Excellence LEADERSHIP DECEMBER 2006 THE MAGAZINE OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, MANAGERIAL EFFECTIVENESS, AND ORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY www.LeaderExcel.com Servant Leadership Moral Authority Try Three Winning Ways to Wow Cure Team Dysfunction Tom Peters Mr. Excellence Six Elements of Top Performance Servant Leadership Moral Authority Try Three Winning Ways to Wow Cure Team Dysfunction Six Elements of Top Performance Cultivate Innovation Capability Cultivate Innovation Capability “Leadership Excellence is an exceptional way to learn and then apply the best and latest ideas in the field of leadership.” —WARREN BENNIS, AUTHOR AND USC PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT
Transcript
ExcellenceLEADERSHIP DECEMBER 2006
THE MAGAZINE OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, MANAGERIAL EFFECTIVENESS, AND ORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY
w w w . L e a d e r E x c e l . c o m
Servant Leadership
MoralAuthorityTry Three Winning
Ways to Wow
Cure TeamDysfunctionTom PetersMr. Excellence
Six Elements of Top
Performance
Servant Leadership
MoralAuthorityTry Three Winning
Ways to Wow
Cure TeamDysfunction
Six Elements of Top
PerformanceCultivate
InnovationCapability
Cultivate
InnovationCapability
“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
THE MAGAZINE OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, MANAGERIAL EFFECTIVENESS, AND ORGANIZATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY
TOM PETERS
Ways to WowFind heroes, do demos, and tell stories . . . . . . . . .3
KEN BLANCHARD
Elements of Top PerformanceShow leadership in six key areas . . . . . . . . .4
STEPHEN R. COVEY
Servant LeadershipUse your moralauthority to serve . . . . . . .5
PATRICK LENCIONI
Team DysfunctionYou need to identifythe cause and cure . . . . . .6
DAVE ULRICH, NORM SMALL-WOOD, AND KURT SANDHOLTZ
Make Intangibles TangibleLearn how to manage intangible assets . . . . . . . . .7
Innovation GapDevelop a collectivesense of destiny . . . . . . . .9
ROBERT WHIPPLE
Build TrustDo your people now tell you when things at work aren’t right? . . . .10
MARSHALL GOLDSMITH
Success Delusion Many leaders are suffering from some degree of delusion . . . . .11
EILEEN MCDARGH
Followers and LeadersTeamwork makes for smoother sailing . . . . . . .12
KATE LUDEMAN ANDEDDIE ERLANDSON
Taming Alpha LeadersThey are aggressive,competitive, and rarely good for the team . . . . . .13
MICHAEL J.MARQUARDT
Leading With QuestionsFew leaders practice and master this important art . . . . . . . . . .14
BJ GALLAGHER
YES Lives in the Land of NOYour mantra should be: find a way to say YES . . .15
JOSEPH GIORDANO
AND CANDIS COOK
Leading InnovationWhat are you doing and how are you doing it? . . .16
NIKOS MOURKOGIANNIS
Four Routes to SuccessPurpose is alwaysthe starting point . . . . . .17
LIBBY SARTAIN
Brand for the InsideBuild your brand to connect with employees and people . . . . . . . . . . .18
STEPHEN M. DENT
Effective PartneringCultivate a vibrant culture of effectivecollaboration . . . . . . . . . .19
JOSEPH R. MCKINNEY
Prepared to Lead Leadership is allabout preparation . . . . . .19
JEFF DEGRAFF
CreativizersInnovation comesin different forms . . . . . .20
V O L . 2 3 N O . 1 2 D E C E M B E R 2 0 0 6
LEADERSHIPExcellence™
PUFFED-UP LEADER
Self-deluded, this leader is
puffed up with pride and
self-importance, as evidenced by his colorful clothing
and accumulated baggage. He is fortunate, indeed, to be kept on a
short leash by a responsible woman; otherwise, he might spin off
into space and pop!
FOR YEARS I HAVE FELT THATLeadership Excellence is like
a vital organ in the body—meaning, it’s not optional! I know TomPeters has the same feeling.
Three Great EventsThis feeling was confirmed as I attended
three recent events: • HR.com Conference, Employers of
Excellence, held in October at the Red RockResort in Las Vegas. This great 5th annualevent featured an all-star line up of who’swho presenters, including Patrick Lencioni,David Ulrich, Margaret Wheatley, BeverlyKaye, Lance Secretan, Libby Sartain,Marshall Goldsmith, Michael Winston, andFrances Hesselbein, among many others. I
salute the amazing Debbie McGrath, CEOof HR.com, and her staff for delivering oneof the best learning events of the year.• The IQPC Corporate University Week held
in November in Orlando. This 8th annualevent featured dozens of CLO presentersand over 200 participants as well as theCUBIC (corporate university best in class)Awards. The conference addressed: launch-ing your CU; maturing your CU and imple-menting best practices; assessment,evaluation, and ROI measurement; andlearning delivery and management systems. • The HSM Performance Summit in Chicago.
This 4th annual event featured a well-knownlineup of presenters who often appear in thepages of Leadership Excellence: Ken
Blanchard, Ram Charan, Tom Peters, HyrumSmith, and Tony Schwartz. I came away
with more powerful ideas for gaining extraor-dinary results through people and teams.
Articles from the presenters at theseevents will be featured in upcoming issuesof Leadership Excellence.
Champions of ExcellenceWherever I travel, I find champions of
excellence—professionals in the fields whoare passionate advocates of this magazinebecause of how it helps them learn andapply great ideas to their life and business.
Each month in 2007, we want to make LEeven more useful in five ways: by providingcontent that you can readily integrate intoyour development programs, offering cus-tom e-editions, facilitating dialogue andcommunities of practice, providing closerconnection between print and online edi-tions, and adding special features that giveyou reasons to anticipate, read, and keepthe magazine: directories, lists, rankings,surveys, or other value-added features.
In January, we’ll start by recognizing theLeaders of the Year. We invite you to nomi-nate your favorite leaders, based on six cri-teria: 1. Performed exceptionally well in
lems, and decisions; 4. Registered impres-sive results for the year and set the stage forsustained results, given the circumstances;5. Was acknowledged within organizationand industry as a person of vision, passion,purpose, direction, and integrity; 6. Createda culture and standard of excellence.
This will become an annual event. Again,your nominations are welcome in three cate-gories: government/military, education/non-profit, and business/industry. Email me [email protected] . Include your 100-word trib-ute and your leader’s contact information. LE
L e a d e r s h i p i s n o t o p t i o n a l .
by Ken Shelton
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Vital MessagesE . D . I . T . O . R ’ S N . O . T . E
2 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e
DebbieMcGrath
Lance Secretan
MargaretWheatley
TomPeters
Ram Charan
Ken Blanchard
been itching to make things happen.(Or who are harboring success storiesthat they’re afraid to go public with forfear of the old guard’s wrath.) Given achance, these lead frogs will leap overthe fortress of inertia and mark out avisible path that others can follow.
Don’t waste precious time on thereluctant ones—those other frogs whoare too content, or too afraid, to strayfrom their preferred lily pad.
You mostly don’t need to hire revo-lutionaries. Odds are high that youhave them already: role models—exist-ing people who actually exemplify abrash new way of doing things. Theyare lurking! Waiting to be discovered!Waiting to be listened to! Waiting to be
taken seriously! So, seek them out. Let‘em loose. Teach these lead-frog heroesa few manners. Make it clear as a bellto one and all that they are the new way!
Where do you find these lead frogs,these would-be revolutionaries, thesediamonds-in-the-rough? You findthem in your network. But that mightnot be quite enough. You might alsoneed to follow the flypaper strategy:induce these heroes to come out of thewoodwork by laying irresistible, stickytraps for them. Here, then, are someways to add a little stickiness to yoursystematic pursuit of heroes.• Fair game. Put on an idea fair, a
bragfest, an internal trade show—apublic and well-publicized occasionduring which the lead frogs jump outof their pond and demonstrate theirweird wares. Result: other freaks areinspired to show their true colors.• To catch a freak. Start a monthly sem-
inar series, but instead of inviting the
Ways to Wow
BEING THE BOSS ISN’Twhat it used to be.
Mostly, that’s a goodthing. But it can be hard to give up theold habits of management by exhorta-tion and by detailed plan. Managerstend to issue orders ex cathedra—orderslike “Get more entrepreneurial,” “Takerisks,” “Implement a zero-defects pro-gram,” and “Empower people.”
Stupid! Why? Ordering systematicchange is a waste. Trying to order a newculture doesn’t work. The boss whooperates that way will find himselfgoing nowhere fast—and maybe evenbackwards. Those clear orders will beexecuted by frustrated managers benton preserving their disintegrating powerbase—they will quash innovation.
The goal of boss work must be this:Get people initiating, and then work-ing on WOW projects! Projects thatthey put their heart and soul into!Projects that they will want to beremembered by! (Ask yourself: Doyou want people working for youwho don’t want to be remembered bywhat they’re doing right now?)
You, the boss, must turn your com-pany into a place where amazing stuffis always percolating. Task One isgathering an awesome array of incred-ibly cool people who invest in, andcommit to, and execute bold experi-ments that turn into WOW projects.
WOW projects have inspiring goalsand objectives. They are projects thatmatter, make a difference, transformthe enterprise, take your breath away,make you and others smile, and high-light why you are here on Earth.
Three Ways to WowWe need heroes: exemplars of the
exciting new way of doing things; weneed demos and we need stories: riv-eting tales that fire the imagination ofreluctant heroes-in-waiting. So, findheroes, do demos, and tell stories.
1. Find heroes: The lead-frog strate-gy. If you want to “leap-frog” change,then you need “lead frogs.” So, trollthrough the ranks for would-be revo-lutionaries—people who have long
usual suspects—the gurus du jour (likeme!)—invite a genuine freak fromwithin your company to lead eachseminar. Again: freaks attract otherfreaks. (Flypaper, remember!)• Just for fund. Create a play fund, a
bucket-o’-cash that your people candraw upon in small doses to pursueweird, wild, one-off projects. Showthem the money—and see what hap-pens. Define an area of need that isspecific, but not too specific.• Time off for weird behavior. How
about setting up a special scholarshipfund for radical sabbaticals? Peoplecould apply, much as they would forthe grant fund, to spend six monthswith a cool customer or a scintillatingsupplier. Or maybe they would applyto work with a profound professor ona research project. Whatever. Call itoutside-the-company thinking.
The lead-frog strategy works. Theultimate example (for me): the projectthat led to my writing In Search ofExcellence. When I was at McKinsey &Co., I was handed the reins of a two-bitproject on organization effectiveness. Ididn’t have much real power. But I didhave a few ideas and a lot of passion.And by dint of that passion, I slowlyattracted a passel of powerless young-sters to my cause. The ground was ripefor picking: McKinsey’s strategy-is-every-thing emphasis had given rise to a crop ofrenegade youth—young-and-restlesstypes. And so I searched high and low forthem, using all of my friends’ networks.
My search for excellence yielded aslew of insights into the art of lead-frog leadership: 1) Lead frogs arealways with us; 2) Your job as boss:find ‘em. Excite ‘em. Offer ‘em a revo-lutionary peer group—and don’t give‘em too much visibility too soon oryou’ll scare ‘em off; 3) After you artic-ulate your point of view, your rolebecomes that of community organizer,cheerleader, provider of camouflagegear, and chronicler-in-chief; 4) Leadfrogs tend to be relatively junior andformally powerless; 5) Powerless iscool because, for the heroes, powerlessmeans pissed off, which means preparedto go for it or go bust.
2. The way of the demo. A demo isan early-stage WOW project. Demosare what your heroes—your leadfrogs—will do once you give them agreen light. (Or maybe they’ve alreadydone a WOW project on the sly andyour green light will give them per-mission to come out.) Demos are excit-ing experiments—under-the-radar,on-a-shoestring, in-the-trenches effortsthat vividly exemplify a new way.
by Tom Peters
L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e 3
PERFORMANCE HEROES
T r y t h e s e t h r e e .
Demos are the true hard stuff that sellsand compels. Demos are palpableproof that seriously cool change is notonly possible—it’s already under way!Demos are what you tell stories about.
3. The work of stories. The key toleadership is the effective communica-tion of a story. That’s the story, accord-ing to Harvard psychologist HowardGardner. That’s a strong statement:The story is your “single most power-ful weapon”! I wholeheartedly agree.I’ve spent the last 30 years studyingorganizational change—which meansthat I’ve become a de facto anthropolo-gist. And one thing you learn as a stu-dent of human culture is the oftenunsung power of storytelling. It is truein the bush, true in the boardroom,and true everywhere in between.
