpfrom the Inside Out. Email kevin-cashman@kornferry.com.

ACTION: Identify your core purpose.

by Kevin Cashman

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 7

LEADERSHIP PURPOSE

I t f rames a l l l i f e and career exper iences .

adaptable and proactive, and preparedto seize new opportunities. You ques-tion the assumptions underlying yourcurrent strategies and likely modifyplans frequently, assuming that thefuture will differ from the past.

Resilient companies bounce back fromsetbacks. While they are less likely tobe caught off guard by change, theyare aware that surprises will occurfrom time to time, and are prepared toabsorb shocks and move on quickly.

You become more robust, resilientand healthy by committing to sustain-ability in four ways: 1) saving money byreducing waste and increasing energyefficiencies; 2) mitigating risks related toregulation, accountability, transparen-cy, and energy; 3) capturing customer loy-alty by connecting through commonvalues pertaining to people, profit, andplanet; and 4) attracting, retaining, andengaging talent by creating a strong pur-pose and committing to sustainable practices.

Stakeholders—investors, boards ofdirectors, customers and prospectiveemployees—are evaluating companiesbased on their commitments to corpo-rate social responsibility. People perceivecompanies that are rigorous and thought-ful about what they do in terms of sus-

tainable practices to berigorous and thoughtful aboutthe quality of their productsand everything else. Andunless stakeholders haveconfidence in your company,you’re unlikely to win theirallegiance and loyalty.

Equally vital to companyhealth is the level of internaltrust and engagement. Drops in

revenue or shifting market forces caneither drive wedges between people orlead to stronger internal bonds. Whentrust is low, people seek their owninterests instead of acting with concernfor the company. Selfish actions lead toa downward spiral. Companies thatcommit to a strong, meaningful pur-pose, such as sustainability, are likely toattract and retain passionate and loyalpeople who rally around challenges.

When people sense a strong purposein the enterprise, they’re more likely toassume responsibility without questionand commit to do what has to be done.In uncertain times, embrace the challengesin front of you and seize opportunities.Moving toward sustainability will renderyou more fit to respond to the unexpectedand to make the future that you desire. LE

Kathleen Miller, Ph.D., is CEO of Miller Consultants, an OD,executive coaching, and leadership development firm. Visitwww.millerconsultants.com, Kathy@MillerConsultants.com.

ACTION: Seek sustainability to be more resilient.

Sustainability

YOU LIKELY HAD TOmake some tough

decisions about layoffsand investments recently. Maybe youcut your salary and worked twice ashard for half the return.

While you might think you were ahero last year because you kept thecompany afloat, you’ve discovered thatloyalty is fleeting. Employees remem-ber how last year you piled on thework, discouraged time off, cut compand benefits, laid off their friends andcanceled the perks. Even if your com-petitors treated their employees worse,the grass looks greener on their side.

We’ve identified three areas whereleaders excelled during the recession:• Leaders made smart business deci-

sions. People report feeling good aboutthe decisions their leaders made andexpressed confidence in the businesses.One leader stated, “We made all theright decisions, but it’s still hard.”• Leaders were clear. In the downturn,

leaders informed people of the choicesthey were making. Whether they wereplanning layoffs or furloughs or reduc-tion in pay, employees seemed to knowwhat their leaders were doing andwhy. This clarity built support for theactions, no matter how painful.• Leaders were visible. Town halls,

road shows, emails, newsletters, web-casts—whatever the modality—leaderswere meeting with their people andgetting the word out. Driven by asense of urgency, leaders stepped up.

Smart, clear and visible may describethe leaders of the past 18 months, butinspiring does not. In fact, during thedownturn, most leaders were sad andshocked, in survival or protective mode.

Now, leaders need to shift from clar-ity to inspiration to provide a sense ofexcitement, passion, and purpose. Themantra of at least I have a job has becomehow will I get all this work done? Withworkers stretched to their limits, lead-ers must not only be clear and visible,but breathe new life into the troops.

FFiivvee AAccttiioonnss LLeeaaddeerrss CCaann TTaakkeeSenior leaders can now turn from

“surviving” to creating an inspiringvision of the future, rallying the troops

Commit in four ways.

MANY OF US WHO AREstill in business,

having survived thegreat recession, were caught off guard.Our investments lost value, and ourcertainty about our futures blurred.Many of us have faced financial inse-curity and encountered unwelcomesurprises on several fronts. As we lookto the future, we see a world fraughtwith uncertainty concerning the econ-omy, price and availability of energy,and the effects of global climatechange on our businesses and lives.These, and yet-to-be-seen challenges,are putting our resilience to the test.

While the future is always unknowable,the outlook for the next decade is moreambiguous than ever. Our dilemma isto determine how to create a futurewithin the context of uncertainty.Rather than bemoan theirplight, visionary leaders seizeopportunities that hard timespresent for shaping business-es that are responsible,healthy and sustainable.

Sustainability can meanensuring our companies’ eco-nomic viability for the longterm, maintaining an ecologi-cal balance on our planet,and committing to practices that aresocially desirable, culturally accept-able and psychologically nurturing.The familiar concept of Triple BottomLine captures the essence of all defini-tions. It implies company commit-ment to people, planet, and profits.

You may wonder how you can com-mit to anything other than the strug-gle for survival. However, initiatingmovements toward sustainability willprovide greater security. As AndrewWinston states, “Survival and sustain-ability are not at odds. In fact, sustain-ability is at the core of survival. No companyor society can last unless it cares for allof its resources and capital—human,financial and environmental.”

When you commit to sustainability,you start creating a more robust andresilient organization—quick, nimble,vigorous, powerful, and healthy—capable of responding to challenges,focused outwardly toward markets,

8 N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

Beyond ClarityIt’s time for inspiration.

PERFORMANCE SUSTAINABILITY LEADERSHIP INSPIRATION

by Chris Riceby Kathleen Miller

his vision. “He acted it out better thanwe put it on the screen,” said Ken. “Heplayed all the parts and sold that storyto us.” In 1937, when ticket prices aver-aged 17 cents, the Oscar-winning filmgrossed $8 million! Walt and his talent-ed artists clearly could think inside thebox. They were doing something new,but they never lost sight of the mission.

So, what’s critical to you? How doyou define your box, and how can youwork inside of it? I’d like to offer twotips from Disney on how to do this:

1. Foster diversity—of perspective.At Disney, we seek cast members ofdifferent ethnicities and seek diversityof perspective. Sadly, some leaders thinkonly about diversity as it relates to com-pliance. How do we inspire people tolook beyond compliance and embracediversity? We help Disney Instituteparticipants draw creativity, new per-spectives, and new ideas from diversity.

Disney cast members maintain sev-eral Diversity Resource Groups (DRGs)that are not exclusive to members ofthe groups they represent; rather, theyhelp the entire organization serve ourcustomers better. For example, our Cast-ABLE group provides support for

advocates of people withdisabilities, but they alsoproactively assist ourdesigners, our Imagineers,with ideas and suggestionshow to make attractions,shows, and facilities moreaccessible. By thinkingbeyond simple compliancewith ADA regulations, welook to optimize the experiencefor our cast and guests.

2. Be a GPS. Pretend that you’re dri-ving along with a GPS device on yourdash. You’ve programmed the destina-tion for your journey, and are monitor-ing progress. Unexpectedly, you makea wrong turn. Does the voice on thedevice criticize you, or warn you that ifyou don’t follow directions, your tripwill be terminated? No. It simply says,recalculating, then gives new advice.

As leaders, our role is to have a clearview of the destination. No misstep orchange should deter us from providingthe direction, guidance, and help teammembers need to optimize their journey.

All leaders tell a story about what theyvalue. Inspiring leaders develop a col-laborative culture of people who pro-vide innovative products and servicesto gain a competitive edge. LE

Scott Milligan is a business programs consultant for DisneyInstitute. Email scott.milligan@disney.com. or visit Disney Institutewww.disneyinstitute.com or follow on Twitter (@disneyinstitute).

ACTION: Think and act within the box.

CREATIVITY AND INNO-vation in leadership

are vital today. Leaderswho focus strictly on conducting transac-tions miss opportunities for growth.

Inspiring people is a key role of lead-ership. And, leaders must take a proactiveapproach to change in order to keep theirteam on top of their game. No singledepartment or entity owns the creativeprocess—each area brings value.

As leaders, we are telling a story aboutwhat we value through our actions andbehaviors daily. Our leadership storyneeds to be consistent. Walt Disneywas always aware of how he was liv-ing his story. To keep us humble, andalways trying to improve, Walt wouldsay, “I only hope we remember thatthis was all started by a mouse.”

The responsibility of aleader is to translate the mis-sion and goals into a simplestory that is reinforced daily.Whenever someone speaksabout creativity and innova-tion as it relates to leader-ship, the phrase think outsidethe box is often used. Wechallenge our clients world-wide to think inside the boxbecause there’s always a box.

The box is the vision (who you wantto be), the mission (what you do), thecustomer (for whom you exist), and theessence (how you want people to feelabout your products/services). Whenyou know what is critical to your box,you can focus on things that are impor-tant, save time and resources, andinspire innovation. Our role as leadersis to provide the direction and support thatour teams need to expand that box.