What, after all, do leaders really do? John Seely Brown, former head of Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center,said: “Leaders make meaning.” And“meaning” consists of compelling stories!Coherent themes! Soaring messages!Those stories, themes, and messagesare about WOW people (flesh-and-bloodheroes) doing WOW projects (demosor projects done on the front lines).
As they make the rounds, effectiveleaders ask: “Got any good stories?”Stories animate our reasoning process;stories give us permission to act; sto-ries are photographs of who we aspireto be; stories cause emotional respons-es; stories connect; stories are us.
Here are the steps I think you oughtto take: 1) Chat up people; 2) Developa list of potential heroes (lead frogs); 3)Hang out with those heroes-in-the-making and find out what they wantto change, how they would changeit—maybe what they’ve already doneto change it on the sly; 4) Encouragethem to go for it; 5) Protect them whentheir bosses seek revenge! 6) Turn thedemos of the new heroes’ best effortsinto WOW stories; 7) Showcase thoseWOW stories. Incorporate them intoyour speeches, newsletters, andemails. Add your public stamp ofapproval; 8) Promote one or two of themost illustrious heroes by movingthem three levels up at one jump—now the lead frog is the leap frog; 9)Treat that promotion as a Big Story—as a recruitment tool for getting thefoot-draggers to sign up and comeaboard, or at least get out of the way;10) Keep the cycle going: more heroes,more demos, more stories. LE
Tom Peters is president of the Tom Peters Company and authorof Leadership, from the Tom Peters Essentials series. Call513-683-4702 or visit www.tompeters.com.
ACTION: Clear the way for your lead frogs!
tomer experience to identify their metrics.E = Energizing systems and structures.
Their systems, structures, processes, andpractices are aligned to support the vision,strategic direction, and goals. Energizingsystems and structures provide the plat-form for rapid response to obstacles andopportunities. The systems and structureshelp people do their jobs more easily.
S = Shared power and high involve-ment. In HPOs, power and decision-making are shared and distributed.Participation, collaboration, and team-work are a way of life. When peoplefeel valued and respected for their con-tributions, are allowed to make deci-sions that impact their lives, and haveaccess to information to make gooddecisions, they function as valuable con-tributors to the purpose and vision. Asense of personal and collective powerexists. When people are clear aboutgoals and standards and have clearboundaries of autonomy, they act withcommitment to accomplish results.
Leadership Is the EngineIf becoming an HPO is the
destination, leadership is theengine. While the SCORESmodel describes the character-istics of an HPO, leadershipmoves people in that direction.
In HPOs, the role of formalleadership is radically differ-ent. HPOs do not rely on cul-tivating a great, charismaticleader, but on building a
visionary organization that enduresbeyond the leader. The role of leader-ship shifts from privileged status andpower for its own sake toward a morecomplex, participative, long-termprocess. Once leaders establish the vision,they assume the attitude and behaviorof a servant leader.
In HPOs, leadership is evident atevery level. Leaders embody a spirit ofinquiry and discovery. They help oth-ers think systematically. They act asteachers and lifelong learners. Theystand firm on values and focus energy-on the bull’s-eye of excellence.
In HPOs, leadership emerges every-where. Individuals with expertise comeforward as needed. HPOs do notdepend on a few peak performers toguide and direct; rather, they havebroadly developed leadership capabili-ties. This allows for self-management,ownership, and the power to act quicklyas the situation requires. LE
Ken Blanchard is chief spiritual officer of the Ken BlanchardCompanies and author of Leading at a Higher Level(Financial Times Prentice Hall). Visit www.kenblanchard.com.
ACTION: Nurture these six elements.
WHAT ARE HIGH-performing orga-
nizations (HPOs), andwhat do they look like?
HPOs are enterprises that produceoutstanding results with the highestlevel of human satisfaction. Because oftheir flexibility, nimbleness, and respon-siveness, HPOs remain successful today,and poised to succeed in the future.
HPO SCORES ModelSCORES represents the six elements
evident in every HPO:S = Shared information and open com-
munication. In HPOs, infor-mation needed to makeinformed decisions is readilyavailable and openly com-municated. Sharing informa-tion and facilitating opencommunication builds trustand encourages people to actlike owners and make deci-sions aligned with the goalsand values. Open communi-cation and dialogue keeps the organiza-tion healthy, agile, flexible, and fluid.
C = Compelling vision. When every-one supports such a vision—includingpurpose, picture of the future, and val-ues—it creates a deliberate, highlyfocused culture that drives the desiredresults. In HPOs, people are energizedby, excited about, and dedicated to sucha vision. They can describe the vision,are committed to it, and clearly see theirrole in supporting it. They have a noblesense of purpose that creates and focus-es energy. Their personal values arealigned with the organization’s values.They can describe what they intend tocreate. Everyone is in the same boattogether moving full-steam ahead.
O = Ongoing learning. HPOs are fo-cused on improving their capabilitiesthrough learning systems, building knowl-edge capital, and transferring learning.
R = Relentless focus on customerresults. HPOs know their customers andmeasure their results accordingly. Theypassionately maintain the highest stan-dards of quality and service from theircustomers’ perspective using the cus-
Elements of TopPerformanceShow strength in six areas.
4 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e
by Ken Blanchard
PERFORMANCE ELEMENTS
breeds inner security. If your sense ofworth is not dependent upon externaljudgments and comparisons, you canbe happy for the successes of others.But if your identify is based on com-parisons, you simply can’t be happywhen others succeed because youoperate out of an emotional deficiency.
Wisdom and an abundance mentali-ty lead you believe in people, affirmtheir worth and potential, and think in terms of release rather than control.You then respect the power and capac-ity people have to choose; your moti-vation is internal; and you make noattempt to manage, control, or moti-vate others. You inspire rather than
require. You liberate rather than subju-gate people. You don’t think zero-sum;you think of third alternatives—highermiddle-ways. You are filled with grati-tude, reverence, and respect for allpeople. You see life as a cornucopia ofresources, opportunity, and growth.
Moral AuthorityWisdom is the beneficial use of
knowledge; wisdom is information andknowledge impregnated with higherpurposes and principles. Wisdomteaches us to respect all people, to cele-brate their differences, to be guided by a single ethic—service above self.Moral authority is primary greatness(character strengths); formal authorityis secondary greatness (position, wealth,talent, reputation, popularity).
Moral authority is a paradox.Authority is commonly defined interms of command, control, power,sway, rule, supremacy, domination,dominion, strength, might. The antonymis civility, servitude, weakness, and fol-lower. Moral authority (primary great-ness) is gaining influence by followingprinciples. Moral dominion is achieved
through service, sacrifice, and contri-bution. Power and moral supremacyemerge from humility, where thegreatest becomes the servant of all.
The top people of great organiza-tions are servant-leaders. They are themost humble, reverent, open, teach-able, respectful, and caring. Jim Collins,author of Built to Last and Good toGreat, notes: “The most powerfullytransformative executives (level-fiveleaders) possess a paradoxical mixtureof personal humility and professionalwill. They are timid and ferocious. Shyand fearless, rare—and unstoppable.Good-to-great transformations don’thappen without level-five leaders.”
In Leading Beyond the Walls, JimCollins writes: “Leaders must definethe organization by reference to corevalues and purpose; build connectionand commitment rooted in freedom ofchoice, rather than coercion and control;and accept that the exercise of true lead-ership is inversely proportional to theexercise of power.” When people withthe formal authority or position power(secondary greatness) refuse to usethat authority and power except as alast resort, their moral authority tendsto increase because they subordinatetheir ego and position power and usereasoning, persuasion, kindness,empathy, and trustworthiness instead.
When you borrow strength fromposition, you build weakness in your-self, because you are not developingmoral authority; in others, because theybecome codependent with your use offormal authority; and in the quality ofthe relationship, because authenticopenness and trust atrophy. Abra-ham Lincoln said, “The surest way toreveal one’s character is not throughadversity but by giving them power.”
Leaders with high moral authorityare often given formal authority—likeNelson Mandela, the father of the newSouth Africa. He once said, “At first,as a student, I wanted freedom onlyfor myself. But I then slowly saw thatnot only was I not free, but my broth-ers and sisters were not free. That iswhen the hunger for my own freedombecame the greater hunger for the free-dom of my people. This desire for free-dom of my people to live their liveswith dignity and self-respect animatedmy life. I could not even enjoy the lim-ited freedoms I was allowed when Iknew my people were not free.”
The inner drive to find your ownvoice and inspire others to find theirsis fueled by the purpose of servinghuman needs. Without meetinghuman needs, we don’t expand our
L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e 5
LEADERSHIP SERVICE
ORGANIZATIONS AREfounded to serve
human needs. There is no other reason for their existence.Robert K. Greenleaf, founder of the ser-vant leadership movement, noted:“The only authority deserving our alle-giance is that which is freely grantedby the led to the leader in proportionto the servant stature of the leader.”
Greenleaf talks of the humility ofservant leaders. If you are trying toserve purposes greater than yourknowledge—greater than your com-fort zone—this creates genuine humil-ity and a desire to draw upon helpfrom others. Successfully workingwith others makes your knowledgeand abilities more productive andfacilitates the creation of a comple-mentary team of people who possessknowledge and abilities that can com-pensate for your weaknesses.
This awareness should increaseyour commitment to mentored learn-ing in such areas as personal growth,relationships, and leadership. Wheninformation and knowledge areimpregnated with worthy purposesand principles, you have wisdom.
Wisdom is the child of integrity—being integrated around principles—and integrity is the child of humilityand courage. Humility is the mother ofall the virtues because humilityacknowledges that there are naturallaws or principles that govern the uni-verse. They are in charge. We are not.Pride teaches us that we are in charge.Humility teaches us to live by princi-ples, because they ultimately govern theconsequences of our actions. If humilityis the mother, courage is the father ofwisdom. To live by these principleswhen they are contrary to social mores,norms, and values takes enormouscourage. Ambrose Redmoon said,“Courage is not the absence of fear, butrather the judgment that something elseis more important than fear.”
Integrity has two children—wisdomand the abundance mentality. Wisdomcomes to people who educate and obeytheir conscience. The abundance men-tality is cultivated because integrity
Servant Leadership
by Stephen R. Covey
U s e y o u r v o i c e t o s e r v e o t h e r s .
admit their mistakes, weaknesses, orneed for help. Without a certain comfortlevel among team members, a founda-tion of trust is impossible.
2. Fear of conflict. Teams that lacktrust won’t engage in unfiltered, pas-sionate debate about key issues, caus-ing situations where team conflict caneasily turn into veiled discussions andback-channel comments. Where teammembers do not openly air their opin-ions, inferior decisions result.
3. Lack of commitment. Withoutconflict, it is difficult for team membersto commit to decisions, creating anenvironment where ambiguity prevails.Lack of direction and commitment can
make people disgruntled. 4. Avoidance of
accountability. Whenteams don’t commit to aclear plan of action, eventhe most engaged individ-uals hesitate to call theirpeers on counterproduc-tive actions and behaviors.
5. Inattention toresults. Team members
tend to put their own needs (ego,career, recognition) ahead of the goalsof the team when individuals aren’theld accountable. If a team has lostsight of the need for achievement, thebusiness suffers.
Creating a functional, cohesive teamis one of the few remaining competi-tive advantages available to leaders.Functional teams avoid wasting timetalking about the wrong issues andrevisiting the same topics. They alsomake higher quality decisions andaccomplish more in less time and withless distraction and frustration.
Successful teamwork is aboutembracing common sense with uncom-mon discipline and persistence.Ironically, teams succeed because theyare exceedingly human. By acknowl-edging the imperfections of theirhumanity, members of functionalteams overcome the natural tendenciesthat make teamwork so elusive. LE
Patrick Lencioni is president of The Table Group and author ofOvercoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A FieldGuide for Leaders, Managers, and Facilitators (Wiley).Call 925-299-9700 or visit www.tablegroup.com.
ACTION: Address your teams’ dysfunctions.
Team Dysfunction
LIKE IT OR NOT, ALLteams are potentially
dysfunctional. This isinevitable because they are made up offallible, imperfect human beings.Politics and confusion are more therule than the exception. However, fac-ing dysfunction and focusing on team-work is critical at the top because theexecutive team sets the tone for howall employees work with one another.
A former client, founder of a billion-dollar company, said, “If you could getall your people rowing in the same direc-tion, you could dominateany market, against anycompetition, any time.”
Whenever I repeat thisadage, people nod theirheads, but in a desperatesort of way. They graspthe truth of it while surrendering to theimpossibility of actuallymaking it happen.
Fortunately, there is hope. The causesof dysfunction are identifiable and cur-able. However, they don’t die easily.Making a team functional and cohesiverequires levels of courage and disciplinethat many groups cannot muster.
To better understand the level ofdysfunction you face, ask: Do teammembers openly and readily disclosetheir opinions? Are team meetingscompelling and productive? Does theteam come to decisions quickly andavoid getting bogged down by con-sensus? Do team members confrontone another about their shortcomings? Do team members sacrifice their owninterests for the good of the team?
Although even the best teams some-times struggle with these issues, thefinest leaders constantly work toensure that their answers are “yes.”
Five DysfunctionsThe first step toward reducing politics
and confusion on your team is to add-ress the five dysfunctions one by one.
1. Absence of trust. This occurswhen team members are reluctant tobe vulnerable with one another and
freedom to choose. We grow more per-sonally when we give ourselves to oth-ers. Our relationships improve whentogether we serve some human need.
Leaders who have formal authorityand use it in principle-centered waysfind their influence increasing expo-nentially. Why does moral authorityexponentially increase the effectivenessof formal authority and power?Dependent people are super-sensitiveto either throwing one’s weight aroundor the use of patience, kindness, gentle-ness, empathy, and gentle persuasion.Such character strength activates theconsciences and creates emotionalidentification with the leader and thecause or principles he or she stands for.Then when formal authority or posi-tional power is also used, people followfor the right reasons, out of genuinecommitment rather than out of fear.
This is the real key to leadership—combining high standards, strong val-ues, and consistent discipline withunconditional love, deep empathy, anda lot of fun. This is why the greatesttest of leadership—and the key to build-ing a healthy, nurturing culture—is howwe treat the ones who test us the most.In difficult times, we tend to revert backto the command-and-control model,because people fear for their security.But it will not optimize results.
As you expand your influence byinspiring others to find their voice, youincrease your freedom and power ofchoice to solve challenges and servehuman needs; you learn how leader-ship becomes a choice, not a position,so that leadership is widely distributed.While you manage or control things,you must lead people. You conqueryourself first by subordinating what youwant now for what you want later.
If you follow principles that alwayspoint north (like a compass), you developmoral authority; people trust you, and ifyou respect them, see their worth andpotential, and involve them, you can sharea common vision. If, through your moralauthority you earn formal authority orposition, you can institutionalize theseprinciples, leading to more freedom andpower to expand your service. The leader-ship that inspires followership comes onlywhen you put service above self.
Organizations are only sustainablewhen they serve human needs. Serviceabove self is not about “what’s in it forme,” but about “what can I contribute?” LE
Stephen R. Covey is co-founder of FranklinCovey and author ofThe 8th Habit (Free Press). Call 801-377-9515 or visit www.franklincovey.com.
ACTION: Engage in servant leadership.
by Patrick Lencioni
6 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e
I d e n t i f y t h e c a u s e s a n d c u r e .
PERFORMANCE TEAMS
WHEN WE ASK CEOS, “What keepsyou awake at night?” they often
respond: “When I earn $100 in profit,the market values it at about $2,000.My competitor’s $100 is valued at$4,000. If my P/E ratio stays at half ofmy competitor’s, I’ll never catch up.What do I have to do?”
It’s a question many leaders ask,since today earnings account for justhalf of a firm’s market value. Theother half comes from the firm’s intan-gibles—factors not directly related tophysical assets. To increase the firm’smarket value, CEOs and CFOs mustgrapple with a set of variables whosevery name—intangibles—suggeststhey can’t be defined, much less man-aged. Leaders can, however, increasetheir market capitalization by takingfour steps:
Four StepsThis framework is not a quick fix;
the four steps require discipline, con-sistency, and sustained focus. The ben-efit, however, is shared commitment.
Step 1: Keep your promises. Thefoundation of intangible value is trust.This starts with keeping promisesmade to stakeholders. Accurate fore-casts and reliable quarterly earningsare the table stakes. Keeping promisesextends to meeting customer expecta-tions for service, quality, and delivery;it includes following through on com-mitments to employees. Leaders whomake and keep promises build credi-bility, confidence, and conviction.
Trust is easier to maintain thanregain, so try these four tips:• Promise less, deliver more. Unreal-
istic aspirations create enthusiasm inthe short term and cynicism thereafter.Find the balance between optimismand self-deception; insist on a frankand rigorous examination of marketand organization realities.
L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e 7
• Get beyond analysis. After a top con-sulting firm presented the results of apricey strategic analysis, we asked theexecutives, “So, what’s your strategy?”No one could answer. Analysis is a pre-cursor to strategy, not the end product.• Prioritize. We often ask executive
teams to divide 20 points across threegeneric growth strategies (customer inti-macy, product/service innovation, orgeographic expansion), with 10 pointsgoing to one of the three. No companycan be all things to all customers.Prioritize, and invest accordingly.• Capture the strategy with a story.
Stories are found in language (Coke’s“share of stomach”), images (Nike’sswoosh), and heroes (Marriott’s cele-bration of “above and beyond” service).If the story is compelling, it adds enor-mous intangible value. • Translate the story into action. One
leader articulated a compelling strate-gy: leverage the firm’s technology togenerate 50 percent of revenues fromproducts introduced the previous year.When we asked how he would makethis happen, he wasn’t sure. We helpedhim identify three decisions he neededto make in the next 30 days.
Step 3: Align technical competencies.In 1983, Isuzu Motors introduced theImpulse, a sporty hatchback that lookedlike a high-performance driving ma-chine but still handled like a small truck.Isuzu couldn’t escape its own core com-petencies in diesel-powered trucks; theImpulse was doomed, and Isuzu’sintangible value diminished.
Technical competencies include thework processes that differentiate prod-ucts and services. Such competenciesneed to be aligned with strategy; oth-erwise, the strategy fails, and customersand investors lose confidence.
Rate your alignment in four areas:Do you know your core technical com-petencies? Do you invest more in theareas that are core to your strategy?Do you reduce investments in func-tions that are over-resourced? Do youmanage your core work differentlyfrom supporting functional work? Incore areas, managers should berewarded for building competitiveadvantage. Managers in non-core areasshould ensure cost efficiencies.
Step 4: Enable capabilities. Capabilitiesrepresent the ways you apply people andprocesses to the tasks of competition.Capabilities are the social or cultural com-petencies that become your identity. Theydefine what you are good at doing, anddrive intangible value because they arehard to imitate.
You should cultivate seven basic
• Be humble in public, confident in private.Share public credit for successes andtake responsibility for failures. Expressfaith that people can and will succeed.• Start small. A simple change in the
travel reimbursement policy can dowonders for rebuilding trust.• Anticipate and update. Even
conservative forecasts are subject tosurprises. Inform investors of “newpromises” before the grapevine takesover. Don’t hide or defend your mis-takes; show that you’ve learned.
Step 2: Create a clear, compellingstrategy. When leaders at Coca-Colalearned that the average person drinks64 ounces of liquid a day, their goalbecame to increase Coke’s “share ofstomach.” Since colas weren’t enoughto gain stomach share, the companyleveraged its marketing power toacquire and introduce new beverages:juices (Minute Maid, Fruitopia), coffee(Georgia, distributed in Japan), milk(Swerve), and water (Dasani).
Coke’s strategy passes the clear-and-compelling test: it’s easy for peo-ple to remember and act upon. Clearstrategies portray a growth vision thatexcites and energizes and then laysout the path for realizing that growth.
Companies have three options:increase customer intimacy by captur-ing customer share (Coke); developinnovative products or services thatappeal to different customers (Apple);or expand geographically and sell tonew customers (Starbucks or Wal-Mart). Leaders can choose any of theseoptions, but they must envisiongrowth and then enable it. This givescustomers and investors confidence—a key driver of intangible value.
Consider these ideas for action:
PERFORMANCE ASSETS
Make Intangibles Tangible
by Dave Ulrich, Norm Smallwood,and Kurt Sandholtz
R e m o v e t h e m y s t e r y f r o m t h e m a r k e t c a p .
SINCE SO MANY CEOfailures are caused
by failure to put theright people in the right job—andthe related failure to fix people prob-lems in time, the big question is,why do such smart people makesuch bad decisions?
One reason is approaching theproblem and believing that youalready know the solution. Startingwith a full mind leaves no room fornew perceptions. Performance ishighly linked to how much trust is inthe DNA of the culture.And we know moreabout how to destroythat trust than we knowhow to build it.
Most people’s defaultis to trust others and toexpect to be trusted.They assume that every-one is headed in thesame direction, towardthe achievement of thevision. Then they crashinto someone who neither respectsnor returns that trust. They have theirfirst experience of disenchantment.
Sometimes it’s the rigid, Machia-vellian boss who promises you’ll getto try your wings on an exciting pro-ject and then clips them mid-air.Sometimes it’s the co-worker whohas little original thinking but ishappy to take credit for your work.
If you want to lead a trust-basedorganization, you should start byfocusing on bottom-line results. If youbelieve the hype about leaders, you’llthink that all it takes is a lot of charis-ma and a great story. That helps. Butneither vision nor execution alonegives you bottom-line results—theyrequire vision plus planning plusexecution plus follow through.
You can’t do all that yourself. Noone can focus on all of these at thesame time and accomplish anything.Teams can achieve what an individ-ual cannot, but only if there is diver-sity of style and focus, and a leader
HumilityBreeds Trust
by Janice Presser
Respect and return it to earn it.
capabilities: 1) Talent: attracting, moti-vating, and retaining competent people(example: Goldman Sachs); 2) Speed:making important changes happenfast (example: Nokia); 3) Shared mindset:ensuring that customers and employ-ees have positive experiences (exam-ple: Nordstrom); 4) Accountability:maintaining the discipline for highperformance (example: Pepsico); 5)Collaboration: making the whole morethan the parts through efficiency andleverage (example: Toyota); 6) Learning:generating ideas with impact, thengeneralizing them (example: Bain &Co.); and 7) Leadership: embeddingbranded leaders who deliver the rightresults in the right way (example: GE).
Auditing Your Intangibles To build intangible value and your
P/E ratio, first conduct an intangiblesaudit to identify how to have the great-est impact on the market valuation.
For example, in 2003, IntercontinentalHotels Group (IHG) was seen as aprime takeover candidate. Its costswere high and its P/E ratio low. IHG’ssenior team knew it had to make andkeep financial promises. Cost-cuttingefforts netted annual savings of $100million. Beyond this first step, cus-tomers and employees believed thatIHG needed to focus on growth bycreating stronger brand unity andimproving its customer service.
The CEO then created a bold newgrowth strategy for the hotel group witha primary focus on customer intimacyand a secondary strategy of geographicexpansion. They would strive for opera-tional efficiencies, but invest in threecore competencies: 1) point-of-contactservice; 2) new distribution channelsthrough a consolidated reservations sys-tem that covered all IHG properties, and3) savvy brand standards that madetheir hotel brands part of a family ofhospitality services. The capabilities thatdrove these changes were collaborationand speed of change. The turnaroundwas dramatic. In one year, IHG’s shareprice increased 71 percent. The companysurvived a hostile takeover attempt,morale and confidence in the leadershipsoared, and the tangible and intangiblefactors created tremendous value.
This framework enables you tomanage intangible assets. You canboost your intangible value, make yourintangibles tangible, and delight cus-tomers, investors, and employees. LE
Dave Ulrich, Norm Smallwood and Kurt Sandholtz worktogether in the RBL Group. Visit www.rbl.net.
ACTION: Build and protect intangible value.
8 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e
who realizes that no one can beeverything. Humility will keep youfrom flying into the sun, unlike poorIcarus who was gifted with manyqualities of leadership—save thehumility that would have allowedhim to listen to others who warnedhim that things were going to heat upfar beyond his control.
Here are some suggestions forbuilding your trust-based organization:• You don’t have to be a member of a
12-step program to take a fearlessinventory. Is your default arrogance orhumility? Do you know how you affectthose who work with and for you?• Remember to balance the needs of
the organization with the needs of thepeople. You won’t know what thoseneeds are unless you know people asindividuals and understand whatmotivates them. A good measure ofyour humility will be your lack ofsurprise when you realize that whatmotivates you most is not necessarilywhat motivates them most.• Understand that there is great
value in the diversity ofother people’s styles androles. People who don’tthink the way you do aretremendously valuableto you in solving prob-lems and coming upwith innovative ideas.Listen carefully to all ofthem, and understandeach point of view andcarefully consider it evenif, at first, you don’t
agree with it. If you turn it down, doit with respect and gratitude for theiract of trusting you with it.• Earn the best team you can get.