At Disney, we look to our heritage toprovide guidance and inspiration. On the50th anniversary of the first full-lengthfeature animation, Snow White and theSeven Dwarfs, Ken Anderson, the film’sart director, told how Walt Disney intro-duced the concept of making a featurefilm using animation. Theater guestswould pay to see this animated film, notjust see free cartoons. To inspire his team,Walt gathered 40 senior team memberstogether after hours, in theater-like set-ting, and spent three hours acting out

Think Inside the BoxFocus on important things in it.

by Scott Milligan

LEADERSHIP INSPIRATIONaround this vision, and helping peoplemove forward. Take these five actions:

1. Communicate the future vision.Create excitement and trust in yourleadership. Create shared context forthose who have moved through thetime together so they can look backwith pride. You should highlight theinitiatives of 2010 and create faith thatyour company is on the right path.Avoid uninspiring declarations aroundsales growth and increased revenues.Focus on the mission, values, and pur-poseful culture that will get you there.

2. Talk about careers again. The topreason employees leave a company is aperceived lack of career opportunities. Don’tthink that your leaner organization can’tsatisfy those cravings. You have morepriority initiatives than employees, sothere are many opportunities for indi-viduals to build skill sets, acquire valu-able experience, or try something new!When you scratch the surface of whatpeople mean by career you often findit’s all about meaningful work and per-sonal growth. Today’s careers are builtnot on promotions but on assignments.

3. Make it personal: Often leadersappear stoic, tough, and unemotional.This approach doesn’t resonate withpeople who have seen friends and rela-tives downsized. By hearing leadersspeak authentically, employees can geta real sense of what it has meant to aleader and how much the contributionof every individual counts.

4. Discuss values: the company’sand the employees’. Recent brainresearch reveals that talking and writ-ing about values helps quell feelings ofhelplessness and lack of control.

5. Forget about performance reviews—do engagement reviews. You alreadyfired people who needed their perfor-mance fixed; now focus on engagement:Fully engaged employees are at theirpeak—of maximum contribution andmaximum satisfaction. When you focuson engagement, results and retentionfollow. Engagement reviews are differ-ent in tone from appraisals. There’smore dialogue; both managers andemployees are likely to receive a rating.

Clarity, visibility, and aptitude werekey skills in the emergency-response of2008-10, but they won’t enable you toreturn to growth. You’ll need to inspirepeople with a compelling picture of a brightfuture. As tempting as it may be for youto relax as revenue rises, now’s the timeto inspire. Your retention depends on it. LE

Christopher Rice is CEO of BlessingWhite, a global consultingfirm dedicated to reinventing leadership and the meaning of work(www.blessingwhite.com), chrisr@bwinc.com or 908-904-1000.

ACTION: Keep your A-players in 2011.

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 9

the job better than you. No matterwhat, tackle the hard issues head on.

5. Your choice to drive change. Noindividual, team, or organization canever stand still. Sustained success isunderpinned by constant change thattakes you to the next level. As a realleader, you lead by example in drivingcontinuous change. Encourage collectiveproblem-solving among your peoplebecause you can’t do it all on your own.

6. Your choice to be a role model. Rolemodeling is a critical part of your roleas a real leader. Role-model what youwant to see and hear in your people,and also role-model the aspirations ofthe organization. If you want your peo-ple to raise their performance bars, firstraise your own. Show them that you’rehungry for developmental feedback.

And recognize and celebrate success ina way that inspires them to want more.

7. Your choice to develop the peopleyou lead so that they may some day beyour boss. Your choice to empower andcoach your people, encouraging themto be creative and innovative, willenable them to make a bigger contribu-tion to achieving your vision and helptheir individual development as theypursue their own aspirations. The bestof them may end up being your leader!Take huge satisfaction from this.

SSeevveenn PPeerrffoorrmmaannccee AAccttiioonnssReal leaders create environments where

high performance is inevitable and sustain-able. To do this, take seven actions:

1. Accept that you can no longer do allthe things that got you to where you are.Many people are promoted to leader-ship positions because they are func-tional experts. They like being involvedin detail because they are good at it.But, leadership is about leading people,not managing a function. Your role is to

Choices and Acts

FOR SENIOR LEADERS,recent years have

brought an intriguingquandary: keep your head down, stayout of the firing line, and play it safe; or,contribute to the health of the organi-zation by stepping up to be real leaders.

SSeevveenn CChhooiicceess YYoouu MMaakkeeBeing a real leader is not easy; hence,

many people go for the easier optionof safe leadership. If you opt to be a realleader, you make seven choices.

1. Your choice to take on the pressure.Your choice to take on the visibility ofreal leadership means that you’ll beexposed to relentless pressure that cancause you to feel isolated, lonely, andvulnerable. During economic down-turns when conditions are tough, you’llbe stretched to the limits of your capa-bility and resourcefulness. At times,you can’t see beyond the pressuresthat your responsibilities and account-abilities bring with them. You’ll needto remind yourself why you’ve chosenthis path—the internal drivers that pro-vide positive challenge, the change thatyou bring about because you have theguts to do it, the development you seein your people, and the care you pro-vide that makes your people feel valued.

2. Your choice to be accountable whenthings go wrong. By being a real leader,the buck stops with you! The failuresof your people are your failures—youare accountable. Have the courage toseek to understand the causes of fail-ure so that you can learn from themand take your learning forward.

3. Your choice to accept that you’llmake mistakes. You are expected toinnovate and take calculated risks. Youwill sometimes get it wrong and makemistakes. These are what will makeyou a better and stronger real leader aslong as you see mistakes as a key partof your learning and development.

4. Your choice to do what is right.You are responsible to make difficultdecisions that might not be popular,but it’s the right thing to do. You knowthat no matter how hard you try, some peo-ple will be unhappy with your leadership.Some might even think they can do

create the conditions for your people to thrive.Minimizing constraints and maximiz-ing supports for your people will helpthem deliver the performance you arenow leading, no longer doing yourself.

2. Identify and communicate a com-pelling vision. Your people want toknow where you intend to take them.Figure out what your vision is andcommunicate it in a way that it makessense and also demonstrates a passionthat will inspire your people to followyou and find a way of delivering iteven in the most trying circumstances.

3. Get the strategic focus right.You’ll need to manage the dynamictension of current versus future focus.Your responsibility is to focus on thelonger-term—the innovation and well-being that the future health of the organiza-tion depends on. Of course, your focusmay be dragged into day-to-daydetails, especially when times aretough, but don’t get stuck there.

4. Ensure you have the right peoplein the right roles. If you are to stay outof the detail, you need to have peoplewith the appropriate knowledge, skills,and experience in the appropriate roles.Achieving this will give you the spaceyou need to do your job as a real leader.

5. Clearly define and communicatewhat is expected of them. Having theright people in the right roles is insuffi-cient—they must know what you expectfrom them. They want to know whattheir short-term focus should be andhow their performances will contributeto achieving the longer-term aspira-tions and vision of the organization.

6. Have the courage to let go. If youhave the right people in the right roles,and they know what is expected ofthem, then have the courage to placeyour confidence and trust in them todeliver. This will feel strange at first asyou struggle with relinquishing somecontrol. And it won’t be possible beforeyou have the confidence and trust inyourself to pass it on to your people.

7. Balance vision, challenge, andsupport. Your day-to-day role as a realleader is to remind people of the vision,challenge them to deliver against it, andsupport them in doing so. If you can getthe balance right, you’ll create a cul-ture where the potential of your peopleis unleashed and high performance isinevitable and sustainable.

Being a real leader is energizing andenjoyable, providing you with a greatsense of satisfaction and achievement. LE

Graham Jones, Ph.D., is Director of Lane4 Management Groupand the author of Thrive On Pressure (McGraw-Hill). Visitwww.sustainedhighperformance.com, www.lane4performance.com.

ACTION: Choose to be a real performance leader.

by Graham Jones

1 0 N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

LEADERSHIP CHOICES

S t r i v e t o b e a r e a l l e a d e r .

our gifts and talents to serve). Whenwe stand in the presence of a personwith a deep inner awareness of theirDestiny, Character and Calling, westand in the presence of an inspiringperson. Their passion radiates fromwithin and touches and inspires us all.

2. Build inspiring relationships—byunderstanding the learning and energypreferences of others and connectingwith them in those sweet spots. Whenwe thus connect, we inspire people; andbecause they are inspired, they inspire us.We learn in four different ways: 1)through our imagination and ideas, 2)through interaction, 3) through mea-surement and analysis, and 4) by doing.

3. Create a dream—greatness is achievedby people who follow their dream. Ourinfatuation with mission, vision, and val-ues statements has led to a homogene-ity that saps inspiration. We tend tohave interchangeable mission statements

that most people can’t remember. Buta dream builds great companies, citiesand countries; results in extraordinaryperformance, elevates standards, andcreates magic—and magic is inspiring.

TThhee FFllaammeeOnce we become inspired, we can be

inspiring. We can’t give what we don’thave. As we research ineffective leaders,we learn that followers don’t respectand are not inspired by leaders whoare cowardly, phony, self-serving, lying,fear-based and incompetent. If we want tobe a flame in the world and inspire oth-ers, we must be: courageous, authentic,serving, truthful, loving, and effective.