Engage them in your process—vision,execution, evaluation—and make it aliving process. Set team goals that arechallenging but attainable and lavishlyreward the entire team for achievingthem. Rewards can be non-financialand just as effective as long as theyare oriented to what motivates eachindividual.• Remember your origins. You were
not born to lead at birth. Someonetrusted you. Now it is your turn totrust and to be trustworthy. The fur-ther you get from your origins, thefurther from Earth you will fly untill,like Icarus, you are left with no sup-ports, and your fall is inevitable. LE
Janice Presser is CEO of The Gabriel Institute, a professionalservices company and originator of Role-Based Assessment.Email [email protected].
ACTION: Take inventory and find your humility.
PEOPLE TRUST
SI N C E T H E R E I S N Ocontinuity without
constant renewal, mostleaders affirm that innovation is a crit-ical capability. Yet few can describetheir innovation system. They freelyadmit that innovation is mostlyrhetoric, not reality.
How do we explain this gapbetween word and deed? Many lead-ers are just paying lip service to inno-vation and have no intention ofworking hard on it. Nor do they havea clear, well-developed model of whatinnovation looks like as an organiza-tional capability. Hence, they don’tknow how to build it.
To make innovation a deep capabil-ity, you need to 1) enlarge your viewof innovation beyond focusing just onproducts and services, and 2) imaginewhat could be and devote less timeand energy to optimizing what younow have.
1. Enlarge your view. Many leadersassume that innovation equals newproducts—not pricing, not merchan-dising, advertising, or distribution.Gillette presents the classic example ofinnovation as product extension.Gillette used to make razors with oneblade, then it made them with twoblades, and then three blades. That isthe typical view of innovation. Andthere’s nothing wrong with it, exceptat some point adding another bladewon’t make much difference to howcustomers perceive the product.Moreover, this narrow view of innova-tion is unlikely to create new marketsand new wealth. Only radical innova-tion leads to significant growth.
To create new markets and newwealth, managers need to think aboutinnovation at the level of businessconcept—a framework for identifyinghow your business creates, delivers,and extracts value. Pioneers do notjust make minor adjustments to estab-lished business concepts—theyrethink them from the ground up tocreate new models. Dell, Starbucks,and Wal-Mart created an innovativebusiness model. The greatest rewards
L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e 9
Innovation Gap
by Gary Hamel
W h a t a r e y o u b e c o m i n g ?
CHANGE INNOVATION
go to companies that create new busi-ness models and new sources of rev-enue based on changing technology,demographics, and consumer habits.
Unfortunately, few leaders think cre-atively about a new business concept.In fact, few can describe their currentbusiness concept. Can you? Try thisexercise: How do you define yourserved market? What is your basicvalue proposition? How do you go to
market in terms of distribution? Whatare the core competencies you need tofocus on? What choices have you maderegarding how integrated (or not) youare? Most managers can’t answer thesequestions clearly. And rarely do theylook at these different elements assomething that represents a designedchoice that could be done differently.After a while, it’s just “the way we dothings around here.” And often, theseways become rigid orthodoxies, neverchallenged, that stifle innovation.
True innovation is based on therecognition that a business conceptrepresents a dozen or so design vari-ables, all of which need to be revisitedand challenged. A company that is notexperimenting with new business con-cepts is living on borrowed time.Leaders who hope to bridge the gapbetween the rhetoric and reality ofinnovation need to define it as a capa-bility-building problem that is sys-temic and requires the same energy,commitment, persistence, and invest-ment that they brought to their othercapability-building challenges, such asquality or customer service. In the longterm the most important question for acompany is not what you are, butwhat you are becoming.
2. Create a constituency for thefuture, for what could be. When itcomes to the trade-off of optimizingwhat is there versus innovating andcreating something new, most leadersopt for what is, few for what could be.Innovative leaders succeed despite thesystem. Major innovation oftenrequires bending or breaking rules,going around people, and hidingexpenses. Innovations are exceptionsbecause the system is built for control,perpetuation, and efficiency.
Most leaders create roles or struc-tures for product innovation: R&D issupposed to work with Marketing,and they’re supposed to innovate. Butwhen you have a specific innovationrole or particular units that focus oninnovation, you tend to end up withinnovation ghettos. When innovationis compartmentalized, everyoneassumes, “I don’t have to think deeply,profoundly, and creatively about alter-natives. I just do what I do every daybecause somebody else is worryingabout where we go next.” And ifsomeone outside the innovation ghettodoesn’t subscribe to that and producesan original idea, the fact that it doesn’tcome from the proper place means it’slikely to be shot down.
In recent years, several companieshave gone beyond R&D to set up ded-icated structures for innovation—anincubator or a new venture division.However, these structures are usuallykept separate from innovation in thecore business—as if it’s impossible ordangerous to innovate in the core busi-ness. In other organizations, innova-tion is a once-every-five-years specialproject. You take a team away, dosome brainstorming, hire some consul-tants, and generate some new productalternatives. But these approaches putinnovation into ghettos.
Radical innovation comes from gen-erating a collective sense of destiny,from unleashing the imagination ofpeople and teaching them how to seeunconventional opportunities. A newsense of direction doesn’t come from afew smart people who have all been inthe company for 20 years, gettingtogether and thinking about it. Youhave to dramatically increase the strate-gic variety, create thousands of newideas out of which you can look fornew themes and directions. And thenthe role of the leader is to be the edi-tor—moving from being the creator ofstrategy to searching for the patterns inthe streams of ideas that emerge.
At Nokia, for example, we got hun-dreds of people involved in imagining
what could be: What new needs canwe serve? How can we use our com-petencies in different ways? How canwe change the economics of theindustry? Out of that came hundredsof ideas, and the work of leadershipwas not to generate the new thinking,but to look at all these ideas and findthe themes that would give direction.Out of this thinking came a simplestrategic architecture: humanize tech-nology, create seamless solutions, andthink of the phone as virtual presence.
Unleash the Passion To get innovation, do three things:1. Create a real constituency for
what could be. Leaders need tounleash ideas, passion, and commit-ment. We have to move from innova-tions as exceptions; move beyondinnovation as a specific role or struc-ture, beyond innovation as a once-in-a-while project, to thinking aboutinnovation as a deep capability.
2. Devote at least 2 percent of thelabor hours to projects considered radi-cal. Invite all of your people, withinsome risk parameters, to devote someportion of their time to something otherthan doing their job 3 percent better.
3. Create a marketplace for ideas. Anentrepreneur with an idea in SiliconValley can go to many different ven-ture capitalists in search of funding. Yetinside most companies, you can onlypitch your idea up your chain of com-mand. One way to create a market-place for ideas inside a company is tosay to anyone who has a budget: “Youcan take 1 percent of your budget andplay the role of angel investor for anyproject that interests you.” What stran-gles innovation is the time and energyit takes for people to get small invest-ment, to build a prototype, or take timeoff to talk to five smart people anddevelop their idea. Creating a market-place for ideas lightens the burden.
The strategies and tactics thatyou’ve used in the past to drive shareprices and earnings up have largelyrun out of steam or reached their nat-ural limits. The free ride is gone. Theshortcuts for creating the illusion ofreal growth are becoming unavailable:cost-cutting, creative accounting,M&A deals, share buybacks. What’sleft in our tool bag to sustain growth?Real innovation. LE
Gary Hamel is visiting professor of strategic and internationalmanagement at the London Business School and chairman ofStrategos. He has published articles in Harvard Business Reviewand Fortune, and is author of Competing for the Future andLeading the Revolution. Visit www.garyhamel.com.
Action: Get real innovation.
1 0 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e
takes. They believe it weakens theirability to lead and become defensivewhen employees push back. This nor-mally backfires and reduces trust.
To build a culture of trust, take foursteps: 1) Identify your values alongwith a clear vision, behavior expecta-tions, and strategic plan; 2) Encouragepeople to tell you when they believeyour actions are incongruent with thefoundation; 3) Reinforce them everytime they do it, and make them gladthey told you about it; 4) Take correc-tive action or help people thinkthrough the apparent paradox.
Each of us has a set of beliefs based oneverything we have experienced in life.We own these views and believe they areright. When another person observes asituation and comes away with a differ-ent judgment, we think they must bewrong. One of two things can now occur:
First, the other person can say or donothing. This reactionoften seems safer. Peopleoften remain silent in theface of an inconsistencyout of insecurity and fear.They may have felt pun-ished rather than rein-forced for voicing adissenting opinion in thepast and don’t feel safe todo it again. In this situa-tion, trust goes down! The
person has less trust in me because Iact in a manner inconsistent with ourmutual values, behaviors, or vision.My trust in them also goes downbecause they remain silent.
Contrast that with a scenario wherethe other person verbalizes the prob-lem immediately because it is safe tovoice a contrary opinion. An environ-ment of trust has been built over time.People know this input is welcome.
Here the outlook is brighter. We canhave meaningful dialogue and evenreverse our actions with such respons-es as: “You’re right, I didn’t think of itthat way. I’ll reverse my decision.” Or,“I appreciate your pointing out theinconsistency. I still believe my deci-sion was correct and can’t reverse it.However, thank you for speaking up.Now I know there is an issue. Let meexplain why I can’t reverse the deci-sion.” Either way the trust goes up.
This approach provides you with apowerful correcting force. When peo-ple believe things aren’t right or some-thing is out of line, they’ll tell you. LE
Bob Whipple is CEO of Leadergrow and author of The TrustFactor and Understanding E-Body Language. Call 585-392-7763 or email [email protected].
ACTION: Proactively build a culture of trust.
Build Trust
WITH SCANDALS STILLfresh in our
minds, leadership hassuffered a major loss of credibility.While high-profile cases focus on abreach of trust with external stake-holders, equally dangerous is the atro-phy of internal trust.
Daily, the actions of leaders create ordestroy trust. The battle for viability isconducted in the trenches of dailyinteractions. In low-trust organizations(LTOs), people’s best effortsare wasted. Leaders mustprevent this waste byreducing rumors, politicalinfighting, lack of focus,and conflict. In high-trustorganizations (HTOs), suchproblems fade as peoplefocus more energy on serv-ing customers and beatingthe competition. Satis-faction and inspirationreplace drudgery and hostility.
HTOs gain a sustainable competi-tive advantage. Fortunately, there areeffective and inexpensive ways tobuild trust by creating the right culture.
Trust between people can be com-pared to a bank account: actions con-sistent with shared values representdeposits, and inconsistent actions rep-resent withdrawals. Every action,word, or decision between individualseither adds to or detracts from the bal-ance. This sensitive system is affectedeven by thoughts and small gestures.Making small deposits is easy (bydoing what you say, reinforcing well,and offering assistance), but largedeposits are rare. Unfortunately, largewithdrawals can be devastating. Thebalance can be wiped out with a sin-gle action. As a leader, you need toensure that your actions are consistentwith what constituents hear you say.
Problems arise when people inter-pret actions of leaders as incongruent.In LTOs, people are punished whenthey note an inconsistency. In HTOs,leaders reward people for pointingout gaffes because it allows correction,clarification, dialogue, and trust.Usually leaders hate to admit mis-
by Robert Whipple
Ta k e f o u r s t e p s .
ETHICS TRUST
screw-ups and failures and run the high-light reel of their successes. They focuson the positive, calling up images of per-formances where they dazzled everyoneand came out on top. To them, the past isalways prologue—and the past is alwaysrose-colored. Successful people neverdrink from a glass that’s half empty.When the team achieves great results,they tend to believe that their contribu-tion was significant. This I have succeededbelief becomes an obstacle when behav-ioral change is needed.
Belief 2: I can succeed. This is anoth-er way of saying, “I am confident that
I can succeed.” Successful peoplebelieve that they can make desirablethings happen. They believe thatthrough sheer force of personality, tal-ent, or brainpower, they can steer a sit-uation in their direction. They seeopportunities where others see threats.They’re not afraid of uncertainty orambiguity. They want to take greaterrisks and achieve greater returns. Theywill always bet on themselves.
Successful people do not feel like vic-tims of fate. They see success largely as afunction of motivation and ability—notluck, random chance, or external factors.They carry this belief even when luckplays a critical role. They insist that theirgood fortune is a payoff for hard work.They believe that success is earnedthrough their motivation and ability(even when it is not). They always linkwhat they have done and how far theyhave come—even when no link exists.It’s delusional. They assume: “I am suc-cessful. I behave this way. Therefore, Imust be successful because I behave thisway!” Sometimes they are successful inspite of this behavior.
Belief 3: I will succeed. This isanother way of saying, “I have the
Success Delusion
ALL OF US DELUDE OUR-selves about our
achievements, status,and contributions. We overestimateour contribution, and take credit forsuccesses that belong to others. Wehave an elevated opinion of our skillsand our standing among our peers.We ignore our costly failures andexaggerate our impact on net profits.
These delusions are a direct resultof success, not failure. We get positivereinforcement from our past success-es, and we think that they portendgreat things in our future. This wackydelusional belief instills us with confi-dence, however unearned it may be. Iterases doubt and blinds us to risksand challenges, which isn’t all bad. Ifwe had a complete grip on reality, wemight be chronically depressed.
But our delusions become a liabilitywhen we need to change. When some-one tries to make us change our ways,we first think the other party is con-fused or misinformed; second, we gointo denial mode, thinking that the crit-icism does not apply to us; and third,we attack or discredit the other party:“Why is a smart guy like me, listeningto a loser like you?” Those are just thesurface responses. You get even moreresistance to change when you add thepositive interpretations that successfulpeople assign to their past perfor-mance, their ability to influence theirsuccess, their optimistic belief that theirsuccess will continue, and their senseof control over their own destiny.
Four Beliefs Hold Us BackFour beliefs that help us become
successful can also make it tough forus to change. That’s the paradox ofsuccess: The beliefs that got us heremay hold us back in our quest to gothere. Let’s examine each belief:
Belief 1: I have succeeded. Successfulpeople believe in their skills and talent.Their mantra is this: “I have succeeded.I have succeeded. I have succeeded.”It’s their way of telling themselves thatthey have the skills and talent to winand keep winning. They edit out their
motivation to succeed—and I will suc-ceed in the future. Successful peoplenot only believe that they can manufac-ture success, they believe it’s practicallytheir due. As a result, they tend to pur-sue opportunities with an enthusiasmthat others may find mystifying. If theyset a goal and publicly announce it,they tend to do “whatever it takes” toachieve the goal. That’s a good thing.But it can easily mutate into excessiveoptimism. It explains why successfulpeople tend to be over-committed. It’sdifficult for an ambitious person withan I will succeed attitude to say no todesirable opportunities. Most execu-tives are drowning in a sea of opportu-nity. Their I will succeed belief cansabotage their chances for successwhen it’s time to change behavior.
Belief 4: I choose to succeed. Success-ful people believe that they are doingwhat they choose to do, because theychoose to do it. They have a need forself-determination. The more successfulwe are, the more likely this is to be true.When we do what we choose to do, weare committed. When we do what wehave to do, we are compliant.
I have now made peace with the factthat I cannot make people change. I canonly help them get better at what theychoose to change. Getting people whothink “I have chosen to succeed” to say“and I choose to change” is not an easytransition. The more we believe that ourbehavior is a result of our own choicesand commitments, the less likely we areto want to change our behavior.
Success Makes Us SuperstitiousThese four success beliefs—that we
have the skills, confidence, motivation,and free choice to succeed—make ussuperstitious to some degree. And, thehigher we climb the totem pole, themore superstitious we become.
Superstitious behavior comes fromthe mistaken belief that a specificactivity that is followed by positivereinforcement is actually the cause ofthat positive reinforcement. The activi-ty may be functional or not—it mayaffect someone or something else, or itmay be self-contained and pointless—but if something good happens afterwe do it, then we make a connectionand seek to repeat the activity. Werepeat certain behaviors when webelieve money and recognition willcome our way because of it.
Superstition is merely the confusionof correlation and causality. We tend torepeat behavior that is followed bypositive reinforcement. The more weachieve, the more reinforcement we
by Marshall Goldsmith
L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e 1 1
LEADERSHIP DELUSION
Don’t th ink you don ’t need to change .
get. So, we wrongly assume, “Ibehave this way, and I achieve results.Therefore, I must be achieving resultsbecause I behave this way.” This beliefis sometimes true, but not always.What got us here won’t necessarilyget us there. Some success happensbecause of our behavior, and somesuccess comes in spite of it.
Almost everyone I meet is success-ful because of doing many thingsright, and successful in spite of poorbehavior. My challenge is helpingleaders see the difference betweenbecause-of and in-spite-of behaviors, andavoid the superstition trap.
Pick a quirky or unattractivebehavior that you do—something thatannoys friends, family, or co-workers.Does this behavior help you achieveresults? Or is it one of those in-spite-ofbehaviors?
We All Obey Natural LawPeople will do something—includ-
ing changing their behavior—only if itcan be demonstrated that doing so is intheir own best interests as defined bytheir own values. You can’t force peo-ple to work together. You can’t man-date synergy. You can’t manufactureharmony. You also can’t order peopleto change their thinking or behavior.
In order for me to get you to do whatI want, I have to prove that doing so willbenefit you in some way, now or later.Every choice, big or small, is a risk-reward decision where your bottom-linethinking is, “What’s in it for me?”
This natural law is the force thatgets squabbling rivals to cooperate—it’s the only way each of them can getwhat they want. It’s the force at workwhen people swallow their pride andadmit they were wrong. They’ll do itif it’s the only way to put the troublebehind them—and move on. It’s thereason people will turn down a better-paying job because they sense the newsituation will not make them happier.Without this natural law, getting suc-cessful people to mend their wayswould be impossible.
What keeps you coming back towork day after day? Is it money,power, status, or popularity—or is itsomething else? If you know whatmatters to you, it’s easier to committo change. You’ll only change yourways when what you truly value isthreatened. LE
Marshall Goldsmith is co-founder of Marshall GoldsmithPartners and author of What Got You Here Won’t Get YouThere (Hyperion). Call 858-759-0950, email [email protected], or visit www.MarshallGoldsmithLibrary.com.
ACTION: Choose to change.
MY HUSBAND AND Irecently enjoyed
our third adventure incanoeing the vast watershed of lakesand inlets that meanders betweenMinnesota and Canada. Each timewe’ve come, I discover more leader-ship lessons from the simple act ofpaddling.
Our first day out we’re battling 30-knot headwinds across LakeSaganaga. I dig into the water, tryingto add more powerto each stroke. Myhusband controlsthe direction. Attimes I have toshout that we’reheaded toward asubmerged rock. Ihave the topograph-ical map on my lapand am the first tospot where we needto go. Our progressis slow until we turninto a bay. Now thewind is at our back,and we surf intosafety. The intense pressure is off.
I rest for a minute and think of thelessons I just learned.
Lesson 1: In crisis times (like strongheadwinds), everyone must put theirhead down and do their job. Decisionsare instant because there’s no time tohold lengthy meetings, decide by con-sensus, or conduct a 360-degree sur-vey. The trick is to know when it is areal crisis and not a standard way ofdoing business. The latter will sapyour strength and determination.
Lesson 2: Trust is a two-way street.But you don’t wait until a crisis to testtrust. Trust builds over time. In thebow of the canoe, I am like a frontlineemployee, working hard to make head-way. I am the one who sees problemswith customers, defects with products,or ineffective operations. Thankfully, Ihave a leader who listens when I seetrouble ahead. Communication has tobe quick. The leader has to trust what Isay and make a decision to respond.
Followersand Leaders
How many times have I heard man-agers say, “I want no surprises,” yet,when an employee comes to them withinformation, it’s discarded? At thesame time, what if I hollered “rock”when there wasn’t one? I too mustspeak the truth if I expect my voice tobe heard. If we don’t listen to eachother in calm water, we won’t respondin rough water.
Lesson 3: Rock not the boat…unless! With a shallow draft, canoes areeasy to tip over. Weight stays centeredon the spine of the canoe…unless.There are times when body weight mustbe shifted to make a tight turn. Paradox?Yes and no? Intuition beats standardoperating procedures every time.
Lesson 4: Downtime is essential.Getting away from the headwinds andinto shelter is an enormous relief. Dowe create safe harbors for ourselves, ouremployees? A leader knows when folksneed a break. People need to breathe!
Lesson 5: A greatleader makes thejob look easy. Myhusband surelydoes. So by daytwo, I claim theleader’s role at theback of the canoe.I’m convinced I cantake this positioneasily. Not. To mydismay, I discover Ineed skill in turn-ing a canoe paddleinto a rudder. It isnot as easy as itlooks. I can’t get
the motion right. I expend far toomuch energy with few results. I don’thave the know-how to quickly changethe direction of the canoe. I needtraining and more experience. Howoften do we criticize leaders andthink that we can do a better job?What looks simple is only made so bytraining and experience. If we wantthe title, we need to take the time tolearn what it takes.
Lesson 6: At the end of the day, taketime to celebrate success. How mar-velous to pause, rest, and give eachother a high five when we make it suc-cessfully to sunset. Too often we for-get that celebration of success does notwait until the final goal is achieved.Rather, it is incremental success thatspurs us on to the next effort. LE
Eileen McDargh, CSP, CPAE is a keynote speaker and expert inleadership and work/life balance. Leadership Excellence ranksher in the top 20 independent consultants in leadership develop-ment. Call 949-496-8640 or visit www.eileenmcdargh.com.
ACTION: Apply these six lessons to your team.
by Eileen McDargh
Navigation means negotiation.
1 2 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e
LEADERSHIP LESSONS
L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e 1 3
up too much space, get impatient, andcriticize leaders if decisions are delayed.• They’re renowned for their strength of
conviction. On good days, they comeacross as believable, argue convincingly,and make it easy to follow their recom-mendations. On bad days, they get defen-sive when challenged, and create churn inmeetings by arguing their points.• They can be persistent, tenacious,
determined, and steadfast. To theircredit, they love big challenges, over-come obstacles, and take unpopularstands to get results. At times, though,they obliterate disagreement and thinkrules don’t apply to them.
• Most alphas are competitive andaggressive. This conveys a strong
desire to win, and pushestheir teams to meetgoals. This can also
cause them to be overlycompetitive, and cause
internal conflict instead ofoutward focus.
• They’re comfortable withconflict. In positive scenarios,
they surface differences, ensure debate,and drive resolution and closure. In neg-ative ones, they fuel arguments, set upsituations with winners and losers, andfeed distrust.• Alphas are direct and forthright. They
can present authentic views and feel-ings, and create open relationships withteam members. They can also criticizeaggressively and call it candor, and over-shadow those who are less assertive.• They’re also praised as smart and
innovative thinkers. They often have dif-ferent ideas. Sometimes, they generatemore ideas than the team can act on, andinspire compliance instead of creativity.
How Can This Happen?How can this happen in this day of
increasing collaboration? The AlphaMale Syndrome has several factors:• Alpha males see themselves as high
impact players who influence others bydriving and directing, not by collaborat-ing and conferring. Their battlefield stylemight make sense during warfare, butmilitary strategizing is actually a modelof collaboration, as it must be in business.• Many alpha males were star players
on sports teams—a heady experience
Taming Alpha Leaders
MANY OF US HAVE BEEN ON A TEAM—one with lofty goals, talented
and driven members, and limitlesspossibilities—that winds up a tug-of-war of wills between the dominatingalpha males. The best decisions andideas are not the ones that go forward,but the ones that getbulldozed through.Such dysfunctionalteams are destruc-tive. Charismaticand confident, alphascan inspire groups toreach new heights, butunrestrained, they can doserious damage with impa-tient, judgmental, and self-serving behavior.
The world abounds with alphamales and alpha females—powerhous-es who take charge, produce astonish-ing results, and add enormous value.But many alpha executives also unwit-tingly leave a path of destruction intheir wake.
We show alpha executives—and thepeople who work with them—how toleverage their strengths while curbingtheir destructive flip-side risks.
Best and Worst The very traits that make alpha
personality types magnets for successcan be the biggest obstacles to teamsrealizing their full potential:• Alphas are usually high achievers
with a sense of mission. At their best,they mobilize energy and inspire every-one to march together and act in concert.At their worst, they focus on taking thehill and fail to get buy-in—they drivethemselves and others to exhaustion.• They are self-confident, take-charge
players. Healthy alphas take commandof meetings, stimulate bottom-line dis-cussions, and drive the team to action.Unhealthy alphas out-talk others, take
that they try to recapture. Healthyalphas learn that true stars shine evenbrighter on a winning team; othershog the ball and put themselves abovethe team. By monopolizing the group’senergy, alphas diminish the contribu-tions of less assertive members.
Self-AssessmentsIf you’re an alpha male, there are a
few simple self-checks you can do:• Commit to putting the needs of the
team ahead of your personal ambition.• Learn to collaborate instead of com-
peting with your teammates.• Use debates as a springboard for
collective creativity rather than anarena for another contest.• Honestly assess your impact on your
teammates, especially in meetings.• Encourage quieter members of the
team to speak their minds.• Open yourself to feedback and con-
trary opinions.• Take responsibility for keeping
meetings civil and productive.• Harness the energy and intelligence
of other alphas without letting themrun roughshod over everyone.• Recognize the value of revealing
your imperfections and allow yourselfto be vulnerable at appropriate times.• Clear the air of anger, resentment,
and hostility, and learn to resolve con-flicts in a way that satisfies every party.