We call these CASTLE Principles.When we are a flame for people, weinspire them be a flame for others.

We all seek authentic leadership; weyearn for—and deserve—somethingbetter. We can make our points in waysthat make people feel better; we canhonor the other person; we can set the

Spark, Flame, and Torch

THE 1960S WERE A TIMEof upheaval, renewal

and hope. Great energywas invested in defining and defend-ing society from imminent dangers—war, ideology, intolerance, politics, cor-ruption, ecological ruin, and the col-lapse of ethics. But soon the era of greedreturned, and we enjoyed 30 years ofunrivaled material success. Of course,this came at a price; yet as the dangersgrew, we were distracted by our frothylifestyles and our conviction that anyproblems could be fixed tomorrow.

In the new millennium, wake-up callsbegan to sound, more insistently—9/11, the Great Recession, ecologicalcollapse, moral and ethical implo-sions, the crisis of health care andaging, the disillusionment with bigbusiness, and a general social malaise.

In my book The Spark, the Flame, andthe Torch I offer an antidote—HigherGround Leadership (HGL). For 50 years,our preoccupation with the study andpractice of leadership may have beenmisplaced—there is no shortage of lead-ership, but there is a dearth of inspiration.Leaders who can’t inspire are ineffec-tive. We must first learn to be inspiring,then how to be a leader. Paradoxically,we don’t teach people how to beinspiring. We teach how to motivate,and motivation rests on fear, gratifyingmy needs and controlling and manip-ulating the behavior of others, where-as inspiration is based on love, serviceand willing the good of another.We’ve come to believe in fear-basedmotivation, but the notion that we canbest get things done through coercion,fear and aggression is an illusion. Toget anything important done, we needto inspire one or more people to agree.

TThhee SSppaarrkkAll of us need to be inspired. We need

to be hopeful, confident in the future, excit-ed about our role, passionate about whatwe do and who we are—we need to fireup our will in three ways:

1. Identify our North Star—ourDestiny (why we are here), Character(how we will choose to be while weare here), and Calling (how we’ll use

example and model—daily—behaviorswe wish to see in a civil society.

TThhee TToorrcchhHaving inspired ourselves and inspired

others, we then inspire the world. We dothis by creating a legacy, growing oth-ers, by teaching, mentoring and lead-ing. In organizations, we do this throughcoaching and performance management.• Coaching. In most fields, coaching is

a content-based mixture of teaching andnurturing. But in life coaching and exec-utive coaching, we have unclear mea-surement criteria; we don’t know whatis working; we can’t determine ROI;and we labor under the misapprehen-sion that people who have never ledothers can coach people who do andthat wisdom lies solely within the per-son being coached. Also, we createartificial hurdles for many coacheswith bogus accreditation requirements.• Performance management. I’ve

never heard a leader say, “I can’t waitfor performance review season.” Norhave I ever heard anyone say “I lovedmy performance review process.” Weneed a new approach that will help usto help others grow and be inspired tocarry the torch into future generations.

In organizations, most human activitycan be divided into one of three activities:1) Mastery: doing what you do to thehighest standards of which you arecapable; 2) Chemistry: relating so wellwith others that they choose to associ-ate with you; and 3) Delivery: identify-ing the needs of others and meetingthem. These Primary Values are pro-pelled by three Accelerators: Learning,Empathizing and Listening. If we take asnapshot of these six variables, couplethem (Mastery and Learning, Chemistryand Empathy, Delivery and Listening)and measure their relationship, we candetermine if we are growing, and howeffectively. Now we have a dynamicscale—the Vector—that tells us how highyou wish to aim, how close you are toyour goal, and where you need togrow. The result is a dialogue that isnon-confrontational or judgmental andleads to growth and inspiration.

HGL describes what it takes to beinspired (Spark), inspire others (Flame),and create a legacy (Torch). As leaders,we need to ensure that what we do, whatwe believe in, and what we think and sayis inspiring. We need to be more inspiringin all aspects of our lives, to live as mod-els for others, being, as Gandhi urged,the change we wish to see in the world. LE

Lance H. K. Secretan is author of The Spark, The Flame, andThe Torch. Visit www.LanceSecretan.com.

ACTION: Be more inspiring in your leadership.

by Lance H. K. Secretan

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 1 1

LEADERSHIP INSPIRATION

The role of every leader is to be inspir ing .

• Be willing to learn. Are you expand-ing the scope of your knowledge, bring-ing in ideas outside of your industry orgeography? Learning keeps your brainagile and resilient, and agility is oftenthe key to competitive advantage.• Be willing to create and apply next

practices. Understand the limits of BestPractices and acknowledge the need forNext Practices. By practicing the disciplineof creating Next Practices, you and yourteam can sustain success.

OOvveerr--CCoommmmiittmmeenntt KKiillllss MMoojjooAll this must be done in wisdom—

you can’t run faster than you have strength.Yes, “if you want to get something done,ask a busy person,” since a busy per-son is usually well organized and notinclined to waste time or get distracted.But there’s a fine line between taking ona lot of work and taking on too much.

It’s easy to see how leaders fall intothis trap. If you’re good at what you doand like your job (bursting with Mojo),everybody wants to rub up against you.They want you in their meeting. Theyseek your opinion. They ask you to runa project. People with high Mojo are assault-ed with opportunities. It’s how junior em-ployees advance quickly—their ambitionleads bosses to pile on the work (andthey never say stop until it’s too late).

It’s even easier to see how self-employ-ed people fall for this. When you don’thave a steady paycheck, every oppor-tunity looks like your last payday. Soyou say yes to everything. But if yousay yes when you should be saying no,you experience burnout (no mojo). If youchronically over-commit, your saggingspirit inside becomes obvious. Youronce enjoyable job can become rote,your execution sloppy and half-heart-ed. Ironically, over-commitment of timeresults in appearing under-committedin spirit, which is rarely appreciated by

Beyond Best Practices

your customers and colleagues.You may fall into this trap because

you fear looking weak, as if you can’thandle any challenge that comes yourway. Maybe you can’t resist the siren callof being wanted, as it’s a validation ofyour skill and proof that you are lovedand needed. Perhaps with all yourMojo, you believe you have superhumanqualities, and nothing is too much. Over-commitment is a stealth Mojo killer.

So, before you say yes to that nextrequest, think of the impact on yourMojo. Are you doing what is right,long term—or just saying what makesothers happy in the short term?

IIss AAnnggeerr DDrriivviinngg YYoouurr AAmmbbiittiioonn??There’s nothing wrong with being

ambitious, unless the driving force ofyour ambition is anger or other maladapt-ive purpose. Anger harms, corrodes, andruptures the sanctity of healthy inter-personal relationships, while enhancingchances of an untimely, unforeseen, andunexpected vocational burnout.

Are your efforts and energies towardendeavor, achievement, and successpropelled by anger? Are you drivingyourself and everyone else nuts because ofan unmet psychological need or nag-ging personal fear? Here are four warn-ing signs of anger-driven ambition:

1: Self-isolative tendency. You spendmuch time alone with a running inter-nal monologue. You are bewildered bythe actions and words of others. No oneelse does anything right, and you findothers’ attempts to be helpful patronizing.

2: Absolute rejection of validation.Any validation agitates feelings ofparanoia, suspicion, and insecurity thatwhat you are doing is not good enough.

3: Interpersonal relationships are de-void of emotion. You’re detached fromemotional meaning and value in inter-personal relationships. Your highestpriority in any interaction is the extrac-tion of valuable and useful information.

4. Winning at all costs. You are atthe winning end of every transactionand exchange. Your ideals have evapo-rated; your empathy has eroded.

Study these four behavioral warningsigns. Gauge how you feel about your-self and how you are treating or possi-bly cheating others. Are your actionsguided by happiness and meaning, or angerand ambition? Your answer could openthe door to a better future for you andthose who live and work with you. LE

Patricia Wheeler is an executive and team coach, ManagingPartner in the Levin Group. E-mail Patricia@TheLevinGroup.comor call 404-377-9408. Marshall Goldsmith is author of WhatGot You Here Won’t Get You There, Succession, and Mojo. Visit www.MarshallGoldsmithLibrary.com.

ACTION: Focus on both the Now and the New.

1 2 N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

PERFORMANCE PRACTICES

IN A MEETING WITH HIS SENIOR TEAM,one CEO asked: “What’s the primary

leadership gap in our company?” Afterlistening to answers, he summarized:“We’re too focused on what made ussuccessful in the past. We need to lookoutside our boundaries to mine thecollective intelligence that will help ussolve our thorniest problems.”

If you think you have all the answers,you’ll likely lose because you face adizzying array of new challenges, con-ditions, markets, and competitors.

Here’s the leadership challenge:judgment is not simply a matter ofchoosing right versus wrong alterna-tives. The tough decisions are those inwhich you must weigh one right alter-native versus another right alternativeor one good option against the best.