Working with AlphasIf you work for or with alphas and
want to see your team live up to it’spotential, consider these points:• Don’t suppress your ideas; make
sure what you want to say gets heard.• Don’t succumb to feeling like a vic-
tim of your alpha teammates.• Take responsibility for making
meetings work effectively, regardlessof your position on the team.• Cultivate trust between you and
each of your teammates.• If you feel ignored or overshadowed
by strong alpha personalities, lookinside for what’s holding you back.
Alpha tendencies can be as much ofa liability to a group’s success as a boon.If channeled irresponsibly, their drivecan alienate others, crippling potentialsynergy. In situations where 1 plus 1could equal 3, they wind up with lessthan 2. Healthy alphas, on the otherhand, can make magic happen. LE
Kate Ludeman, PhD, is CEO of Worth Ethic Corporation.Eddie Erlandson, MD, is a vascular surgeon and senior vicepresident of Worth Ethic. They are co-authors of the popularHarvard Business Review article, “Coaching the Alpha Male,Alpha Male Syndrome.” Visit www.worthethic.com.
ACTION: Tame your alpha leaders.
LEADERSHIP ALPHAS
T h e y a r e r a r e l y g o o d f o r t h e t e a m .
by Kate Ludeman and Eddie Erlandson
questions that might have led them tochallenge their assumptions, refreshtheir strategies, and change their ways.
Power of QuestionsGreat leaders use questions to
encourage full participation and team-work, to spur innovation and out-of-the box thinking, to empower others,to build relationships with customers,to solve problems, and to change cul-ture. Questions wake up people. Theyprompt new ideas. They show peoplenew places, new ways of doing things.They help us become more confidentcommunicators.
The questioner has two mind-sets:the learner and the judge. • In the learner mind-set, the questioner
seeks to be responsive to circumstances.Thus, she is more likely to think objec-tively and strategically. The learnermind-set seeks and creates solutions, andrelates to others in a win-win manner.Leaders with a learning mind-set tend tobe more optimistic and presuppose newpossibilities, a hopeful future, and suffi-cient resources. They exude optimism,possibilities, and hope. They’re flexible,thoughtful, and accepting. They operatein a collaborative and innovative mode.They encourage people to be flexible,open to new possibilities, and lessattached to their opinions and the needto be right. Such leaders strengthen peo-ple’s awareness of their choices andresponsiblity for their thoughts, feelings,behaviors, and outcomes.• The judge mind-set is reactive. It leads
to over-emotional thinking and behav-ior. Leaders with the judge mind-settend to be more automatic and absolutein their actions; they emphasize nega-
Leading with Questions
ASKING RATHER THANtelling, questions
rather than answers, hasbecome the key to leadership excellence.Peter Drucker noted that the leader ofthe past may have been a person whoknew how to tell, but the leader of thefuture will know how to ask.
Over 2,000 years ago, Socrates real-ized that leading was more a matter ofasking the right questions than of giv-ing answers, and developed the dialec-tic—a method of questioning in orderto get at the truth. Leading with ques-tions is a modern dialectic, and ques-tioning will become the essential meansfor leaders to enhance the capability ofpeople to think and act critically.
Today’s leaders face the challengeof leading in an answer-oriented, fix-it-quick world where more peopleclamor for fast answers. Respondingto such pressures will cast them adrift,as they’ll move away from long-termsolutions toward real problems.
Statements alone do not lead to deepthinking; rather, questions ultimatelylead to breakthroughs in productivityor innovation. The quiet distinctionsand fresh perspectives gained by ques-tions reveal new possibilities.
Too few leaders lead with ques-tions. They tend to dictate or debaterather than inquire and dialogue.Most leaders are unaware of theamazing power of questions, and howthey can generate short-term resultsand long-term learning. Most disas-ters share a common thread—theinability or unwillingness of the par-ticipants and leaders to raise ques-tions about their concerns. Somegroup members may fear that onlythey have an isolated concern. Othersfeel that if they ask the question, itwould be considered a dumb ques-tion—and they would be put down.
Several years ago, Michael Hammerexamined why Wal-Mart overcameSears, why Pan Am became extinct,and why Howard Johnson was beatenby McDonald’s, Burger King, andKFC. These failures shared a commoncause—leaders did not ask the probing
tivity, pessimism, stress, and limitedpossibilities. The focus is more on prob-lems than on solutions. Judging ques-tions are inflexible and judgmental. Forthe judger, questions are more likely tobe reactive to the situation and lead toautomatic reactions, limitations, andnegativity. Judging questions result inwin-lose relating as they often operatein an “attack or defend” paradigm.Such questioners often deny self-responsibility and search for other peo-ple or circumstances for blame. Leaderswith the judging mentality believe theyknow the answers already anyway.
Despite questioning being a criticalcompetency, few leaders practice theart of asking questions for three rea-sons: 1) a negative experience withasking or answering questions that hasgenerated a fear and discomfort withinquiry; 2) a lack of skills in asking oranswering questions based upon lackof experience and opportunity, lack oftraining, and limited or no models; and3) cultures that discourage questions,especially those that challenge existingassumptions and policies.
Art of Asking QuestionsA key for leaders in asking ques-
tions is contextual. What do I want myquestions to accomplish? Avoid usingdisempowering questions—ones thatare negative, put people into a defen-sive mode, and drain energy. The“what’s wrong” questions threatenself-esteem and discourage honesty,creativity, and collaboration.
Empowering questions get people tothink and discover answers, thus devel-oping responsibility and transference ofownership for results. So instead of ask-ing what went wrong, ask questionsthat focus on what has gone well, whatcould be done, how it could beimproved. Focus on improvement andlearning, not complaining and venting.By being open-minded, you encouragea broader range of response.
When asking questions, focus on thequestioner and the question—not onother concerns. You can’t listen andthink of the next thing that you aregoing to ask or say. Ask questions thatopen new possibilities, explore percep-tions and assumptions, and provideways of evaluating the same data. Youmust be genuinely curious and notmake people feel that they are beingjudged, interrogated, or manipulated.
Try to ask one question at a time.Don’t overwhelm or confuse people byasking several questions at once. Allowfor a response before asking the nextquestion. Many of us tend to ask ques-
by Michael J. Marquardt
COMPETENCE QUESTIONS
H e l p y o u r p e o p l e t o d i s c o v e r t h e a n s w e r s .
1 4 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e
THE LAND OF NO IS Adiscouraging place—
populated by frowns,shrugs, scowls, and furrowed brows.Everyone is solemn, somber, and serious.If you have an idea, nay-sayers point outhow “it will never work.” If you seekopportunity, doors are politely but firmlyshut in your face. If a project excitesyou, a wet blanket is dispatched. Andshould you should dream of new pos-sibilities, several soldiers of stagnationtrample your spirit.
Do you work in a neg-ative workplace? Listen tothe conversations of peo-ple in meetings, in thehalls, or in the cafeteria.Do you hear: “That willnever work.” “We’ve triedthat before.” “They’llnever let us do that.”“Now is not the time.”“It’s too risky.” “We can’tdo that.” “We’re too busy.” “It’ll neverfly.” “That’s not the way we do thingshere.” “We have other priorities.” “Wehave no budget.” “Yeah, but …”
And let’s not forget the non-verbalNOs—like rolling eyes, heavy sighs,tapping fingers on the desk, looking atwatch, frowning, scowling, and look-ing exasperated. There are a millionways to say NO, sometimes withoutsaying a word! In fact, it seems thatsome bosses automatically say NO toeverything. It seems to be their knee-jerk reaction to any requests, newideas, suggestions, and proposals.
Why all this nay-saying? Here aresome reasons why managers say NO:NO perceived need, NO perceivedbenefits, NO clear understanding, NOtime or resources to “experiment,” NOinvolvement in the idea, NO credibili-ty for the person with the idea, NOperceived freedom to fail, NO authori-ty on the part of the decision-maker.
Why is the Land of NO a danger-ous place? Many reasons—includingthe failure to innovate and create newproducts and services, poor morale asemployees feel resigned to rejection,and lower productivity. After all,
YES Lives inthe Land of NO
what’s the point of going the extramile in such a negative culture? Youneed the creativity and ideas of allemployees to be competitive. If yourorganization is the Land of NO, yourbest and brightest employees will like-ly leave. Talented, creative, energeticpeople won’t work forever in the Landof NO. At the first positive opportuni-ty, they’ll be out the door.
If you’re a leader, people look toyou for guidance, support, inspiration,and courage. You play an importantrole in creating a Culture of YES. Hereare some things you can do.• Start with yourself. If you find
more ways to say YES, your group orteam will too. Be a positive rolemodel—an example of the success thatcomes from saying YES. • Make sure you walk your talk when
it comes to saying YES. Don’t tell peo-ple you welcome their ideas, then shootthem down when they come to you. If
you say you’re open tonew ideas, then be open.
• Reward others who arepositive influences in theLand of NO. Tell them howmuch you admire andrespect their can-do atti-tude. Express your appreci-ation for all the ways theysay YES. Let them knowhow much you appreciatetheir contributions. Re-
ward them in every way you can—what gets rewarded is what gets done.• If you have to say NO, explain why.
Then point out what they need to do.Tell them what they can do to changetheir idea or approach to secure a YES.• Keep policies and procedures to a
minimum. Prevent them from piling upand forming barriers to saying YES.Make policies flexible enough to allowexceptions and bending the rules whenthe situation warrants. Review policiesand procedures regularly. Questionand challenge policies that don’t makesense. Welcome input. It’s hard to sayYES if people are tied up in red tape.• Provide training on how and why
you want people to say YES. Teachthem the skills they need to have; givethem the information they need tomake informed YESes. Equip themwith all the tools they need to feel con-fident in saying YES.
Your mantra should be “Find a wayto say YES.” Live it every day. LE
BJ Gallagher is a management consultant and co-author ofYES Lives in the Land of NO: A Tale of Triumph OverNegativity (Berrett-Koehler; 2006). Contact: [email protected] or www.yeslivesinthelandofno.com.
ACTION: Find a way to say YES.
by BJ Gallagher
F i n d a w a y t o s a y y e s .
L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e 1 5
tions one after another for three rea-sons: 1) to maintain control of floor,2) because we may not be sure when
we may get the next chance to ask aquestion, 3) because we have notthought through the question, or wantto control the response. Such a ques-tioning approach leads to responses ofpoor quality. People may resist multiplequestions. Impatient questioners askflurries of questions with more a desireto control than to seek the truth.
Don’t rush your responses. Allowfor reflection time when formulatingquestions. Not all questions need to beanswered immediately. Give peopletime to mull over your request forinformation and develop some ideas.Putting them under a tight deadlineinhibits open-minded thinking. Timepermitting, it’s better to say, “Let’s gettogether in a few days and bounce thisaround. In the meantime, give it somethought and make a few suggestions.”
The quality of the response isaffected not only by the content of thequestion, but also by its manner ofdelivery, especially its pace and tim-ing. Try to maintain a steady pace. Donot let your eye contact waiver anddon’t be afraid of silence. Silence tellsthe other person that you expect herto respond and to continue. Providingtime and silence allows the other per-son to dig deeper into her thoughtprocess to answer the question.
Leaders may feel compelled to giveconstructive feedback rather than askpositive questions. If constructive feed-back is needed, ask people what theythink should be worked on. People areusually aware of their shortcomings.You can then suggest working on themost beneficial one or two. This makesyou a coach, not a judge.
When asking questions, don’t shout.Often the softer the question, the morepowerful it is. Use encouragers such as“I didn’t know; tell me more.”
Say “thank you” when you get aresponse. You’ll likely get more anddeeper answers the next time you ask.It is much harder to ask skillful ques-tions than to give advice.
Leaders who are unaware of thepotential of questions needlessly engagein a fractious, pressure-filled existence.Leaders who lead with questions willcreate a more humane workplace as wellas a more successful business. Leaderswho use questions truly empower peo-ple and change organizations. LE
Michael J. Marquardt is director of the Global Institute forAction Learning and a professor at George WashingtonUniversity. Email [email protected].
ACTION: Ask more and better questions.
COMPETENCE POSSIBILITIES
The leader’s role is to establish aclimate of trust by understanding thesubtleties that enable creativity andinnovation—such as searching for mean-ing, paraphrasing, using language thatsupports beginning ideas, and applyingdevelopmental thinking rather than decision-making modes. As comfortgrows among the team, more risk-takingwill emerge—and it’s often the riskiestideas that propel business forward. Thetrust increases, as does the opportunityto be creative and innovative.
2. Thinking. In innovation, the leaders’
role is to encourage and model a mindsetto think differently about the problems,opportunities, and the solutions that arepresented. At any given moment, wefunction in two distinct worlds: 1) anoperational world where we are struc-tured, precise, governed by rules androutine; 2) an experimental world wherewe allow ourselves to play with ideas,develop new thinking, and be approxi-mate, speculative, and curious.
Often there is an ongoing tensionwithin us and within teams betweenbeing safe and taking chances with ourwork. Leaders who encourage wishing,speculating, approximate thinking, andabsurdity help people break out of rutsand old results. These thinking tech-niques help us cultivate newness andintrigue in our products. The aim is tomake the unfamiliar familiar, theabsurd have value, and to make con-nections from the seemingly irrelevant.
For example, during a problem-solving session, a senior executivesaid, “I wish we had our own countrywhere we could make all the rules.”The ensuing work created one of themost successful advertising and mar-
Leading Innovation
WHETHER YOU ARE LOOKING FOR INGE-nuity, creativity, innovation, or
growth, the key is allowing people toexperiment and surprise you withtheir results, solutions, options, andideas. “Never tell people how to dothings,” said George S. Patton, thegreat American General. “Tell themwhat to do and they will surprise youwith their ingenuity.”
Many companies are embroiled inglobal battles and need to apply creativ-ity and innovation cross-functionallyand with a diverse people who covermany different thinking styles.
The tactical side of creativity andinnovation—the what we are doingand how we are doing it—come as aresult of how the leaders embrace andenable the climate, the thinking, andthe actions or processes that are under-taken to activate the desired results.
1. Climate. The climate is a snapshotof how we treat ourselves, each other,and the ideas generated. Are we takingrisks, remaining open-minded? Are wefostering a supportive environment?Leaders of innovation accommodate theemotional needs of communication. Inmany cultures, we engage in protection-ist communication. We waste energycovering our tracks, making sure thatwe are seen as doing the right thing andheard when we feel we need to beheard. We waste energy on protectingourselves when we are in a culture thatwe perceive as noncollaborative. Thuswe have less time or energy to focus onwork in the moment, to be available fornew thoughts and ideas.
When the climate becomes morecollaborative and supportive, most ofour energy becomes available to focuson tasks, action, and growth. As wework in a collaborative and supportiveclimate, we trust ourselves more—wetake chances and risk more, knowingthat our colleagues will support us.
keting campaigns, generating manytimes return on investment!
The ultimate solutions to problemsare rational; the process for thinking offresh solutions is not. Right-brainthinking processes allow the mind todiverge from the current point ofunderstanding—the problem. Manygreat thinkers get as far away from theproblem as possible to allow truebreakthroughs to happen. Da Vinci,Einstein, Galileo, and Pinkerton wouldremove their task from their thoughtsand playfully generate seemingly irrel-evant material which they would con-nect back to their problem. This wouldallow them to experiment with freshideas and develop fresh solutions.
The visible use by leaders of method-ologies for generating and capitalizing oninnovative thinking ingrains them intothe culture. Methods are systematic, butare far from rigid. They direct the creativeand innovative process through phasesand loopbacks to produce innovativeand feasible conclusions and actions.
3. Actions. A leader’s work is abouthelping sustain a high-performing team.Acting as a guide and coach, strongleaders draw out the ability to be innov-ative, tap creative thinking, and help theteam turn fresh ideas into practical,workable results. Creative leaders resistsuccumbing to daily work pressures.They know when to be patient anddelay decisions rather than staying with-in the confines of yes-and-no decision-making. Great leaders focus on buildingand sustaining alignment around thegoals to enable experimentation. Theyfocus on the what rather than the how.
A good start is to identify two orthree highly visible, real-time projectsthat require the creativity of yourteam. Get sponsorship above andskills development below to supportthe project. Ideally, the opportunitiesare cross-functional and multi-leveled.
Often, there is no greater thinkingto address a problem or opportunitythan from those who are not connect-ed to the problem. In fact, most break-throughs come from those who offerseemingly irrelevant ideas.
The leader’s role is facilitative, man-aging the interactions and stimulatingfresh thinking to bring new power andperspectives into the mix. Innovationfor innovation’s sake is not the answer,but innovation with a purpose willdrive results. LE
Joseph S. Giordano is director of Learning and Developmentand Candis Cook is a partner with Synectics Inc. Email [email protected] or [email protected], or visitwww.synecticsworld.com.
ACTION: Create the right climate.
CHANGE INNOVATION
I t b e g i n s w i t h y o u r c l i m a t e .
by Joseph Giordano and Candis Cook
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L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e 1 7
LEADERSHIP PURPOSE
1. Discovery appeals to the adventur-er within us, the explorer who wants torace beyond knowledge. Discovery putmen on the moon, America on the map,and the dot-coms in business. Discoverywas the driving force behind TomWatson of IBM, who plastered the slo-gan “THINK” around the offices. It isalso the purpose of Sony, described byits founder as a “place of work whereengineers can feel the joy of technologi-cal innovation.”
Richard Branson, the creative spiritbehind the Virgin Group, embodies
discovery: a means that allows him tounderstand the world better, and thusoffer a distinctive new service. Bransonis a modern-day explorer, who has bro-ken records on sea and land, seeking togo faster and farther than anyone else.
2. Excellence appeals to the perfection-ist within us, the artist whose exactingstandards allow no compromise. Excel-lence has built great cathedrals and suc-cessful businesses. Excellent firms preferto turn away customers rather than com-promise their quality standards.
Warren Buffett has built an empirebased on the highest principles ofinvestment: He only buys shares in acompany—or buys a whole compa-ny—if exacting criteria are fulfilled.His excellent Berkshire Hathaway hasaveraged over 20 percent annual ROIsince 1965. Steve Jobs has been a sym-bol of excellence at Apple, NeXt, Pixar,and Apple again, and he will bring thesame purpose to Disney. Jobs’ commit-ment to excellence is obvious in thesleek, intuitive design of the iPod, butit can also be seen in the Apple I,which was originally envisaged insidea case made from koa, an exotic light-
PURPOSE IS THE DRI-ving force behind a
company’s capabilityto achieve enduring success. Tobecome great, a company’s guidingdirection must be more than simplymaking money: it must have a pur-pose that appeals to the moral convic-tions of its key stakeholders, inparticular the leadership team.
I’m not opposed to companiesmaking profits. Indeed, this is theparadox of purpose. By aiming forsomething more than money, compa-nies actually make more money, espe-cially in the medium to long term.
Why is purpose so vital to achiev-ing enduring success? Because pur-pose is founded on an individual’sown ideas about what is right andworthwhile. Since these ideas are nor-mally rooted in one or more moral tra-ditions, they create the possibility of ashared purpose, linking the leadershipteam and the rest of the organization.
With a shared purpose comes aclear sense of direction, which boostsmorale and helps leaders make diffi-cult and radical decisions. It supportsinnovation, reduces risk aversion,motivates people to think in new ways,and encourages leaders to put ideasinto practice. It also helps build andmaintain relationships. If your cus-tomers share your purpose, like thosewho buy from Anita Roddick’s TheBody Shop, they are likely to preferyour products to those of a competitor.Today, the companies that generate thebest ideas, build the strongest relation-ships, and hold on to their brighteststars will prosper and grow.
Four Competitive PurposesA global company can base its pur-
pose on four moral traditions: discov-ery, excellence, altruism, or heroism.These traditions link back to four ofthe greatest philosophers—SørenKierkegaard, Aristotle, David Hume,and Friedrich Nietzsche—and pro-duce organizations that stand the testof time because they are based onideas that have stood the test of time.
colored wood from Hawaii.3. Altruism appeals to the caring per-
son within us, the philanthropist whostrives for the good of all. Altruism liesbehind major political movements,charities, and many businesses thatexist to serve their customers. Altruismmay take the form of helpful personalservice, delivering products at afford-able prices, or using technology toimprove or save lives. Many businessesare animated by this ethic.
During its explosive growth Wal-Mart was animated by the character ofits founder, Sam Walton, whose desireto get the best deal was based on hisempathy with his customers.
4. Heroism appeals to the winnerwithin us, the competitor who seeks todominate his or her field and set thestandards. Heroism resulted in manyspectacular growth companies, fromStandard Oil to Microsoft. Bill Gates’plan to put his operating system ontoevery desktop was a heroic obsession.It is not the specific goals that tap intohuman aspirations, but the ambitionand daring evident in those goals.
The difference between heroismand excellence can be seen in the con-trast between Microsoft and Apple.Apple engineers tinkered at perfection,while Microsoft was busy taking overthe world. Henry Ford was the BillGates of his age, a man whose heroicpurpose was to democratize the auto-mobile, and who achieved this with asmall team that shared that purpose.
There are other important purposesthat a company can be based upon,such as religion and patriotism (nation-alism). With its Christian principles,ServiceMaster celebrates the worth ofeach employee—its motto is “HonorGod in All We Do.”
Many major companies whose pur-pose has been based on patriotism arenow seeking new purposes. DeutscheBank, for example, having been theGerman bank, under the leadership ofits Swiss CEO Dr Josef Ackermann,has become an international firm.
Purpose achieves powerful results.Purpose drives great companies andindividuals. If you examine any storyof enduring business success, you willfind a moral foundation of purpose.Discovering an authentic purpose isthe first step to setting organizationson their way to greatness. LE
Nikos Mourkogiannis lives in London and is a senior partnerat Panthea, a global consulting firm. He is author of Purpose:The Starting Point of Great Companies (Palgrave Macmillan).Visit www.purposethebook.com.
ACTION: Set your course with purpose.
by NikosMourkogiannis
Four Routes to SuccessP u r p o s e i s a l w a y s t h e s t a r t i n g p o i n t .
MANAGEMENT BRANDING
for us: Purpose + Values + Rewards.3. Diagnose your current employer
brand. This diagnosis should assesswhat employer brand you have, howwell your employer brand supportsyour business strategy and talent strat-egy, how well your people understandand believe in your customer brand,and how committed your employeesare to deliver the brand to customers.
I suggest that you ask: How doesour employer brand help or hurt us inour efforts to attract, retain, and engageemployees? How invested are ouremployees in their roles to deliver ourbrand promise to cus-tomers? How well do theylive the brand?
4. Prepare an employerbrand team. You might start byasking: Who now is workingon the employer brand? Whatbusiness case do we need tobuild? What problem arewe trying to solve?
Prepare a cross-functionalemployer brand team that includes peo-ple from Marketing so you know thecustomer brand promise and whatemployees must deliver; HR so youdevelop the details of “the deal” withemployees; Operations so you deliverthe brand to customers; and Communi-cations so you connect the dots simply.
5. Create an employer brandpromise. In this area, consider howyour employer brand can meet needs,objectives, and standards; what cus-tomer brand, identity, values, andemployee experience the employerbrand is based on; and what theemployer brand must achieve in termsof experience, values, and legacy.
You might ask: How do employeesinfluence what customers observeabout our brand and how they buyfrom us? What is the differencebetween an employee “doing a job”and an employee “delivering thebrand”? What constitutes on-brandbehavior at each customer touchpoint? What experience do we hope tocreate for our employees? How can wehelp our employees address “What’sin it for me?” so they can answer“Why do I want to work here?”
6. Apply the brand through every stage
Brand from the Inside
WHILE MOST MARKET-ing initiatives are
concerned with brandingfrom the outside, my focus as the ChiefPeople Person at Yahoo is to brand fromthe inside. The employer brand is com-prised of what your business is at thecore, what you promise your employ-ees, and from their point of view,“what’s in it for me to work here?”
The brand is all about how a busi-ness builds and packages its identity,origins, and values, and what itpromises to deliver in order to emo-tionally connect with its employees sothey in turn deliver what the businesspromises to its customers.
Brands create emotional connec-tions. They simplify value, influencecustomer choices at each touch point,define the customer experience, andconnect people to a big idea. In effect,brands create advocates of customersand ambassadors of employees.
Eight EssentialsI see eight essentials for emotional-
ly connecting people to your business.1. Discover the power of employer
branding. Think of what your favoritebrands promise. What big ideas do theyrepresent? How do they create a positiveimage of the business as a place to buy?How do brands create emotional connec-tions with customers? How do customersperceive the authenticity of a brand andwhat the business stands for? How can abusiness maximize the brand loyalty ofits customers? How does a customerbrand (as a place to buy) connect to anemployer brand (as a place to work)?
2. Commit to living the employerbrand. Ask yourself: What do wepromise to employees? What experi-ence helps them deliver to customers?How do our employees influence eachcustomer touch point? How does ourbusiness ensure on-brand behaviorfrom employees? What does our busi-ness offer as a place to work? How dowe emotionally connect with ouremployees? In order to answer the“What’s in it for me?” questions, weneed to provide the people who work
of the employee-employer relationship.The prospective employee hears thebrand and joins the company. At work,the brand is reinforced in meetings,events, and training; in booklets, video,press, ads, direct mail, and campaigns.The leaders apply the brand throughcoaching, packaging, messaging, andmanagement. Other stakeholders receivebranded messages through variousmedia. The brand is evident in changes,acquisitions, growth, competition, andthe selection and succession of leaders.And the brand continues even whenpeople leave, retire, or are terminated.