Rather than replicate best practices,you need to create Next Practices. AsVijay Govindarajan says, “Strategystarts to decay the day it is created.”Gary Hamel notes that single biggestcause of failure is over-investing in whatis, rather than investing in what might be.Lawrence Levin says: Top Teams focussimultaneously on the Now and theNew. The leaders of Top Teams delib-erately manage this paradox.

How can you discover and developNext Practices? It comes from develop-ing internal diversity and exercising thediscipline of looking outward. Too oftenchange agents are recruited because oftheir differentness, only to be shut downby a prevailing culture focused first onfamiliarities and similarities.

What actions can you take to minecollective intelligence and create robustNext Practices? Try these four things:• Be willing to ask. Do you create a

criticism-free zone in which people canask questions and express ideas with-out fear of reprisal? Is there somewherethat out-of-the-box ideas can take root?• Be willing to listen. In your conver-

sations, what is the ratio of expressingversus listening? Do you enable othersto shine and develop their leadership?

by Patricia Wheeler and Marshall Goldsmith

T h i n k i n t e r m s o f n e x t p r a c t i c e s .

set out in 1982 on a boat race from theCanary Islands to the Caribbean in aone-man boat he had built himself, hewas looking forward to a great adven-ture. But within a week, his boat cap-sized in a storm, leaving him stuck in aleaking inflatable raft 800 miles fromland with no supplies and little prospectof rescue. In his account, he notes: “I amcaptain of my tiny ship in treacherouswaters; I have overcome almost certaindeath. I now have a choice: to pilotmyself to a new life or to give up andwatch myself die. I choose to kick as longas I can.” Although Callahan was in adesperate situation, he decided he stillhad a choice and believed that his actionswould make a difference. And, 76 dayslater, a boat discovered Callahan. Beingthe only person to have lasted morethan a month at sea on his own, he wasnot only skilled but lucky. Seeing choicein the midst of a crisis is courageous,but it doesn’t guarantee success or sur-vival. However, the motivation it pro-vides can help you turn the odds inyour favor—and sometimes that’s all

you need. When you feel lost, adrift, orunsure, whether at sea or at work,embracing choice can restore equanimityand give you the confidence to keep going.

2. Choice is a currency. About half ofa CEO’s daily job activities take nineminutes or less each to complete, whileonly 12 percent take more than an hour.On average CEOs engage in 140 tasksper week, any of which could requirethem to make a series of choices. So,leaders are constantly choosing. This ispart of what gives them their power, butit can also compromise their perfor-mance if they take on more than theycan handle. Many managers are reluc-tant to delegate choice to subordinates,perhaps considering them incapable ofchoosing well. But by being miserlywith choice, these managers mismanageand demotivate employees by deprivingthem of choice, sending the messagethat they can’t be trusted or haven’tearned the right to choose. This is not tosay that managers should shower theirteams with choice. In fact, employees ratetheir managers as most competent when the

Lead by Choice

WHAT WAS THE LAST

good thing thathappened to you?

Maybe you found a great job, made anew friend, or won a competition. Andwhat about the last bad thing? Did youhave an accident, suffer a serious injury,or lose something of great value?

When these things happen, whom orwhat do you attribute them to? Youmay think that your life is shaped moreby fate or chance than by choice. Doyou believe that the universe, or someall-knowing being, has a grand plan foreveryone? Or that there is no plan, andevents occur randomly, often senseless-ly? Or that there is a plan, an imperfectand malleable one, that we design forourselves and do our best to implement?

Regardless of your beliefs, choiceputs some measure of control in yourhands. Yes, you are subject to fate andchance—and you hope to be treated wellby them—but you also make your ownchoices (and live with the consequences).

As Cassius said to Brutus (in JuliusCaesar): Men at some time are masters oftheir fates: The fault, dear Brutus, is notin our stars, But in ourselves, that we areunderlings. Might you become masterof your fate through choice—no matterwhat the stars say?

This question weighs on leaderswho are supposed to make things hap-pen by recognizing a chance forchange, developing a vision of the formthat change will take, and then enact-ing it. This process is at odds with see-ing the world as governed by forcesbeyond your control. Even though youcan’t expect to always succeed, youmust believe you can make a meaningfulimpact through your choices.

But believing is only the start. Youmust also cultivate a better understand-ing of the nature of choice—how itfunctions, and how it affects yourbehavior—to make the best of it.

FFoouurr AAssppeeccttss ooff CChhooiicceeYou’re most effective when you know

and internalize four aspects of choice:1. Choice is a state of mind. To make

a choice, first you have to see the choice,and this isn’t always easy or natural.When Steve Callahan, an avid sailor,

managers give them a moderate amount ofchoice. So, in distributing choice, be nei-ther tight-fisted nor a spendthrift.

3. Choice is intoxicating. The expe-rience of having choice is often pleasur-able, but it can also make you sick. Justthe right amount, and you’ll feel hap-pier, more capable. Too much, howev-er, and your head begins to hurt, andyou feel like you’re drowning. Youthrive when you feel in control, butmore choice doesn’t always enhanceyour sense of control. Depending onyour level of tolerance for choice, ahigh dose may feel like knocking backa glass of liquid courage, or it couldleave you dizzy and disoriented. Theexact relationship between choice andcontrol varies from person to person,and culture to culture.

In a study of Citibank employees,we asked everyone from tellers to salesreps to managers about their choices atwork. Although they often had thesame job responsibilities, executed inthe same way, they felt they had differentdegrees of choice depending on their cultur-al backgrounds.

4. Choice is a skill and an art.Effective leaders are dedicated practi-tioners of choice. They look beyondhierarchy and re-imagine the modesand means of control. They questiontheir choices and, when necessary,come up with new ways of achievingtheir goals. Choice has its limitations,and sometimes you may need to relin-quish it to appreciate its true power.All of this requires practice becausechoice can confuse, mislead, and over-whelm you. Even natural leaders haveto work at exercising choice to avoidbeing seduced by it.

To be the master of your fate, youmust exercise choice judiciously andresponsibly. Although choice motivatespeople, it doesn’t ensure a good outcome.Through study and practice, however,you can learn to differentiate betweenchoices that benefit you and peoplearound you, and choices that interferewith or distract you from your goals.When it comes to choice, expect the un-expected because choice is an art—itdoes not look the same to all eyes.

You can learn from others, but youcan’t simply follow a formula or repli-cate their choices; leadership requiresyou to face yourself—to discover whatyou may not want to know, and use it tobuild a better future. LE

Sheena S. Iyengar is the S.T. Lee Professor of Business atColumbia Business School Management Division. Call 212-854-8308, email siyengar@columbia.edu or visitwww.columbia.edu.

ACTION: Exercise choice wisely.

by Sheena Iyengar

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 1 3

LEADERSHIP CHOICE

Your choices affect outcomes.

FEW WORKERS TRUSTtheir leaders to look

out for their best interest.Rebuilding trust has become a top

priority for leaders. A self-centered,What’s in it for me? attitude robs organi-zations of the best that people have tooffer. When employees perceive thatleaders aren’t forthcoming, they don’tcontribute discretionary energy.

Distrust creates cynicism, doubt,and anxiety, leading to off-task specula-tion and low productivity. Then peopledon’t come toward something; they pullback and withdraw; they doubt ratherthan cooperate. Employees tend to leaveplaces characterized by distrust, mis-communication, and dishonesty.

To build or restore trust, you need tobe aware of the four elements of theABCD Trust Model: Able, Believable,Connected, and Dependable.

1. Able is about demonstrating com-petence. Do you know how to get thejob done and produce results? Do youhave the skills—including equippingpeople with the resources and informa-tion they need to get their jobs done?

2. Believable means acting withintegrity. To be honest in your dealingswith people, you need to create andfollow fair processes. People need tofeel that they’re being treated equitably—not necessarily the same, but appropriate-ly and justly. Acting in a consistent, val-ues-driven manner reassures peoplethat they can rely on their leaders.

3. Connected is about demonstratingcare and concern—focusing on peopleand identifying their needs, openlysharing information. This allows you tobe seen as a real person that others canidentify with and create connections.

4. Dependable is about reliably fol-lowing through on what you say thatyou’ll do—being accountable for youractions and responsive to the needs ofothers. If you promise something, fol-low through. And let people see thatyou follow through on your promises.

If trust is broken, you can rebuild itusing the ABCD Trust Model. LE

Ken Blanchard is CEO of The Ken Blanchard Companies, aleading training and development firm. Call 800-728-6000 orvisit www.kenblanchard.com.

ACTION: Assess your culture using the ABCD model.

by George Hedley

toward what you want! To keep ontrack, you need to measure your progress.Post charts and graphs. Use scorecardsthat show progress toward goals andactual results. Imagine playing golfwithout greens, pins, or a scorecard.After four hours, you’d stop and go tothe bar and start drinking. There’d beno excitement—nothing to shoot for.No targets or score. Sound bad? It justsounds like most companies to me!

What are you trying to accomplish?To get the results you want, you haveto know exactly what you’re shooting forand have a scorecard to keep track of progress.When you hit a bad golf shot, you canmake adjustments. In business, you’vegot terrain and obstacles to overcomeas well. You need information and feed-back to adjust as you go, and targets toshoot for, and a scorecard to keep trackof progress. Give everyone visible tar-gets, written goals, and a scorecard.

UUssee CChhaalllleennggeess aanndd IInncceennttiivveessAs a construction company owner,

I’m often amazed when I go out to ajobsite and ask the field leader, “Whenare you going to complete this project”He says, “We’ll get it done in a coupleof months.” I ask, “How did you comeup with that date?” He says, “Well, Italked to the subcontractor’s job fore-

men, and we agreed wecould get it done by then.” Iask, “Do you think you canfinish it a week or twoearly?” He says, “We prob-ably could.” “Why don’tyou?” “Well, there’s no realneed. We’re okay if we fin-ish on schedule.” I say,“Wouldn’t this project bemuch more profitable if

you finished two weeks early?” “Yes,but it doesn’t really matter that much.”

As a leader, start challenging basicassumptions. Give people somethingto shoot for and a scorecard to track theprogress. Offer competitive targets,challenges, and incentives such as: “If Igive each of you $100 for every dayyou finish early.” You will then hear:“We can finish at least a week early.”

The best leaders identify what iswanted, draft a blueprint to achieve it,and chart the progress toward the goal.They use incentives and challenges toget people focused to achieve desiredresults. Everyone wants to be a part ofa winning team. Chart a path to victo-ry, and watch them hit a hole in one. LEGeorge Hedley is author of Get Your Business to Work! As anentrepreneur, speaker and coach, he helps people build profitablecompanies. Email: gh@hardhatpresentations.com, call 800-851-8553 or visit www.hardhatpresentations.com.

ACTION: Identify your performance targets.

LEADERSHIP IS SIMPLE.First, you need to

know exactly what youwant, for your company, department,or team. I often ask owners, “What doyou want?” They respond, “I want tomake a profit.” I ask, “How much?”“More.” “More than what?” “More thanI’m getting now.” They don’t know whatthey want; they lack a clear target.

Examples of clear targets include:“$500,000 net profit per year.” Specific.“Sales of $1,000,000 per month.” “Make$50,000 on this job and get at least tworeferrals from the customer.” Know whatyou want and communicate specifictargets and deadlines. Only then canyou develop a plan to get what youwant. More isn’t a target. More than what?

TTaakkee TThhrreeee SStteeppssTo get what you want, take three steps:1. Know what you want—and keep

targets clear and simple. Ad-mired companies have laser-like focus on what they’retrying to do (Wal-Mart: lowprices; Nordstrom: customerservice; GE: be number 1 or 2in every business we’re in).Most leaders try to do toomuch and be everything toeveryone, instead of stayingfocused, doing what theydo best, and only setting a few simpleand attainable goals. You may thinkyou know what you want, but dailyyou get distracted. Things go wrong,customers call with urgent needs,equipment breaks down, or peopledon’t show up. These things take youaway from your #1 priority—bottom-line profit, sales, or customer service.

2. Have a written plan. Leaders andcompanies without clear written targetsand goals are used by those who havethem. Those who have written goalsachieve them. Those who don’t, get theleftovers. I ask you, “Do you have ameasurable target? Do you have threeclearly defined goals? What do you wantto achieve in 2011?” Few owners (only30 percent) have written goals for sales,overhead, and profit. No wonder theystruggle! You need a written plan!

3. Always track and make progress

Shoot at SomethingOr you will likely hit nothing.

PERFORMANCE TARGETLEADERSHIP TRUST

1 4 N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

Rebuild TrustTry using the ABCD model.

by Ken Blanchard

finitions of what constitutes moral behavior.Alas, it is an oft-told tale: the con-

fluence of arrogance, ignorance, andhubris results in a mindset of invinci-bility. The feeling, even certainty, thatmarket forces would not hurt them—that they alone would endure, even dom-inate—permeates the culture, despiteevidence of markets panicking, sharesplummeting, confidence crumbling.

In turbulent times, people oftenhuddle together seeking leadership andmigrating to conformity. A personvoicing a dissenting opinion, negativecomment, or cautious appraisal is oftenostracized from the group. Non-con-formity carries great risk. In stressfultimes, leaders rarely get objective feed-back because the messenger who deliversthe unvarnished truth can get killed. Thus,groupthink permeates the organization.

This dilemma worsens when Chair-men are also CEOs (an inherent conflict

of interest). The Chairman is responsi-ble for leading an independent Board.The board’s responsibility is to share-holders (owners). The Board is entrustedwith hiring, overseeing, compensating,and if necessary, firing the CEO. Theresult is often excessive compensation,job security, and limitless power. Whowould dare challenge such a person?

When the need for leadership, analysis,transparency and macro-management isgreatest, we find empire-building, adherenceto flawed strategies, a lack of healthy debateand destruction of shareholder value. Asemployees tend to model the behaviorat the top, these destructive practicescascade through the enterprise.

A healthy culture encourages dis-senting viewpoints and differing per-spectives. Ideas are evaluated based onthe quality of the idea, not the level of theidea generator. Such a culture mighthave prevented the dangerous and em-barrassing actions of Toyota and BP.

Say No to Yes Men

IN HEALTHY ORGANIZA-tions, you hear the

creative clash of con-flicting ideas—the fire, spark, energy,and emotions that erupt when peoplecare passionately about doing the rightthing (for customers, stakeholders,employees, and society) but disagree onhow to get it done. You witness creativesynergy for transformative learning,idea generation, and problem-solving.

In contrast, in companies that helpedcause the global recession, the silencewas deafening. A CEO or executiveproposes a course of action that manydirect reports feel and know to bepatently wrong. But they are mute.Their minds are racing . . . who am I tochallenge the CEO? After all, he’s beenright many times before. His rags-to-rich-es story is the realization of the Americandream. After much deliberation andangst, the would-be challenger keepshis thoughts to himself.

Many of these companies were oncedominant. But quiet acquiescence andgroupthink prompted a free-fall. Lead-ership practices were driven more byarrogance, ignorance, and greed than aclear, noble and compelling vision. Whenthe dust settled, the global economywas in shambles. Little was left butbroken trust and shattered lives.

In her book Extraordinary Circumstancesabout the demise of WorldCom, authorCynthia Cooper notes: “In trying toforestall and conceal the impendingdemise, some executives lost theirway and led others astray as well.Once they had begun to deceive, theydid not regain their footing. Whateverrationalization was applied to thedeceit, it brought nothing but ruin.”

And in his book The Foreclosure ofAmerica, former Countrywide FinancialSVP Adam Michaelson writes of themarketing of a mirage and bad businessdecisions that brought the nation to thebrink. He describes the excitement, group-think, momentum and fear that squelchresistance, and the systemic power of themighty current pushing the fish along.

Michael Landon Jr., son of the famedmovie star, stated: “It’s amazing howexpedient people become when it suitsthem, and when they make up their own de-

Power and money change people; theytend to rationalize, yield to fear, andcave under pressure and intimidationfrom superiors. But without a minorityopinion, who can save the company?The inability to accept or deliver the truthis about character, choices and courage.

Here are seven suggestions to fostercreative conflict and better decisions:

1. Create and adhere to a clear, com-pelling vision, values, and culture. Awell-formulated code of values and prin-ciples provides a clear set of standardsfor conduct. It presents an ethical andbehavioral framework to guide responsesto challenging choices. Each person isresponsible to respond to situations ina manner that reflects values in action.

2. Encourage the minority opinion.A strong culture nourishes healthy debateand differences of opinion. In meetings,ask your staff to express their opinionsbefore you share yours, to feel free todisagree or surface an idea that is dif-ferent from that of others.

3. Encourage and reward true diver-sity—the kind that provides a differentperspective and makes a unique contri-bution. Select members based on diversestyles, strengths, skills, and backgrounds.

4. Appoint a devil’s advocate whendiscussing agenda items. Rotate thisrole to each team member. Encouragehealthy debate about ideas and alter-natives, but disallow personal attacks.

5. Hold a “second chance” meeting.Often groups rush for closure. Afterworking an issue long and hard, theywant resolution. If you feel too goodabout feeling good, revisit the issue againin a week or two. This second look willenhance the quality of decisions.

6. Create multiple anonymous feed-back channels. Enable people to statetheir views freely, without fear of reprisal.You might have a suggestion box andbring up items from the box at weeklymeetings (or in e-mail dialogues, sur-veys, and focus groups), and use themto stimulate discussion.

7. Lead by example. Walk your talk.Model candor, openness, transparency,and authenticity. In high-performing,healthy companies, you are expected tochallenge the status quo; and doing sois viewed as an act of extreme loyalty.Avoid groupthink to tap individualand collective creativity and ingenuity.Surround yourself with people whotell you what you need to hear, even ifit is not what you want to hear. You thenprovide an example of excellence in action.LEMichael G. Winston has served as Global Head and ChiefOrganization and Leadership Officer in five Fortune 100 corpo-rations. He helps craft strategy, structure, and culture, anddevelop leaders. Visit www.businessthoughtleader.com.

ACTION: Encourage dissenting viewpoints.

by Michael G. Winston

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 1 5

ETHICS CANDOR

O t h e r w i s e , e x p e c t t h e w o r s t .

these factors, what should we do—andhow should we act? It’s far more impor-tant that your employees can answerthese questions than for you, the leader.Effective leaders spend relatively littletime seeking clarity on their own andmuch time working with their peopleto develop a clear picture together.