7. Market and shape messages inemployee communications. Rethink yourapproach to communication. Provide aglimpse into the emotional relationshipthat can be established with youremployees. Avoid the temptation tospin. Set a new voice and tone foremployee communication. Position yoursenior leaders as the message. Train
managers and supervisorshow to reinforce “What’s init for me?” in every messageso they connect the employ-er and customer brands.
8. Nurture to keep theemployer brand alive. Asyou nurture the employerbrand, your people gothrough five stages: 1)Passive: “I understand the
brand and know what it takes to deliv-er the brand.” 2) Informed: “I under-stand how I can contribute and knowhow to use the tools available to deliv-er the brand.” 3) Engaged: “I takeproactive steps to make a differencewhen I deliver the brand.” 4) Active: “Iknow my role in delivering the brandand make a difference every day withevery customer.” 5) Advocate: “I’mpassionate about the brand and thecompany—I am the brand.”
Measure the employer and employeebrands on both a functional and emotion-al scale: Do customers and employeesknow the brand, choose the brand, expe-rience the reliability of the brand, andtrust the brand? And do they know themeaning behind the brand, engage in thebrand, remain loyal to the brand, andadvocate for the brand?
The employer brand is authentic onlyif it reflects the business and representsthe identity, mission, and values. That canonly happen if building the employerbrand starts from the inside. LE
Libby Sartain is the Chief People Person at Yahoo. This articleis adapted from her presentation at HR.com. Visit www.geocities.com/mslib5.
ACTION: Develop an employer brand.
by Libby Sartain
C o n n e c t p e o p l e t o y o u r b u s i n e s s .
1 8 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e
Prepared to Lead
by Joseph R.McKinney
Develop people to succeed.
L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e 1 9
by Stephen M. Dent
Collaborate for advantage.
IF YOU WANT YOUR STOCKto increase 300 percent
over the next two-years,study Google. Although Google, thesearch engine company, has great tech-nology, its culture and partneringattributes generate the wealth.
To compete effectively, your culturemust be focused. Spending time deal-ing with internal strife and competingagendas reduces your ability to out-maneuver the competition, supportyour customers, generate new ideas,or explore opportunities.
We identify six effective partneringbehaviors.
1. Self-disclosure andfeedback. Communicationskills are the hallmark ofpartnering excellence. Theability to state needs, offerfeedback, and candidlyexpress opinions is criti-cal, not just for buildingon employees’ technicalcompetencies, but also forenhancing trust. Freedomof communication, combined withdiversity of opinion, is a hotbed ofinsight and innovation.
2. Win-win orientation. This orienta-tion enables team members to resolvedifferences effectively (without creatinglosers), to step beyond an emotionalreaction to conflict, and to move towardunderstanding issues, information, andothers’ needs. They can then negotiateoutcomes that are supported by every-one involved. A collaboration-based,problem-solving approach to resolvingdifferences builds trust and results inbetter resolutions. Communication iskey to attaining a win-win outcome,and knowing your own conflict-resolution style positions people tomove beyond fight-or-flight responses.
3. Ability to trust. Trust is essentialto using the win-win style effectively.How, for instance, could I believe thatyou’ll look out after my best interests ifI don’t trust you? Trust is paramount tobuilding great partnerships. Buildingtrust involves talking, reaching agree-ment, and holding others accountable.
The win-win orientation provides thenegotiating skills to achieve agreement.
4. Future orientation. We must breakthrough old assumptions and para-digms of how things previously workedto a mind-set that challenges us to seethings differently, to approach solutionsusing new perspectives. Future orienta-tion requires us to put aside the past andconcentrate on our potential and newopportunities. Getting caught up in thepast creates complacency. Leaders witha past-orientation mind-set tend to builda cadre of workers who end up using apast orientation. Based on the leader’sexample, workers would see past orien-tation, rather than future orientation as akey to their success. This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy of repeated errors,reinforced by a past-oriented culture.When we are entrenched in a past-orientation perspective, we create resis-tance to any change that we perceive asa threat to our personal safety.
5. Comfortable with change. As situa-tions evolve, change becomes inevitable.These dynamics challenge us to examine
our strategies for managingchange events. How wereact to change eventsimpacts our own well-beingand the trust that othersplace in us. People or orga-nizations that resist changemay create situations wherethey become irrelevant toothers over time.
6. Comfort with interde-pendence. Teams having
leaders and members who communi-cate openly and freely resolve differ-ences in rewarding ways, trust eachother’s opinions and judgments, lookfor opportunities, accept change, andcreate an environment that supportsteamwork and interdependence.
When you use these six attributesconsistently, you create a culture basedon a trust that values the free flow ofideas and reduces conflict to allow cre-ativity and innovation to surface inprofitable ways. All six partneringattributes reinforce each other.
Cultures that value the ideas andcontributions of their people andunderstand that people are more cleverand creative than any machine—espe-cially when placed in a supportive,partnering environment—can dramati-cally impact the health of the business,and thus, the bottom line. LE
Stephen M. Dent is founder of Partnership Continuum, a lead-ership coach, and author of books, automated online assess-ments, and other tools that build effective relationships. Call612-375-0323 or visit www.partneringintelligence.com.
ACTION: Create a culture of trust.
AFTER A FEW WEEKSof Army Intelli-
gence training, our sonPaul wrote and said they were startingto look for leaders, but “it is hard tolead when you know so little.”
Leadership is a matter of prepara-tion. Not everyone possesses thecapacity to be a leader. Developingleadership capacity is an arduous yetrewarding process. What does it taketo be a leader? I explain my approachwith an acronym: PREPARED. • Personality. Personality counts. We
hire, promote, and fire individualsbased on their personalities. The litera-ture on leadership extols such personal-ity traits and skills as self-confidence,intelligence, humility, knowledge, cre-ativity, responsibility, ambition, socialskills, assertiveness, conscientiousness,and cooperation. These traits and skillscan be learned and improved. The bestleaders promote a positive work envi-ronment, motivate employees, possessintegrity, and are technically competent.• Research. Effective leaders are rich
consumers of research in their disci-pline or field. Gaps in knowledge mustbe filled through research, since leaderscan’t effectively carry out the visionwithout knowing what matters to theemployees and customers. The bestleaders synthesize their research andmake informed choices based on it.• Expertise. The best leaders possess
professional expertise in the knowledge,skills, and dispositions relevant to theirwork. Expertise in any domain isachieved through hard work, engage-ment, and self-motivation. It takes abouta decade to gain the information andpatterns of knowledge needed to be anexpert—10 years of active study, reflec-tion, and practice. Expertise is a spring-board to respect from colleagues andassociates. All the toil and long hours ofwork pay big dividends because peoplelisten to experts. Expertise assists theleader in building capacity by empower-ing others as well.• Problem-solving. Think of the great
people who have shaped our worldwith creative problem-solving: Einstein,
PERFORMANCE PARTNERS
EffectivePartnering
Leadership Preparation
2 0 L e a d e r s h i p E x c e l l e n c e
IN N O VA T I O N H A Sbecome the clearest
pathway for growth,and yet innovation poses a challengefor leaders. It is perceived as high-risk,expensive, and tough to attain. A newproduct or disruptive technology isoften seen as the only way to be innov-ative. But in reality, innovation comesin a range of sizes and scope, and sig-nificant growth can come from smallincremental innovations.
Who do you need to hire to makeinnovation happen? In many cases, themost innovative people (creativizers)with the most innovativeideas are already employedby you. They just need tobe found and utilized.
For example, at Zin-german’s in Ann Arbor,Michigan, hailed by Inc.magazine as the “CoolestSmall Company,” a front-line employee, a dish-washer, contributed to amajor innovative change.Aware that food costswere high, he noted the excessivewaste in uneaten French fries. Thesolution was to cut the serving size inhalf and offer free refills. This cutcosts and raised customers’ percep-tion of value.
Zingerman’s innovation is an exercisein learning and sharing knowledge tosupport common goals. Companiessuch as General Electric have institution-alized a practice and a system of learn-ing that yields innovation on a big scale.
GE’s motto, Imagination at Work,describes their “Imagination Break-through” culture. Aggressive growth tar-gets (annual double-digit growth) meansgrowing the company by an amountequal to the size of an average Fortune500 company every year. To do this, GEenlists its best and brightest people towork on ‘Imagination Breakthrough’teams. Once a strategic-growth opportu-nity is identified, sponsors are engaged,teams formed, and projects jumpstartedin weeks and funded depending upontheir potential for bottom-line impact.These projects allow GE to learn and
CreativizersEdison, Franklin, Gandhi, Mozart,Gates, Mead, Woolfe, and Curie. Eachof them identified different problems,and found original ways to solve theproblem. Problems are usually resolvedby combining research (searching theproblem space) with expertise. Expertsbecome natural problem-solvers. Theirexpertise allows for keen insight intonovel and difficult challenges. Anexpert may reformulate a problem anda possible solution many times. Thebest leaders promote collaborationamong employees in solving problems.The outcome is employee ownership ofa problem and solution. • Assertive. Every organization has
values, purpose, or vision, and leadersare responsible to fulfill it. Effectiveleaders are motivating as well as sym-pathetic, yet assertive people whogain trust by being trustworthy. Thetime-honored values of the U.S. Armyare relevant to the workplace: “I willalways place the mission first. I willnever accept defeat. I will never quit. Iwill never leave a fallen comrade.”Such values are inspiring. • Risk. Leaders understand the
nature and role of risk and uncertain-ty. Events can reach a point of crisisthat has huge consequences. A leadermust be prepared with strategies toadapt the organization and theirbehavior in periods of crisis anduncertainty. Calm under pressure isthe true measure of a leader. Survivalcould well be at stake.• Environment. Over a career, we take
on various jobs in different settingsand situations. The best leaders under-stand the different contexts in whichthey work and lead—the traditions,rituals, social structures, reward sys-tems, and diversity of the workplace.Only then can they emerge to influ-ence behavior, values, and change.• Driven to success. Leaders are high
achievers. In Good to Great, Jim Collinsfinds that the greatest leaders are“fanatically driven” and resolved toproduce results. These “Level 5 lead-ers” have an “incurable need” to suc-ceed. Leaders set high standards, aredriven to achieve by intrinsic need, andstrive to become masters in their field.
The drive to succeed is realizedthrough preparation. A leader’s suc-cess, as measured by commitment,performance, and outcomes, dependson preparation. LE
Joseph R. McKinney is chairperson and professor of thedepartment of Educational Leadership at Teachers College,Ball State University. Email [email protected].
ACTION: Prepare yourself in the eight dimensions.
share insights. GE is using its creativizersto grow the business, and develop win-ning teams and innovation practices.
Four QuadrantsMany types of people create unique
forms of value. The Competing ValuesFramework (CVF) shows how naturaltensions create growth when recognizedand used to advantage. Using the CVF,leaders can evaluate which C-levelemployees should be facilitating inno-vation—the C-level titles refer to peoplewith strengths in four quadrants:Collaborate, Create, Compete, and Control.• In the Collaborate quadrant, people
are customer-service focused, team-focused, and concerned with the wel-fare of the company. An innovation heremight be a training program that boostsemployee morale, reduces turnover, andmakes the company a better place towork. These creativizers might be yourbest customer service reps.• In the Create quadrant, creative peo-
ple think big and think long term. Thisis where breakthroughinnovation occurs becausethe people are focused onbuilding the best and mostcreative of something, nomatter how long it takes.These creativizers areinquisitive-by-nature tinker-ers. They might be your cre-ative geniuses. • In the Compete quadrant,
people are tough, fast mov-ing, and focused on the
next quarter’s Street estimates.Creativizers are looking for new thingsnow that make money immediately.An innovation might be a tax savingsthat someone in accounting uncovers. • In the Control quadrant, people are
detail-oriented, concerned withprocesses and the ways in whichthings work. They want things to bedone right, every time. An innovationmight be a better manufacturing tech-nique that reduces product error andcustomer recalls, while saving millionsof dollars annually.
Most companies show evidence ofeach of the four quadrants within theirranks, although one quadrant usuallystands out. The challenge for you, as aleader, is to determine what you have towork with to achieve the growth desired.Innovation has many different forms andpeople who can make it happen. LE
Jeff DeGraff is a managing partner of Competing Values, a con-sulting firm, and author of Leading Innovation (McGraw-Hill). Visit www.competingvalues.com.
ACTION: Identify your creativizers.
by Jeff DeGraff
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