2. Unity. Unity means that once peo-ple are clear on where they’re headed,they agree wholeheartedly on the mer-its of that direction and the need towork together to move ahead. To exe-cute plans and strategies quickly, youneed to set clear direction, create asense of urgency, reduce bureaucraticdelays, and adapt nimbly to changingconditions. Disunity undermineseveryone’s efforts to do those things.

In business, collaboration is the maindriver of unity. When leaders foster aculture of collaboration, spell out a com-

mon cause, and ensure that everyonehas the necessary technical and softskills to make their contributions, pro-jects and strategies hold together.

To increase speed when launchingan initiative, effective leaders bringtogether people from different divisions,roles, and geographies for strategy andtraining sessions. This is expensive andslow, and many people object at first.However, leaders regard this tactic ascritical to reducing time to value and toincreasing value over time. Speed is anunintended, happy consequence.

3. Agility. Agility is less a matter ofadapting your direction continuously andmore a matter of being open to differentways to achieve the established direction.Real agility isn’t about heading northone day and east the next—that’s vacil-lation. Agility is about heading consis-tently north, but being willing to usesails one day and the onboard motorthe next, as conditions demand. Agilityis the willingness to turn and adapt quick-

Strategic Speed

NINE OUT OF 10 LEADERS BELIEVE SPEEDis critical to success, but only four

out of 10 believe they are faster thantheir competition, creating a gap thatfaster organizations exploit to achievegreater profit and sales growth.

Companies that execute faster havean average of 40 percent higher salesgrowth and 52 percent higher operatingprofit. Yet, most leaders fail to executestrategic initiatives on time, resultingin lost investment and missed opportunity.

Strategic speed—the ability to imple-ment strategies quickly and well—is avital area of management and a keydifference between successful compa-nies and also-rans. Leaders who don’tknow how to deliver value quickly,and sustain it through the next seriesof changes, risk falling further behind.

At the heart of the gap is a tendencyto overlook the key aspect of strategicspeed—people. Assuming that speedresults from a focus on pace and process,many leaders focus on process reengi-neering and technology only to findtheir investments fail to yield results.

Fast companies focus on the thirdkey factor in execution—the skillfulmobilization of people. Although manyleaders assume there is a trade-offbetween speed and “people matters”such as engagement, learning, andalignment, the data show the oppo-site—your organization will actuallyslow down if you ignore them.

TThhrreeee PPeeooppllee FFaaccttoorrssWe’ve identified a plan for develop-

ing strategic speed, including three peo-ple factors that leaders must master:

1. Clarity. Despite the fact thatstrategy is often clear in the mind ofthe leader or leadership team, it oftenis unclear in the rest of the company.Clarity means your people can confi-dently answer four questions: Whereare we going and why? What are theexternal conditions we face? What are ourinternal capabilities? And, based on all

ly while keeping strategic goals in mindand remaining true to your core principles.

Agility is not separate from clarityand unity. The way leaders drive clari-ty and unity can also improve agility.For example, consider a leader whofocuses on context (“Let’s discuss andbe clear on the business situation, ourchallenges, and what are we’re tryingto achieve”) vs. a leader who focuseson control (“This is what we’re doing,here is the precise process we’ll follow,now go do it”). The former is more like-ly to achieve clarity, unity, and agility.

LLeeaaddeerrsshhiipp PPrraaccttiicceessFour leadership practices are needed

to accelerate your organization:1. Affirming strategies. Ensure all

people know where they’re going and aremotivated to go there. An affirmed strategyis sound, complete, clear, well commu-nicated, and well understood by stake-holders. Leaders often expend muchenergy on formulating a strategy andexpressing it in a statement that existsin a vacuum: incomplete, unexplained,unheeded, and insensitive to context.

2. Driving initiatives. Driving initia-tives is about execution. Leaders oftenassume their job is merely to sponsorstrategic initiatives. But clearly, they mustget behind the wheel and drive. Many ofthe skills that support this leadershippractice are project management skills(skills that executives need to master).

3. Managing climate. Climate is whatit feels like to work in a place. Managingclimate requires understanding its sixdimensions (clarity, standards, commit-ment, responsibility, recognition and team-work) and the tactics that improve it. Ifyou can improve your climate, you’llboost employee motivation, improvetheir performance, and increase speed.

4. Cultivating experience. Most lead-ers know that smart, skilled, experiencedemployees create success and that expe-rienced employees and teams can movefaster; however, few leaders know howto cultivate the experience of their peo-ple—how to capture it, make it visible,refine it, and harness it to drive results.

As long as leaders fail to attend topeople factors and incorporate valueinto their ideas about speed, the bestthey’ll achieve is superficial speed: lotsof activity, little forward motion. Some-times you have to slow down to speed up.Leaders who learn that lesson candevelop the greatest strategic speed. LE

Ed Boswell, CEO of The Forum Corp.; Jocelyn Davis, Forum’sEVP; and Henry Frechette Jr. are authors of Strategic Speed(Harvard BP). This article is adapted with permission. Visitwww.forum.com/strategicspeed.

ACTION: Gain strategic speed to drive results.

1 6 N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

PERFORMANCE SPEED

by Ed Boswell, Jocelyn Davis and Henry Frechette Jr.

C r e a t e a c o m p e t i t i v e a d v a n t a g e .

particular behavioral style, or someideal blend of styles. Instead, the bestleader is someone who realizes what ajob or task requires—and then does it!That means working well with all be-havioral styles in all sorts of situations.

As firms re-structure and put newemphasis on teamwork, leaders whounderstand behavioral styles will havea leg up. As situational leaders, they maywish to act in their natural style, usingtheir intrinsic strengths. At other times,they may choose to adapt to others,using The Platinum Rule principles. Or,when they sense a clash of styles, theymay opt to pick a third person to han-dle a certain situation, or to change thework environment—realign a worker’sduties, alter deadlines, or revamp pri-orities—to allow people to play to theirstrengths (you can’t mandate productivity).

Organizations need all four styles.You can’t just say We’re a sales organi-zation, so we need all Socializers. Or‘we’re an engineering firm, so we justneed results-oriented Directors andThinkers.” You need all four types, andyou need them in the right spots.

In all cases, you (manager or leader)should be aware of your style and howit affects others. Being aware of the ex-tremes of your style will enable you tobecome a leader, not just a boss, andmake your primary style more palatable.

Here are some ways you can honeyour personal style and become aneffective situational leader:• If you’re a Director, ratchet down a

notch. Remember that people havefeelings, and that your hard-charging,know-it-all style can make people feelinadequate or resentful. Accept thatmistakes will occur, and try to temperjustice with mercy. You might jokeabout errors you make, rather than try-ing to always project a super-humanimage. You can encourage growth in

High Performance

PRACTICING THEPlatinum Rule—

treating others the waythey want to be treated by adapting totheir behavioral style—can quickly makeyou a more sensitive, effective leader.Indeed, this rule can have a positiveeffect on every aspect of managing andleading. With each of the four behav-ioral types, there’s a different way tocommunicate with them, delegatetasks to them, compliment them, cor-rect them, motivate them, and counselthem. The Director style tends to bedirect and guarded; the Socializer styletends to be direct and open; the Relaterstyle tends to be indirect and open;and the Thinker style tends to be indi-rect and guarded. You can be moreeffective with all employees, regard-less of their behavioral style.

WWhheerree PPoowweerr CCoommeess FFrroommYour power to influence employees

springs from two sources:• Positional power comes from posi-

tion—you are the CEO or sales man-ager, and some power comes frombeing anointed by the hierarchy.Positional power is a starting point forinfluencing people, but the best youwill get from them is compliance.• Personal power comes from earning

and developing it. It turns mere compli-ance into real commitment, cooperation,and collaboration. You can’t really leaduntil you are genuinely accepted bythose led. Thus, personal power—yourskill in dealing with people—is crucialto you. If you honor your employees’individuality, their essential differences,they’ll feel that they’re on a winningteam and will work harder and betterfor you. But you must empower themrather than seek power over them.

You can do that by learning to lis-ten, observe, and talk to them. Andthen adapting so they’ll feel important,wanted. When you put The PlatinumRule into action, you’ll see less tensionand fewer conflicts and have a moreeffective, motivated workforce.

TThhee BBeesstt LLeeaaddeerrsshhiipp SSttyylleeThe best leader isn’t someone with a

others by praising them when they dosomething well and by giving themsome authority and then staying out oftheir way so they can use it. Whateveryou lose in control, you’re likely togain in commitment and improvedcompetency. Try not to be quite sobossy! Ask others’ opinions and maybeeven plan some collaborative actions.• If you’re a Socializer, your people

depend on you for ideas, and coordi-nation. So anything you can do to bemore organized—making lists, keepingyour calendar current, prioritizinggoals—will pay big dividends for youand them. Nothing’s so dispiriting asseeing the boss drop the ball on impor-tant matters. If you fail to follow-up,procrastinate on tough decisions, ormake pledges you don’t keep, yourpeople will lose faith. Even though youdon’t do those things purposely, they’llsee you as letting them down. Yourcharm and warmth can’t compensatefor unreliability. Realize that conflictswill occur. Try to deal with them upfront, not sweep them under the rug.Organize your time better, and keepsocializing in balance with your tasks.• If you’re a Relater, you’re well-liked.

Your goal should be to become a moreeffective, well-liked boss. Learn to stretchby taking on more or different dutiesand trying to accomplish them morequickly. You may want to be moreassertive and more open about yourthoughts and feelings. Experimentwith a little risk, a little change. Beingsensitive to people’s feelings is one ofyour strengths. But you can’t be knock-ed off balance by the first negative com-ment or action that comes your way.• If you’re a Thinker, your high stan-

dards are a two-edged sword. Yourpeople are inspired by your quest forexcellence, but often they feel frustratedbecause they can never seem to pleaseyou. You might lessen and soften yourcriticism, spoken or unspoken. You canseem so stern sometimes! Ease up onyour need to control. Walk around;spend more time with the troops, chat-ting at the water cooler or lunchroom.You can have high standards withoutrequiring perfection in each instance.

Whatever your style, being adaptablecan help you to build bridges to your peopleand make them feel valued. By learningto best respond to their interests andconcerns, strengths and weaknesses,you’ll get the most from your peopleand leave them more satisfied. LETony Alessandra, Ph.D., is co-author with Michael J.O’Connor, Ph.D., of The Platinum Rule: Discover the FourBasic Business Personalities—and How They Can Lead You to Success (Warner Books). Visit www.alessandra.com.

ACTION: Hone your personal leadership style.

by Tony Alessandra

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 1 7

LEADERSHIP PERFORMANCE

Yo u r l e a d e r s h i p c a n h e l p c r e a t e i t .

personal history: where they wereborn, how they grew up, what theirparents did. Take an interest in youremployees’ backgrounds. Not only is itrespectful, but you might learn some-thing useful in terms of managingthem. For instance, people who grewup in rural areas tend to have deep-seated views on values and work ethic;people who grow up in big families areusually comfortable mixing it up withpeers, etc. Asking people about theirroots is a great way to learn about theirmotives and values, andshows you care about them.

2. What are your hobbies?What do your people like todo when they’re not work-ing? Knowing a little aboutwhat gives them joy outsideof work helps you relate toyour team members moreeffectively. You might beable to draw a connectionfrom a work project back to somethingthey care deeply about in their person-al lives. Taking an interest in your peo-ple’s lives outside of work shows youcare about their work-life balance andtheir particular interests.

3. Who’s the most important person(people) in your life? Find out who theyare and learn names. If your direct re-ports have children, learn their names,as well. Knowing these things can helpyou be sensitive to personal challengesoutside of work that you might be ableto help with; again, with all that yourpeople do for you, knowing who is im-portant to them is the least you can do.

4. What are you passionate about?What motivates your people? Somepeople are really into sports, or politics,or volunteering in their communities.In your group, there might be a fasci-nating story about someone who runsher own non-profit organization—what could you do with that informa-tion? You can learn a lot about peopleif you know what really turns them on,and it might just unlock some realinnovation for you and the team.

5. What do you want to do with therest of your life? There are countlessinsights here—including whether youcan help them make their dreams cometrue. What if you learned that someonealways wanted to live abroad—and

People Leadership

THERE ARE MANY WAYSto look at leader-

ship, but there’s onething we can all agree on—leadership isabout people. You don’t lead systems,budgets, plans, or real estate. If you’rea leader, you lead people. In fact, lead-ership is all about people. As a leader,you enlist other people to help you getthings done. The truth is that leadersneed people as much as people needthem; after all, it’s hard to get anythingof great magnitude done by yourself.Knowing this, good leaders work hardto empower, develop, and take care oftheir people. It all starts with getting toknow them—beyond their strengthsand weaknesses as employees.

How well do you know your peo-ple? If you have direct reports or anextended team, you need to under-stand what makes each member unique.Where do they come from? What getsthem excited? Why do they work foryou? What will unlock their potential?People want to be connected to theleader (and company) in ways that gobeyond the simple transactions ofwork. They want to belong to somethingimportant and meaningful, and they wantthe leader to recognize them as individuals.If you don’t take a personal interest inyour people, you won’t fully capturetheir hearts and minds—you may gettheir commitment to a particular task,but you won’t build a high performingteam that is fully dedicated to you andthe mission. True leadership starts withtaking a genuine interest in your people.

AAsskk FFiivvee QQuueessttiioonnssTo get to know your people better,

ask them questions about themselves.This goes beyond asking about theirweekend. It means understandingwhere they’ve come from, what turnsthem on about the current role, andwhere they want to take their careers.It requires that you take an interest inthem as individuals, and learn more aboutwhat they value beyond the workplace.

Here are five questions you can useto get to know your people:

1. Where (and how) did you growup? Most people like to share their

you had the ability to make that hap-pen with a transfer or job rotation?Don’t just focus on what they are doingnow; take an interest in where theywant to go with their lives and careers,and then try to help them get there.

11::11 IInntteerrvviieewwssIf you’re a new manager or taking

over a new group of people, set up aseries of 1:1 interviews with your teammembers. Get to know them as people,not just employees. You can do this—no matter how many people you havein your group. But what if you’ve beenwith your team for awhile? The tech-nique is the same: 1:1 interviews. Evenif you’ve always taken an interest inyour people, you can still use this tech-nique to gain a better understanding oftheir backgrounds and interests.

If you’ve never shownmuch interest in your peo-ple before, you’ll encountersome skepticism. In thiscase, you have only onechoice; you need to comeclean about this being anarea of development.Explain that you want tochange this aspect of yourleadership, and that you’d

like their help. If you really want tochange your approach, you may needto eat a little humble pie and admit thiswas a shortcoming in the past. It won’tbe easy, but if your reputation is one ofnot caring about your people, askingthese five questions will go a long waytoward changing that image.

Make this a purposeful exercise. Takenotes as you conduct the interviews.Buy a special notebook or a stack ofindex cards just for these interviews;demonstrate that you care aboutremembering their stories. Then, usethe information. Ask about loved ones.Connect stretch assignments to peo-ple’s passions. Use hobbies as a way topersonalize recognition. Look at pro-motions or moves as a way to helpsteer careers toward life goals.

When you make a sincere effort tolearn these five things about each per-son who works for you, you’ll become abetter, more effective leader. Think ofany boss you’ve had. Didn’t you enjoyworking for those who took a genuineinterest in you as a person? Be a leaderwho truly cares about his people—you’llbe amazed at the difference it makes inhow others experience your leadership. LESteve Arneson, Ph.D., is president, Arneson Leadership Consult-ing, a leadership coach, speaker, and author of Bootstrap Lead-ership: 50 Ways to Break Out, Take Charge, and Move Up.Visit www.arnesonleadership.com; steve@arnesonleadership.com.

ACTION: Ask these five questions.

by Steve Arneson

1 8 N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

PEOPLE INTERVIEWS

G e t t o k n o w y o u r p e o p l e b e t t e r .

excels at acquiring, interpreting, trans-ferring, and acting on knowledge inways that transform the organization, itsoperations and people. L&D profes-sionals should serve as learning processexperts by providing information, toolsand resources to capitalize on teamlearning, but all leaders must activelyfoster and inspire a supportive culture—operating as learning change agents.

1. Championing learning principles.Leaders promote a supportive learningculture by championing three principles:• Collaboration/team learning: being open

to questions and the free exchange ofideas, learning from experience and fromothers (valuing diversity of thought),and believing that the whole of team think-ing is greater than the sum of individual parts.• Disciplined reflection: formally review-

ing and analyzing experiences and oth-ers’ perspectives to derive appliedlearnings that fuel strategic advantage;

analyzing both outcomes and the effec-tiveness of the process used to obtainthose outcomes (What did we set outto do? What happened? Why was therea difference? What do we sustain or dodifferently next time?)• Action: willingly and courageously

testing new learnings with others andin new situations—risking failure i.e.,perceiving failure as a critical learningopportunity to be applied.

These principles reinforce a cultureof transformation and continuous learning.

2. Establishing a supportive learningcontext. “Buy in” to the learning princi-ples is not enough –leaders must bewilling to change the way they work inorder to leverage “the business oflearning.” They must establish alignedbusiness and HR processes, promotingan environment where it is “safe” tospeak up, where collaboration andrisk-taking are the norm and wherefailure is viewed as a learning opportu-nity rather than a punishable offense.

Strategic Advantage

THE MODERN HR LANDSCAPE IS PEP-pered with buzzwords such as

learning mindset and strategic learning,and new titles such as Chief LearningOfficer (CLO). And, we talk of buildinglearning organizations and creating a cul-ture for learning. Still, skeptics questionwhether this focus on strategic learningis a passing fad in search of business-related validation, or a legitimatesource of competitive advantage.

We see groundbreaking potential fororganizational learning not only toinfluence, but to drive strategic advan-tage. Why? There’s been a sharp tran-sition in the way that success is defined,shifting from the bottom-line results andefficiency perspective to an approachemphasizing judgment and innovativethinking. The sole focus of the past, get-ting things done right—replete with theconsequences of not getting things doneright—simply doesn’t suffice in a know-ledge-based economy. How can peopleinnovate based on new knowledge if they’reafraid to make mistakes? This shift hasraised the stakes on an organization’sability to learn, adapt and reinventitself to stay on top of its competition.

Ray Stata, former CEO of AnalogDevices, a company that experiencednear revolutionary growth, stated: “Therate at which individuals and organi-zations learn is the only true sustainablecompetitive advantage.” Unless you learnmore rapidly than competitors and the rateof change, you fall behind! Companiesthat are first to market—first to learn andact on their learnings—tend to dominatetheir competitors. While products andservices can be imitated, original learn-ing can’t be matched, copied, or rivaled.

CChhaannggee AAggeennttss ffoorr LLeeaarrnniinnggIf learning and adapting are keys to

competitive advantage, leaders mustmove beyond simply applying best-practices to driving strategic businessadvantage by creating learning organiza-tion. A true learning organization capital-izes on the business of learning. It

To establish a supportive learningcontext, leaders can take four specificactions: 1) Organize cross-functionaland geographic teams to maximizediversity of perspectives, collaboration,and learning; 2) Align performance andrewards systems to ensure that peoplewho participate in creating a collabora-tive learning culture are rewarded; 3)Establish systems to attract and selectindividuals who demonstrate strongknowledge-based competencies, including:risk-taking, collaboration, creativity,learning on the fly, and flexibility. 4)Brand and communicate talent man-agement strategies that emphasizelearning potential and recasting conceptsof weakness and failure to be reframed asdevelopment opportunities; handle indi-vidual needs via coaching/mentoring.

3. Role-modeling effective learningbehaviors—walking the talk. Mostemployees look to their managers togauge whether a stated principle hasbecome part of the culture or passing fad.Hence, leaders need to model the behaviorsthat they want to see by taking fiveactions: 1) taking decisive action inreformulating strategy, making struc-tural changes or process revisions, andeven replacing well- liked people onkey projects to maintain fidelity to themission and values; 2) communicatingopenly and candidly, and acceptingfeedback with an open mind; 3) effec-tively partnering with the CLO to uti-lize available learning, debriefing, andcollaborating tools for better teamwork;4) collaborating across functional andgeographic areas to maximize knowl-edge transfer; and 5) modeling behav-iors associated with risk-taking, collab-oration, creativity, learning on the fly,continuous learning, and flexibility.

A culture that supports continuoustransformation, reinvention, and innova-tion is best positioned to gain competi-tive advantage. Leaders who can connectthe learnings to bottom-line improvementswill occupy tomorrow’s C-suite.

Successful companies master learn-ing on the fly—reinventing themselvesas necessary, committing to the princi-ples of collaboration, disciplined reflection,and action. As courageous leaders reflecton lessons learned, they then changeanything and everything from strategy,operations and research to the fabric oftheir culture in order to achieve com-petitive advantage. They know thatnothing is sacred but learning itself. LE

Amy M. Bladen, Ph.D., is leadership development consultant.Email ambladen@gmail.com or call 609-413-3704. Stephen John,EdD, is Assoc. Professor at Kean University and independentOrg Effectiveness consultant. Email stephengjohn@aol.com.

ACTION: Help your team win by learning.

L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 1 9

PERFORMANCE LEARNING

by Amy Bladen and Stephen John

Yo u c a n d r i v e i t t h r o u g h l e a r n i n g .

family structures, genders, cultures,and experiences that make up the mar-ket for talent. There are multiple views ofsuccess and multiple motivations at work.

Increasingly long-term success restsat the intersection of high performanceand career-life fit. We define career-life fitas the interplay of people’s individual moti-vations around their work and lives. Leadersstriving for high performance face thechallenge of how to engage employeeswhen individuals value a career-life fitthat’s unique to them and to keep themengaged as their careers and lives change.Engagement represents the extent to whichemployees go the extra mile to deliver extra-ordinary results for the company internallyand to serve as brand ambassadors external-ly. Companies with high engagementscores deliver better results in earningsper share growth, return on assets, revenuegrowth, profitability, and pro-ductivity.

CCrreeaattiinngg aa LLaattttiicceeTo achieve engagement

that delivers high performance,leaders must move from aone-size-fits-all approach to tai-lored work practices that expandchoices and benefit employerand employees alike:

Enabling lattice careers:define multiple development pathways andoptions for customizing careers. Latticecompanies have paths that move up,down, diagonally, and across, develop-ing more versatile leaders and provid-ing higher engagement throughcontinual challenge and learning at asustainable career-life fit. For instance,when Cisco adopted councils andboards to increase collaboration, itlearned it needed to change how it developsleaders. It created a set of leadershipcompetencies to align with the newway of doing things called C-LEAD(collaborate, learn, execute, accelerate, anddisrupt). It also moved leaders laterallyand vertically. Ana Corrales, VP ofglobal business operations has heldvarious roles from manufacturing toprocurement, to finance, and to cus-tomer service. “Now, when Ana talksabout our business, she sees how all thepieces work together,” says EVP RandyPond: This is the model for our future leaders.

When Thrivent Financial, a Fortune500 financial services firm, implement-ed its approach to career customization,it needed to improve the perceived valueof lateral moves. The Thrivent Career GPSincludes professional and work goals, aprofile of life and work, and the sweetspot—the intersection of a person’sstrengths and passions and the needs

Lattice Leadersof the business. As it implements theapproach, it’s seeing a steady uptick inbetter conversations about career andlife, rising satisfaction with develop-ment options, and more lateral moves.

Enabling lattice ways to work:expand options for when, where and howwork is done. A range of options are nowavailable to structure work from flexi-ble project teams to virtual work to jobsbuilt around know-how rather than tasklists. Business benefits include: realestate savings, higher productivity, andless commuting. Far-flung teams arebeginning to outperform those locatedtogether. Technology is a criticalenabler. But mindset, management prac-tices, and culture are also important. Atthe Thomson Reuters U.K.-based salesand trading division, for example, 40percent of staff live outside the country in

which their manager works.“Managers can’t be theclock-checker,” says AnnaPatruno, head of financialoperations. “They need toset clear goals and timeframes and give clear guid-ance and direction. Thenthe team can deliver.”

Enabling lattice ways toparticipate: facilitate collabo-ration, interaction, and com-

munication unconstrained by traditionalrules of top-down hierarchy. Participationhelps deliver on the promise of an inclu-sive and more transparent culture, as wellas stimulating innovation and improv-ing coordination and efficiency: 85 per-cent of highly engaged employees say theircompany does a good job of seeking the opin-ions and suggestions of employees (comparedwith 7 percent of less engaged employees).BT, the British telecom giant, has widen-ed participation through social mediaincluding blogging and social network-ing to spur innovation. “To have aninnovative company, all employees mustthink they can make a difference,” saysRichard Dennison, principal businesspartner. “These tools enable people tothink they can make a difference.”

Many companies are making progressin the lattice ways. By taking a holisticlattice approach, companies create asynergy that multiplies the benefits. Theladder belief that high performance andcareer-life fit are opposing forces must giveway to a new reality: they’re inextricablylinked and mutually reinforcing. Latticeleaders tap the power of this paradigmshift to drive bottom-line results. LE

Cathy Benko is Vice Chairman and Chief Talent Officer, Deloitte;and Molly Anderson is Director Talent, Deloitte Services. Theyare co-authors of The Corporate Lattice (HBR Press).

ACTION: Deliver high performance.

2 0 N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 0 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e

LEADERSHIP LATTICE

They deliver high performance.

by Cathy Benko and Molly Anderson

THE CORPORATE LADDER MODEL IS BUILTon top-down, one-size-fits-all means

of leading people and managing work.But the ladder is collapsing under theweight of the changing world of work,and a new model, the corporate lattice,is emerging. The sooner leaders recog-nize this, they can tap into the powerof the changing formula for high performance.

TThhee LLaaddddeerr CCoollllaappsseessCompanies today are flatter. Over a

14-year period, CEO spans-of-controltripled, and the layers under themdecreased 25 percent. Talent develop-ment can no longer focus only on upwardmoves. Work is changing as well with40 times more projects than two decadesago, heightening the need for collabo-ration and for leaders with cross-siloperspectives. And, technology has cre-ated a more global, virtual, and dis-persed workplace—more alternatives forhow work is performed and broader possi-bilities for learning and growth.

Assumptions and norms on which thecorporate ladder was built no longer holdtrue. For example, leaders could oncecount on employee loyalty in exchange forlifetime employment. Gen Y job hoppershadn’t yet arrived. Work was 9-to-5,in-the-office. In contrast, now over 40percent of employers offer some remote workoptions (83 percent of Best Companies toWork For have virtual work options).

The ladder model also assumes thatupward advancement and perks definesuccess for most workers and motivatetop-notch performance—yet women,now half of the workforce, typicallyhave non-linear careers that put moreemphasis on meaning in work. Three-quarters of married, working men arein dual-career couples, and they reporthigher work-life stress than women do.Most millennials cite career-life fit as apriority, and two-thirds of workers ages45 to 70 also want a better career-lifefit. What’s important to people in theirwork is as varied as the generations,